Rescue from Mud
Just returned from a folk festival in the Scottish Borders. Parked on a fairly level grassy field but I couldn't get any traction in the mud for my Citroen Relay van, (Wildax conversion) when it was time to leave. I ended up paying £70 +VAT for a tow of about ten yards, onto a harder surface, courtesy of a local recovery company. I had tried a pair of plastic mats under the wheels,but they failed abysmally. The van has fairly small diameter wheels, and of course in a van conversion, a lot of weight is shifted to the back, rather than the front drive wheels.
Has anyone experience of using tyre straps to give a grip in mud? The norm seems to be to attach at least three of these bands to each drive wheel. I believe there can be an issue with clearance of the straps between the wheel and the break calipers. See the attached picture, but there are others. Has anyone any experience of using these, or similar?
Phil
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I know it's a bit late now, but were you aware that CMC's Mayday Breakdown cover includes recovery if you get stuck in mud, snow or flood ?
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Goodrich all terrain tyres are becoming very popular with campervans, also with changes to mountain regions requiring special mud/snow tyres for part of the year, Michelin cross climates are also popular.
when it's time to change I'll try some.
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My tyres are due to be changed and I'm pondering whether to be fairly conventional and go for Conti Vanco All Season or get down and dirty with BF Goodrich All Terrains.
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as Jim said, the mayday breakdown will recover you from stuck in the mud.
are you a member of them, if so why didn't you call them
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Prepare yourself for a shock if you go down the BFG route Cy. I've just changed two of mine and didn't get much change out of £500. They are good though, and I think the other two will have done about 60k miles before it's time to change them.
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I paid £700.80 for 4 Michelin Agilis 215/70 R15C Cross Climate Camping tyres with the 3PMSF M+S markings on 15th August. Sounds like I got a good price from my local suppliers, Tollgate Tyres in Bury St. Edmunds - the price included fitting and disposal of the old tyres.
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Getting stuck is a hazard if music festivals, they should have someone available with a tractor to tow people who get stuck if the weather is wet. We have been stuck a few times at festivals in our motorhome (FWD and standards tyres)
We have saved getting stuck a few times by parking with the front of the van in the direction you will need to move off in, preferably downhill. We have also got some plastic square grids that are for putting on top of rhe grass and we drive onto these to prevent the wheels sinking during the stay. If you can get moving have a chance of getting out. We also put the grip mats in front of the driven wheels to drive on as we move off.
This sort of thing, https://shop.gtprospect.co.uk/lawn-parking-grids/2-plastic-paving-grid-grass-grid.html
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My tyres are due to be changed and I'm pondering whether to be fairly conventional and go for Conti Vanco All Season or get down and dirty with BF Goodrich All Terrains.
Michelin Cross Climates work well for us. Of course you could always go for true mud pluggers which seem to do a wonderful job of aerating soft ground 😉.
PPS you have it made in your area as Micheledever Tyres is not that far away. As suppliers to the trade their prices are normally very competitive.
If looking for Michelin Cross Climates, Costco (there is one in Southampton on the BAT site) often have offers on. £100 off 4 tyres is common.
Micheldever are no longer competitive, certainly not in this area ie nearest large town to them. Most local tyre places will price match or beat online prices. Ive been using our local tyre & mot centre for non Michelin for over 20 years.
Oooooohtubers Extreme Motorhoming, with a Carthago used a place in Reading that changed wheels and tyres to chunky all terrains. Several others are going for chunky tyres run at lower pressures
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I have a set similar to >these< but a much older version. No struggling to fit onto the drive wheels and because they roll up, they are easy to store in a locker. I have never had to use them on my current twin rear wheeled van but they have extracted my last van on a couple of occasions and I still carry them.
peedee
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} we lads used to use chunky quality rope threaded thro the wheels as well as a light foot on the go pedal !!
