Driving in sand for newbie

[gedion]

Hi guys, newbie here on 4wd.
Might sound a silly question...so please forgive me beforehand.

Looking to join few mates for a sand adventure. Everyone is talking about deflating tyres for better footing etc. (None of them ever owned a GC)

My questions are :
How do we know how flat can we deflate the tyres?
and also...from memory, my GC has the tyre pressure warning if certain pressure on the tyres are flat...so, do I just ignore this warning or is there a special setting that I need to preset before deflating?

Thanks

[Nanook]

Driving in sand is some of the best and worst fun you'll ever have.

What pressure to drop down to is a matter of experience and the sand you are driving on.

You don't mention what size rims you have (18s or 20s) but you can generally get away with the same pressures on both.

I spend a lot of time on the sand so my go to pressure is 16psi if the sand is soft. Harder sand you can usually get away with 18 - 20 psi.

Hard packed sand like Old Bar beach in NSW, I usually leave at road pressures.

If you are bogged, don't be afraid to go as low as 10 - 12 psi but air up to at least 15 psi when you are able to otherwise you run the risk of peeling the tyre off the rim.

Don't worry about the TPMS, it will give you a warning that your pressures are low but it won't annoy you.

Avoid hard stops and fast take offs as you will just bury yourself.

Avoid using the brakes at all if safe. Just let the Jeep roll to a stop as once again, under brakes you can dig in.

Momentum is the key on sand, it's what keeps you on top of the sand. If you do stop, stop. Try and reverse a little because the natural reaction to losing momentum is to put your foot down harder and you will just dig yourself in deep.

Please carry you own recovery gear. There is nothing more annoying than helping someone that's bogged and they have nothing at all to help themselves.

Invest in recovery boards, they will save you 9 times out of 10 if you are stuck. $300 worth of Treds or Max Trax will pay for themselves.

Carry a long handled shovel. This is a much better digging tool than trying to use your max trax to dig.

Carry a snatch strap and shackles. The soft shackles are the best as there is no weight and if something snaps, it's not going to take your head off.

Also get a winch blanket to weight the snatch strap down.

[drover]

Letting down tyres is often done for sand but it all depends on the beach surface, best to stop and look, if you only have a bit of soft stuff to get on to the beach and then its nice and hard I leave mine at my road pressure and if I let them down its only to about 30 psi, running fast along a hard beach at speed is not a good idea, hard turning can roll the bead enough to let sand in and you will have a slow leak forever.... Like letting tyres down for dirt, its not a hard rule it really depends on the surface conditions, when its really soft powdery sand then 15 psi to get out of trouble but never leave them that low.
I live at Rainbow Beach and its not often I drop my tyres down as the beach is flat and hard, if I do its from 36 to 30 psi............ I carry a good gauge and a compressor..... when using your compressor always have the engine running so you have good power supply.

[Fishframe]

You will need a good air compressor to air back up. On compacted sand probably don’t need to deflate, but as the sand gets softer you definitely will. I am happy to go down to about 15 psi if it’s really soft and deep.

[Rogue]

Agree with all the comments above.
16-18 PSI is my sweet spot for Fraser Island, Stockton Beach and many others. If doing longer distance, higher speed on a hard beach, I'd air back up to 25-30 PSI.

Maxtrax/Treds/etc are invaluable, but so is throttle control. You want to float on the top of the sand (hence airing down for a larger tyre footprint), so avoid spinning wheels, hard braking, etc. When parking, try to park facing downhill to make leaving again easier. On beaches, be very aware of wash-outs and sand ridges. Easy to miss, but expensive when you slam into the other side.

Kinetic rope or a snatch strap, plus soft shackles are essential recovery gear. Try to keep them dry as much as possible, and wash them well after you get home. But equally important is to use a rated recovery point - the recovery hooks on the GC, a recovery block in the tow hitch, etc. Don't trust tie-down points and NEVER trust a towball for a recovery!

Finally water. Carry 10-20l. You get dehydrated fast digging in the sand, plus driving in the sand is hot work for the motor and trans. Overheating (both you and the car) is not unexpected. Monitor temps and rest/hydrate as needed.