Sand driving

[OzAd4x4]

Hi all,

Just had a day on Stockton beach - all good but did get stuck a few times which was a bit of a surprise as it wasn't an overly difficult dune

This was in Sand mode with the DSC turned off, however I left the DSC turned on for the rest of the day and it was much better. I have been driving Stockton for about 10 years now and overall was very impressed with the performance with the main exception being the suspension lowering at 50kmph which is simply too slower speed.....65-80kmph would be ideal! Might have to look at the options available sooner rather than later as I love my beach driving.

One thing that was a little confusing from my understanding of the Terrain Response was that when Sand mode was selected the suspension didn't automatically lift into Off-road height it stayed at whatever i was already in (Normal). Also, how do I know when the e-diff is in operation as I don't have the centre screen (base model only)????

Phil

[p38arover]

From Overlander forum today (see http://forums.overlander.com.au/viewtopic.php't=68674) :

Do all discos drag their under carriage on the sand when beach driving ?
Their were 2 fancy 2010 Disco on Hawks Nest beach today dragging their under carriage on the sand if it wasn't for a heave throttle I would say they would still be their now 6 hours later. One was down to his sills and was recovered buy a Nissan the disco couldn't follow the Nissan as the under side of the bumper was a plough
How did they win 4X4 of the year was I dreaming I saw that ?

[3.9County]

Sand driving was quite difficult with the D3 as we found the instruments had no real effect on sand performance.

On hard sand it was ok but once the sand was soft and powdery despite its enormous power it seemed to get stuck quite easily. Keeping in mind that the vehicle is extremely heavy and would often find soft spots where the 110 or 130 would just float across.

The best thing for this problem is to change to big high profile sand tyres and deflate to 20 to 18 psi.

[OzAd4x4]

I'm running 265/70/17s which I had a 12psi in the front and 10psi in the rear which helped somewhat...

[ozscott]

I am sorry to hear about your problems mate. I have been told on this forum that with the DSC turned off the D3/D4 was excellent in sand and that really those with a D3/4 that had problems in soft sand (as has been reported on this forum by some owners) was because they didnt know the settings to use and how to drive their vehicle (in effect) and would keep DSC turned on.


I am keen to hear what others say about your report matey. Ghaggis (Gordon) may post up and have some helpful tips for you about getting it to perform well in the sand.

Cheers

[chuck]

I am listening with interest as I am going to Port McConnell near Robe next week.

As I understand it it is DSC off, low range, off road height, sand mode with tyres deflated to 17lb for 17' tyres.

Keep speed under 50kmh to stay in off road height.

Regards

Chuck

[roamer]

From Overlander forum today (see Overlander 4WD :: View topic - Disco question) :

That sounds like the compressor had gone into" protection mode" (overheated) and he couldn't get it to raise.
If you have screen, in 4X4 setting it tells you its "rising,"
If no screen it will flash on the dash, "rising", until it gets too hot then,starts to flash, "compressor overheated, will rise when cool", it is only a flash, and I don't remember a bing
This slow rising really is a pain on the beach
Cheers Ken

[scarry]

I think i will just keep the D2 as long as i can
Fine in the sand,no problems with DSC or lowering & raising,ummm,also the 16" tyres a great.......

[WhiteD3]

From Overlander forum today (see Overlander 4WD :: View topic - Disco question) :

Interesting post. The other two posts seem to blame the driver

[rdenyer]

Bare in mind the speed limit on Stockton Beach is 40 km/h.

But if you do wish to go faster with extra height I have heard there are some products on the market - e.g. "Johnson Rods" that will "trick" the computer in to thinking its at it normal height.

Have not used them but they seem to be a pretty simple solution to this problem.

Have found my 2005 D3 TDV6 is much better in the sand with DSC off.

MTCW