Thread: TD5 Auto towing camper on Sand

I have towed our camper on Stockton beach, 01 TD5 Auto (No CDL) with tyres at 12 psi and a fair bit of right foot, I only have Duelers 235/70's on it more a highway tyre than anything nut will upgrade to something more AT when these wear out. I had the camper at 16 psi and its a match to the Disco wheelbase.
And yes apparently installing a CDL will be a huge benefit (next tax cheque)
Dazza

oooh,, can of worms here!!

all I know is as soon as you spin the tyres you are stuffed,,

but lots of people run muds on sand with no problems,,
untill you spin them,, then tyres with more tread dig bigger holes,,
but tyres with more tread get more traction so should spin less,, yes? maybe?

I really dont think it matters what type of tyre,,
tyre pressure, experience and a few brain cells are much more important.




and I always thought proper sand tyres were bald,,

With my ATRs at 18psi I measured the footprint & then let my camper tyres down until their footprint was the same. The pressure for the camper tyres was 12psi for the same footprint as the disco at 18psi. Had no problems at these settings with no CDL on a recent trip to Fraser. Even managed to climb out of the ruts getting off the ferry.

I have not towed a camper on sand but I have found the difference between 'cdl out' and 'cdl in' on soft sand is huge + sometimes helps to disable traction control when cdl is 'in' if you are finding traction control to be continually running.

Also, after some experience in very soft sand no longer hesitate to drop tires to 10psi where needed, the difference between 15psi and 10 psi is huge. I have never had trouble at those low pressures though I suppose it depends on the construction of your tyre a bit.

Back in 02/03 I was camping next to a guy with a TD5 at Flinders. He was complaining that even with the tyres down his stock TD5 manual was having dramas. I didnt have dramas int he same conditions with my stocker 02...only difference was mine was a V8 manual. I have seen similar over the years. The td5 just needs that little bit to get on boost and I reckon that the V8 works just that bit better in deep sand with smooth high low end torque (dont go throwing figures at me TD5 owners - in the real world large capacity 8 pots works for sand). Anyway the stock tyres at 29 inch were always a bit light on and I have found that 30.5-31 and with increased profile and very similar cross section as standard tyres works very well and makes light work of the deepest driest sand.

BTW I used to tow HD offroad campers over the years inot and out of Flinders and once towed (03/04) a 2.2 tonn dual axle road van in there...that raised a few brows but it was fun.

Cheers

Mine doesnt have CDL either BTW...and as long as you have the right tyres your fine, but on stock tyres there were times where when starting off in deep sand from stationary CDL couldnt have hurt..

What Ferret said. Spot on.

The type of tyre will not make that much difference, the size may help, the pressure (say from 15 down to 10) will make a huge difference, the CDL definitely when sand is very soft, a v8 will not make enough difference to make it worth while. In those particular circumstances tyre pressure will get you moving before more horses will. The V8 would just dig a hole a bit quicker.

cheers
Nick

Never ever tackle ANY terrain where you need low range without the Centre Diff Lock engaged. Always have the Diff lock engaged on any sort of loose terrain.

1. Prolonged hard core low range work with wheel spin WILL break your Centre Diff.

2. Traction is much improved with the Centre Diff Lock engaged in all situations.

If you have traction control make sure it's off for SAND.
Traction control is designed for uneven terrain.