Get Your Vehicle Unstuck With These Mud Recovery Strategies

Every car should be equipped with an emergency kit that includes tools to help recover your vehicle, such as a shovel and tow strap. If you anticipate driving in muddy conditions, you should also add materials to the kit to generate traction such as a bag of cat litter or gravel.

The first thing you want to do once you realize your vehicle is stuck is make sure that you are safe to try to pull it out. If you are stuck during a storm, you may need to stay in your vehicle and wait for a mud recovery crew to arrive rather than risk being harmed by the weather.

The frustration of being stuck may cause you to want to use force to get your car out. Unfortunately, pressing the gas pedal with force often leads to the tires spinning out. If you do this too much, you can dig your car into a deeper hole.

Sometimes the mud is shallow but slippery enough on the surface that your car tires cannot get proper traction. Other times, or a large mound of mud could be blocking the front of your tires. Grab your shovel and create a path from your tire to the hard ground so that you can pull the car forward.

When your car isn't stuck too deep, you can use a variety of materials to help the tires get traction. Although gravel or litter is best, you can also stuff leaves along the edge of the tires to give them more grip.

Off-road enthusiasts often air down their tires before they go through mud. When you deflate the tires slightly, the tires have more surface area to grip the road. Avoid letting out too much air, and skip this strategy if you lack access to an air supply for re-inflation before you drive on public roads.

Tow straps and winches work wonders for removing stuck vehicles from the mud. Yet, they can damage the vehicle or cause serious personal injuries if they are used improperly. Only let an experienced recovery professional perform these methods to remove your car from the mud.