If you often drive in the Outback during the winter months, the chances are that sooner or later you will find your vehicle has become stuck in deep mud. When this occurs, you have two options — you can call a tow truck company and ask them to pull your car clear of the mud, or you put your foot on the gas and try to power your way out. Below are four reasons you shouldn't try to drive out of the mud unaided.

You will dig your wheels in deeper

When you put your foot on the gas and your wheels begin to spin, they will spray mud out from beneath the tyres. If your car doesn't start to move forward, your tyres will sink deeper down into the mud. This leads to two significant problems. Firstly, the further your tyres sink into the mud, the greater the hold the mud will have on your car. Secondly, if you continue to dig your vehicle deeper into the mud, you may eventually reach the point where the underside of the car is touching the layer of mud. When this occurs, even a tow truck will struggle to extract you.

You will overheat your transmission

As you try to power your car out of the mud, you will be running the engine at an extremely high PRM while in a low gear. This will place a lot of strain on your vehicle's transmission system, potentially causing it to overheat. Overheating can cause the clutch plates within the transmission to slip out of position and seals to burn out and break.

You will knock your wheels out of alignment

The wheels on your car are designed to spin at the same speed in unison. If you are stuck in thick mud, the chances are one wheel will have more freedom to spin that its partner. This can place stress on the wheel which is bogged down, causing it to become misaligned.

You will cake the bottom of your vehicle in mud

Even if you do not sink your car right down into the mud as you try to get out, you will spray the underside with a thick layer of mud. Once your vehicle is free, you will need to spend a long time removing this mud. If you do not remove the dirt, it could lead to overheating of critical components while the additional weight could also affect the balance and steering of the car.

If you get stuck in the mud, you should contact a towing company.