Me and some friends were just talking about some of our funny 4x4 stories and thought what the heck why don't other people tell some of stories here.  Of course this would have nothing to do with being bored at work and just looking for something to do.  I hope some of you take time to do this. 

I was out with some friends one night and we decided to go find some mud.  We found a big open area with what looked like a little water on the top but nothing too bad, there was tall grass in most of the area, so I went for it.  About 10 feet in, i realized two very important things, 1)this was DEFINATELY not a mud hole, and the tall "grass" turned out to be cat-tails that hadn't bloomed yet.  About 12 feet in, foward motion was no longer in progress and i tried to back up a little, but to no avail.  I had proceeded to drive in to what was no less than a lake and was so hung up that if i put the truck in drive the tires would just turn, churning water, and there was water to the base of the doors.  We tried to pull it out, but it wasn't happening so we went back to the camp site to figure out what we were going to do.  At this point i thought, boy, I wonder if AAA will cover this sort of thing.  Everyone had a good laugh at that, but when I called the operator said "Oh, don't worry, we'll have a tow truck out to you as soon as we can." WHAT?!?!?!?!  Now I'm stoked 'cause I'm going to get pulled out soon...fast fowrard 8 mosquito infested hours and a truck actually shows up with some rediculously gigantic winch and land anchors (it was an F 450).  All Right, I'll be out in no time!!! nope. The driver tries to position his truck for the winching and is within a hair of getting stuck himself.  He got angled up right, we hooked the cable to my receiver, he drops the land anchors and chocks his wheels and starts winching.  However, instead of my truck coming out of the lake, it stood strong and the tow truck started sliding toward the water.  Now, the driver's broken english is getting worse because of the situation and he wants to leave.  I convinced him to try from a different angle, and after a little more working, the truck finally came out.  I thought my problems were over, but the next week I had the privelege of having the TPS and a good deal of the electrical system replaced.  I still can't believe AAA covered it though!  

nice story.  One of mine basically happens because of those famous words ah you can't make it through that.  Well as any person who likes to mud hears those words it turns on the stupid switch in the brain and he will do anything to prove their friend wrong.  The bad thing about this story is that there wasn't much mud but a whole lot of water.  My buddy's girlfriend broke up with him and he was bummed.   So being the good friend I am I said lets go the bottoms and have some fun.  He agreed and jumped in my toyota and we were off.  We are just cruizing along basically "mud puddling" and then a good song comes on the radio and pumps me up and I get a little more bold and start going faster.  Now we are off the road in the fields (which I don't do because they are farm fields and I farm myself and Hate when some dumb kids do it to me, but hey I was in the mood).  Mudd is flying and we are having a good ol time in the bottoms.  Then we come upon the spillway which was flooded and he said ah you can't make it through that.  DING.  That is when the switch was turned on.  Of course I said wanna bet.  At this time I am only 17 (26 now) and didn't think what could happen.  We start to forge the water and what else happens but it kept on getting deeper.  I am now seeing my headlights under water and I began to panic.  Just a little more to the end and I look out the drivers window and can see water over it.  Luckily I start to climb out, but only due to the helpful amount of gas I was giving her.  rpm's were high.  I get out saying I am the man, really thinking whew.  We go a little more then come up on another spillway and  I start to go and my budding says NO!  This one is deeper and longer.  Ding.  The switch was turned off.  Reality sat in.  I knew I had to go through the water again.  Panic is not the word.  Scared little *** comes to mind.  We started through what we just came through again and went just a little bit when the water killed the truck.  I tried start the truck again but nothing.  Like a moron we opened the doors and let the water run through my truck.  We shut the doors now soaked and began to worry.  We climbed out the windows Dukes of Hazzard style got on the hood (which dented up nicely).  I jumped in the water and fell and just started to run to the nearest house 2 miles away.  My friend just walked.  I woke up the nearest person around 12:00 at night to pull me out.  And he did agree and wouldn't take any money for it either.  We got back to the truck and thank god it was still there half submerged in the spillway which is a nice word for the rivers backwater with a swift current.  A few friends stumbled up on me and my misguided adventure and had one word "dumbass"  We got her out checked all the fluids and drove her home.   The next morning all the fluids had to be changed, carpets had to be dried, and my buddy had to go to the doctor because he got phneomia from this little trip.  See it was late january and freaking cold and wet clothes don't mix.  Hope you enjoyed this.   

here's another one for ya.  I was out at a local "mudfest" with some friends and my dad.  "I'm gonna take the red truck (Dad's)" i say.  "okay, but don't break nothin'."  "i won't"  so me and the girl i was seein' load up and off we went.  At the time i really liked abusin' the stupid pedal, so i floored it across a mud hole with a real uneven bottom (so fast & bumpy the front tires were lifting).   about 3/4 way across both tires lift, slam down and i'm rewarded with a "BOOM" like i never heard before.  We get the truck back to the house (amazingly now thati think about it)and now over a year later it still sits in the "broke spot"because we keep findin' stuff that's broke ( and be damned if it ain't expensive stuff that i get to pay for).  needless to say i've become a more conservative driver and i always get the "eye" from pops when i want to play with his toys.  

My story isn't one of those "You can't do that", it was more of a "c'mon man, u can make it through that". Well, we were wrong. Me and a buddy of mine were out mudding one day, while he was trying to get up the courage to break up with his girlfriend, and we came across what we thought was a few inches of water. I was riding shotgun, as we had already gotten my truck stuck a few times, and wanted to see what his Wrangler could do. Well, he immedietely got that "there's no way i can do this, how do i get outta here?" look on his face. But i wanted to have some fun, and told him, i did more in my truck a minute ago, surely you can do this, look, there's a palm from floating, its maybe 4 inches deep. So, he got out and checked the edge of the water with a stick, and low and behold maybe four inches worth. So, stupid switch on, he goes in 4wd, going good, then it starts to get a little deeper, then my side starts to lean ove a little, and all of a sudden it drops. It is immedietely said that we are stuck, i look out my window to see mud, and at the very top i can see the bottoms of sawgrass. He was stuck at about a 40 degree angle, leaning to passenger side, with exhaust submerged (at which point we turned the jeep off) and laying along a mud bank that he has just created in what we thought at this point was two feet of water, with water coming inside of the jeep. We realize we're gonna need some power to pull him out, and another buddy comes out to offer just that. This other guy gets there, two tow straps in each vehicle, we hook em up to pull from behind and that got us nowhere after about 4 tries, so we tried from the front, we were dragging a lot of mud, and the jeep was starting to move, until one of the tow straps broke, came back with the hook and took out one headlight, and left a nice dent right below the headlight. At this point our tow straps aren't long enough to pull him out, if we tried we would have two vehicles stuck. So my buddy the jeep driver calls up another jeep guy from a mudding club to come and winch him out, problem is the guy is about an hour away. So me and the guy that originally came to help out get in my truck, idiot jeep driver gets in the bed of my truck, cause he doesnt know the difference between bed and backseat, and we head to the jeep idiots house to get drinks, bugspray (Florida wetlands, plenty of mosquitoes), and to get some shovels to try to clear some of the mud away. On the way to his house however we had to go through this huge field, that was once plowed, now abandoned, it has plenty of ruts that were filled with water, and not wanting to spare the chance for some fun, i went at em full blast, not thinking of the guy in the back and where he was going, found out afterward that he could fit quite nicely under the toolbox in the bed. So, after a few choice words about m driving he climbed in the back seat, and we were off going against the plowing of the field, nice and bumpy. We finally get out to the road and my truck is completely covered in mud, cleaned of my windshield, and got some funny looks from people while taking him to his house, including a local sheriff's deputy. We went and got the tools and drinks and all and went up to a gas station to wait on the guy who had a winch and would eventually get him out. We met up with him, and showed him what our problem was, he called my friend an idiot, as this was the second time he had come to bail him out from being stuck in the same field, different spots of course. So we hook the winch up and at this point find out that we are 3.5 or 4 feet deep in the back, with the tires not touching. So, we hook him up and use a plam tree as a brace for the winching jeep, and start pulling, well, the tree started to crack and bend from the weight, so we threw the winching jeep into reverse, and were finally able to get him moving. The more we pulled, the more the jeep would lean to the passenger side, so we used the tow straps to keep it upright which worked. After 15 or 20 min of winching, we were finally able to get him free. We got his jeep to drier ground, and cranked her up, well tried to, four times before she finally came to life, and spewed gallons of water from every conceivable point. At this point I left, covered in mud and wet from standing in water up to my mid thighs, and got all changed before I went and met a girl at a fast food place, a mere two hours after I was supposed to meet her at a nice Italian restaurant. At this point, it was prolly 9pm or so, and our whole adventure had started about 430pm. His jeep got to spend two days drying out, and being washed by him. The next day i met up with him, and he took the jeep and found out that he had to replace every fluid, and get it cleaned up, as mudding damage is not covered in his warranty. A friend of his got the mud and nasty water flushed out of the radiator, and did a good clean and paint job on the undercarriage to hide all traces. So he was finally able to take it to the dealership, to find out he needed transmission replaced, of course new headlight, and fix a that dent under his headlight. No idea how he explained all to the guys at the dealership, but everything was set up to be repaired, lucky him he was 10 days inside of his warranty expiration. So, at this point the task was to follow him home, well not too much follow as his jeep topped out at a whopping 37 mph on the way back to his house, and the whole way is on state highways, yeah, i passed him pretty quick. I have more stories of him doing stupid stuff cause i told him to, but this'll start it off.

Well, another story, this time both "you can" "you can't" were said. We are each 17, and were at school one day for college prep, after school was out. This was a Monday and it had rained plenty the weekend before, making plenty of mud in the field we were forced to park in. After having fun in the field, he decided he wanted to do some climbing, cause thats what climbers do. We had this ditch in front of school approx. 4 feet deep with a 40-50 degree drop on the way down, with a 70-80 degree exit on the other side. Well, he hopped the curb and we lined the wrangler up, he was on rather short grass which was still pretty wet. We talked back and forth on whether or not this was a good idea, it was decided that it wasn't so we went ahead with it. I told him he wasn't going to do it, but it'd be fun to try it. So he started on the way down, front tires went into what little stream of water was flowing, and his brumper wound up hitting the bank on the opposite side, crushing the plastic end cap, so he started to back out, got a little waya and tried again, still hit the bumper, no where near enoung front end clearance to make it, so i told him to back it out, and that didnt happen. All four tires quickly started to dig in, so he tried rocking back and forth, which just made deeper ruts. So i got in my truck and we hooked up a tow strap to yank him out, well on the third try the tow strap broke (seems to be a pattern with that), so we called in another guy with a 4x4 and tow strap, ten minutes later he got there, we both hooked up, and after 3 or 4 pulls got him outta there, just in time to for him to get his picture taken by a teacher, while stuck in the ditch, and then go inside for our course. Amazingly everyone seemed to know what happened already, maybe thats cause the ditch is right beside the only way in or out of school. That was the day we learned what teachers have a good sense of humor, good enough to point, laugh, and wave as the drove by. The next day he was out there putting down sod, and covering his ruts (about 10 inches deep), about 2 hours before school  started. That was the most fun I've had at school.  

cool stories.  It is amazing that most people stories start with somebody betting that it can't be done. 

this one starts out with poor judgement on my part.  First off all to all the wheelers out there make sure all your vehicles gauges are working properly.  Yep i know how stupid can 1 person be.  Major problems can be avoided by just the simplest of repairs.  My parents own (actually the bank owns and we pay rent know what I mean) a farm in Kentucky.  On that farm is a nice pond with a shallow end that just begs me to run through it over and over again.  One afternoon by myself I was just tearing it up going through what I didn't think i could.  Hell, I will take this take to brag,  my axles were dragging I was bottoming out and still making it though.  So at this point My ego and My head barely fit in the truck with the rest of me and it was at that moment when I thought i was god of all mud and it happened.  No warning no nothing the truck just stopped.  I started it right up again and pulled it onto a high spot (about 2ft away).  I waded out, walked to the barn about 1 mile away drove to the store, got the correct part, drove to the truck, installed said part, and it ran like a top ever since.  The lesson here is don't go playing with a broke gas gauge.  Be smarter then I and just fix it.  The part i went to get was of course gas.  See this story was short and hopefully helped sometimes dumb people like me.

OK, most stories so far have included mud and stupidity...mine is involves snow and stupidity...January 1996, junior year in college...fresh 18" of snow...2 buddies, 1976 chevy w/ 33's and open diffs, not a bit of recovery gear (except one 15' tow strap).  Add some young stupidity and some "Hey guys, watch this"... stir and  mayhem ensues... I was pretty good at driving around in the snow and hadn't been stuck...YET!

Of course we had to go find some fresh snow that hadn't been plowed yet so off we set for the freshman parking lot in Boone, NC to get to a nice open field of fresh snow.  We leave my buddy's Acura in the parking lot and off we go.  Easy right? Just through the gate and down the access road. After I had my fun doing doughnuts and tromping through all that virgin snow it was time to get back to the pavement.  Did I mention that right next to the gate we drove through it said "NO motorized vehicles beyond this point" or that ALL THE SNOW FROM THE PARKING LOT  had been pushed through that gate leaving a nice 5 foot tall snow drift blocking my exit? No? Well, I figured it out real quick...It was no problem getting in because the top of the drift was level with the parking lot and the truck was going downhill.  As I attempted to exit the access road my truck gets buried up to the frame in snow, and slips sideways into a drainage ditch. 5 feet of snow+truck buried to frame+open diffs+ drainage ditch= STUCK!  Without even a shovel, I am stuck BIG TIME 20 feet from dry pavement! No shovel to dig away the snow, so I grab a board from the fence to dig out and jam under the tires...still stuck....A guy comes by in a Ford Ranger.  I ask him to try and pull me out, he doesn't think his truck can, but he does offer a snow shovel...not the digging kind, but better than what I had, which was nothing...dig for awhile and try again...still stuck. 

Then an Appalachian State University 3/4 ton Chevy snowplow truck comes by. Great...here I am stuck on school property just a few feet from the "NO vehicles sign" I figure now I'm busted, too...But he was cool about it and even offered to tug me out, but my strap is a few feet to short to reach. The University guy says, "No problem I have a chain here that will reach your strap." I should have know the 5/16" rusty chain wasn't strong enough, but I didn't want to pay for a tow truck, so I went for it.  Of course, the chain broke sending the D shackle of my tow strap through the grille and into the radiator.  Now, I'm STILL stuck but now I have a busted radiator AND I'm gonna have to call the tow truck. The tow truck comes and even has some trouble winching me out.  At least I figure I'll take some pictures and send them into "WHOOPS" and make $50 to help pay for the tow...only to find out later that my camera is messed up and none of the last 3 rolls of film (that's what they used to use before digital cameras for you younger guys) I'd shot come out...damn. So, I ended up paying for the tow truck, a grille and a new radiator which all cost about $250, which is a lot of $$ for a poor college student trying to buy beer...I mean... pay for tuition and books.

A few things I learned from this...

1. Don't go wheelin' by yourself...bring a buddy with a 4X4, not an Acura.

2. Check out the area before you dive in... I might have noticed that big a$$ snow drift and "No vehicles sign" before I got stuck. 

3. Bring recovery gear (at least 2 tow straps, shovel, come-a-long or winch, and a good hi-lift jack). Now, I have a whole tool box full of spare parts, 2 jacks, an air compressor, and some real recovery gear!

4. Don't use rusty 5/16 chain attached to a big D shackle aimed right at your radiator.  Put a weigh bag or something on the strap or winch cable in case it breaks.

5. Make sure the camera works so when you do get stuck you can take pictures for posterity and to send into "Whoops!"

6. Build a cool grille guard to protect your radiator (which was my one of my next semester welding projects) I got an A in welding class, so at least I got some school credit out of it!

I hope you enjoyed! That's part of the fun in 'wheeling though!

well i am at work with not much to do again and just remembered something. 

I am sure that most people have done this so it is okay to mention it  Gone mudding with people who have no idea of what mud actually is.  One of my friends bought a z71, installed a body lift (booo), and finally put some 33x12.50's on it.  The tires of course were all terrain because THE Z can go though anything as he would say.  His brother had an old pos cj5 painted up like a john deere tractor complete with a huge deere sticker on the hood.  They asked me to go "mudding" one afternoon so I said sure.  It didn't take long for me to figure out that they were stupid and retarted when it came to mudding.  Believe me I am no genious far from it.  The mudd we were just tearing up was about 3 inches deep.  OH MY.  I got to watching THE Z and noticed he was actually shifting gears.  I asked what are you doing.  He said man that is some mud (like it was 2ft deep or something) I aint getting no traction so speed is what I need or something dumb to that affect.  I replied buy some tires with lugs and you won't be spinning so much in this *** stuff.  Well that pissed him off and gave me and his brother something to laugh at.  He did try to redeem himself by showing us his deer in the headlights/ oh $hit/ I wasn't doing what you think I was doing in the bathroom all by myself LOOK.  He took off across a little patch of mudd a lot deeper then he thought and a hell of a lot deeper then he was expected and sank.  Bare in mind now in was in some really deep *** (as he later proclaimed).  Yep know he was in about 6 inches of mud.  Oh the Horror.   I have never in my life seen somebody squirm so much in a truck trying to get out of something so little.  He was shifting gears turning the wheel and looking at us.  We did notice when he would glance at us he looked tough, but then got scared again when he would turn away.  You might have had to been there, but it just cracked us up.  He did get out of the "really deep mud"  only to show stupidity once more.  He is a guy that likes the abuse the stupid pedal.  We came up a on left 90 degree turn on a dirt road which was now mud.   He did slow a little then hit the brakes and turned the wheel like normal, but now he is in mud.  So of coarse he plow straight  and almost ran into the creek.  Now knowing how dumb he is he decided to call it a day and home. 

Sometimes it is fun to play with the dumba$$ people in mud.  You won't see much good action but there is always action.   

whell dont get disceraged but i drive a 1990 dodge ram 250 converson van witha 318 a 4 speed ato and no 4x4. any whays i went out with my frnds in teh van and we were crusing around and we saw this ditch in my hay feld that looked like it would make a good jump. i dint mind trying it out cus the ground had ben frose for some time and there was snow on top. so the first time thrugh we scope it out and check for rocks and other debre(no skid plates and a new oil pan on it). then we go thrugh it the 2nd time at about 30mph and get some air(tire tracks ended for 20 feet) then we decide to hit it agin (about 60mph). we go flying (were gesing about 10 feer of air) and land hard my frends in the back got hit in the head with my big tool box. we get out and look for damage. the only damage whas a pece of plastic on the bumper got poped off. then the next day my fend brings up his 4x4 dacota and we go out buming around. we decide to go to the old asfult plant and whip ####. We get the #### going and start doing sincronised #### and then we decide to see who can bring there vheicle the closest to a stoped object and whop around it so we decide to use hte gravel separtor as the object. i won by geting wihtin about 1/2 inch of it for about 4 feet whell going sideways. we then decide to do a hill climbon one of the sand piles they have there. the piles are as steep as they could get it without puting up walls and there was about 1/2 inch of ice under the snow. so i start out put the hamer down and get about 1/2 way oup the hill and back down. then i try agin and go up the hill 45 to 50 feet and see my other pece of plastic fly off the bumper. then my budy trys it in 2wd (to be fair and can only get about 12 as far as i did cus of his tires. then about a month later he comes back up and we go out crusing and go to a hill climb in the woods by a state park and shot some video footage (he lost it) and go crusing thrugh our farm. then 2 weeks ago i was backing up a litle too fast and did the most damage to the van, i roled it over cus i trued to stop even after i had tryed and not suceded many other times whell going sideways. it took going backwerds at about 30mph into a 7 foot deap ditch to flip it and even then all that rily hapend was i cracked the whindsheld and lost some oil.