Cybertruck vs. the New Defender on a mud trail (one was stuck)

[dorylee]

So I took my Cybertruck on a very light trail in NorCal with a couple of my buddies. The trail is usually pretty easy on a dry day but it just rained heavily the night before which made is super slippery and muddy. One section of the trail was particularly bad (Deep soft mud, uphill, people can't even walk without getting stuck in soft mud).

My girlfriend is driving the Defender which is

• 33 in KO2 tire (largest you can fit without cutting the trim)
• 2 in lift on top of max air suspension travel
• center and rear axle lock, low gear mod

I was driving the Cybertruck behind her - needless to say, I was pretty worried because the truck was

• completely stock
• diff lock is still not available, still waiting for software updates
• weighs a lot more than the defender that got stuck

Although it has 35 in tires but they definitely don't look as aggressive as some of the mud tires. The defender was stuck in the mud, unfortunately, and winched itself out. When it comes to the cybertruck - it just pushed through the mud pretty easily. I'm amazed by the traction system on this car (somehow it's able to find tractions at the right place & time)

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[heems]

Good times

 

[Bothwalien]

Any idea what the underbody clearance is on the Defender? That looked like the definition of high centered . Cybertruck looked great! Nice beach shots too!

 

[dorylee]

Any idea what the underbody clearance is on the Defender? That looked like the definition of high centered . Cybertruck looked great! Nice beach shots too!

thanks! I think the defender has about 13 inches at max air suspension travel with the lift kit i installed.

 

[Mark2sday]

That picture of the two parked next to each other needs to come with a warning! I’m at work for heck’s sake!

 

[Beyond]

What a great post and info. Thanks, for the fun footage!

 

[Woodrick]

And if you were following you didn't have the advantage of the drier mud, your mud had already freshly been put through the blender.

 

[Pstryker]

Good stuff. That Defender looks so darn good. Almost as good as the CT.

 

[Woodrick]

Any idea what the underbody clearance is on the Defender? That looked like the definition of high centered . Cybertruck looked great! Nice beach shots too!

It does appear to just be a clearance issue.
And in some ways the Cybertruck can be worse, because of the plastic sled on the undercarriage.

Years ago I was coming off the Smokies with lots of snow around. I pulled off into a parking pulloff to take pictures, got back into the car and it wouldn't be forwards or reverse. Wheels were definitely spinning though. Got out to see the problem and because I was going downhill with momentum, I slid up onto a snow pile. The wheels really weren't touching the ground. Som rocking back and forth packed the snow and I was able to head out.

And while nice beach picks, they are misleading in regard to getting stuck. The Tesla is definitely squatting in the pics.

I think that it is amazing how the Cybertruck doesn't look that imposing while squatted. But lifted up, it looks really mean.

 

[Bothwalien]

Yeah, I hadn’t thought about the large surface area of that plastic sled. I think I’ve been focusing on that extra clearance of “extract mode”. But if you get the Cybertruck high centered it’s gonna be some fun getting it back down. Maxtrax or a winch are going to be more fun than a shovel.

 

[Crissa]

The line your wheels take is almost all of whether you get stuck or not.

I've gone so far in small, front-wheel cars without much clearance that Jeeps got stuck because I was careful to stay out of the ruts.

-Crissa

 

[cardad]

Kinda hard to say what went wrong with the Defender because it had no momentum. Backing down and trying it with a slightly different line or turned wheel could have made the difference.

 

[Crissa]

Yeah, and in mud, that difference can be completely obscured. Making it all but chance.

-Crissa

 

[Woodrick]

The line your wheels take is almost all of whether you get stuck or not.

I've gone so far in small, front-wheel cars without much clearance that Jeeps got stuck because I was careful to stay out of the ruts.

-Crissa

Absolutely, looking at this video, I may could have gotten my Model 3 through it. But I'm putting my wheels on the peaks and not the valleys.
I've done that before while exploring in my Model 3, the gullies were about that deep, but the road was driving and riding the ridges was fairly easy.
But then the road started to get worse, and no one was ever on the road, so I turned around.

 

[Crissa]

Yeah, with mud, sometimes those ridges turn out to be false, and your tire sinks in or slides off and ohwell.

-Crissa

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