Even a trail you had driven easily on a sunny warm day, could drastically change to an extremely hard to beat terrain with the rain.

So that you should be armed with necessary techniques and equipment to beat different terrains in such weather conditions.

To off-roading in rain your 4WD vehicle and tires should be in best condition first.it’s vipers, lights should work properly.

Turn on your head lights. Reduce tire pressure for better traction. Keep speed slow as possible and speed as necessary. Avoid unnecessary braking.

Check for the weather forecast.

Before starting any off-roading trip first check the weather forecast on relevant area.It may be sunny,rainy or snowy.

It’s very very important to know that, because then only you can plan what to bring and what not to bring on your off-roading journey.

Otherwise you may end up with a huge list of things to load to your truck that results in an increase of the weight of your truck.

Study trail map.

It’s a rainy day or not this step also important before off-roading. If it’s rainy then this is very very important due to several reasons.

One is, as I mentioned in the start, even a very easy terrain can transform into a lethal terrain by the rain.

So you should have a good idea about the trail. As an example if there’s a river bed you’ve to cross during the trail then the water level of that river may increase quickly due to heavy rain.

That thing mostly happens in reverse with heavy rains to the upper parts of the river.

If such a thing happens after you cross that river you may not be able to come back through that river.

You have to know other safer routes to evacuate.

This is just one example. There are so many such things in a trail that can change with the weather conditions.

You have to be aware about those things before entering a trail. It’s good if you can go with a person who has experiences on that relevant trail if you’re going to beat that on a rainy day.

Vehicle check up

Windshield wipers.

You should give a good inspection to the vehicle to do off-roading on a rainy day.

Mainly the condition of windshields and vipers should be in very good condition for a rainy day off-roading.

Most of the time wiper blade rubber becomes hard and develops cracks with the age.

It results in leaving streaks on the windshield. This is not good at all happens in a middle of a trail and in a middle of a heavy rain.

Lights.

Lights should be in good working conditions during a rain. Rainy day may cause to mist.

If mist occurs in a terrain you should have a good set of lights for improve the visibility both yours and other drivers who riding on same trail.

Otherwise you may have to face accidents.

You can attach fog lights or flasher lights to your off-roading truck if they are leagle in your areas.

They can increase the visibility in extreme weather conditions like rain and fog during off-roading.

Tires

As you know with the rain, dried grounds transform to slippery and muddy. Grass lands transforms to extremely hard to beat terrains.

So tires are very important. You can go for a set of Mud terrain tires or All terrain tires.

But I recommend mostly the mud terrain tyres for you in this case becuase you are going to drive off the pavement.

All terrain tires are not give you much support with the mud. You can read about why I’m saying so in my “which off-roading tires good for pavement” article.

I had described this in depth at there. To read that click here.

Check for the tire condition if you all ready have mud terrain or all terrain tire set.

If they are heavily warn out they may unable to keep the grip and unable to channel water away in rainy conditions.

That will cause for hydroplaning. Be aware about that and change tires if it necessary.

Brakes

I think I don’t want to talk much about importance of brakes for your off-roading truck.

Because all of you know it. So check your brakes and do necessary maintenance before leaving for any off-roading journey.

Above mentioned things should checked thoroughly. Other than those things you have to check other general things.

I have discuss all of them them well in my “off-roading for beginners” article. If you like you can check that out by clicking here.

Be ready with suitable clothing

Make sure to dressed up with suitable cloths for a rainy day.sometimes you may have to get out from the vehicle in rain.

So ready with waterproof jackets, pants over your cloths and pair of boots also may helpful.

Off-roading in rain

Air down 

You have to reduce your tire pressure of the off-roading tires when off-roading in rain.

It will increase the tire foot print and increase the traction. Reduce sliding.

Steady speed but keep it slow.

This is somewhat tricky. You should drive slow in trails when raining. But you should have to keep the necessary speed.

That necessary speed is depend on your track. In that case you have to decide the speed using your sixth sense 😉

If you are too slow you may not get the necessary momentum.

If you are too speed you will slide away on slippery terrain and end up with hitting a tree or obstacle.

So be careful to keep the necessary speed according to the terrain.

Know about depth of boggy areas and river beds

Before putting your vehicle in to any unknown water log or mud swamp check about it’s depth.

If you have someone who knows about that trail with you, he can help you in those situations.

Otherwise you have to drop out from the vehicle and check the depth with a stick.

Be careful when crossing moving water. You may not imagine, even a decent amount of moving water can sweep your vehicle away.

So be aware about the depth  and speed of moving water, before driving through them.

Know your limits

This is a rule of thumb in off-roading. Know your limits when off-roading.

In rainy days specially consider about depths of waterlogs or mud swamps.

If they are over your vehicles capabilities avoid them or stop from there.

Other wise you will end up with damages to your vehicles engine and electronic parts and many more.

As I mentioned earlier if you try to cross a fast moving water your vehicle may sweep away.

If your air intake gets water, your engine can hydro-locked. Engine hydro- locking is not a fun thing like off-roading in rain.

You may end up with even a full engine replacement. You can read how to avoid hydro-locking and every thing about hydro-locking by clicking here.

If you try to cross a fast moving water your vehicle may sweep away. So every time know your capabilities as well as limitations.

You should be very careful about these limitations when you get to cross slippery slopes and off cambers while raining. so drive safely.

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Have fun and safe rainy off-roading !!