by Qwerty on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:53 +0000
it's been done to death I'm sure, but ;
Always think about where you're going to stop or slow ... always try and take some high ground even if it just means a lump of sand that's a bit higher. The amount of times i've seen blokes bogged (and myself a couple times) just by deciding on a stupid place to stop.... gravity is immensely helpful on sand (and immensely hindering too ha ha)
If you're bogging down ... don't keep flooring it, youll just dig down in no time ... likewise if you're in a soft patch ... yes its necessary to use a bit of power to get through ... but generally think of how "much" power as a rubber band ... don't let wheel spin be more than say 20-30% faster than your vehicle speed when powering ... or you just make it worse. If you are giving it minor throttle and still car won't budge ... you're proper stuck, no pointing spinning wheels ... get out, dig, maxtrax, snatch .. whatever to unstuck the car.
Obviously there are times where 100% power, some wishful thinking, and a fair bit of aggression is needed in really soft bits ... we have some stretches of beach where I just grab low range, lock the front (lsd rear), third or second gear and scream through (v6 is revvy) and no amount of conservative driving would have got through ... however there's a fine line between situations where that's helpful vs hindrence.. and there are all sorts of dangers in an aggressive method, damage, rocks under sand, control, beadrolling etc.
Takeoffs in boggy sand, as others say, ease gentlhy into it ... if its boggy but still making gradual movements... then keep a nice steady conservative amount of wheel spin as you edge forward ... the moment you give it too much wheel spin you're digging more than youre moving, and you'll be even more bogged.
I find in a slow boggy situation that moving the steering left and right a little sometimes helps.
Sometimes its better to reverse up a little, foreward a little, back a little ... create a little runway so you can get that first bit of momentum going and then lay the power in once you're moving (but remembering not to push wheel spin massively ahead of actual momentum speed).
If and when you feel yourself starting to bog down... be very quick to decide when you're bogged and cut the power ... rather than pushing the envelope and digging yourself down to the chassis in a matter of seconds. Don't know about you guys, but with the V6, locked, on WA's boggy (knee deep!) type beaches ... it only takes a couple of seconds to get yourself royally bogged by keeping the power on. Yu're better off stopping, and trying to back up, or biting bullet and getting maxtrax out then and there (much easier when youre only midly "stuck" but not yet fully chassis bogged)
Careful of weedy patches, often the high tide can cause swirly currents that leave holes under the weed ... BANG a giant pot hole. they hurt.
Personally i run between 12-14psi always. Lowest I've been was I think 8psi to get out of a really nasty, narrow, sloping, incoming tide bastard situation I was in. (seasoned veterans were getting bogged that day, it was like friggin glue).
Be alert ... be respectful of other cars, dont barrel past at excessive speed thinking you're looking good, in reality, our vehicles can very easily jump out of ruts a foot or two left or right, and easily smash into a nearby car, kid, tent, fisherman.
I have a 5spd auto (its mint in sand), but generally choose a gear and stick with it if in a dicey section ... in other words be smart about when you change gears in a manual, you might be better off staying in 2nd and reving through the last bit of a crappy boggy bit, than changing to 3rd, and getting stuck instead etc etc. ALl depends on the situation.
Don't follow mates too closely ... allow a few hundred metres betwen you ... too often youre right up someones ass, hit a patch of beach that is going to need some brawn or power ... guy in front slows / gets into trouble ... and voila you're either smashing into him, or more likely bogged in a bad spot because you had to stop ... if you allow enough room, you can hang back and wait til he's got through (or go help him), rather than all ending up in the same sandpit together.
Last edited by
Qwerty on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 1:05 +0000, edited 5 times in total.