Thread: Towing a heavy camper trailer on sand?

Originally Posted by Bytemrk

I'm sure Marcus (Chops) could give you some advice here I don't know the weights etc, but he pulled this around our SA trip last year, including Googes Track.



There were plenty of big dunes, with pretty soft sand and he only had one woops moment - simply making the wrong choice of which track was the best option... easy mistake.



As Scott said - tyre pressures on the trailer is the key - would also be beneficial if the trailer has a similar track to the car

Being on 20” rims, I could only down to about 23/4 psi,,, was basically ok, but not being able to back up on that particular hill far enough to get a decent shot kinda screwed me,, as you can see.

At that point, 18’s would probably have been better with the whole unit weighing in at over 5 tonnes.

Was as a great trip, but next time I’ll leave the trailer at one end.

Marcus

All part of the learning curve ---which I learnt a lot with trailer in tow

Thanks again for all the great info guys. It's definitely set my mind at ease with regards to the weight of the trailers we're interested in. Hopefully we'll be buying one within the next month or so and getting back to regular camping.

Cheers
Sean

Good luck with it Sean. I've been contemplating a trip up the Hay River Track in 2020 and was wondering how we'd go with our hybrid camper/off road caravan. It would still require heaps of preparation and I'd go in a convoy. I'm not convinced I'd tow it (I know controversial towing up there) but I'm much happier knowing how the D4 performs towing in soft sand. Obviously the 2 rear seat teenage daughters and 21yo son (ballast) would also be off loaded to another vehicle if I do that trip- fortunately I've found & bought a 2015 Defender 90! It pulls the same camper no problems at all-just a bit slower! Gee it's a great and fun 4WD (sorry off topic)! cheers, David
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Originally Posted by Blue C

Good luck with it Sean. I've been contemplating a trip up the Hay River Track in 2020 and was wondering how we'd go with our hybrid camper/off road caravan. It would still require heaps of preparation and I'd go in a convoy. I'm not convinced I'd tow it (I know controversial towing up there) but I'm much happier knowing how the D4 performs towing in soft sand. Obviously the 2 rear seat teenage daughters and 21yo son (ballast) would also be off loaded to another vehicle if I do that trip- fortunately I've found & bought a 2015 Defender 90! It pulls the same camper no problems at all-just a bit slower! Gee it's a great and fun 4WD (sorry off topic)! cheers, David
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Yeah, we still have a 110 Deefer and I love it. Unfortunately we'll probably be selling it soon, but at least we'll have the D4 to continue the fun!

Keep both. Nothing like having one of each

Following this thread with interest considering our new camper addition

Latest trip was an eye opener,
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North Stradbroke for Christmas/New years. Made it up earlier than the crowds and picked the dates and the ferry on the tides. Dropped tire pressures on the 130 and trailer and the run onto the beach and up into the campsites was a breeze (as they hadn't yet been chopped up completely) and with the Stoney Creek Walkthrough at very close to 2T and a measured 180kg ball weight fully loaded and carrying full water tanks of 180lt was less difficult than navigating Brisbane traffic and all the Traffic lights heading to the barge. 12 days of pleasure ensued! Plenty of time sitting and admiring/judging fellow campers taste in Vehicle and Trailer showed that mismatched trailer tracks really have the extra 300nm + of all the more modern common rails working at full capacity just to drag the dead weight through the soft stuff. Being that Flinders Beach is all 40km/h and the Local Rangers were really onto it there's not a huge chance to let momentum have anything to do with it when your only trying to make it through 20m of powder into the campsites. Leaving the beach was a little more difficult as the New years crowd had done their thing and the 80m run off the beach was like powder. Thankfully having a travelling party to ensure the run off was unimpeded the sand boards and snatch strap remained neatly stowed this trip.

130 Daily driver