Robe for week or so.....

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Originally Posted by AGRO

Hi All,

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

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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.

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).

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Originally Posted by BobD

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.

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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 ?

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Originally Posted by sniegy

... & 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: ...

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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.

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

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).

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/im...12/02/1345.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...12/02/1346.jpg

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Originally Posted by 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/im...12/02/1345.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...12/02/1346.jpg

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

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