Mud Causing "The Shakes"

[Skip Talbot]

Last year I was chasing out in Iowa and my van developed a bad shimmy on the steering wheel above a certain speed (40 mph maybe). I had hit a big pothole on the chase and thought I knocked the wheels out of alignment or something worse. The mechanics said it was just mud caked into the wheels and on the drive train, however, and told me to get a good under-carriage wash the next time I drove on muddy roads. They had to chisel the mud off to get rid of the shimmy. I noticed it again after June 12, '10's chase in the TX panhandle. I had to ford a section of flooded roadway the next day, however, and that acted as my under carriage wash, took the mud right out, and the shimmy was gone.

I've got a new van now and picked up another very similar vibration after a July chase in the Dakotas. We took it to an automated wash with an under carriage option, and it did absolutely nothing. I had a mechanic take a quick peek at it and he said there was a ton of mud stuck in the wheels and it had hardened like cement.

Does anyone else have this issue? Is there a better type of car wash I can try? I don't have an easy way to get under my vehicle, so chiseling it out myself isn't really an option. Maybe add some mud guards? I had one mechanic suggest waxing behind the wheels and the mud might slide off.

 

[Andy Jackson]

I would have had my car towed to Wichita last year if it weren't for the genius tow truck driver who tipped me off on how the mud affects tire performance. After a quick power wash I was riding free. Even though I did have two close calls in the mud last year after that I never had the tire problem again. This year I have played it safe and didn't drive the muddy roads. So, I guess that's my solution.

 

[Michael Towers]

The one time that happened to me I was amazed at how much mud can actually get stuck under a vehicle. On May 23, 2010 near Leoti, Kansas I barely escaped out of the muck and the amount of tire spinning it required totally caked my wheel wells and plastered the undercarriage. I couldn’t go over 50mph without the car vibrating and had to call off the chase, which was frustrating in its own right but made even more so given that I’d come all the way from Brookings, SD on a marathon chase. A power wash in Oakley cleared an abundant amount of mud but the shaking resumed once I got above 65 on my trip into Hays for the night. I gave it another wash before turning in and was surprised at the amount of mud that came off again. The next morning I crawled under the car expecting it to be relatively clean and couldn’t believe how much mud still remained! My entire spring coils were caked and as mentioned above it was now dried like cement. I spent over an hour using a screwdriver as a chisel, carefully sculpting away chunk after chunk of dried mud from all four wells before doing one more power wash. That ultimately did the trick and to date I haven’t had that problem happen again as I do try to stay off the wet stuff when possible.

 

[Adam Lucio]

I wonder if this is a problem with front wheel drive vehicles. I've gotten into a ton of mud while chasing and never had a problem like that, but I've only owned and chased in RWD vehicles [which come with their own set of problems.] While chasing with Brad Goddard this past season that problem developed after we had a harrowing experience on some muddy Kansas roads with his front wheel drive 4runner. Very noticeable difference, as we chased for a couple more days more and more mud would fly off and the problem lessened. I definitely have never had that problem in either of my 2 chase vehicles though.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I had this exact thing happen with my front-wheel drive Freestyle a few years ago after driving on a muddy road on a chase. After driving all day in downpours, it finally went away.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

Yeah I've had the problem before both with mud and snow. The snow incident was with my RWD Ranger, where I slid into a ditch and caked snow into my tires. It threw them out of balance, and caused me issues until I went to a car wash and melted the snow off with water.

David Drummond and I had a very bumpy and a long drive back to Lubbock after 4/29/09 intercepts and getting stuck in the mud. Even after that drive we still spent $20 at the carwash blasting all of the mud out!

This past season while I had a jeep patriot rental car, we ended up in some mud in Kansas and got stuck for a bit. Once I got out, it was impossible to go over 45 mph due to mud. Eventually I found a carwash and blew it all out.

Unfortunately, it never seems like the automatic car washes do a good job with the undercarriage. They are mostly designed to spray off the salt and other road debris, not remove pounds of caked on mud. I've had less issues with it now that I'm in a big truck and sit up high. I think it's easier for water and air to get up under the truck and keep it from staying caked on too long.

 

[Zach Young]

When mud cakes up on the inside of the wheels, it basically creates a situation where the wheel is very badly out of balance, unless the mud is PERFECTLY distributed. This causes the wheel to act like a washing machine that has an unbalanced load on spin cycle, it shimmies and shakes!

If the problem is really bad, stop the car and try to poke as much of the mud out of the inside of the wheel with a stick or something. My lug wrench has a crowbar-like end to it, so I use it to poke around in there. If you're able to get a lot out, you might be able to buy yourself an additional 10-20mph, but it'll still be pretty bad. Still, it's the difference between plodding along at 35 and getting to the carwash before next season. Once you're in town, find a manual car wash. Use the high pressure rinse (plain water) to spray the inside of the wheels. Don't forget to get right behind the spokes! You should be able to get most, if not all of the mud out this way.

Perhaps a roll of quarters or two should be added to the list of recommended chase equipment

 

[Joshua Nall]

I've heard of people that play in the mud a lot spray the underside of their vehicle and their tires with diesel. Some people who play in the mud on ATVs even spray the plastic, everything but the seat and handle bars. There are probably other things that will keep mud from sticking like glue, but diesel at 3 and change per gallon may be the cheapest. You don't want to use gasoline. Gas is much more flammable and will not leave behind the oily residue.
I'm really not sure if this actually keeps mud from caking, but I'm sure it helps. The main reason they do it is to make clean up easier. It just keeps the mud from sticking to everything so bad.
Around here everything is sandy type mud, it's not the clay mud that is such a pain, so I've not tried it. Never had a problem with it on a chase, but my truck sits up pretty high.

Josh

 

[Skip Talbot]

Thanks for the tips, guys. The one mechanic I briefly talked to suggested waxing the wheels and adjacent parts where the mud is gathering as keeping that area slick might help the mud to slide off instead of sticking. Using diesel does not sound like a good idea though. At best there might be environmental/legal issues with intentionally creating diesel spills under your vehicle, and at worst an incredibly dangerous fire hazard.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Count me as another person who's had to deal with issue. I'm not sure why I was surprised the first time I dealt with this, though, since driving in snow and ice have create similar issues (snow packing on and around the tire/wheel). It's always a good reminder to give the 'ole chase vehicle a washdown after slip-sliding down the muddy back roads if you feel a driving anomaly. I'm not sure I'd ever use a "product" to discourage the collection of mud, though, since it's only $0.75-$1 to stop by a car wash stall and use the high-pressure wash/sprayer on the tires and wheels. Of course, if it dries on (as Skip had to deal with), then it's a different story. Fortunately, I'm not sure I've had to deal with that issue, or at least it being bad enough that a quick car wash didn't remove it.

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

Not a no-brainer. I had mud / sand in my rims (even during a hurricane chase) and it wrecks havoc on the wheel balance (shaking the entire vehicle).

Blasting the debris / mud out with a pressure washer restores a smooth ride ;-)

 

[Joshua Nall]

Using diesel does not sound like a good idea though. At best there might be environmental/legal issues with intentionally creating diesel spills under your vehicle, and at worst an incredibly dangerous fire hazard.

You have to be careful man. You use one of those pump up garden sprayers and do it over some dirt or gravel. Then, if you are messy, you would have your own little diesel chip seal area in your driveway.

Diesel is good for starting a fire if you have it on something that will burn, but it will not explode like gas. I'm thinking if I spray it on the bottom of my truck and wait 30 seconds I would have a hard time setting it on fire. I'll have to try it tomorrow, lol.
You could use old oil and thin it down with something. Once the something evaporated all you would have is the oil film. I've used old oil on stuff to prevent rust, it's good to spray on leaf springs and its good for preserving wood that is exposed to the elements such as trailer floors or fence post, etc.... But as far as repelling mud??? I wouldn't take the time for it unless it was a reoccurring chase ending problem.

 

[Mark Blue]

I used to watch this show on Spike TV on Saturday mornings where this guy would build extreme off road vehicles like Jeeps and so forth. He had some kind of spray he would use in and around the wheels and wheel wells before entering the mud and it would make cleanup a lot easier. It was some kind of silicon spray or something along those lines. I'll try to Google it and see if I can track it down and provide some links.

EDIT: This is the guy I referred to and here is a link to one of his recommendations: http://staceydavid.com/articles/tips/mud-removal-3898

I also came across cooking spray when I Googled it. There might be more tips on his website where there is a commercial product, but I didn't have time to search it out this morning.

 

[Mark Blue]

Here you go Skip:

Mud-X Releasing Agent: http://bit.ly/rc9dJk

Mudd Off: http://bit.ly/ph0KHJ

That website appears to have different sizes as well as sprayers designed for spraying the product where it needs to be applied.

 

[Jason Foster]

I used to watch this show on Spike TV on Saturday mornings

PowerBlockTV ?

Yeah...don't use diesel, likely irritate skin and eyes.

Granted my Subie is a lowered GT deal (opposite of an Outback) and it's hard to wash (and drive thru are not feasible). For me it's a DIY project that requires my own Power Washer (a relatively cheap one ~1800psi) and JACK STANDS. I put the car up on level ground as stable as I can get it...and spend a good whole day cleaning things out between heavy uses. I play in the mud a lot, so I'm always washing the car down.

While chasing...just have to find one of the DIY places. Use lots of soap...plain water doesn't do it.

Oh..and I've had it occur on all types of vehicles; trucks, sedans, minivans, RWD, FWD, AWD, etc.

Another reason to keep the mud off...weight. Less you carry, the better the MPGs