Thread: Driving on Sand

G'day and welcome!

I've found mine to be a legend on sand, often pulling others out!

A few things to remember, tyre pressure is everything on sand. Low is good! The 18" tyres probably not helping much but should still be fine if you let them down. Driving technique also comes into play. If your Rangie begins to dig, I've found that backing off and varying the revs between 1200 and 1700 it'll find traction! More than 2000rpm when she's sinking and it starts to dig quite a bit! I run 20psi on river sand and 15psi on beach sand.

It is not possible to switch off the traction control sadly.

I can't comment on all terrains, I run BFG KM2's on my P38.

Happy 4wding mate!

Keithy

Hi Keithy.

I have driven on sand in the past, at both Stockton Beach here in NSW and also Fraser Island but not in the P38.

Have you had any problems with traction control over heating on sand? I have never had traction control overheat but there are stories so its made me a little paranoid for sand driving. Rock and mud, well you'd have to be powering on well to overheat in those environments.

I also have KM2's but was ready to buy a 2nd set of rims and put the highway terrains back on for sand. But you find the KM2's OK on sand by the sound of it. Was worried even with airing down that they would still dig holes.

Cheers,Peter.

I tend to think if the TC is causing problems (or generally even engaging if you're not going too silly) then your tyre pressures are too high. I find the TC helps in sand at times, especially on potholed tracks, but I cant think of where it hinders when the tyre pressures are right for that sand.

TC should not be the problem.

Low tyre pressures,around 18 to 20 PSI,with 16's,lots of momentum in the soft stuff,try and limit wheel spin if possible.

I did heaps of D2 driving in all types of sand,never had any problems,TC was never an issue.

Experience is also helpful,keep trying & you will learn more.

Make sure CDL is in if you have it?

Originally Posted by scarry

TC should not be the problem.

Low tyre pressures,around 18 to 20 PSI,with 16's,lots of momentum in the soft stuff,try and limit wheel spin if possible.

X2.

Originally Posted by scarry

Low tyre pressures,around 18 to 20 PSI,with 16's,lots of momentum in the soft stuff,try and limit wheel spin if possible.

Dont be afraid to go lower with 16" rims. You'll still be very happy down to about 14psi. When I'm running Simex I run them down to 10.5psi. I've not had dramas with these pressures in the ruts of Fraser Island, or the softest of sand at Stockton beach. The Land Rover 16" rims are very good at bead retention with the one exception that I know of, and thats when running the BFG AT tyre for some reason.

Inthezone,
I too got briefly stuck in the really soft "fluffy" sand up at Lancelin a few weeks back. I had only planned on spendin 30-45 minutes or so before lunch in the dunes and along a couple of tracks showing a couple of Dutch relatives around. I had 18" wheels with scorpion Zero road tyres on, tread is at its minimum but more importantly I had 45psi all round. The sane as your experience TC kicked in and you feel like the sand has sapped all the cars power. Simple solution, drop the tyre pressure. I dropped back to around 20 psi, cleared the sand from directly in front of the wheels and drove off. I normally have maxxis bighorns 265/75/16 when heading off road and run them at 15 psi, they bag up well and haven't had any problems to date. They are also easier on the pocket than km2's and the pirelli's. the main drawback, they are pretty noisy on the bitumen so you need to turn up the sound system .
Gary

Originally Posted by Slunnie

I tend to think if the TC is causing problems (or generally even engaging if you're not going too silly) then your tyre pressures are too high. I find the TC helps in sand at times, especially on potholed tracks, but I cant think of where it hinders when the tyre pressures are right for that sand.

I fully agree with the above. I use 14psi in the tyres on soft beach sand and with the added footprint of the tyres you shouldn't have many issues in soft sand - provided you drive it according to the conditions. There are a number of good videos on Youtube that are a good introduction to sand driving.