D4 Sand Driving

[chuck]

Guys

Going to Carpenters Rocks (SA near Robe) for a week on Monday & don't want to be towed out by my son & his Triton.

Just to confirm:

DSC off
Tyres (19's) down to 20 at first then down progressively
Low range
Sand mode???

From memory the D4 performance in sand was improved???

I have SDV6SE, shovel, compressor & max tracks

Any thing else?

[Xtreme]

Just make sure you have an adequate rear recovery point, snatch strap and shackles so you can tow the Triton out :D

[mijango]

I often switch the gearbox to manual so I can control the gear changes. Nothing worse than dropping a gear when you're powering through the soft stuff.
I was up on noosa north shore yesterday and love being on the beach in the Disco. If you start getting bogged I'd recommend dropping another 2-3psi. It depends what sort of sand your on tho (if I remember rightly robe area is pretty soft).

[discotwinturbo]

Light throttle is the key. We have some whopping sand dunes, and once you learn how to drive it, it makes light work of sand.

If in manual mode, the car will still override your selection.

I leave in auto, dsc off, low range, and have been as low as 12 on the old factory rubber, but light throttle is needed to stop dsc kicking in (even when off). There is more then adequate torque when needed.

Brett....

[Canaussie]

Yes my expiereance is as above, low range, leave it in auto as the car is smarter than you, dcs off. I find leaving in manual and if the car sees to much wheel spin it will cut out on power.

Have fun, the lowest I've gone with tyres is 12 psi trying to get to nine mile beach in Yeppoon!!!

[roamer]

And remember evey time you restart or change something (settings ) turn DSC off again

Have a Ball Ken

[ytt105]

My recent sand driving experience is here (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/186831-testing-new-2005-disco-3-tdv6-s-eas.html)

[scarry]

And remember evey time you restart or change something (settings ) turn DSC off again

Have a Ball Ken

Extremely important or you will end up badly bogged,don't ask how i know:mad:

Also make sure you are in off road height or you will belly out.

if you do get stuck,a message will come up on the dash and it will tell you how to get another 50mm of height which is handy:)

Momentum is also helpful in the soft stuff.

max trax? Suppose you will need them for the Triton......!

good luck....

[the_preacher1973]

Guys

Going to Carpenters Rocks (SA near Robe) for a week on Monday & don't want to be towed out by my son & his Triton.

Just to confirm:

DSC off
Tyres (19's) down to 20 at first then down progressively
Low range
Sand mode???

From memory the D4 performance in sand was improved???

I have SDV6SE, shovel, compressor & max tracks

Any thing else?


That'll be fine. If you do that and still get stuck the Triton's not going to be much use to you...

[Dingmark Jim]

Also, don't put it in "Sport" mode when in Sand Low Range. That just locks it in the gear you're already in.

[discotwinturbo]

Also, don't put it in "Sport" mode when in Sand Low Range. That just locks it in the gear you're already in.

Would be good if it did lock the gear that you are in, but it won't. It will still change gears at the wrong time if you give it enough stick. Brett...

[hibees1972]

Would be good if it did lock the gear that you are in, but it won't. It will still change gears at the wrong time if you give it enough stick. Brett...

Not sure about that.....I can hold 3rd low until redline before it changes up...I find sport particularly good for significant steep dune climbs starting in 3rd low and up changing to 4th low when/if needed. I have found auto changes at wrong times for me on such dunes and I haven't had a dune that's stopped me since using sport:D

Cheers
Mike

[discotwinturbo]

Not sure about that.....I can hold 3rd low until redline before it changes up...I find sport particularly good for significant steep dune climbs starting in 3rd low and up changing to 4th low when/if needed. I have found auto changes at wrong times for me on such dunes and I haven't had a dune that's stopped me since using sport:D Cheers Mike
We must have different programming in our transmissions...or put our boot into it differently lol. I tried to hold 2 high on the two levels of Callcup in wa and it would decide to jump down to first at the worst time, then back to second, and up and down, and so on...very frustrating. All part of the dsc kicking in, even though switched off.
Once I realised to only give light throttle, I leave in drive now, and the big dunes in wa have been a piece of you know what.
Brett.....

[chuck]

Went from Carpenters Rocks to South End successfully.

52 km overland via the Canundra National Park.

No dramas only one dune was a challenge but made it over no worries.

Only went down to 20 lbs.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

[hibees1972]

We must have different programming in our transmissions...or put our boot into it differently lol. I tried to hold 2 high on the two levels of Callcup in wa and it would decide to jump down to first at the worst time, then back to second, and up and down, and so on...very frustrating. All part of the dsc kicking in, even though switched off.
Once I realised to only give light throttle, I leave in drive now, and the big dunes in wa have been a piece of you know what.
Brett.....

Interesting...I haven't done Calcup in the RRS and given it's length (Calcup!) can understand different technique. Dunes I was referring to we're much shorter but steeper where heaps of torque required and holding in 3rd really helps.

Glad OP had a great time!

Cheers
Mike

[chuck]

We have returned from Carpenters Rocks.

The D4 performed flawlessly.

Did not get bogged.

I did note that the GG AT's perform better in sand than the MT MTZ's I had on the D3 when last in the area.

They do not seem to dig in like the mud terrains.

Out of interest the Triton has the same problems we have when we don't turn off DSC.

Highway performance was amazing with the 460 km return trip done at 8.4 litres/100 and an average speed of 89 km/h.

The 3 litre definitely helps you overtake b doubles!

[~Rich~]

We have returned from Carpenters Rocks.

The D4 performed flawlessly.

Did not get bogged.

I did note that the GG AT's perform better in sand than the MT MTZ's I had on the D3 when last in the area.

They do not seem to dig in like the mud terrains.

Out of interest the Triton has the same problems we have when we don't turn off DSC.

Highway performance was amazing with the 460 km return trip done at 8.4 litres/100 and an average speed of 89 km/h.

The 3 litre definitely helps you overtake b doubles!

Good one Chuck, I found the GG AT's no where as good as the oversize 285/60 R18 LTZ Zions on the sand ;)

So is the D4 a no contest winner with the 150 Prado?

[chuck]

Rich

The 150 Prado was a fully loaded Altitude edition with ARB everything.

It lasted 4 months.

The two things I liked about it were the fuel tank capacity & the resale.

I imagine the 285 Zeon LTZ's would be very good in the sand due to much larger contact area.

How many km's do you get out of the Zeon LTZ's?

So far over 44,000 on the GG AT's with lots of tread left.

[~Rich~]

Well hard to say, seeing I regularly swap between sets and don't bother recording kms at each swap.
Why did you get rid of the Prado?

[chuck]

Rich

Just did not drive as well.

May be the D3 spoilt me.

But I found the ride to be harsher.

The performance was nowhere near as good.

Fuel economy was not as good.

Did not tow nearly as well.

To be fair the Prado was roughly $12K cheaper than the D4 even with all of the ARB kit.

[AnD3rew]

Done quite a bit of sand driving in my D3, including Big Red. Usually drop the 18" GG ATs to 25psi turn DSC off and have never been bogged. I do find Llams helps as you can go faster in the deeper stuff and get more of a run up to the dunes. I always use sand mode and always use Auto. The D3s and 4s seem to have a bit of a name for not being quite as awesome in the sand as they are in most other situations but I haven't had any issues.

I always carry a shovel and maxtrax and a snatch strap but have only had to use them to recover a 200 series Cruiser:D

I had a very nice time driving up and down Big Red several times around a bogged :censored: idiot tagalong tour leader in a Patrol who had previously been an :censored: to me:D:D:D

[Graeme]

The D3s and 4s seem to have a bit of a name for not being quite as awesome in the sand as they are in most other situations but I haven't had any issues.The D3 in the group that I travelled with took off from a stand-still half way up Big Red because the driver forgot to turn DSC off after restarting then flew up with the front wheels getting lots of air at the top.

[999]

nice spot Canunda

[hibees1972]

Yes good point Andrew re Liams.

I forgot to mention I have GOE rods in the RRS that allow me to hit dunes at speeds sometimes significantly greater than 40kmph in 3/4/5 low and climb effortlessly.

Comparing the RRS to the D1V8 in sand work there really isn't much in it. Better clearance in the D1 which helps in deep rutted sand climbs but dunes with so much torque in the RRS feel like you could just keep going and have had air on a couple of occasions so now tend to ease off throttle a tad :eek:

Cheers
Mike