Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Warning: driving over a median to save a couple minutes might cost you an hour. :-laf
So on the way to a christmas party I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. In an effort to bypass the congested road ahead, I decided to make a left and take back streets. The left hand turn lane was empty and the light was turning green... but the cars in my lane were backed up past the entrance to the left hand turn lane which was blocked by one of those curbed planter boxes. Seeing that the couple of barely surviving plants in the box already had tire tracks on them and the curb was chipped away from people driving over it, I figured what the heck and went for it. Almost immediately the truck sank and forward momentum was lost. Well, I guess the last few days of rain decided to all drain into that planter box and create the nastiest gooey mud I've ever seen in the middle of a high traffic urban road. I didn't have it in 4x4 as I didn't expect the ground to give way like that, and as you can see in the pics, the front tire was nearly covered to the top with mud. The right side of the truck was still at ground level on decent traction, but even if I had lockers I wasn't getting out of this mess. I made a call to AAA Plus ($79/yr, best investment on the planet) and the flatbed was on it's way. I inspected my truck and all was mechanically fine, so my only worry was a run-in with the law. The last thing I wanted was a ticket for destruction of public property or the like. About that time, I see flashing lights and a local police unit coming my way. Assuming the worst I was pleasantly surprised that the officer was a fellow Jeeper, and had just had his squad car stuck in the mud around the corner while chasing some perps through the park. He even told me he was nearly stuck in the very same median the night before. Seeing the look on my girlfriend's face when he jokingly asked her "do you think he deserves a citation?" was enough for him to have pity on me. We were about an hour late to the party, but in the end everyone was fine and it didn't cost me anything but embarassment.
So on the way to a christmas party I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. In an effort to bypass the congested road ahead, I decided to make a left and take back streets. The left hand turn lane was empty and the light was turning green... but the cars in my lane were backed up past the entrance to the left hand turn lane which was blocked by one of those curbed planter boxes. Seeing that the couple of barely surviving plants in the box already had tire tracks on them and the curb was chipped away from people driving over it, I figured what the heck and went for it. Almost immediately the truck sank and forward momentum was lost. Well, I guess the last few days of rain decided to all drain into that planter box and create the nastiest gooey mud I've ever seen in the middle of a high traffic urban road. I didn't have it in 4x4 as I didn't expect the ground to give way like that, and as you can see in the pics, the front tire was nearly covered to the top with mud. The right side of the truck was still at ground level on decent traction, but even if I had lockers I wasn't getting out of this mess. I made a call to AAA Plus ($79/yr, best investment on the planet) and the flatbed was on it's way. I inspected my truck and all was mechanically fine, so my only worry was a run-in with the law. The last thing I wanted was a ticket for destruction of public property or the like. About that time, I see flashing lights and a local police unit coming my way. Assuming the worst I was pleasantly surprised that the officer was a fellow Jeeper, and had just had his squad car stuck in the mud around the corner while chasing some perps through the park. He even told me he was nearly stuck in the very same median the night before. Seeing the look on my girlfriend's face when he jokingly asked her "do you think he deserves a citation?" was enough for him to have pity on me. We were about an hour late to the party, but in the end everyone was fine and it didn't cost me anything but embarassment.
