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Best Car Deals for April 2025Critics’ Choice: Best Mudding Vehicle
Spring is here, and that means mud. So, this month we challenge our writers to find the best vehicle for mudding for under $15,000.
One Bad Mudder
It’s that time of year, when the ground is thawing out from a long winter and spring rains are soaking already soggy ground, and the only thing to do is head out to a field or your favorite dirt road and do some mudding. For most of us, getting stuck in the mud is a vehicular nightmare. Even well-equipped four-wheel drive vehicles can struggle when the very ground beneath you has begun to liquify. But for mudding enthusiasts, getting stuck is the point (Mudding Enthusiast magazine sounds like an ironical winner of a letterhead, no?). The challenge and triumph of getting unstuck can bring forth mud-splattered grins from even the most jaded of gearheads and has spawned a devoted automotive subculture dedicated to wallowing fender-deep in the muck.
Like rock crawling or overlanding, the first order of business when embarking on an off-road hobby like mudding is to find yourself a good, cheap 4×4. Not too cheap that it can’t take a beating and not too good that you’ll feel bad putting it through its paces. For this month’s Critics’ Choice, we tasked our writers with finding the best candidate vehicle for a mudding conversion. The only stipulation was a $15,000 price cap, given the many more thousands one would hypothetically be pouring into suspension upgrades and new tires.
Chris Kaiser
1983 CJ-7 Jeep
Short List
2005 GMC Sierra 2500
1994 Toyota Land Cruiser
2004 Ford F-250
When searching for a proper mudding vehicle, my first instinct was to go for the obvious, a heavy-duty pickup. It didn’t take me long to find some suitable candidate trucks. A 2004 Ford F-250 with a 6.8L Triton V10. Anyone who’s been mudding knows that maintaining some degree of momentum is vital to avoid getting stuck, but when all else fails and you’re mired down, it’s nice to have torque in reserve and this F-250 has 460 lb.-ft. of it. Additionally, it’s already been lifted and rides on some knobby, bead-locked off-road tires.
A similar 2005 GMC Sierra 2500 caught my eye. Like the F-250, it already has a lift and off-road tires on 20-inch wheels. The seller lists the truck as “rust free,” which is nothing to scoff from a truck from Wisconsin with over 200,000 miles on it. Mudding can leave a lot of sticky wet mud on your under carriage and potentially lead to rusting. But only if you don’t know the trick of tossing a sprinkler Ghostbusters style, under your mudder to easily wash the underside clean.
A less obvious choice I considered was a Toyota Land Cruiser. The king of overlanding is more than happy slogging through muddy dirt roads and a little lift and some knobbies could make such this off-road legend a decent mudder (we know the Land Cruiser has the durability).
As good as any of these potential choices might be, I knew the only real answer for the perfect mudding vehicle is one you can drop the top on and get dirty in. That’s why I picked a CJ-7 Jeep. The “modernized” CJ, the CJ-7 was the bigger, more approachable evolution of the original Willys Jeep. As a bridge from the old Jeeps of yore to today’s Wrangler, the CJ-7 is a classic off-roader with just enough refinement to make it livable. Beefy off-road tires and standard four-wheel drive are just the start. This example comes with a front-mounted winch, a welcomed edition to our mudding arsenal and invaluable for when you inevitably get stuck. A high-output 5.0L Ford V8 under the hood pairs with a three-speed manual and provides this Jeep with serious grunt. Best of all, the top can be folded back for some open-air mudding, just as the good Lord intended. A scant 80,000 miles on the odometer means this Jeep still has a lot of life left. The orange paint job is finished off with an unusual detail. Rather than a vintage Renegade or Jamboree decal, this Jeep has “The Rifleman” on the sides of its hood, a reference to the late 1950s TV western starring Chuck Connors who was spin-cocking his Winchester long before Arnold did it in Terminator 2. That might seem an odd choice, but The Rifleman’s Lucas McCain always had his son Mark McCain by his side, and there are few better ways to get kids into off-roading than a day slinging mud in your vintage Jeep.
Jesse McGraw
1980 Toyota Pickup Custom
Short List
1981 Ford F-150 Custom
1984 Chevrolet K20 Custom
1981 Jeep CJ-5
Finding a good mudder for under $15,000 can be pretty easy if you know what to look for. You need a vehicle with a 4×4 drivetrain, an added lift, big tires, a capable engine, and as few electronic components as possible. Those stipulations sent me back to Carsforsale.com search results from around the ‘80s. There are plenty of classic mudders for sale that have already received extensive work from previous owners to make them capable swamp runners out there. I found the typical Ford F-150s, Chevy K20s, and Jeep CJ-5s within the set budget, but I settled on a small truck with a great all-around build for tackling some mud holes.
This 1980 Toyota Pickup would have already been a fun recreational mudding choice had it just received a lift kit and some bigger tires, but the previous owner took things to another level. They paired Toyota’s capable 4×4 drivetrain to a Mercedes-Benz OM617A straight-five turbodiesel. It’s a common engine swap for off-road builds, including hardcore mudders, since it’s relatively cheap to source and its reliability is a major plus. This unique little diesel engine is one of the most reliable engines ever produced with claims of over 600,000 miles without a rebuild. Not only did the previous owner swap in a great engine, but this Toyota Pickup also has an added intercooler to help the turbocharger and features an Optima RedTop battery that can power through the harshest conditions.
I’m not only picking this Toyota because of its excellent choice under the hood, this truck also has some great mudding additions at the wheels. It features beadlocked American Racing ATX Series wheels wrapped in big Super Swamper IROK tires. Super Swamper is a brand known for their mudding prowess, and the IROK tires will prove that grit in through mud while also providing a comprehensive design that can tackle all other types of off-road terrain. There’s an added lift kit that not only fits those big tires, but together give this Toyota Pickup nearly three feet of ground clearance.
Rounding out this 1980 Toyota Pickup build are some front lockers that will keep equal power at both sides of the axle while pushing through some tough mud. The only thing I’d add on to this Toyota would be a snorkel to really dive into a mud hole. Luckily, this whole fun build is listed for just $13,995 leaving me with an extra $1,000 in the budget to go pick a snorkel kit up and maybe a cheap front bumper with some tow points just in case it does get stuck.
Jesse Batson
1989 Land Rover Range Rover
Short List
1989 Ford F-250
1994 Jeep Wrangler
The first thought that came to mind when finding a vehicle suited for mudding was: Jeep or Ford. It’s probably going to be a Jeep or Ford. Whether it’s a modified Wrangler or an F-Series, it’s probably going to be one of those brands. Maybe a Ram? Then, I started searching. True, I did find a Wrangler that made my shortlist. I found a lifted 1989 Ford F-250 as well (also on the shortlist). However, my main pick for this challenge ended up being a 1989 Land Rover Range Rover.
It may be more of a luxury brand with upscale cabin features, but that’s not the case with this vehicle. That’s a good thing, by the way. I’m not looking to take it out on Sunday drives. I need a vehicle that can compete. A leisure off-roading adventure is one thing, but a mudding competition is another. This modified 1989 Range Rover checks a lot of boxes. First, it’s got a solid build and it’s got some good clearance with 35” tires. That could obviously be higher, but I think that’ll do, especially since this ‘89 Range Rover has a snorkel. It’s also got a backup camera, which could come in handy as I’m maneuvering out of some situations. 4WD, too? Yep, I’m covered.
Factory output was 170 horsepower with 215 lb-ft of torque with a 3.9-liter V8 and a four-speed automatic transmission, but there were some modifications. The exact horsepower isn’t listed, but I’m hoping it’s modified enough to where it would help me out in a mudding competition. There’s a good chance it is because the seller details note that it’s modified enough to the point that it can’t be sold in California. That will hopefully pay off on a bogging course. It does limit where I can go, but other states, like Texas, Missouri, Ohio, and Michigan all have off-road parks. Plus, at least I could still take it to some cool off-roading trails in Utah, Idaho, and Colorado when I’m not using it for actual mudding competitions.
More than power, I’d hope it has some good gears, so I’d be looking to take this Rover out on a test drive at some point. It does have a two-speed transfer case to go along with the 4WD system. The off-roader also comes with new rear shocks. That’s a little bonus.
There are some imperfections throughout the vehicle, but let’s just say that those add character to the vehicle. Besides, if I’m mudding, I’m likely going to add more to that. As nice as it is to have a pristine vehicle, there’s a lot of pressure taken off the moment you get your first light scratch or dent. The cloth upholstery does have some marks, too, but I could always replace that if need be.
Cloth seats aren’t ideal for mudding. Still, that’s not too big of a concern for me. I’d probably be using some seat covers anyway. Or replace the cloth with vinyl. The floors don’t have any carpeting. Instead, this Range Rover has Rhino Linter-painted floors.
This is an open-window vehicle with trimmed, Safari-style doors. It does have front air conditioning. If I want all my power to go to my wheels while I’m trying to get out of a mud pit, I’m not sure I’ll use the air conditioning, but on less intense parts of the course, I might.
Overall, it has a lot of positives. I could always get bigger tires if I really wanted to lift this Range Rover, but I think that would come a bit later, depending on how this one fares out there. Yeah, I think the 1989 Range Rover is where I’ll spend my money. It stays under budget, it doesn’t have an extensive damage history, and it seems well-equipped to handle some action!
