Riverhead

Riverhead forest

Riverhead is famous for its mud. It's handy to Auckland - only 30 minutes from my house - but can take all day to do a few kilometres. The mud is slow going, and cleaning the mud off can take hours afterwards. It sets like concrete if you don't clean it all off while its still wet.

Driving in Mud

You need mud tyres, with tubes fitted. Lower the pressure (I use 18 psi - sometimes 14. Any lower and the tyres can spin on the rim, tearing the valve). Then the fun begins.

Steering becomes ineffective. Check that the wheels are straight ahead (lean out the window and check!)

Then, grasp the steering wheel at the 10 to 2 position and don't let go! This means you can steer, but its easy to know which way the wheels are pointing - until you let go...

Keep your thumbs out of the steering wheel - it may "kick" sometimes.

Watch out for sliding - braking distances and downhills can be tricky - even dangerous.

Bogs need some care - check the depth, make sure you have recovery gear, then have a go! Lots of power (once you're actually in the bog) may be needed. Watch out for submerged objects though. A rock can easily smash your diff.

I use a radiator blind to stop getting mud in the radiator - I find a real-estate sign of corrugated plastic (corflute) is ideal.