Is Mud that bad for your vehicle?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
37,910
Location
NJ
I took my VERY clean Black Ram on the trails this weekend.
grin.gif
Put it in 4 wheel drive and took it through some mud puddles. Got it pretty dirty. Engine had mud all over it and the entire underneath did as well. I was told mud is the absolute worst thing you could do to your truck. Why? Isn't salt, driving fast and a thousand other things just as bad or is their something to this? I know plenty of people that go to the beach with their trucks and get them dirty. Am I missing something? Only thing I can thing of is that fine dirty particles will find their way into places they shouldn't be. But that can be said driving around in the winter time up here with salt all over the road. While it's not good for the body and paint, I've never seen it cause premature wear to the vehicle.
dunno.gif
Any off-roaders around?
cheers.gif
 
Not much of an offroader but, I noticed that people who either stayed out of the mud or kept the car/truck very clean after playing around had nicer looking and better working/running cars.

Just think all those little moving parts steering brakes suspension etc., now introduce an abrasive like sand/mud and they will wear more and not function as well as a clean part. That ball joint may not get mud in it right away but if a big glob ends up drying up into a hard piece of sand then later on the simple act of steering may force it to tear at the boot around the joint.

The same thing happens with shoes/boots. People who get them muddy and leave them that way will wear them out much sooner than someone who washes/polishes their footwear or keeps it totally clean in the first place. In this case sand/mud is bad for the tanned leather and it rubs against stitching and other components wearing them out quicker.


If you go mudding have fun! Wash the vehicle soon after so that all that crap is gone and all those parts can do their job.
 
quote:

If you go mudding have fun! Wash the vehicle soon after so that all that crap is gone and all those parts can do their job.

Thanks. It was worth it. You make some good points. It's almost as clean as I want it now. I went underneath and powerwashed it. I also hosed down the engine.
 
This does not get much into the engine bay
 -
the only mechanicla probs I have had from it is excessive wear on the rear drums.
Deep mud on the other hand can destroy wheel bearings, alternators, idler pulleys, mud gets caked into the frame and becomes a percursor to accelerated corrossion because it traps moisture, and some mud will stain paint
dunno.gif
. Deep mud is also accompanied by "lotsa" water that can get into differentials, trannies and be ingested by the motor... Also the grit carried by the mud can get into seals and cause leaks down the road.

I will encounter mud on certain trails and will navigate it carefully and minimally and not travel off the trail to avoid it, on the other hand if it is possible to avoid mud and water, I do.

If my words are not enough to make you avoid mud to preserve a vehicle mechanicly then I will dig up some stories for you. I love offroading, in sand and the rocks, but I learned real soon that mud is the devil.
mad.gif
 
I like a little mud now and then.But When i wheel I try and think is this puddle im going through worth dragging out the hose and pressure washer?

I was out wheeling in some back country this weekend. It was real dry, Only encountered a few puddles which I avoided becuase it was not worth the time for such a little puddle.
 
After offroading both 2 and 4 wheel vehicles since I started driving in 1972, I have to say I'm with Bryanccfshr. I hate mud. It gets into everything and like an abrasive slurry it wears anything it touches before it turns rock hard and becomes impossible to remove. No matter how much you brush and pressure wash things there are always hidden places where it hides, binding things up and just waiting to fall in your face the next time you work on something.

That said, I've taken every vehicle I owned with any kind of capability off the road and in Illinois, that means in the mud. It's what I bought them for.

I hope you had fun Buster! A 4X4 truck should be able to handle more then just the rough terrain at the mall. Clean things up really good when you're done and stay on top of maintenance and lubrication. Those skid plates are supposed to be scuffed up. That's why they put them there...
wink.gif
 
It was fun thats for sure. I more or less went through mud puddles. That being said, it was thick, deep mud. The truck had quite a bit on it, but the pressure washer took it right off. I went back tonight, laid on the ground and shot underneath the whole truck. Cleaned the entire underneath out. Looks like new. I do wish I didn't have to hose off the engine but I did anyway. It was fairly muddy. It's very clean now and hopefully I didn't foul up any sensors. I think I would have noticed by now.
 
Buster you better get under there with a grease gun after that pressure washing. I usually use a garden hose over my pressure washer because it doesn't push water into hubs, ball joints u-joints and such. Pressure washers a quick but can do a lot of damage. I am also careful not to aim water at anything that has seals or takes grease.

Also I always check the trans,xfer and diffs for water if I get in more than hub deap. I have gotten water in the running gear when it was only 18" deep and I have my vent lines run up above window height. Watch out for acidic muds too. I got into some mud once that etched the paint in some spots. I think it was on there for ~3 days before I washed it. Took a lot of polishing and some of the etching was still there.
Mud is very hard on stuff but you can counteract most of the effects with lots of maintenance.
 
Thanks. Front and Rear wheel bearings are sealed. I think it's fine now. The distance I was at when washing it was far enough that it was that forceful. It was just a lot of mist. It was one of those spray and wash car places. Not a pressure washer that throws out a stream.
 
quote:

Originally posted by buster:
Thanks. Front and Rear wheel bearings are sealed. I think it's fine now. The distance I was at when washing it was far enough that it was that forceful. It was just a lot of mist. It was one of those spray and wash car places. Not a pressure washer that throws out a stream.

You're probabiy fine. I like the garden hose better than a pressure washer. Less chance of driving mud and grit into places it shouldn't be. Sometimes you need to soak things and let them sit for a while and then try again to spray them off. Once the stuff gets hard it's like concrete...
mad.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top