Question about towing on sand

[Mr__Bean]

G'Day all,

I have had landcruisers for a while now and have been on the beach a couple of times but never really towed along a beach.

We are looking to take a camper trailer away for the weekend am I am not sure whether to also deflate the trailer tyres a bit once we get on the sand.

It weighs about 700kg loaded and is on landcruiser size sunraysia's.

Thanks,

- Darren

[MY-TopEnder]

G'day Darren...

When i saw the thread i thought you might have been talking about towing the big bad eye up the beach.

Anyway for a camper trailer, an interesting trick i saw on a 4WD Monthly DVD was to lower your Cruisers tyres to about where you think they should be (i usually go down to about 18psi). With your less agressive tyres you could probably get away with 20ish.

You then measure the footprint of the tyre by putting a ruler or stick infront of the tyre and behind the tyre and measuring how much tyre surface you have in contact with the road.

Drop your camper tyres so they're on the same footprint as the Cruiser and you'll find the whole lot floats better over the sand. As long as you don't go below about 10psi and aren't bouncing around cornering hard then you shouldn't peel a tyre off a rim.

[Mr__Bean]

Thanks Rob,

Much appreciated, I will give it a go.

- Darren

[Lucky_Phill]

Darren, Rob is on the money.

Towing the tinnie I don't usually drop tyre pressures on the trailer unless it is loaded with camping gear. Even then, 20psi seems to get me everywhere i want to go

Towing ReBait ( 2 tonne boat ) to Fraser etc, tyre pressures on 4 x 4 and trailer go down to 15psi. never get bogged as long as momentum is constant.

Cheers Phill

[Mr__Bean]

Weekend on the beach was fantastic, trailer towed along fine with the tyres down to 15psi.

We did get to watch some fine examples of hooning on the beach though, there was a group of well lubricated young blokes in 4wd utes that were having their fun on the low tide flats. We sat and watched for about 10 minutes from a safe distance. I was just waiting for a rim to dig in and send one over but it didn't happen on this occasion. We did get a laugh though as we watched them tow a bloke along the sand on his bum at about 35Kmh, he went for about 300 metres before letting go. Gees he must have had bad chaffing by then.

I do have another question, when snatching can the strap be safely doubled over and placed on the chassis hook or does it need to be attached by strong shackle to the eye bracket on the other chassis rail?

- Darren

[ozscott]

I tow at Flinders Beach at Straddie each year. I usually tow a large box trailer chockers with stuff. One year I towed a 2.2tonn dual axle road van with skinny road tyres on across the soft into the campsite, which had quite a few blokes rolling across for a look....pretty unusual site. For the van I dropped the Discovery's tyres to 15 PSI and the vans down to about the same for going up the beach (down the beach accross the soft they were all at 20 with no problems). Momentum, gearing and torque is the key for that type of weight.

For the trailer I usually drop the whole lot to about 20psi except if going a long way in very soft cut up stuff in which case they go to 15-16 - there is no point getting stuck and then missing the barge, I would rather not get stuck in the first place.

None of my rigs have matched my vehicles tracks - but that would always be better of course if you can.

I have always run 235/70/16s but this time im on 275/70/16s ATs (Pirelli - aggressive ATs) so im expecting not to have to drop the tyres anywhere near as much because of the longer (wider is not as important) footprint and better angle at which the tyre meets the sand when rolling.

I reckon that you have a good fast pump and a set of Stauns is nice, and drop the pressures and put them up again later, quickly with the high delivery pump. As has been pointed out above, no sudden hard turns when down to 15 or so because you risk pealing a tyre off the rim.

Cheers

[Cheech]

As a matter of interest,

I dropped my tyres to 20lb on last Fraser trip, but then had the big run up the island on hard sand. My owners manual says not to drop the pressure on sand unless you really have to. Thinking back, I do not see why I needed to drop for the hard sand run. Would have had better fuel economy if I left it. Apart from the trip to and from the barge that is.

Next time I think I will just drop to 30psi for general beach, and only go down to 20 if I need to on the inland tracks.

Comments?

[ozscott]

Gday Cheech - I generally treat the hard sand as like bitumen - I rarely go below normal road pressure for that. If I am going onto a beach with a wussy track when the tides out I will just leave them up. The only problem comes if you want to cross the deep soft stuff, if really cut up, and into camp sites etc, in which case dropping them is a good idea, unless you get a good run up off the hard stuff and no goose pulls out in front of you to slow you down to a crawl!
Cheers

[murf]

As a matter of interest,

I dropped my tyres to 20lb on last Fraser trip, but then had the big run up the island on hard sand. My owners manual says not to drop the pressure on sand unless you really have to. Thinking back, I do not see why I needed to drop for the hard sand run. Would have had better fuel economy if I left it. Apart from the trip to and from the barge that is.

Next time I think I will just drop to 30psi for general beach, and only go down to 20 if I need to on the inland tracks.

Comments?

Gday Cheech

20lb is not a problem. you can drive all day on that depending on tyre size, how many ply and type of car (weight) the mates Hilux never goes over 20lb. 33'' BFs then he lets them down to 10lb to play in the bush, there is no sand down here that needs a tyre let down until you are trying to tow more than a tonne of weight in a trailer/van

I have 10 ply tyres on my Hilux and find I have to let them down to 12/14lb when in more serious soft sand stuff towing, or just 18/20lb for every day bush or beach driving

fuel economy on Fraser you are right you would be better off at 25lb until you go inland or the tide is higher then fuel economy is better at lower lb's

Cheers Murf

[MY-TopEnder]

Darren,

With regard to your question about the snatch strap... i generally try and use as fewer shackles as i can. I use the one on the rear which mounts in the tow hitch, and then where i can i use the hook.

I've seen shackles let go and boy it makes a mess.

Good to hear the tyre pressure thing worked well though.

[Lucky_Phill]

Shackles are generally a no no.

loop strap over tow hook on the stuck vehicle and utilise a dedicated tow pin in the towbar of the recovery vehicle. And you should even place a towel / blanket over the snatch strap to cushion the effect should it let go under pressure. These safety blankets are a must if winching.

Further, if you need to join two snatch straps together there is a great little trick that stops the straps from becoming permanently knotted.

roll up a newspaper and tape it tight. wedge this in between the loops to be joined, so when recovery is finished, the straps will fall apart.

Good to hear you had a successful and interesting time on the sand, Darren.

Gut feeling will guide you from now on.

Cheers Phill

[murf]

Weekend on the beach was fantastic, trailer towed along fine with the tyres down to 15psi

I do have another question, when snatching can the strap be safely doubled over and placed on the chassis hook or does it need to be attached by strong shackle to the eye bracket on the other chassis rail?

- Darren

that cruiser of yours would tow a trailer on the beach no worries at all Darren good to hear all went well. Would like to see it tow Bad Eye up to Fraser next year

The strap could be doubled over around the hook only in a need to situation, ie not recommended as you are not using the strap to its potential. not real sure on what you are saying though

cheers Murf

[Hornblower]

G'day, I agree that you should use as few shackles as possible. Best on the tow vehicle as already discussed is to use a dedicated tow hook or to (if you have a removable towbar tongue, take it off and put the pin back through loop at the end. You may have to use a shackle on the other vehicle, and to be honest I am not sure about looping the strap back on itself, it seems to me that you may lose some of the stretch which COULD place a higher load on the strap risking it fraying/breaking. I was taught to use all the stretching capacity of the strap as you can. That is a great safety tip about the blanket/towel on the strap too.

Merry Christmas