Thread: Sand driving in a D3, what am I doing wrong?

That looks familiar, rescued more than one car from that situation.

If any D3 owner needs to recover their car from that sort of predicament you can often do so fairly easily with no assistance. This is how:

1. Drive where you need to at normal sand pressures, eg 18, 15psi depending on conditions, weight, tyres. Sand mode on, DSC off, either low or high range depending on speed.

2. If you get into the sort of situation described by Stevo you will know because the vehicle will slow down despite increased throttle application, and the wheels will begin to spin. If this happens, STOP IMMEDIATELY before it is too late.

3. If you've done the above the vehicle will be immobilised, but not sunk to the chassis.

4. Attempt, very slowly and carefully, to back out with nil wheelspin. It's unlikely you'll make it if you need to reverse on the level or uphill, but maybe if you were heading slightly uphill when you stopped.

5. Assuming the above fails, get everyone out of the car and anything heavy.

6. Let the tyres down to 10psi (yes, TEN) and at the same time dig a ramp under each wheel, almost down underneath the tyre, and as shallow as you can so the wheels don't need to climb up a steep ramp.

7. Put a block of wood or something under the D3's chassis, get back in the D3, close all the doors, lower it from Offroad Height. It'll hit the wood and go into Extended mode. Once there, hold your foot on the brake and press the height toggle up for 3 secs to get into Super Extended. Engage low range.

8. Very, very, slowly, back it out. It's amazing what a difference 15 to 10 psi makes. Do not exceed a very slow crawl speed. Absolute minimum throttle.

9. Once out reinflate your tyres to 15-20psi and lower the car back to Offroad.

This process is in my experience quicker, safer and more effective than snatching and I have no doubt it would have worked for Stevo.

If the car doesn't make it out and starts to slip stop immediately, reduce by another 2psi to no lower than 8, and dig it out more. I've not yet failed to recover a car by this method and I've done a few. The problem with snatch recoveries on beaches is the extreme forces and getting another car safely and effectively in position.

If the car is at an angle on the beach the recovery is the same but much more difficult. Dig trenches to stop the car slipping sideways, and it may work to go straight parallel to the waves to get a little momentum before turning up the beach. At 10psi you need to be slow and careful. Take your time and it'll work.

Yes I agree.

My first day out & I got bogged on a relatively easy slope at Toolangi.

Did not really know about DSC, using terrain response & placing it in manual mode etc.

Now I have been out with other D3's & 4's I am confident that the car has more ability than my D2 which had a few modifications.

Whether my nerve will hold out is another manner.

RMP on this forum has organised a few D3/4 specific trips out of Melbourne which have been an invaluable source of knowledge for these specific cars.

Regards

Chuck

Mighty fine information, all of this - very interesting, and useful indeed. Especially the 9 point process so clearly set out above (thanks Robert!). I just hope I'm not the first one to find out what extra challenges are faced when lugging the D4's added beef on its danged 19" wheels into this kind of scenario! I'm already glad I bought those as-yet-unused Maxtrax.

Question for you RMP, or others - much discussion about lowering tyre pressures, but on 19's I think we're a bit more limited, with the profile and so on. I've read that the initial lower for sand (on 19s) should be to 20 psi - would that mean that it may be wise to only go down to say 12 or so for the escape, instead of the 10 you mention? Or does the profile issue not really matter in this very short term brief usage situation? And any thoughts about the initial 20 psi setting for general sand use? We're talking 255/55 x 19's here - Pirelli Scorpions in my case. We're probably going over ground covered in many threads and stickies elsewhere, but it may be useful here too, given the readership of this one.

No, you can go to 10 to escape on 19s or 20s. The rim will be touching the sand, but go really slow and it can be done. My testing indicates that for a given pressure the higher profile tyres have less contact area (less flotation, sink in more) and the rim is closer to the ground, hence the recommendation for smaller rims. But, larger rims can work.

The correct sand pressure is situation-dependent. For example recently in the Wyperfeld and Murray Sunset I used 28 as there was little sand and it wasn't very deep. In Robe, deeper and softer, I was down to 15 on my D3. The lower the pressure the slower you go and the more gentle the car movement. Keep reducing until you are able to progress, but as a guide I would not go any lower than about 2psi less than the rim size for "normal" sand driving for a D3 (eg for 17s 15psi). That rule would not apply to other cars with other rim sizes. There comes a point when you cannot lower any further and need to rely on momentum only, and that takes some knowledge and skill, and increases the risk of the tyre parting company with the rim. Not a big deal to fix if you have the tools, but a nuisance nevertheless. Remember if you tow in sand the camper trailer can usually go down to 10 with no drama, I pulled a camper through Googs like that without any issues.

Originally Posted by rmp

but as a guide I would not go any lower than about 2psi less than the rim size for "normal" sand driving .

thats a good rule of thum

first time i whent though robe i ran at 28 no probs

Originally Posted by clean32

thats a good rule of thum

first time i whent though robe i ran at 28 no probs

In a D3?

Thanks RMP, looks like I'm in the market for an air compressor...

It's good to see that I'm far from being the only one to get stuck in the sand, I was towed out but will give your advice a go next time (and there will be a next time) I think plastic tracks would also be helpful in this situation but were do you store them?

Also, I didn't need a block of wood to get the extended height, right or wrong, I just selected access height which made the belly touch the ground and trigger extended height.

Good read

A good compressor is a must for sand driving, as your pressures are so low it is difficult to drive safely to the nearest servo to air up. Many D3 owners run ARB's compressor mounted in the space ahead of the main battery.

I store my Maxtrax on my roofrack, along with my sand flag. They also fit behind the second row attached to the cargo barrier.

Yes if you are nearly bellied out anyway you won't need the wood, and access can work, but the idea is to stop as soon as you realise it's going to happen. This is a skill learned over time and why you will see experienced sand drivers apparently giving up too early, they've recognised the signs.