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I drive a 2wd ute but occasionally need to head up a beach. At the moment I rent a 4wd. Does anyone know of a system to increase the traction of the rear tyres on soft sand besides dropping the pressure? I though I had seen a system like snow chains but a flexible rubber / plastic overshoe that increases the rolling surface of the tyre.
You got the answer Dug, tyres: The bigger the diameter and width the less you sink into the sand. Landrover had a track drive using rubber belts that just bolted on but costs heaps. Even with that your front end will dig in soft sand at slow speeds because of the engine weight. Buggies have the weight over the rear drive wheels which helps but even they had to run with low tyre pressures to increase the tyre area on the sand. In short you are going to get stuck without a front diff on the soft stuff unless you want to try the mods below.
could I just buy one of the old Lepoard tanks when the army finishes with them? No problem with fuel costs after you fill up who is going to ask a tank to pay
Mate,
Wide soft tyres are the answer as everyone else said.Old aircraft tyres with little tread wont dug into the sand,they run over the top.once the wheels start diggin holes its usually goodnight.get the snatch strap out.
Get a set of the widest tyres ya can find(Front and Back) and run them as low as possible 12 lbs or so. good luck.
PS get a snatch strap so someone can pull ya thru the really soft stuff
Dug, I used to use a Subaru on Fraser and even though it was AWD and had wide wheels I would sink in the soft stuff if I slowed down. This was because it had no low range to give that bit of extra power needed at slow speeds. If it had been raining no problem but on a hot day I could not get across Rainbow Beach without a tow unless I kept my speed above 40 ks. Like jimbamb said old aircraft tyres will do the job providing you can fit big enough ones under your wheel arches to keep you floating on the soft sand. If you want to buy ex-army grab one of these they are faster than the last one and good in sand.
do it the old fashioned way. Drive forward until she slows, stop. Reverse. Drive forward again, this time you'll go a bit further till she stops. Reverse. Drive forward a bit further .... I took a Corona up Main Beach Straddie in my tom catting years using this method on the access tracks. Its seems a lost art & why so many new toys get bogged - there is no computer that tells a 4WD to go steady then back up & flatten the sand
That combined with wider tyres & a lift kit (to raise the clearance of your beasts belly) would do it.
Driving the sand isn't about traction (grip) its about floating over the top of the sand. If you grip the sand to much you throw it backward & dig a hole. Because you break the surface of the sand sink yourself.
The other OLD FASHIONED way is boards. Have 2 or 3 pairs of concretors board & keep laying them out in front - a guy that writes in BnB (Craig ?? Tomkinson - the pro who nails the reds to the wall) describes the process in a memory from his dads days. Alway enjoy Craigs stories.
Any form of four wheel driving requires patience to avoid trouble - if you don't have the time to be patient, its better & safer to wait till you do.
My son actually used to drive and sit on one of these a few years back, we went fishing on Stradbroke and it was SO HARD to keep my mouth shut and not tell him how to drive a 4wd in sand. His 5 years driving through the Western Australian deserts would have taught him nothing of course D'oh
I know the feeling Dug. It is hard to keep your mouth shut with the kids some times, my old man was the same when I was in my 30's. But one thing about getting older is, the older you get, the more you realise how little you know, I had all the answers when I was a teenager. now I have more questions than answers.
Especially when he is bigger and stronger than I am. He is now a cop and keep trying to arrest me as revenge for all the nasty things I did to him when he was a kid
He comes home and says things like " go on doug have a few more drinks then drive it will be OK" The bastard has grown up too much like me :-(
The only joy I have left is visiting him drinking all his good wine, eating all his food, trashing his house, corrupting his dog and then leaving
It is nice to occasionally hear the things I said 20 years ago being quoted back to me, it was not all wasted!
Blokes,
I always get reminded of the old sayin,THE OLDER I GET THE BETTER I WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im tryin to keep my gob shut Too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No you bring a bottle of good wine and drink that on the first day,
His taste pallet and cellar is much better than mine. The bastard earns more money than I do and has no kids!!!
Keeping my gob shut when full of grog is hard luckily he hates Howard worse than I do :-) and is more agnostic so politics & religion are safe subjects.
Gotta laugh at the input regarding sons...mine is 21..smaller than me but seeing he is a former Aus. Judo Champion I keep my mouth shut a bit and don't tempt him to try out his judo skills.
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