4wd

[Daniel_Christensen]

Hey everyone,

My Dad Just bought a Nissan Patrol (86) auto 7 seater and were goin camping, 4wding and fishing around yorke peninsula and weve never owned a 4wd before so i was just wondering if it would be alright for us to go up and down steep soft sandy hills to get to our fishing destination (beach) and what 4wd gears we wuld use for this. We bought the 4wd with dual fuel (petrol/gas) and its got a new 6 cylinder engine with only a 1000ks. Would the 4wd make it?

[DaneCross]

Mate, it might be worth learning a bit about you car's limitations/capabilities before heading off to try it out first go in a remote area of Cape York. Where are you based? A few people on here might be able to point you in the right direction as to where you can give your 4x4 a test run where there will be other people around to tow you out. Do you have any friends with 4x4's? They might be handy to bring along with you on your first go as well.
DC

[Daniel_Christensen]

yeh thanx, we live in tea tree gully . yeah were are taking a frend with us with a 4wd but he knows about as much as us

[Needmorerum]

Daniel, my suggestion would be to either join a 4WD club, or have a look at doing a couple of Off Road Driver Training courses. I'm not fully up with where Tea Tree Gully is, if it is in Brisbane, look up George Foesel at Motorschool Driver Training and get onto one of his course.
I do Off Road training up here and to see people that come in and have never done anything before it is good to see them leave with some knowledge of how to do things safely. Especially when going somewhere like the Cape.
From someone who has done the Cape so many times now, it isn't rocket science, but it doesn't take too much to turn it into a Nightmare.

Cheers
Corry

[GBC]

Daniel, as possibly the only Queenslander who knows where the Yorke Peninsular is - SA, I say an auto petrol patrol will eat the sandy tracks, just let the tyres down (say 18-20 psi or lower if the sand isn't fine grained). Like the others say - do a bit of practice somewhere you can get out of first, or get someone who knows to go with you on the first few trips. Give my regards to Corny Point - worked there once (DGPS station construction), and give the salmon heaps mate. As far as gears go, lock the front hubs and try D for drive in high 4. If that fails try D in low 4. If that fails start digging brother, but have fun!

[FNQCairns]

Momentum is the key to sand driving, you need to anticipate well ahead of time to make sure you keep going forward, very often this can mean using all of the rev range and holding it there until clear because if you need to change gears (even in an auto) that slight lag in power down can pull you up.
If your old man is a rev head from way back he will probably take to it easier until the subtleties of sand driving kick in.

Just a couple of things always stop on sand where you KNOW you will be able to take of from again like on a slight slope, pointing nose down toward the water a bit or on some flat firm ground, never on any upslope even a mild one if you cannot reverse out somehow.
I have taken my tires down to 12psi many times when I needed to, just dont forget and go blasting down the beach later.

If your engine has only 1000ks on it and you would like to wear it in a bit slower I would wait for a few more are on it before any soft sand driving or you will run it in completely within a day!

It's easy really, you will have a blast

Cheers fnq

[DaneCross]

Ahh the Yorke Penninsula in SA... I knew that :-/ ::)

[jimbamb]

Daniel,
take the other advise given by others,i'd only add to take a Snatch strap and another friend with a 4wd.Leave one fourby on top of the bank untill youve tried gettin out with the other,just in case.Leaves a nasty taste in ya mouth with 2 fourbys sittin at the bottom of the hill and cant get EITHER out.
In most cases if there are tyre tracks it Should be ok to get out.but remember the others may have had diff locks/fat tyres/winches and lots of expereience ,and another pullin to get out
hope this helps,it can be the most fun ya can have,or the worst!!!

[tibbs]

Another thing to remember, espically in sand is don't drive on the cross slope, There is a few forums around where you can get some advice on 4wding if you just want to research is online.

www.4wdgetaway.org
www.overlander.com.au
www.4wdmonthly.com.au

There's plenty out there.

[Daniel_Christensen]

thanx alot every1 very helpful cheers.