Breaking in the New Truck
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (125647)
Gainesville, Florida
September 19, 2025 1:00pm CST
My son recently bought a new truck, a Ford Ranger 4-wheel drive that has just about all the upgrades you can get. He pretty much paid as much for his truck as I did for my SuperCrew F-150 many years ago. Pretty crazy how expensive vehicles are nowadays. But that's a subject for another day.
My son lives in south Florida, in a place called Wellington that is basically the western suburbs of West Palm Beach. And west of Wellington, before you get out to the sugarcane fields and Lake Okeechobee, is a place called the Corbett Wildlife Management Area, which is nothing more than woods and swamp. It's a great place to take 4x4 trucks out muddin', something he and I did recently with both our trucks (@thislittlepennyearns would approve I'm sure).
Given that this is the rainy season in Florida, the entire place was pretty much underwater, and wanting to push his new truck to the limits, we ran both our vehicles through just about everything nature could throw at us. And boy did we have a fun time doing it!
You can see in the photo the aftermath of our adventure. Mud covered just about every square inch of our trucks, and by the time we got home the mud was caked on so hard that we had to pressure wash the trucks to get them clean.
My son was really excited about what his new truck can do. And although I had a great time, I'm pretty sure I damaged a CV joint or possibly the hub-locking actuator in my truck, something I'll have to get repaired soon. Thankfully, it doesn't affect my truck when I'm driving in 2-wheel drive.
Have any of you ever been out muddin' before?
16 people like this
12 responses
@FourWalls (78860)
• United States
19 Sep
Many times….just never intentionally. 
All of the gravel roads I drove in Missouri a couple of years ago helped me bring home half the state!
All of the gravel roads I drove in Missouri a couple of years ago helped me bring home half the state!4 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
When I first bought my truck, I lived at the end of a long dirt road in the woods, and my truck would be filthy every time from driving down the road. I wanted to keep my baby looking new, so I literally washed it every single day for the couple of years I lived down that dirt road.
3 people like this
@Fleura (32666)
• United Kingdom
20 Sep
@moffittjc Did you carry a big container of water down the road so when you got to the end, on the way out, you could wash it before being seen 'in public'?
3 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
@Fleura No, but that is a great idea I wish I would have thought of at the time!
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (48739)
•
19 Sep
Oh, the poor new truck...I don't think I could have done that to it!
I love being outside, and nature, etc. a lot. But I do not enjoy the ''muddin'' thing at all...I know people who think it's lots of fun. Years ago, (many years!) I went out for a short time with a guy who spent his weekend doing the mud thing...I just couldn't get into it. But hey,,,,I am glad you had fun and time with your son, that's the best part!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
I'm not into it either, and I don't think he really is either, but you can't own a truck and not take it out to play at least once! lol
2 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
@MarieCoyle At least he was responsible enough to clean the Jeep! Or at least tried to cover up his misdeeds! lol
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (48739)
•
20 Sep
@moffittjc
Years ago, I got a new Jeep Grand Cherokee (we drove Jeeps for a long time)...anyway, my older son borrowed it and a friend talked him into ''going muddin'' and I had no idea. I mean...it was NEW, ya know? He was always so responsible, I never dreamed he would do that. So he took it and they went without my knowledge, and I guess there was not one single part of it that wasn't muddy, from what I heard later. He called and asked if he could keep the Jeep that night and stay with the friend (who lived about an hour away) and come home in the morning, I said sure...still didn't know about the mud. The two of them worked on that Jeep the entire night, for hours and hours. He came home the next day and I said, oh, thanks for washing the Jeep...and the story spilled out. I couldn't get mad...he was so upset with himself.
In his case, he played but he paid!
2 people like this
@RasmaSandra (89079)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
19 Sep
Glad you both enjoyed the truck now give it a good bath,
3 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
He's got it looking all shiny and new again!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
Most people call it off-roading here as well, but a lot of people also call it mudding.
2 people like this
@Deepizzaguy (114279)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
19 Sep
I have never driven an auto in a muddy road before.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
Not even in the swamps and bayous of Louisiana?
2 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
@Deepizzaguy I've never worried about engine damage, but I am always worried about doing transmission damage!
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (114279)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
20 Sep
@moffittjc No since I am scared of having the engine ruined in the swamps.
2 people like this
@porwest (107733)
• United States
20 Sep
Mudding was never something on my radar. That being said, neither was off roading. I guess I am just not that adventurous a guy. I will say this, though, they really did good with the Rangers. They used to be complete pieces of crap, but when they brought them back, they really did well with the "upgrade." I'm still a full-sized truck guy personally, so I will never own one. But they are nice trucks.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
I agree wholeheartedly with you on the upgrade of the Rangers. Traditionally, I've always hated them (and small trucks in general, because--hey, are they even really trucks? lol), but I think Ford did a really good job when they reintroduced them. I'm really impressed with my son's new truck. And also, it looks like Ram and Chevy also did a good job upgrading their small trucks as well. But, like you, I will always be a full-size truck guy.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Sep
@porwest I’ve noticed over the years how bad their stock has sucked.
1 person likes this
@porwest (107733)
• United States
21 Sep
@moffittjc I drove one by default when I worked for Batzner Pest Management, and it was a complete POS. But now? Yeah, totally different truck and totally different experience. They have sold quite a few too. Being a Ford shareholder for decades, anything they do that is good is welcome to me because the stock has pretty much...
Sucked.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (165821)
• United States
20 Sep
Nope, but I have seen the aftermath.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
The fun part is creating the mess. The bad part is cleaning up the aftermath!
@snowy22315 (196389)
• United States
20 Sep
Glad the mudding was enjoyed by all. I have not. Although I am certain some women enjoy it, to me it is more of a guy thing.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
I think it is definitely more a guy thing, although in redneck communities the gals like hootin' and hollering and muddin' just as much as the guys!
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (122630)
• Marion, Ohio
19 Sep
I haven't done that in years. It's fun
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
I think the last time I did that was when I was a kid. My uncle had a big jacked-up redneck truck and we used to always take it out to the woods to go off-roading.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
17h
@JudyEv I guess that is one way to send a message to all those around you!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
Oh goodness, look at how filthy that vehicle is!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (363330)
• Rockingham, Australia
21 Sep
@moffittjc I made Vince leave it like that for a week so we looked tough driving around in it!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (201255)
• United States
20 Sep
I'm sorry you damaged your truck but glad you two had a good time. I've never been muddiin'.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
My truck is 16 years old, so it's understandable that things will start to break. I've never had issues with my 4-wheel drive before, and I've never done any preventative maintenance on the 4x4 system, so it was inevitable that something would give. But I was already thinking about getting the CV joints replaced, and now I will go ahead and get the actuators replaced as well.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (201255)
• United States
21 Sep
@moffittjc 16 years old. Yes, things will start to go.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
17h
@LindaOHio The funny thing is, it still looks brand new! I baby it so much and keep it looking good, and people don't believe me when I tell them how old the truck is. Even my leather seats in the interior still look brand new!
1 person likes this
@Laurakemunto (13188)
• Kenya
20 Sep
Yes and it's always fun especially if you just want to enjoy
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (125647)
• Gainesville, Florida
20 Sep
We definitely enjoyed doing it! Everything was covered in mud by the time we finished.
