Jacob Woolf

Me and my roommate went to do some offroading at this spot by our house Friday night. We got out to the field around 2am and were driving around for about 45 minutes before we found any mud (which was confusing, since it's been doing nothing but raining the past two weeks here in North Texas). We finally found it, and it took but 30 seconds to get stuck....




Keep in mind, this happened around 2:30 in the morning




Front driver was spinning a puddle, no doubt




Front passenger was a little wet, but not bad (I stuffed a bunch of grass/cardboard under it before this picture)




Rear passenger was on wet ground, but it was firm




Rear driver was on completely dry land

So after walking around and checking it out, we could not figure out why on earth I was stuck. We assumed for a bit it was just because the front driver and rear passenger were spinning, so the open differentials were screwing me over. We figured if the rear driver would move at all, it'd break right loose and I'd be out.

This all happened around 2:30am. We had a buddy bring out some kitty litter and a shovel, to no avail. After pushing and pulling and trying everything we could, we simply couldn't get the damn thing to move. Around 5am we decided to give up and come back in the morning.

Jacob Woolf

Next day, headed out with a shovel to try again. It didn't take long to figure out the real reason I was stuck.


It looks pretty stuck from the front.




It doesn't look as bad from this angle...




Suspension is flexing a good bit though.




Looks okay from the rear, too.




Turns out, I had just stuck my belly up. The differential was stuck in a good two or three inches.




After calling everyone we knew who might have a vehicle capable of pulling me out, we got some guys with a Jeep to come free us. The worst part of it was, most of the field was bone dry except where my truck was.
A Taurus with a tow ball probably could've done it.




She's free!




The hole




From the other side


So, in the end, I was stuck for about 15 hours, but got out without any major damage or expenses. Moral of the story: don't drive down the ruts, if you do then keep moving fast enough to drag your belly through, and open differentials suck.

Stay muddy my friends

Martian

Now consider at least checking your rear diff fluid and hose the hell out of your calipers

Jacob Woolf

The rear passenger caliper might need to be rebuilt. Some crap got stuck up in it and something is bent out of place and barely dragging against the hub. Only damage that I noticed. My shop does free brake inspections, so I'm going to see what they say