Air pressures ? Sand tracks and a decent Jack ??

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

It's "Ask the Guru's time.. ops: ops: ops: "

Apologies for the longish post.

Being pretty new to this whole 4 wheel driving thing, I took the family for a little drive yesterday . With air pressure down to around 20 psi (nervous about horror stories of tyres rolling off the rim) we hit a strip of beach south of Mandurah.

5, or so, Kms in I buried it ops: (a combination of too much right foot and too little experience ops: ). Over the next 3 hours I found out exactly how much sand fits into every crevice underneath a Prado - and my comment to the missus of, "Happy Mothers Day - here's a shovel", probably didn't go down too well :x .

One guy came within 100 m, early in the dig, but turned around and drove off without seeing me - when I checked it out later he would have only been able to see the top of the roof (maybe) down in a hollow, from where he was. :cry:

In as much as I stuffed up most things, I had checked the tide charts and made my attempt on an outgoing tide - I still had heaps of time before things started to get really nervous :? .

A couple of locals came by to lend a hand . The first comment was - "20 psi ! Go to 10 !" That had me worried but I did it and the Prado literally walked out (with the gentlest of tugs from the snatch strap) and drove the rest of the way back without looking like getting stuck .

Firstly - huge thanks to those guys for their assistance - I hope the fish were biting all afternoon :wink: .

Secondly - What pressures do most people run in the sand (I also imagine there is a fair bit of difference between tyres / sizes etc - mine are a set of Kelly Safaris) ?

Next - what is the record for throwing the standard Toy(ota) bottle jack - I made it past the first set of breakers :twisted: What do others use - I don't see a lot of safe jacking points for a high lift jack ??

Does anyone use the Maxtrax or Bushranger Sand Tracks ??

Looking forward to your replies.

Oh, and apologies - I didn't get any photos :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

[Fazza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fazza]

Chippy,
Sounds like you had a lot of fun on Mothers Day.
Was the shovel the Mothers Day present?

Inflation pressures in sand will probably bring in a varied array of comments, but I would suggest the locals were spot on with their advice.
Start at 20lbs gradually reducing if necessary, I have known people to go as low as 10 psi.
Remember: Avoid any high speed & re inflate as soon as you can. Running at excessively low pressures WILL cause Cord, Bead & Shoulder damage resulting in tyre failure.
Also the greater the load the greater the damage.

As to the jack, I carry a large piece of wood as a base plate & have never had a problem, but then I have never tried to use it bogged in sand.
I guess the best method would be one of those big bags you place under the vehicle & inflate from your exhaust. (If they are still available?)

What have you got planed for your wifes birthday. :wink:

Fazza D4D Auto

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Chippy,

I've found the best pressure for soft sand (AT20's) is 15PSI. The only time I've had to go any lower than is at Bornholm, where I went down to 10PSI after seeing many others stuggle at as low as 5PSI.

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Thanks Fazza

The bruising should go down in a couple of days - where the missus gave me the shovel back.

The bigger block of wood sounds good - mine wasn't that big (I keep getting told that). The couple of blocks, that I had, are well on their way to China by now. I suppose I had better go back to that spot of beach and try diving for the jack :wink:

As for her birthday ...

Have you seen Jeff S's post under destinations ? (http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?t=724)

Jeff lives a handful of K's south of me and seems to have had a mountain of fun in the hills behind Harvey. Check out http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/2005seach/HarveyMay07 for his pics.

Maybe go for the drive / picnic and then give her a gift wrapped Massojet pressure wash for a pressie ... :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

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I have Safari AWR's on my Work 4x4.

I have comfortably run them hundreds of times at 15-18 psi on sand and had no issues.
I "did: however blow a bead on one once when I had to go to 8 PSI in a particuarly bad section of dunes. It was more a driver error that blew the bead as I turned too sharp to avoid a stake. :roll:

I have fitted Staun Beadlocks now and have run them at 4 PSI :!: twice to get thru a very soft section of sand and another swampy section.

I have run my Prado at 15 a couple times, just dont turn too sharp or go to fast!
I run 34-36 on bitumen in Prado.
25-28 on Rocks and rough dirt tracks.
18 on Sand.

I use truck bottle jacks as they have a higher lift, and a big piece of 50mm thick wood under it.
I am considering purchasing a bag soon as I had a situation recently it would have got me out in minutes but ended up spending hours winching & digging the Prado out. (Bellied it)..

The Maxtracks are excellent but $$$, you really need a pair , or even better 4 of them. Hard to carry if you dont have racks though.

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Thanks Leachy and TP

There seems to be a common theme - my wood was too small (aarrgghh - why do we keep returning to the same subject ?). ops:

The Safaris are there for a while yet - they were on the Prado when I bought it 2nd hand (about 4 weeks ago) and they have heaps of tread left on them. :shock:

I suppose my biggest drama was - 10 to 12 feet of steep dune on my left, narrowish track with deep, firm, ruts (as the rain recently had seemed to firm it up), a drop off to the right (of less than a metre), and plenty of space further to the right that was really wet and soft, on the outgoing tide, but firmed up nicely over the next 3 hours.

When I stuck it I did a bloody good job. Did you know - when you belly a Prado out and you have a bit of momentum up, the diff can act like a snow shovel and fill up ALL OF THE SPACE above the diff. I do !

Then I couldn't get to shovel from the high side - it was hard up against the slope of the dune. I could only tackle it from below - without burying myself. One thing for sure - with an XJack or exhaust jack of some sort - I would have been out a lot quicker.

It seems the KISS principle is still alive and well - pressure down to 15 or so, gives room to drop further if needed, a reasonable jack but a decent sized block as a base (a piddly 100mm x 100mm jack base is simply not going to support a 2 ton truck on soft sand).

Cheers guys
Chippy

[Fazza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fazza]

Chippy,
You seem to building a big list of birthday presents for the wife,
Massojet pressure wash, better jack, exhaust jack, good tyre pump or possibly a winch, the list could be endless?

Fazza :P

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Subtle huh?

It's all part of the master plan. :wink:

She's just forked out for a TX3400 UHF radio, AE4018K1 aerial and a TX650 UHF handheld twin pack. I get to fit the TX3400 on the weekend.

I've also got the OK for a dual battery setup.

I reckon it's so that she can send the kids off down the beach looking for help and stay in touch with them, and still be able to sip chilled chardonay from the Waeco (while I lift, dig, make roads etc) without running the starting battery down. :lol:

Ooops, better post quickly - in case she wanders past and reads this. Then it's the doghouse for sure.

Cheers
Chippy

[embi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close embi]

15psi is my sand pressure and 26 on the rocks...

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

You're not wrong. Call it a "Mud Change". :P

Donkeys years of V8 Commodores have finally passed away.

I've grabbed a 4 year old V6 (yeah, I know it's not an oiler - but I still run unleaded in my blood) with 50K on the clock - one owner and only ever driven to church on Sunday's (it must have been a long way to church).

I've had it for 4 weeks and am in love (again, Ow! Frozen fish to the side of the head.) :? Just getting the Prado and the Trak Shak CT all ready for LSL - heading off in July. 8)

The missus and tin lids are loving it too - just not enough to carry their own shovels.

This forum has been a real eye opener and awesome collection of tips - front bash plate, wiring tips, battery setups, etc ... and Drew's Polyair install - who needs a workshop manual with you guys around

Wiring is all in for the Tekonsha Voyager brake controller, spotties (Nanes for now until I can prise HID money from the love of my life (that frozen fish still hurts). Home made ally bash plate fitted, rear head rest DVD's connected (It's sooo quite inside I can even have a conversation with the missus). Cables run for the Anderson plug (to charge the Ct battery) and spare power plugs in the back for the Waecos - just waiting for the battery tray, isolator and battery to hook the lot up.

Now I've just got to learn to drive it

Cheers
Chippy

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Thanks for that Pradogxlv6 (Matt). What's the protocol ?

I'm real new to this lark .... but LOVING IT !

My old man was an auto sparkie and taught me heaps and the workshop is kitted up for all sorts of metalwork projects - now I have a project to play with. It's like a bloke's mechano set - but better.

Hey, great avatar - looks great, but bigger than mine (Oh hell, here goes that common thread again).

Cheers
Chippy

[Guest Close Guest]

The Safaris are there for a while yet - they were on the Prado when I bought it 2nd hand (about 4 weeks ago) and they have heaps of tread left on them. :shock:

Better get used to them then! We are reguarly getting at least 90,000 kms out of our safaris on the work trucks! I think one set went to 125k before we changed them and they still hadnt hit the wear indicators!

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Thanks TP.

It's all sounding good. After lurking on this forum for a while I had the option of 3 vehicles. 2 still had the Dunlops on - and Pradopoint members seem to have a deathly fear of the GrandCrapper. I bought the one with the Safaris. (plus it was white and the missus hated the other 2 colours).

... and I now know the Safaris are good down at 10 psi. I'll settle for 15psi and give myself a bit of airdown space if needed.

I do about 40K a year - so I'll think about tyres again this time of year - 2009 !

Cheers
Chippy

[Guest Close Guest]

I usually drop them on sand to 18, thats what my deflators are set for.

At 10 you have to be very careful of any turns or wobbles due to ruts, 15 is similar, be very careful!

With beadlocks its not an issue, some guys run even less than 4 psi! I think some of the rockcrawler guys run the Staun beadlocks and 1 psi!

[Jacto Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jacto]

Hi guys, hey I am no slouch with a computer but how do you do this "avatar" thing, certainly got me stuffed? Any assistance would be reeeeally appreciated