Chad Love: Handy Off-Road Driving Tricks

When it comes to sheer creativity there are very few groups more talented than off-roaders. There aren’t any garages in the woods so if something goes wrong you have one of three options: Fix it, hoof it, or tow it.

As someone who has at one time or another done all three while pursuing fish, fur, and fowl I have a keen appreciation for little tricks that can get you out of big jams, and if it looks like it came straight from the “Beavis and Butt-Head” school of automotive repair then so much the better.

Like this, for example:

No tire-mounting machine needed, just a can of something flammable like WD-40 or starting fluid, a match or lighter and (if done incorrectly) the knowledge that you’re gonna look pretty freaky until your eyebrow hair grows back.

Now this trick doesn’t actually inflate a tire, it simply re-beads it on the rim, but if you encounter a tire/rim separation it could come in handy sometime. In the interests of legality neither I personally nor Field & Stream (I’m assuming) take any responsibility for any potential accidents arising from this practice. It does, after all, involve fire and pressurized flammable material.

Anyone have any other cool, handy or creative off-road tips or tricks they’d like to share?

Here’s mine: If you tell yourself “Aw hell, I don’t need to put it in 4WD for THAT…” then you most assuredly do. And quickly. Before it’s too late.