Thread: Sand Driving

Originally Posted by trout1105

HeHe
I live on the West Coast so I have some experience with soft powdery sand
I have mates with nissans and cruisers we also own a hilux twin cab that tend to struggle in the sand and my old D2 makes the going look easy and I only have 245/70/16's fitted

I dont think we should be comparing a D2 or Defender etc to the D4. I have a Td5 Defender with the same transmission and transfer case as you and never have issues in sand either. The new crop of 4x4s though have lots of electronics and more weight.
Our family are looking at a D4 and alternatives. Alternatives would include similar comfort levels and size etc. 200 series was on the list , RR sport i suppose and think of any other luxury family size 4x4.

I'm no expert and don't do any beach work, but what I found with our D4 recently was no matter what mode I used or what range I was in low or high, the most important thing was tyre pressures, by the time we left the CSR I was using normal mode high range with 15psi front and back, this was the only way to have a consistant outcome over all the dunes.

What I found with sand mode was higher fuel economy over just using normal and the DSC OFF, sand mode wasn't an advantage.

Towing a camper in sand is terrible, the combined weight was 4.6T, that was heavier than the 6x6 Perentie with a camper body on it that was doing the CSR.

Originally Posted by Redback

by the time we left the CSR I was using normal mode high range with 15psi front and back, this was the only way to have a consistant outcome over all the dunes.

Interesting. My one gripe so far with the D4 climbing dunes was the DSC still kicking in and killing momentum when in high range (and with it switched 'off'). The advice was that low range would of been better with DSC even less likely to kick in, but i haven't had a chance to test that yet.

Originally Posted by TuffRR

Interesting. My one gripe so far with the D4 climbing dunes was the DSC still kicking in and killing momentum when in high range (and with it switched 'off'). The advice was that low range would of been better with DSC even less likely to kick in, but i haven't had a chance to test that yet.

The advice is correct... low range keeps the DSC in check

Originally Posted by Tombie

The advice is correct... low range keeps the DSC in check

Not towing a trailer, can't get enough speed/momentum on the bigger dunes with a trailer on and in low range.

Originally Posted by Wazz

that is my (experienced on sand) opinion. it actually dissapointed my brother(a range rover & Defender owner of 10+ years) who was considering a disco, to the point of leaning towards a 200 series instead. But like i said, i will try smaller rims with proper tyres before i make a final decision.

I would love to hear of someones experience who has actually given the 19's a good go before going to compomotive 18's?? and if it actually did make a big difference?

And comparing a disco 4 to any other 4wd is a fair comparison, especially a stock work ute!

I have 19" Hankooks on my MY14 D4 and have done beach work with no issues, including Callcup Hill and a very soft beach run at Esperence. The Esperence experience included slow manoeuvring in very soft rutted sand and towing out a beached Forrester. Air down, DSC off, don't be heavy with your right foot and the use of rods to get the bottom of the vehicle up off the sand have all worked well for me.

Chris

Originally Posted by Redback

I'm no expert and don't do any beach work, but what I found with our D4 recently was no matter what mode I used or what range I was in low or high, the most important thing was tyre pressures, by the time we left the CSR I was using normal mode high range with 15psi front and back, this was the only way to have a consistant outcome over all the dunes.

What I found with sand mode was higher fuel economy over just using normal and the DSC OFF, sand mode wasn't an advantage.

Towing a camper in sand is terrible, the combined weight was 4.6T, that was heavier than the 6x6 Perentie with a camper body on it that was doing the CSR.

Does the camper track the vehicle perfectly?

If not that adds to the issue.

I have seen clowns trying to pull camper trailers over dunes in the Simpson desert,just a nightmare.

FWIW,i get into enough trouble in the soft sand towing, umm, nothing

Originally Posted by cjc_td5

I have 19" Hankooks on my MY14 D4 and have done beach work with no issues, including Callcup Hill and a very soft beach run at Esperence. The Esperence experience included slow manoeuvring in very soft rutted sand and towing out a beached Forrester. Air down, DSC off, don't be heavy with your right foot and the use of rods to get the bottom of the vehicle up off the sand have all worked well for me.

Chris

A lot of people say that's amongst the softest sand in Aus Cj, so good example.

Last weekend we had a great mix of 4x4s in the same area. 1 Triton, 1 brand new Hilux, 2 x 2017 4.5l tdv8 LC 70series one dual cab one single on 15inch wheels 100series, and our D4.
Only the 100series and D4 made it up Calcup first time "as seen in later part of my youtube vid posted.

Big mud hole we had to go through had the dual cab 70series stuck, got pulled out, D4 got out after it grabbed traction after about 5sec wheel spin and then straight up.

Dual Cab 70 series weighs 3.6t as is, ours weighed 3.56t when loaded for gib, most likely 3.4t for this trip...

Has to be like for like comparison weight wise. Wouldn't expect to keep up with a stock standard 200 series when I've got an extra 300kg in accessories.

Might surprise some people that a kitted out D4 weighs as much as a dual cab 70series...

Russ