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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64859
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Yes, all four... It IS about FLOATATION!
If you push a pencil into the sand, it goes in easily... Now, try to push your hand, open palm into the sand... doesn't go down very far, huh?
Skinny or rock hard tire VS. Wide, soft (buldging sidewalls) tire.
That photo of the 4Runner burried near the incoming high tide... TOO MUCH AIR!!! Even in 4WD, that beach south of San Felipe will suck you in, unless
you are properly DEFLATED... 10-15 PSI is no lie!
[Edited on 5-2-2008 by David K]
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
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Two important tips for getting "unstuck"
First is simple....
be sure to scrape away all the sand/dirt/mud built up in front of all four tires. Lots of guys forget that one, and that is simple and often can
solve the problem.
Second....
if you feel yourself getting stuck you have two choices....
you can romp on it and try to blas thru or you can stop and assess the situation.
neither is a good answer, but the problem always compounds itself when you try to accelerate out and just get more stuck.... and the more stuck, the
more digging for unstuck.
oh, and if you are serious about going places where you may get stuck then go to your local steel supplier and ask him to cut you two pieces of
expanded metal (the stuff they build grates from)
cut them about 18" wide by 4 feet long, put them under all your gear,
they are marvelous to get you a running (albeit only 4') head start to drive out of a bad situation.
and, they ususally have very sharp edges after getting sheared to size, so either file them down or wrap the edges with duct tape.
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by thebajarunner
Two important tips for getting "unstuck"
First is simple....
be sure to scrape away all the sand/dirt/mud built up in front of all four tires. Lots of guys forget that one, and that is simple and often can
solve the problem.
Second....
if you feel yourself getting stuck you have two choices....
you can romp on it and try to blas thru or you can stop and assess the situation.
neither is a good answer, but the problem always compounds itself when you try to accelerate out and just get more stuck.... and the more stuck, the
more digging for unstuck.
oh, and if you are serious about going places where you may get stuck then go to your local steel supplier and ask him to cut you two pieces of
expanded metal (the stuff they build grates from)
cut them about 18" wide by 4 feet long, put them under all your gear,
they are marvelous to get you a running (albeit only 4') head start to drive out of a bad situation.
and, they ususally have very sharp edges after getting sheared to size, so either file them down or wrap the edges with duct tape.
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The metal things you refer too----yes, I carried them for years in my 2x4 pickup, and yes, they do work. But boy it is sooooooooo much faster and
convenient to just "shift" into 4-wheel drive and go on your way. (and the "metal things" don't always solve your problems-----besides the huge
hassle)
barry
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Matt&Mutt
Junior Nomad
Posts: 50
Registered: 3-11-2008
Member Is Offline
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stuck in the deeps
There's 3 basic tenets of off-pavement driving that'll keep you out of the muck. I routinely ignore all of them.
1) Air down. Highway/city folks are scared that their tires'll fly off the rims if they are below 32 psi. Not so, unless you're taking some hard
corners on solid ground. I typically air down to 20 on routine washboard/softy, down to 15 on soft/deep sands, and reserve airing down to 10 for when
I'm stuck in some serious deeps (if I can't get out at 10, I shouldn't have been there in the first place). For off-pavement newbies, if there's not
a llantera and you don't have a compressor ($10 at Wallyworld for the cheapest Chinese model), you can safely drive (no hard turns/braking) for 40 or
50 miles to find air. Just keep it below 55 and you'll be fine.
2) Don't stop !! If you're in the muck, or crawling up a hill (especially), the last thing you want to do is to stop off and take a look around !!
That is when you get stuck. Preview your turf, if possible, and commit. If it's soft & you're bogging down, stopping will guarantee it !!
3) If you get stopped/stuck....get off the gas !! Stopped is stopped, and there is a reason you're not moving forward anymore. Trying to rock it
out or easing forward will do nothing more than dig you in further. I generally figure that a basic stick is worth about a half hour of digging. An
axle-depth stick (easy, really easy to do in soft stuff), can be a half day affair !!
Re the 4wd vs the 2wd debate---there's places I've taken my old beat-up Wrangler that no 2wd vehicle will EVER make it to, let alone smell the
downwind scent of.... Know your and your vehicle's limits, know your back-up plan (having one is smart), have sufficient survival/recovery gear on
board always, and GO EXPLORE !!!
M
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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Matt y Mutt----------yep, that about covers it. 
barry
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