Sand Driving

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

I always find it amazing how no one believes how effective low tyres pressures are until they experience it.

Like others, I grew up learning to drive on Stockton Beach. No fancy "driving aids" in the '70's. I remember one local used to drive the beach nearly everyday in a EH Holden. The entry track at the northern end was very different back then and he got in and out with ease.


Given that a vehicle with traction control has open diffs, wouldn't it be better left on?

[keencdk Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close keencdk]

Sand driving starts with a shopping trip. Got out and buy1. A decent (rated) front recovery point so that you can get towed if you get stuck2. A decent rear recovery point eg the ones that slide into the Hayman Reece slot and have a shackle on them3. A decent snatch strap4. A decent rated D-Shackle to allow you to attach your snatch strap to the front of your carSand driving is not too hard, but people will be less than happy if you get stuck and they pull up to help and find out you have no gear. It's 50-50 whether they will help you if there is not a recovery point to attach to especially if they have to use their own gearOptional but highly recommended is either Staun tyre deflators, or one of the easy tyre deflator variants on the marketCheck the tides, Let the tyres down, put her in 4wd and you're away. You don't need to rev the guts out of it, that will just get you digging up tracks for you and everyone else.

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

Sand driving starts with a shopping trip. Got out and buy1. A decent (rated) front recovery point so that you can get towed if you get stuck2. A decent rear recovery point eg the ones that slide into the Hayman Reece slot and have a shackle on them3. A decent snatch strap4. A decent rated D-Shackle to allow you to attach your snatch strap to the front of your carSand driving is not too hard, but people will be less than happy if you get stuck and they pull up to help and find out you have no gear. It's 50-50 whether they will help you if there is not a recovery point to attach to especially if they have to use their own gearOptional but highly recommended is either Staun tyre deflators, or one of the easy tyre deflator variants on the marketCheck the tides, Let the tyres down, put her in 4wd and you're away. You don't need to rev the guts out of it, that will just get you digging up tracks for you and everyone else.

Pretty much nailed it all there!!

I agree with the "your own gear". plenty on here that have had Maxtrax destroyed with a "cowboy" driver revving the guts out of his fourby to get out........in the instances I have used them as long as you dig a little, and place them in the correct position you should be able to just drive out normally.

[QuadcamV6 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close QuadcamV6]

my advise is more about washing your car properly after beach driving , I worked on fraser island tour buses and hire cars for years and this is how I do my beach driving prep and wash down
1/ spary motor with lanotec or something similar to prevent salt corrosion [ sand will stick to it but degreaser with get it all off.
2/I also spray wheel nuts , around tow bar and wiring , I make a after noon of it and spray chassis rails and basically everything steel and alloy under car

/when I get home from said beach trip I use Saltaway . its the stuff i also use to wash down my boat and trailer and I flush my engines with is as well , but its great for washing you cars under body and chassis and engine bay . spots that hold salt that are forgotten when washing cars after beach driving is , Radiator cores, above fuel tanks, inside chassis rails, under bumpers , under bonnet and engine :] note Only wash motor when its is cold never wash when hot as this can cause engines to crack.

you can get saltaway from bcf tackle world or from ,
http://www.salt-away.com.au/ there is a mixer that goes onto your hose that makes it so easy .
hope this helps and have a great trip .

[Corigator Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Corigator]

So how does "Salt away" remove all traces of salt?I would have thought water was pretty good at dissolving salt. There is no explanation at all on their website.

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

I'm wondering the same thing about this "salt away". What does it do that liberal amounts of fresh water doesn't ?

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

I'm wondering the same thing about this "salt away". What does it do that liberal amounts of fresh water doesn't ?

Drains your wallet and makes money for the retailer

Best bet after any beach trip is a quick trip to Kununurra and a few laps through Ivanhoe Crossing to clean the salt out



Cheers Andrew

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

It would appear so.
The active ingredient is sulfamic acid. It possibly has some other additives as well.
The yanks seem to love it and swear by it.
A bit of googling reveals that a lot of people reckon a solution of water, white vinegar and a few drops of dish soap do the same thing.
But of course such home remedies don't contain "special advanced formulas" and "technologically advanced polymers" to give outstanding results.

[wazafi Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wazafi]

My 2 cents worth on soft sand 4WD driving.
No expert but done a couple of times.

Traction Control OFF (Press and hold the TC button until it display “OFF”)
Centre Diff LOCK
Tyre Pressure 18psi. (Had to go down to 14 PSI at one stage coz could not climb very soft sand hill).
Mostly H4 (Auto) when driving around soft sand, but revert to H4 (S1) when climbing soft sand hill.
Did try L4 (S3) on soft sand but don’t like the engine grunt . Only did the L4 (S1) & R when got a bit stuck

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

My 2 cents worth on soft sand 4WD driving.
No expert but done a couple of times.

Traction Control OFF (Press and hold the TC button until it display “OFF”)
Centre Diff LOCK
Tyre Pressure 18psi. (Had to go down to 14 PSI at one stage coz could not climb very soft sand hill).
Mostly H4 (Auto) when driving around soft sand, but revert to H4 (S1) when climbing soft sand hill.
Did try L4 (S3) on soft sand but don’t like the engine grunt . Only did the L4 (S1) & R when got a bit stuck

This will do the trick, you want the front and back axles doing the same thing so Centre Lock on. If you do not turn the traction control off, as soon as you head uphill on soft deep sand the TC will turn the power off faster than you putting your foot under the accelerator. Not a good feeling when you have your foot all the way down. Yes after turning the engine off you will have to start again with your settings. If you need or want to use low range use 2nd start as well

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

Now that I own a 150 I have read the manuals back to front and can surmise the following (no practical experience in this model car yet though):

1. Turn off Both TRC and VSC (old button for 3 sec when not moving) <- repeat procedure every engine restart
2. Us H4 and up to you on S or D (I always use manual mode when driving an auto of road anyway)
3. Lock Centre Diff (this would seem obvious but the user manual is really particular about only using it when you are already stuck, dumb...)
4. Only use L4 when you want to access A-TRC which is a different mode of TRC that only works in L4, you can of course turn this off, but it is much more beneficial to leave on, it stops wheel spin but DOES NOT affect throttle input like TRC does. It is disabled the same way as TRC and VSC.
5. Tyre pressure of course.

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

Yep.. I was all nervous when takin my new 150 onto sand for the first time, but found it crazy capable.. Tyre pressure is probably the most important of the 5 :-)

[OKAth Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close OKAth]

Sand driving is all about tyre pressure. In good sand 25-20psi will suffice but in soft fluffy sand 18-15psi. I've been down to 12psi on some beaches but that's getting into bead rolling territory. Couple of mates took an old 90 series prado down to 8psi to get if off the beach.

Simple rule. If you are bogging down in dry sand, let your tyres down more.

Saves chopping the hell out of the tracks too.

[shakergt351 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close shakergt351]

Sand driving is one the most common things I do living in Esperance. Anyway I now have up graded from a 2005 gx 3lt manual to a 2016 gxl 2.8 auto and am having troble on the sand. TC turned off and tyres down it seams real sluggish. A sand hill that I could get ovet with 120 I could not manage it today with the 150. I tried L4 2 gear and 3rd gear. HR 2 gear and also HR 3 gear but still not able to get over. I even trried with center diff locked and still no luck. Any tips for me. Am I doing it all wrong. It has me baffeld

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Are you holding that button down for the full 3 seconds so that both stability and traction control are killed? Sounds like one of them is still active. My 2016 gx has no issues in sand with tyres at 16 to 18 psi hot.