tyres & pressures for Fraser Is

Didge · 6th June 2013, 11:24 AM

Wow, thanks for all the prompt replies and advice guys and the well wishes. Looking forward to it. It's compensation for not being able to get to the Cape with some others from the forum. I was tending towards the 31's cos of the extra width but have read that the extra width doesn't really help as when you deflate you're actually benefiting from the extra tread length on the sand rather than the width and also people have referred to the tiny little sandhill you're always pushing in front of the tyre. The 7.50's are tubed; why tubeless anyway 2stroke?
So the 300Tdi's have gone OK on Fraser have they? I drove on the quite soft and sloping (towards the water) sand north of Port Macquarie once; didn't really struggle but didn't do it easily either.
I saw the Maxtrax (and they're Mark II ones - whatever that really means?) on gumtree, some guy in Figtree near Wollongong had half a dozen pairs for sale for $150 ono, so I said what's ya best price, he said $140 and then after I collected them from his girlfriend I wondered if they were hot, but I'm assuming they're weren't if they were advertised on the net. I don't knowingly buy stolen goods, so I hope he just worked at Maxtrax or something similar. The missus thought they were a waste of money until she saw video of her boss at work using them on Fraser. I suggested she could get on the shovel if she didn't want me to buy them; seems to also have had an influence on her.

thanks again guys - cheers Gerald

**Loubrey** · 6th June 2013, 11:45 AM

As Didge mentioned in his post, its been done to death but we always seem to resort to preconceived ideas.

The only option in soft sand is a tyre as tall as possible that, when deflated creates as long a footprint as possible. By this virtue, the absolute best tyre for a Defender in sand would be the 255/85/16 or the imperial equivalent. All Terrain or Mud Terrain makes little difference as the "punch" is completely determined by the tyre pressure and the amount of throttle employed.

Wider tyres add surprisingly little to the equation other than extra drag which equates to more fuel used and quicker power drain to a stall due to the width (volume and weight) of the little sand hill in front of the tyre... (I know this is contentious, but it's been proven mathematically).

The best way to look at it is to take a view on the tracked APC's used in the deserts of the Middle East. As long a track possible opposed to a short wide track is by far the better option in sand. The concept is the same in creating a long soft footprint rather than a short fat one...

There is quite a bit on the web about it for those reluctant to believe...

Cheers,

Lou

2stroke · 6th June 2013, 01:42 PM

I've run 235/85 r16 allterrains, 7.50/16 Dunlop Roadgrippers and 255/85r16 Maxxis Bighorns and to be honest they all do fine with the right pressure. The allterrains were still useable above 25 but great at 18 front, 24 rear, the, 7.50s were great at 16 or 18 front with 20 rear but tubes continually failed in the rear (heavilly laden 130 I might add) and the Maxxis haven't done a Simpson trip yet but have been used at Straddie and are good at 18 and 20.
I've done lots of holidays at Moreton on the allterrains and they were great on soft track sand. Never run 15s on the 130 but on the Rangie I had previously I tried 30/9.5 r15 muds and 235/85 muds and the 16s were much better.

**VladTepes** · 6th June 2013, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by JC Rover

I would run the wider tyre for the bigger foot print.

poppycock! In sand a wider tyre just makes for increased rolling resistance (bad). It's the LENGTH of the tyre footprint (gained from tyre deflation) which makes for better traction on sand.

I've found 7.5" / 235mm tyres are just about ideal for 99% of Defender usage.

Originally Posted by JC Rover

I would run pressure between 18-20psi. This makes a huge difference in soft sand.

Indeed. I've always run that sort of pressure and had no problems from it.

BigBlackDog · 6th June 2013, 04:03 PM

I was on Fraser about a month ago. You'd struggle to get stuck in most places. Had a hire car, 100 series cruiser with 285 wide tyres. I went with 18si more for comfort than anything. 300tdi will do it easy, the sand there is friendly for the most part, and the cruiser I had was certainly less powerful than my 300tdi.
What I found interesting was driving one of the inland tracks up some reasonably steep bits, it started pouring rain. The rivers running down the ruts got quite vigorous and the cruiser really struggled to push the wide tyres against the water flow.
I would stick with the tall/narrow combo that has worked for decades, no point reinventing the wheel!

**cewilson** · 7th June 2013, 10:39 AM

I run a 200tdi with 7.50R16 (or 235/85R16) tyres - over the years run either ATs or MTs. The difference between the 2 types of tyres were only pressures - MTs needed lower.

With Fraser Island quite often it is the beach entries/exits that are the issues. The beach itself is normally no problem whatsoever as long as you aren't running at high tide.

I've found loaded that approximately 22psi front & 18psi rear is a good starting point when loaded. Changing from those starting pressures is dependent on conditions.

Lastly with the beach exits - line it up from the bottom of the beach and hit it straight. A watched a lot of different techniques but found that 1st high just chugged through nicely as long as I wasn't trying to change direction.

Enjoy - it's one of my favourite spots to visit outside of school holidays

Cheers
Chris

**VladTepes** · 7th June 2013, 01:20 PM

Mine too, but given our lu8ck last time will have to do better next time....

Not sure I want to take the Disco there though... I want another Defender !!!!

Didge · 8th June 2013, 09:19 PM

Thanks again guys, the excitement is building although right at this very point in time, the car is undriveable; I've lost both my keys and spare set of keys!

Have searched high and low and have absolutely no idea where they are. Hopefully won't result in an expensive locksmith visit.

**woody** · 13th June 2013, 06:50 PM

If your running on tubes (235/85R16) what tyre pressure would be the minimum?

woody

**GuyG** · 13th June 2013, 07:26 PM

The eastern beach has copped a pounding with all the seas this year and as previously mentioned considerable erosion has occurred. Even the bypasses are getting destroyed. In the past you were able to travel the southern beaches (ie south of Indian Head) at most tides however this is no longer possible. I've always worked on 2 hours either side of low tide as the best beach to travel on and in places now you will have to wait or be prepared to drive through salt water - not advised. There are lots of exposed sections of rock that I have never seen, even some sections of White Coffee Rock. They really need to advise those with low cars not to travel the island until the sand has built back up due to damage that may result from the rock hopping - you have no choice as there is no sand round some of the rocks even at low tide. There is a lot of debris on the beaches and also piles of pumincestone, the pumicestone is also up into the dunes. Of course the beaches change daily.

Tyre pressure wise, on the beach in the rangie I was running 20psi with 31/10.5/15's, don't ask re fuel consumption - it wasn't pretty but I was mostly running round inland tracks in some softish sand. Sometimes in the past I have not dropped tyre pressure at all, but then I wasn't carrying much stuff. Can't comment re Defenders - haven't had it on the beach, but mine was an ex-fraser vehicle which had 235/85/16's AT's fitted.

Unleaded at Orchid Beach is $2.07/litre, didn't take any notice of deisel prices.

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