Australian 4WD Action - June 2018

When climbing ruts, it’s often the best idea to simply stay in

them. You will risk dragging low-hanging undercarriage items

like diffs and suspension components, so it’s worth walking the

track fi rst and taking note of any rocks, tree roots or dirt mounds

that could potentially halt progression. If the ruts are similar to

what is shown here, you can carry a little more momentum to

scrap your way through. The ruts themselves will generally hold

you on a steady course up the hill. If you start up out of the ruts,

you risk slipping down into the rut at some stage,

which has been known to roll vehicles

Crossing a rut is best done as slowly as possible. As you get to this
stage, when the front wheels have the majority of the vehicle’s
weight on them, you will lose steering for a moment. Don’t try
and force the steering wheel as you’re likely to bend steering
arms if the power steering has enough force to overcome the tyre
being jammed into the rut. If you do need to substantially change
steering direction at a point like this, grab reverse and back up a
couple of feet, steering into the direction you want to go as you
move backwards. When the front wheels are right at the point that
they’re about to start climbing, they should be pointing as close
to straight forwards as possible, or physics will take over and the
steering will spin all the way to full lock

The other key to successfully climbing big ruts is to take the zig-
zag approach. This method involves following the rut as it cuts
back and forth across the track, straddling it as you go. If you do
need to dip down into the rut, think about it like riding a berm on a
dirt bike – you follow the outside curve of the rut as it crosses the
track. This will give you a better chance of keeping all four wheels
solidly contacted on the ground

IFS utes with large canopies actually have a distinct advantage

when climbing rutted hills. With a decent amount of weight over

the rear of the vehicle and the front end’s lack of wheel travel,

the vehicle will naturally want to raise its nose. That’s benefi cial

here as it means that many times the front suspension will

entirely clear the rut, rather than dropping down into it. It can be

an eerie feeling, but you need to learn to go with it and gently

control the wheel lift, rather than just automatically hit the brake

In situations like this, you need to be as smooth as possible

owing to that weight transfer we spoke about before. Roll

forwards gently on the brakes and keep the vehicle moving as

smoothly as possible. You’ll need to feel for the point where

the rear suspension starts to max out its travel and lift the rear

wheel. If the wheel comes up too high, then you need to steer

down into the rut, and apply a little throttle to bring the vehicle

forward. If you panic in a situation like this and hit the brakes, it’s

entirely possible you could cause the vehicle to roll

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