[condor]

Samurai : ... it is a good idea to have snow chains in muddy offroading situations.

How can snow chains help in muddy off-roading situations ?

When used on snow, the snow chain helps break the smooth, packed snow so there is more traction. In a muddy spot, the tyre will slip/cut/spin through the slush, with or without a chain.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by condor

When used on snow, the snow chain helps break the smooth, packed snow so there is more traction. In a muddy spot, the tyre will slip/cut/spin through the slush, with or without a chain.

Why do you think so?

Cabela's -- Mud Tire Chains

[condor]

May be there is a product in the market which says it works. We both have driven on snow with snow chains, and we have seen how useful the chains are in snowy conditions. But, Fluidity of mud/slush is more than that of ice/snow for the chains to be useful in slushy conditions.

Imagine taking your GV (or any other vehicle) into those paddy fields, and trying to drive through that slush. I dont think those chains are going to get any serious purchase of traction in that slush. The key word is fluidity. The fluidity of the slush will make it go through the chains and around it.

Btw, those photographs were beautiful.

[Samurai]

When you say mud, if you refers to clayish liquid stuff, then you are right. I was thinking dry mud or slightly wet mud which would respond well to snow chains. With Kambala fields kind of mud, only serious mud tyres (like tractor tyres) can get purchase.

[condor]

True - tractor tyres are best for those conditions.

Still, in case of dry/loose mud, the 4wd option itself would be better. Traction is gained through all the four tyres, so even if one or two tyres are slipping, the traction through the rest of the tyres should push/pull the vehicle through.

Another situation to illustrate what I am trying to say is desert / sandy conditions. I dont think chains will help there. A 4wd, with appropriate tread is best & correct. IMO, chains will not help there either.

[Alfa_Kilo]

Originally Posted by condor

True - tractor tyres are best for those conditions.

Still, in case of dry/loose mud, the 4wd option itself would be better. Traction is gained through all the four tyres, so even if one or two tyres are slipping, the traction through the rest of the tyres should push/pull the vehicle through.

Another situation to illustrate what I am trying to say is desert / sandy conditions. I dont think chains will help there. A 4wd, with appropriate tread is best & correct. IMO, chains will not help there either.

[COLOR=black]Mud chains are useful in clay that turns A/T tyres into racing slicks. In such a case, the chain still projects out from the tyre surface and helps with traction. Chains will not be as useful in slush, but they make a decent substitute for M/T tyres.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Chains will not help in sand, in fact chains and M/T tyres can be a liability as they tend to dig in very quickly. Sand tyres typically do not have very wide and deep grooves, but more numerous smaller grooves.[/COLOR]

[IronWolf]

Originally Posted by oldmodel

Guys...

This is not real off road, Its just a half kilometer inclined mud road. If you come to Kerala, You can see lots of roads like this and Maruti 800 passing through....

Try off roading, where there is no road, or at least 2 ft of water under ur Car..

800 taking on such a terrain? did you see the scale of the incline and the loose soil?

Originally Posted by Samurai

That is beyond my understanding too, I have to experiment and see. I'll create a depression in the ground that helps take one or two wheels off the ground and try. Damn, the 2WD was never this fun.

Sure did look like a lot of fun.

Samurai - In the Vid... First time you attempted you were on 2 WD ?
Second time the soil was flattened a bit more? and shifted to 4WD?

[tsk1979]

Samurai's GV is an AWD, i.e. there is no 2WD mode. Its always 4WD. For this he started the attempt in 4WD.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Samurai - In the Vid... First time you attempted you were on 2 WD ?
Second time the soil was flattened a bit more? and shifted to 4WD?

No, I was in 4L lock mode in both cases. Nothing was flattened, I just started with more momentum, that's all.

In the first attempt, Rudra (who was on right side) reported that he saw only the right rear wheel spinning and not the right front wheel. I think that is quite possible if the left front spinning free, the right front will stay stuck because of open diff.

[McLaren Rulez]

Thanks a lot and congrats on what i think is a great buy.. looking forward to more of those amazing pics

[Samurai]

Is there a way to measure the angle of this slope through the photograph?

Originally Posted by Samurai

Recently at a coffee estate we were able to climb a half KM long 30+ degree gradient (measured using inclinometer) quite easily without any hiccup. Later we started wondering... The gradient above felt steeper than the gradient at the coffee estate. But we had no way to measure, and this slope no longer exists.

But we are still curious, the photo shows all the three planes, including the before and after part. Any geometric/isometric projection experts here?

[Blue Thunder]

Samurai, i would say that the slope is around 35 degrees from the horizontal. I do not know how this would translate in terms of % gradient.

[quadra]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Parting shot.

An absolute stunner. I mean the landscape and the BOLD suzuki label on the GV.

Perfect shot sir

[Nattusbs]

Samurai

I took the photo above (incline, post #101) and using Photoshop and taking the length of the GV as 4.7m (from a website), have roughly calculated the incline to be 62.5 degrees. That is awesome - I did that once with my Land Rover Freelander suing their feature called Hill Decent control.

Cheers

Nattusbs

[DirtyDan]

This Grand Vitara is entirely too clean.

What is the ground clearance by the way, on one of these GVs?