Re-Thinking my Soft Sand Strategy after getting mega stuck....

Air down, 4lo, don't stop

 

4lo can lead to serious loss of speed when letting off the throttle, which means big loss in momentum. 4hi is usually better. Only time I use 4lo in sand is if I'm stuck and using my maxtrac.

 

1. Air down to 12 psi. Some ORV parks such as Silver Lake have written rules prohibiting tire pressures higher than 15 psi (i.e. they don't want you bogging down in the sand and needing a rescue). This makes the single biggest difference in floatation.

2. Use 4low with rear locker. Make sure brake-based traction aids are turned off. Keep the shifter in S2 to prevent the transmission from upshifting and losing power. Redline as needed to spin the tires. With the KDMax tune I'm often pushing past redline to 7200 rpm doing dune climbs:

 

Crawl control might get you out. You have to be patient and let it work.

https://youtu.be/TClCqnEeiGA

https://youtu.be/19BNRvuNLWE

 

And make sure you have a way to reinflate!

 

Just chiming in to say the one thing left out in this thread discussion has been tire tread. For loose sand you don’t want anything too aggressive. You want to float over, not dig down. By the time you dig down to the compacted stuff, you’re gonna frame your truck. And even compacted sand loosens up pretty quickly if you’re hammering the throttle and will just throw and accumulate more sand under the truck body.
Mild ATs are about as aggressive as you should go to for sandy driving.

 

Did the traction boards get you out?

 

Ugh, I hate airing down and would try it last. When really stuck, I first try flipping the CC switch on to get out over having to deflate and later refill the tires.

 

just run some paddle tires.

 

I can't comment on the weight, as I usually play with no weight in the rear, but ya, airing down is a HUUUGE improvement. Now you got me curious of how Crawl Control would work with all that weight. Works great sans weight, as would 4low and the rear locker.

These trucks were made for that shit!!!

P.S. Nice Camper.

 

Air down BEFORE you get stuck. That is why a good compressor is needed, without one a person is reluctant to do so and once you are stuck, lowering air pressure just lets the body sink closer to the ground. Also, different tires spread at different pressures, a stiff sidewall will need less pressure in it VS one with a more pliable one.

I used to run 12 PSI in the front and 10 in the rear. I never rolled a bead. My old tubed Armstrong Tru Tracs I'd run 6 in the rear and maybe 8 in the front on a FJ40. I'm just running in 2wd in the pic.

 

Not sand but CC got me out of door jam deep snow with the slide-in on the truck.

 

Sweet pic

 

It's the color of the truck! my doess it too.

 

Ok, but you can accomplish the same thing with MTS/A-TRAC. You don’t need the throttle intervention that CC adds.

Also note that people often misuse the term crawl control (and also AutoLSD) to mean the whole set of traction control modes, when in fact it is only one of them.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-traction-control-modes-explained.530695/

That said, it’s best to use all the tools you have and learn which ones work best in each situation.

 

Since other people are adding pics and such... why not. Pulling up to my campsite down on the Oregon Dunes. Looking forward to getting back out there in August.



Immediately after this video I dropped the camper and went back for my car trailer... I almost made it to camp... I forgot to air down FURTHER after unloading the camper. As mentioned above, I usually drop to around 30+ with the camper, and it works fine. But without it, I need to at least get under 20. Getting stuck happens. A shovel and 4x maxtrax have got me out on numerous occasions.

 

https://youtu.be/dechvhb0Meo?si=9eElunbujoV8sfml

 

I want to blame my wife... but it sounds like her quad driving up in the background... so I'm confused who to blame.

 

LOL! Yeah, that cycle motor sound made it sound like it’s coming from your truck!

Great camper set up by the way, it did really well over that sand also. Were you in four low or four high?

 

4hi. as mentioned above, i never use 4lo in the sand unless it's with the maxtrax. In the really soft stuff, in 4lo, the second you let off the gas it nose dives and loses speed super fast. Kills the momentum when all you really wanna do is slow down/coast. Just harder to modulate. I usually put it in 2nd in 4hi.