Robe for week or so.....

[sniegy]

Hi all,
Just returned from Robe in South Aus, every 2nd year on the Australia day holiday we head to Longbeach Caravan Park.
Had a beautiful time with the family which was good, see the munchkins play & be tormented by me:twisted:

As you normally do you head off into the dunes & have some fun.
Well this year was a first as a mate has just purchased himself a new VW Amarok, & it has been a while since we had played off road, a long while!
We headed towards Beachport to do the drive back to Robe as I have done many many times before explaining to my mate a few of the sites which were good look outs, Nora Creina & this is where we will pop out & then head to Little Dip Conservation Park etc etc.

Well.... We headed off the black top in Beachport to a lookout, aired our tyres down to 18psi to start with then headed into the sand....we were originally going to go & do some inland tracks & my mate said come on let's to the beach section first, ok I said ! (why oh why) so off he headed about 500m along the top of the beach section following the other tracks as I followed behind & then I see his vehicle slowly going sideways in the SOFT SOFT SOFT sand & as I gently ease off the accelerator to not end up like he did & thinking I would be able to rescue him if need be...but alas my vehicle liked the way my mates looked & proceeded to do the sideways drift towards the ocean:mad:

After nearly 3 hours of digging & some sore skin from sunburn (my own fault the tide was coming in) we were eventually rescued by some very helpful passers by. They were about to do the same track & said that this was the softest of all the sand they had driven all day (as they were coming he opposite direction)

A few things I had learnt & seen first hand, the D4 suspenspension can really extend when its chassis is stuck, & I mean extend, I reckon that I could of sat on the wheel in the wheel arch & had lunch!:)
You must dig, then dig some more, once you have done that DIG some more.
Robe/Beachport sand has very large granules, it likes to fall back from where it once came! Therefore you must dig some more......
Sand gets into everywhere & I mean everywhere, it's strange how granules of sand appear from nowhere & you think to yourself how did you get here!?

I would really like to thank the guys from "Kerang" who stopped & helped.
One very nice 300tdi disco.
Cheers fellas.

Also met a few guys in the caravan park that frequent the forum too which was nice.
Saw lots of Land Rovers driving around which was nice too.

Night all.

[trobbo]

glad to hear you were helped out by some friendly land rover drivers.

How did the two cars go on the sand otherwise?

[mcmanusd]

I was also at Beachport during the long weekend and some sections of sand were extremely soft. I started at tyre pressures of 18psi and then dropped further to 13psi after initial difficulties. Even still I ended up stuck (up to the chassis) with the high tide wetting my feet and the passenger side wheels also feeling the cooling effect of the sea. The sea seemed to have a powerful attraction for vehicles that day (no doubt due to the slope on the beach). The vehicle was sitting on its belly and already effectively in extended mode due to use of the LLAMS addon height controller. Recovered using the Warn 9.5XP winch on the front of my Discovery 3 to other 4WD club colleague vehicles.
I have included two photos - stuck and just winching clear.

[BobD]

Perfect situation for Maxtrax!

[sniegy]

Hey Trobbo,
Apart from the bogging so to speak, they performed sensationally, the dunes were just easy, for me it was just too simple. Air suspension is SO comfortable.
The Amarok has sensational fuel economy, left my D4 for dead!
We had a lot of fun ;) & that's what it is all about.
Cheers

[101RRS]

Wouldn't it be great to be able to hit access height when you belly out and the wheels come up so you can back fill under the wheels, select offroad height then just drive out.:)

Graeme and/or Gordon - that should be your next project.

Garry

[sniegy]

Garry,
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

It's also something I never thought about, you may be onto something here:p

[~Rich~]

Been there done that!!!
Only difference it was on Stockton beach in NSW.

"Oh what a Feeling" NOT! ( I was in a Toyota Hilux when I did it!)

:p:p :wasntme:

[101RRS]

Garry,
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

It's also something I never thought about, you may be onto something here:p

Not for me - my first venture onto a dirt road I got stuck and would have been handy. I was at offroad height and bellied out on the hard centre with wheels in mud - went to extended and the wheels just went deeper into the mud - went to super extended and still bellied with the wheels just being pushed deeper into the mud - I had to ring a friend to bring my Freelander over and rescue me. If the wheels could lift up I would have been able to drive out.

I haven't been on the beach yet in the RRS - might try it when I can talk my brother and his Hilux to come with me - from others comments the cars weight seems to a bit much for the car's systems to overcome at times - but I haven't tried it myself as yet - though I have been on most other surfaces.

[AGRO]

Hi All,

I second the opinion that maxtrax are great for sand recoveries - even better if your mate has a pair as well!!!

[BobD]

Hi All,

I second the opinion that maxtrax are great for sand recoveries - even better if your mate has a pair as well!!!

Too true. I bought one set for me and another for my son in law for Christmas so that we could have two sets in the family. The only trouble is I have only used them to recover other people, apart from one time at the top of a 45 degree sand hill where my Patrol stopped just short of the crest.

Last year, I used my two Maxtrax's to recover my other son in law's Patrol from sloping, soft, course sand south of Geraldon. There was no way we could snatch him so we just kept using the Maxtrax under the front wheels and 2 or 3 metres at a time got him up to the harder track at the top of the beach. It took at least 10 goes but we did it OK.

So far I have never even looked like getting stuck in the TDI 3l Disco 4. It is unbelievable in sand, even with the stock 19 inch tyres at 18psi. It makes the Patrol seem archaic. The only problem is that it is so smooth and capable in the sand that it is slightly boring!! It just goes where you tell it to with no fuss at all in places where my 6.5 Chev diesel engined GQ Patrol finds it very difficult and uses all of its power to make headway.

[mcmanusd]

Attached photos also show the use of MaxTrax during the beach recovery.

I also used them to assist with the recovery of another vehicle elsewhere on the beach. I have two of them but think another two are really needed (for difficult situations).

[discotwinturbo]

So far I have never even looked like getting stuck in the TDI 3l Disco 4. It is unbelievable in sand, even with the stock 19 inch tyres at 18psi. It makes the Patrol seem archaic. The only problem is that it is so smooth and capable in the sand that it is slightly boring!! It just goes where you tell it to with no fuss at all in places where my 6.5 Chev diesel engined GQ Patrol finds it very difficult and uses all of its power to make headway.

Off topic a bit, but i must be doing something wrong in the sand. My patrol would walk all over the disco so far in the sand.

I have had it set to sand mode with dsc off. Have had to go down to 16 to get anywhere near the others I have been following (dangerously low on the 19's)...33 to 35 tyred cars at 20 are doing it easy.

Rock climbing is far superior to my patrol...and to the others that I have followed.

Wonder what I am doing wrong ?

[spudboy]

... & then I see his vehicle slowly going sideways in the SOFT SOFT SOFT sand & as I gently ease off the accelerator to not end up like he did & thinking I would be able to rescue him if need be...but alas my vehicle liked the way my mates looked & proceeded to do the sideways drift towards the ocean:mad: ...



That is SUCH a BAD feeling! Been horribly bogged on the same beach in my old Disco1. Twin diff locks - no help at all :(

Glad you got out after all that digging. Do you think one of those inflatable "exhaust jacks" would have made your life any easier? Have tried MatTrax (the orange thingys) but have to say I was not all that impressed.

[Glynhouse]

We did this beach often when living in S.A. areas of it are VERY soft.

My most successful vehicle on it was believe it or not a long wheelbase F150, did it a few times with assorted 4X4 clubs, that thing was as good with 12 in the tyres, as most others were on 33's that were down to 8 yes 8psi but you did need to be carefull - never saw anyone lose one.
Sometimes you could get through with 15-18 psi but rarely and it would be a struggle.

We had one guy still had a set of pre radial tubed rims off a series 1 or 2 I cant remember, that had the beads of the rims drilled and he would self tap the tyres to the rim, he ran seriously low pressures !?? No safety rules when he did that, I doubt it would pass now !

DD

[mcmanusd]

I found that the D3 struggled (relative to other vehicles) in the VERY soft sand. There is no problem with the power of the vehicle, the problem is the "flotation" of the vehicle in the sand.

The greater the LENGTH of the contact patch of the tyre on the ground (sand), then the better the "flotation" and the way to do this is either lower tyre pressures or use a bigger tyre diameter (for the same tyre pressure).

With the relatively higher profile tyres on the D3 you can not achieve REALLY low pressures without substantial risk. Relative to a 33" tyre (ie. 285/75R16 on a LC100) the standard D3 30" tyre (235/70R17 or 255/60R18) will have a much shorter contact patch on the ground. I believe that the combination of these two factors explains why the vehicle struggles (or is at least less capable) in those situations relative to other vehicles.

The only solution for D3 owners is to fit the smallest diameter rims (17" for TDV6 owners) and the biggest diameter tyres. However in SA I understand you can only (legally) increase the fitted tyre diameter size by 15mm over the standard size without engineering re-certification. Vehicle Standards Bulletin 14 (VSB 14 - National Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Construction and Modification) allows for a 50mm increase without engineering re-certification but has not (yet) been adopted in SA (I asked the SA Department for Planning, Transport & Infrastructure about a week ago).

[PCH]

Hi Pete,

This was my first venture onto the Robe Beach on my way to Beachport.

I was stuck on my own and it took 1 hr to dig and dig and dig and dig and slowly reverse out. I slowly slid to the water but in a way it helped me get out once I hit sandstone.

Also I had the extended height operate. I nearly fell out of the D3 when I got out it was so high.

I've never been back to the beach ever since!


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/02/1345.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/02/1346.jpg

[boofdtl]

Hi Pete,

This was my first venture onto the Robe Beach on my way to Beachport.

I was stuck on my own and it took 1 hr to dig and dig and dig and dig and slowly reverse out. I slowly slid to the water but in a way it helped me get out once I hit sandstone.

Also I had the extended height operate. I nearly fell out of the D3 when I got out it was so high.

I've never been back to the beach ever since!


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/02/1345.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/02/1346.jpg

Looking the goods there chris how are the tyres going..

[sniegy]

Hi Chris I know how you feel :p

This is the first time in many years I have been stuck, the last time I was here in the D4 I had no issues, did lots of driving & spent 2 or 3 days doing different trips into different spots I had not been previously.
There is so many different little nooks & crannies that I still haven't been.

I was running MTZ's on my 17's & it is such a comfortable ride, the only issue with MT's of any description is they dig you in so quick, which means more digging:D