M998 STUCK IN THE MUD, FRONT WHEELS NOT EVEN ROTATING

[Iambiig]

Mud half way up the wheels. Aren't these supposed to be full time 4WD? Rear wheels spin, front ones....no. Truck is in NL, front wheels not moving.

BTW, what kind of company do you call to get you unstuck from a mud bog?

 

[rcamacho]

Off road recovery. Usually a specialty role and expensive $$$$.
Friends with a tractor or dozer..?

Xfer case in lock?
Brake throttle modulation?
Winch much?


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[Autonomy_Lost]

Not sure what "NL" is. If you are in H there is a differential between the axles. Use HL or L to lock the center differential and you will be sending power to the front. Unless something is broken.

Also, apply gentle braking and gas at the same time to lock the torsion differentials.

 

[Mogman]

This is where it would have been real handy to actually read the operator TM, there is no NL position.
Also as stated above BTM (brake throttle modulation) may be helpful, but yes if you are in HL or L you should be pulling on both axles.
Recovery can be very expensive, going with folks that are experienced at off road driving is a very good idea if you are an off road newbie.
A park ranger once told be getting stuck here costs, $1500-$4000, 62 miles and only one way in and out.
You might do some research on local off road clubs and reach out to them for help, most off road folks love a challenge.
EDIT, the part about calling 911 is a joke as there is no cell service.

 

[Iambiig]

Please forgive me for my inexperience with this monster. NL is the when you pull back the transfer case lever all the way back= it is in low. It does not have a winch, so, no help there. Thought I was doing the brake gas modulation, based on what I read and saw, but evidently would have failed that course, if there was a test. Based on all the hype, thought these things could walk on water (or at least traverse a foot of mud). Damn thing is stuck on my property only about 1/2 mile away from real civilization, and only like 3 feet off of the (nice and firm) dirt road.

Has anybody had any luck with a towing company coming to the rescue?

 

[Mogman]

Just find someone with a winch.
The N is neutral, the L is low range locked they are two different shift points.

 

[Iambiig]

well, the N is really close to the L, hence the mention of the NL. Looked like the same, but it was in L. Just re-RTFM, and watched the video (again), as mentioned. Looks like I was doing everything correct. But this Bitch is stuck! Good thing these units were invented after "Nam". Lots of mud there.

 

[Mogman]

You could have a missing drive shaft, a broken or "loose" half shaft, rather unlikely but possibly a bad transfer case, any number of possibilities.
But no they do not walk on water, my experience is they do well on sand, better than the average Unimog but a Unimog smokes the HMMWV bigtime in mud.

 

[Autonomy_Lost]

Humvees are plenty capable, but it sounds like maybe you have an issue with yours. Also deep mud is tough for any vehicle even a tank. I would stop making it worse by digging in deeper and start a recovery. Get a winch and/or a second vehicle, you will need that at a minimum. "Mud halfway up the wheels" is not something you are going to drive out of.

 

[Iambiig]

Humvees are plenty capable, but it sounds like maybe you have an issue with yours. Also deep mud is tough for any vehicle even a tank. I would stop making it worse by digging in deeper and start a recovery. Get a winch and/or a second vehicle, you will need that at a minimum. "Mud halfway up the wheels" is not something you are going to drive out of.

Thanks everybody. Looks likes I'm F****d. Had a feeling the swamp I have was freaking Kryptonite.

 

[m1010plowboy]

It's just about getting order of operations correct. Get a track machine first, drive that in the swamp, keep the MV on dry ground and use it for rescue.

We follow our trucks around with rescue gear and rarely hit the mud alone. Time for a team.

 

[Hummer Guy]

A tip if you get stuck, use BTM, brake throttle modulation, put your foot on the brake slightly & give it some gas, that will lock the torsen diffs & would get you out of most sticky situations.

 

[Mullaney]

A tip if you get stuck, use BTM, brake throttle modulation, put your foot on the brake slightly & give it some gas, that will lock the torsen diffs & would get you out of most sticky situations.

.
Yessir, that will work!

Being smart enough to quit before you bury yourself up to the axles. Much more difficult to recover yourself when the "mud suction" grabs hold of the bottom of your vehicle.

 

[Mainsail]

A tip if you get stuck, use BTM, brake throttle modulation, put your foot on the brake slightly & give it some gas, that will lock the torsen diffs & would get you out of most sticky situations.

My experience using BTM was that I needed a bit more than "slightly" on the brake pedal. Only firm pressure on the brakes and overriding that with throttle got me moving again.

So the long and short of it is, practice in a more controlled situation so you know how it feels. Learning when you're already stuck might leave you guessing whether you're really stuck or just doing it wrong.

 

[Coonass77]

My experience using BTM was that I needed a bit more than "slightly" on the brake pedal. Only firm pressure on the brakes and overriding that with throttle got me moving again.

So the long and short of it is, practice in a more controlled situation so you know how it feels. Learning when you're already stuck might leave you guessing whether you're really stuck or just doing it wrong.

I agree. It's a lot closer to "driving through the brakes", than "dragging the brake" - at least on the few humvees I've owned. But done right, they'll crawl through more places than you'd expect them too.

 

[Retiredwarhorses]

99% of the time a stuck hmmwv is due to operator error…

 

[thoner7]

A backhoe or excavator can pull you out with the bucket. Better than a dozer

 

[Coug]

A backhoe or excavator can pull you out with the bucket. Better than a dozer

Nah, that's what Chinooks are for. They make great tow trucks.

 

[FlameRed]

Not to restate what others stated, but if you want to try to get yourself out of it on the cheap without other heavy equipment, and there is a tree or something you can anchor to not too far away, you and use a come-along with some heavy duty straps.

Takes forever and not pleasant in the mud though.

And if you really do not mind getting all muddy, and you have a friend to help you, you can take a strap and wrap it around a slowly spinning tire and use that rotation to have the vehicle extract itself. Make sure it does not wrap around the axle! I once saw a cheap trucker that did not want to pay for a tow plow into a snow bank and get himself out doing that.

 

[Iambiig]

99% of the time a stuck hmmwv is due to operator error…

oh, it was definitely operator error (my stupid ass). Had to get a local towing company with a dual winch to finally get me out. In the process, his truck got stuck in the soft mud, felt so bad for the guy, truck was brand new. But HUMVEE is FREE!. Unfortunately, got some clanking noise from the front drive. May be transfer case, or cv's.

This is the stupid tax that you pay!!