Thread: Robe for week or so.....

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).

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.

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 ?

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 ...

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!

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!

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