whats it take to be a good mud truck

[jsomedaysoon]

I"m thinking about converting my truck from a beach truck to a mud truck, to run in our local mud bog deal. its a hole,hill,hole hill deal. i've heard some people say you need light weight with a big motor to stay on top of the mud, but some say more wieght equals more traction. Just curious what ya'lls opinion was. i might just go lookin for a perfect truck for it and leave my truck set up for the beach.

 

[shift1313]

Mud is heavy so you need big HP to keep those tires spinning. Wide tires i dont think are really the best for it but definately tall tires. I guess it really depends on the mud. Ive seen mud trucks that run the same OD tires front/rear but the back would have some serious knobs while the front dont do much pulling but more just point you in the right direction.

but ive never built one so this is just hear-say /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[jsomedaysoon]

yea i think most of them runn boggers in the back and swampers in the front. they have two pits based on tire size. a certain size has to bump up to the deeper pit. i was just wondering if a pick up truck would be better because its lighter and would stay on top of the mud or the bronco would be better cause its heavier for traction. the guys that do the best are the guys with small trucks and big motors. there's one guy with a bronco 2 with a 502 in it. he does pretty good.

 

[Justshootme84]

I just viewed a video of my buds bronco in a local mud pit from this past weekend. He's been running 39.5"x15" Boggers, with a rebuilt 302 and 4.88 gears, spooled f&r. I'd say he needs a 460 like the rest of us, but axle gearing can make up for alot of the difference. The 3rd-gear shift near the end of the bog almost did him in:

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y61/frank...nt=100_0710.flv

That mudpit (longhorn ranch, Maxwell, TX) has alot more water in it than normal. Most of the time, the local mud drags just have the dirt sprayed down until it's wet or a little tacky. A tall, narrow tire will dig down thru the wet mud and get traction on the hard bottom. You'll see Broncos, Blazers, fullsize trucks, min-trucks, Jeeps, etc. all running the same course. It's usually the rig with the biggest motor/ most horsepower or the smallest, lightest little rig that go the fastest. Most locals do agree that excess weight is a downfall, hence removing the top, rear seat and doors on the Bronco. JSM84

 

[shift1313]

Id say you could get the weight of the bronco down but the difference in wheelbase would be the difference. Removing things like inner fenders up front, complete interior, cutting out inner panels of your front fenders etc. The difference is only about 500lbs or so, removing the top, extra seats, rear glass and lightening or removing the tailgate(and running a tube tail gate to hold the body together) would make them about the same.

 

[American Thunder]

For mud tires, wider is better. For snow, the opposite. In mud you want to skim, in snow you want to bite through.

With the 1000 lb. 5.9 Cummins in my Bronco, I'm almost afraid to try it in the mud. Ah well, that's what winches are for.

 

[jsomedaysoon]

just looking at the mud pits i'd have to say they are a good bit more mud than just sprayed down dirt. its slingin everywhere like snot lol... the trucks arent allowed to spin once they get stuck, so they dont dig craters for the next guy. once your stoped moving forward you have to stop. i'm not looking to beat the other guys on time i just want to get all the way through the pit. its about 75 yards with two hills and two dips i think. I"m wondering if its even worth converting my truck or just looking on ebay for an old school f 150 with a big block.

 

[Justshootme84]

I would run what you have and see how it does, without changing anything.