# Stuck on site in France. Lower pressure on 2 or 4 tyres?



## Howlinwolf

Read a few times on here the tip of lowering tyre pressures. This would be on my Fiat Ducato base. I assume that the front two only would be lowered, but would want to make sure it doesn't mean all four before going ahead and trying it.
Front wheels now quite deep after much spinning.
David


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## Highwayman999

I would of thought front 2 only as well, but have no knowledge or experience of this!!

Hope your out soon
Brad


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## Bethune

You only need to reduce pressure on the tyres on the driven wheels, I assume the Ducato is front wheel drive, reducing pressure on the undriven wheel tyres will only hinder matters.
Hope you get out
Rgds
Philip


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## peribro

Yes - lower pressure in driven wheels only. Also try reversing out or if going forwards, use as high a gear as possible.


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## viator

If you are already dug in, lowering the pressure will not help in mud or similar. If possible get a tow.
viator


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## 91502

Sorry to hear your stuck.
I think you are past lowering tyre pressure, this only gives a you bigger footprint to stop you sinking and give you a wider area to grip.
If you have already sunk this will be of little help.
Try and get something under the wheels, a couple of cheap door mats are a good idea or even better a couple strips of carpet as long as you can get. 
Try rocking backwards and forwards a little to get back out of the rut before you put the mats down.
Hope your out soon.
JP


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## pneumatician

*Stuck in Mud*

Engage a high gear and do not to let the wheels spin, at the first sign of a spin you stop. Once the treads are full you will make life very difficult.
And a tow may be the only solution.

Daft as it sounds newspaper works very well. If we encounter a slightly iffy pitch its off to the waste bins and collect old newspapers.
Fortunately I have yet to be totally stuck.

Best of luck and don't panic. There is sure to be a bloke with a 4*4 who wants to show off.

Steve


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## xgx

Best advice is get a tow

... same thing happened to me and I spent and hour or so trying allsorts from doormats to boards.... including jacking up to get 'em under the tyre and ended up exhausted and no further forward and very frustrated (understatement!).


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## havingfun

*stuvk on site in france, lower tyre pressure.*

hi,

if you are in the country,try small branches and twigs packed under the wheels as tight as you can get,and some in front to make a track to drive out on.

i know it works,because our first trip out for the day,we went to a national trust property,because we knew they all had large car parks,forgetting that what is great for a car,is maybe not as good for a 5 ton motorhome.

we got well and truely sunk in,tried rugs,doormats,anything we could find,zilch,just then a coach load of,people of our age,i.e. pensioners,took pity on us,and one of the guys suggested twigs,by that time bernard would have tried putting me under if he thought it might work.so twenty odd dressed up people collecting wood could have been quite funny except it was now going dark,and i,m crying.

BUT it worked wonderful.

hope you get out soon,you feel helpless i know,but hopefully some kind soul will help,

mags
,


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## Mike48

Have you got a couple of mats you can sacrifice? If so put these under the front wheels. That will give you grip especially if you can find some way of staking it. It will ruin your mats but should work if you are desperate.


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## erneboy

If you are already in ruts and you let the tyres down you may find that the bottom of the van (front crossmember) comes into contact with the ground making you even more stuck, be careful of that. A tow would be best, Alan.


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## Jezport

I have reversed my Ducato out of mud upto the rims, I just let it pull itself out using no accelerator just the engine on idle.

Failing that just get as many small twigs and pack them under the drive wheels as tight as possible. If its real sloppy mud put paper in with the sticks.


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## Howlinwolf

First time on line since posting this. Maintenance man on site used a trolley jack to lift each wheel and pushed strips of sheet metal under each. We were then able to drive off with ease. Thanks everyone for your contributions, we have mentally filed all suggestions for future use and are looking for better items to carry for putting under wheels other than our rubber outdoor mats which didn't prove of much use on this occasion.
David


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## Fatalhud

xgx said:


> Best advice is get a tow
> 
> ... same thing happened to me and I spent and hour or so trying allsorts from doormats to boards.... including jacking up to get 'em under the tyre and ended up exhausted and no further forward and very frustrated (understatement!).


Been there done that   than paid a farmer a fiver to tow us off  

Our main problem was the rear wheels had also sunk, so instead of just trying to pull the van off the grass, it was also having to pull the rear wheels out of the hole

Alan H


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## arh

When you get back, (or, even (heaven forbid) in France), get some bread trays, or similar, cut the bottoms out and, either before you park, or, as I've done, when you're stuck, jack up the drive wheels off of the ground, slide them under, two more in front(or behind if you are going in reverse). drive until you're off the mud, then go back and fetch them. Snow chains work well, not easy to put on in the mud, but not as tiring as running around jacking and moving 2-3 times, (bin there,dun that).arh.


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## RainDancer

Hi Guys

No one mentioned the old trick of bread baskets. I always use them if I'm parked on grass unless it is absolutely solid.

Lots of motorhomers use them, makes you think how much has it cost the likes of Sunblest bakeries over the years? :lol: :lol: 

For those who don't know, obtain a couple of the large bread baskets (NO I did not say Steal) cut the bottoms out and then cut them in half (best to do this with an electric jig saw) . You then have 4 lattice style mats to park on. If you use them ridge side down they will not slip out when you start moving.

Another tip is if you are using ramps always reverse on to them then you can drive off and keep going. If you drive up the ramps you always have to reverse off stop and remove the ramps to go forward.

Hope it helps


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## RainDancer

Well would you believe it just beaten to it by arh.


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## Cacherbri

Thanks to posters with solutions.
We have been towed out twice but I have now acquired my second bread tray and have just finished cutting both of them up.

Brian


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## teensvan

Hi.


If you cannot get a tow out your best bet is to try and jack up each front wheel in turn and get cardboard old carpet or anything to hand that is semi hard or even wood under each wheel. Get enough to get you going and don't stop until you reach something hard. This does work as we once had to do this


Steve & ann. ------ teensvan


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## steco1958

Cacherbri, teensvan,

You do realize this thread was from a few weeks ago, I would surmise the op is out of his camping space.

Steve


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## Penquin

Agree totally with steco1958's last post but then for many of us having such a post "bumped" means we have had the chance to read it and confirm that the suggestions have worked! :lol: 

We have a couple of the flat mats which are commercially available (and I am NOT going to post a link because the bread mats are much better IMO!).

I do wonder how many such baskets fail to rematerialise at the factory........ :lol: 8O 

I do hope we don't all get toasted because of it!  

Dave


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## Fatalhud

steco1958 said:


> Cacherbri, teensvan,
> 
> You do realize this thread was from a few weeks ago, I would surmise the op is out of his camping space.
> 
> Steve


If not He's got one hell of a pitch fee to pay :wink: :wink: :lol: 
Alan H


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## steco1958

Fatalhud said:


> steco1958 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Cacherbri, teensvan,
> 
> You do realize this thread was from a few weeks ago, I would surmise the op is out of his camping space.
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> 
> If not He's got one hell of a pitch fee to pay :wink: :wink: :lol:
> Alan H
Click to expand...

And I bet the ferry or tunnel would charge due changes on the agreed travel date / time

Steve


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## ruffingitsmoothly

Perhaps some people do not know what we are referring to when talking about 'bread trays'

Here is a pic of the the sort of tray we mean. All you have to do is cut off the sides leaving the flat base which is put under the wheels when we park on the pitch.

























Regards Pat


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## Zozzer

I think you have gone passed the point of letting the tyres down.

You really to be towed out, and depending on how deep you have dug in you may need a heavy tractor. My late brother in law got stuck with his Range Rover having taken his kids out for a play in the snow. He phone for help of friend with another 4x4 tried to pull him out and failed, rendering them both stuck in the mud. He ended up phoning a local farmer he knew that had a big 4x4 tractor to pull them both out.

Whilst your situation is no joke, I'm sure you'll looked back on it and chuckle. 

Visions of the film "Ice Cool in Alex" and you hand cranking your van out of the ruts with the starting handle.


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## Howlinwolf

Howlinwolf said:


> First time on line since posting this. Maintenance man on site used a trolley jack to lift each wheel and pushed strips of sheet metal under each. We were then able to drive off with ease. Thanks everyone for your contributions, we have mentally filed all suggestions for future use and are looking for better items to carry for putting under wheels other than our rubber outdoor mats which didn't prove of much use on this occasion.
> David


As outlined in this previous post we were able to escape the mud at a site near Guidel after some heavy rain. We had no problems at subsequent sites and better weather during the rest of our first French trip in the MH. Thanks once again for all help and suggestions. I'm on the lookout for bread trays although I've no idea where to get them legally.
David


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## Jean-Luc

steco1958 said:


> Cacherbri, teensvan,
> 
> You do realize this thread was from a few weeks ago, I would surmise the op is out of his camping space.
> 
> Steve


I know, but !
I got stuck a few years ago and the main problem was that the rear wheels had sunk so the fronts started spinning as they were unable to 'lift' the rears before any forward motion could be achieved. 
If it were to happen again, but it wont as lesson learned and I now park with ALL wheels on planks if on grass, I would first dig out in front of the rear wheels, and the fronts if necessary, to eliminate the 'lift' requirement which would help the fronts enormously to get the whole show on the road.
Remember, if bogged down the initial effort of trying to move in the region of four tonnes vertically is what caused the initial loss of grip.


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## smugglersclose

I am sure that I am not the only reader to appreciate the various suggestions that have been made which I will commit to memory. However from bitter experience I know that once you are bedded in a tow is often the only answer. It happened to us at the end of March at Camping Les Bords de Vienne at L'Ile Bouchard, a lovely grassy site alongside the river. We were the only outfit on the site and the saga lasted all evening. 

The young guy standing in for the owners was helpful but spoke no English and my French is very much of the schoolboy variety. In the circumstances it was amazing how much of the language I suddenly remembered. Eventually 'un ami' who had a tractor was called. It took an hour for the friend to drive at the site but as he arrived the tractor broke down. Another friend who was a mechanic was called and after he arrived he spent almost an hour checking the whole fuel system of the ancient tractor before declaring that it had run out of diesel. Off they went to find agricultural diesel - another 45 minutes. When they returned it was another 30 minutes to bleed the whole system and get the tractor moving. Then it took all of 30 seconds to pull our Nuevo out on to the site access road where we spent the rest of the night - still the only outfit there. The unlit tractor then disappeared into the night for a one hour trip back to its farm. It was now after 9 p.m. and we had finally had a chance to have our first glass of wine and prepare dinner. 

Next morning the site owner could not have been more apologetic and would not accept any payment for the service provided. Looking back we can laugh at the experience but we will certainly aim to avoid a similar one in the future.


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## vicdicdoc

gelathae said:


> Have you got a couple of *mats* you can sacrifice? If so put these under the front wheels. That will give you grip especially quote]
> 
> Dah . . I read the post quickly & thought it said CATS not mats 8O


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