Hi or low in sand?

[coolummatt]

Hi all, just a quick question, I have 96 4.2efi auto. if im on the beach in soft sand should i be using low gear or high? Going to fraser at chrissy and i will be towing a camper trailer so im guessing i should be using low for the soft stuff? ill be thankful for any advise, Thanks

[TPC]

Hi all, just a quick question, I have 96 4.2efi auto. if im on the beach in soft sand should i be using low gear or high? Going to fraser at chrissy and i will be towing a camper trailer so im guessing i should be using low for the soft stuff? ill be thankful for any advise, Thanks

Really depends on how soft the sand is, I usually stick to high unless its real boggy.
Main thing to do is lower the tyre pressures, I go 20 psi or lower.

[oncedisturbed]

Same as above. Hi is usually the way to go unless really soft. Average at 20psi as this gives you room to drop more if needs be but you may initially need to drp to 18psi on both troll and trailer due to extra weight.

Had to drop to 12psi the other week and others in same trip dropped to 8psi. It will also depend your driving style as well


Never underestimate the power of the darkside, let the tap flow through you.

[threedogs]

Momentum is your best mate on sand but normally high and don't brake let the sand stop you.
Avoid sharp turns with lower pressures you may peel tyre off rim. Take shovel and exhaust jack
And max tracks

[coolummatt]

Thanks guys. I've had planty of beach driving experience, just never in an auto so thanks for your help.

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[threedogs]

If your planning on doing a lot of sand driving a trans cooler may be beneficial,
And even a small intercooler fan as well

[nissannewby]

Thanks guys. I've had planty of beach driving experience, just never in an auto so thanks for your help.

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Autos are awesome on the beach.

[Morton]

yer they are good the autos, low pressures & in H4, you'll never stop

[taslucas]

Autos are awesome.

Yes, yes they are

Edit: but not better than a manual

[growler2058]

Yes, yes they are

Edit: but not better than a manual

Exactly Lucas see you're coming atound


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[mudnut]

One good way to see if your tyres are at the right pressure, is to let the vehicle roll forward for a bit from a safe speed, and if it tries to bog fast, let out a few psi. The tyres should want to track over the sand. Otherwise you are just putting extra strain on the drive train.

[04OFF]

If you are going to fraser,you should be going at low tide,this means you will be on hard sand travelling at up to 80kph ,in a loaded vehicle ,for safety reasons, id reccomend you dont drop tyres very low until you get to camp (or need to sooner) its easy to let air out if and when you need to.

[BigRAWesty]

Hi mate. As yours is a petrol you may find high range ok, but I drive a NA diesel and fond the ratios a lot better when on sand. Especially if I'm following Toyotas.
Have a play, your not going to harm anything by going high range, and if Its no good go low..
But tyres are a big one. Seeing your towing I would drop all, even the trailer straight to 15psi..
Also make sure you have good rubber on the trailer, no 12" rim with cheese cutters ay..

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?15134-Westy-s-Accessories.-A-small-back-yard-builder.)

[oncedisturbed]

Not sure of speed limit on fraser but beaches in wa are capped at 60kph. I wouldnt drive at 80 on a beach either, recipe for drama


Never underestimate the power of the darkside, let the tap flow through you.

[TPC]

Not sure of speed limit on fraser but beaches in wa are capped at 60kph. I wouldnt drive at 80 on a beach either, recipe for drama


Never underestimate the power of the darkside, let the tap flow through you.

80 KPH on the beaches and 30 KPH on the inside tracks.
The beach is like a highway at low tide.

[Clunk]

Not much tidal movement over this way, I'd be filling me pants doing 60 on this soft sand too lmfao

My folks went to the Google Play Store and all they got me was this lousy Motorculture App!!!!!!!

[93patrol]

Not much tidal movement over this way, I'd be filling me pants doing 60 on this soft sand too lmfao

My folks went to the Google Play Store and all they got me was this lousy Motorculture App!!!!!!!

i reckon at 40km/h on WA beaches is a bit quick especially down south way

[04OFF]

Not sure of speed limit on fraser but beaches in wa are capped at 60kph. I wouldnt drive at 80 on a beach either, recipe for drama





80 KPH on the beaches and 30 KPH on the inside tracks.
The beach is like a highway at low tide.



Yes at low tide i recon the beach may be "better" than some highways ! :smile:


When we first went to fraser ,we came over near hook point, we were one of the first off the barge, we thought 40-50kph as normal was fine, yet, everyone came flying past us , towing trailers, caravans, tour buses ,"everyone".

After a hour of driving, and still being ages away from our destination, we realised why ,the main beach (road) is approx 120 kilometers long, if you are heading up to the top end travelling from the bottom, you "need" to do 80kph to safely beat the tide at the top.

Its quite safe to do 80kph on hard flat sand for experienced drivers, of course need to keep a look out for the ussual beach hazzards , but just like driving on a road, you don't do 80kph, in a loaded car with just 15psi in your tyres , that is very unsafe practice.





Also to give you guys that have never seen fraser a idea on how hard and flat the main beach can be (at low tide), they land small planes on the same beach.

Also if you hire 4x4 , you are not allowed to lower tyre pressures, as low tyre pressure has been a contributing factor in vehicle rollover (inexperienced drivers)





I noticed the OP is from the sunshine coast, so he will most likley come over at one of the western ports, if so ,he will hit soft "inland" sand almost straight away, so yes will need to lower pressure for soft sand, and speeds will be low as limits are 30 kph.









Dont confuse what i am saying, its not just what to do when sand driving in all situations, there is a different technique for "hard" sand and "soft" sand, if you want to drive around the worlds largest sand island (fraser), you will need to get used to big distance on hard sand !

[coolummatt]

We will be hitting the beach at hook point about an hour and a half before low tide. Plan on running at around 20psi for both the car and trailer. We plan to camp at Waddy point.

We went to fraser a couple of years ago amd hook point was all but impassable even at low. We had to take the inland road which was shocking. Nothing but corrugations the hole way. Almost rattled my old pathfinder to death. Does anyone know if hook point is ok now?

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[Bulbous]

Nothing is better than a manual on sand - right up to the moment that you need to change gear. Then (if you're going up) everything is better than a manual :D

More seriously - Nothing beats a manual for self recovery on sand.
Drop tire pressures to 15 PSI, remove ABS fuse, coast to a stop and avoid sudden manoeuvres.
Driving on sand is like driving on a million ball bearings - there is a triangle of requirements
1. Flotation - provided by deflating tires to correct pressure
2. Momentum - yep, you've got it. if you don't have to stop then don't stop. your truck weighs close to 3 tons
3. Power - this is a double edged sword. on it's own it's deadly. with either 1 or 2 above then it helps.

It's possible to drive on sand with any two items from the triangle, Flotation is the most important - but you're gonna hit a problem sooner or later if you don't have all 3.

32 PSI works on sand - God help you if you stop, come to think of it - even changing gear can be fatal, cos you lose momentum. Leave it in first and floor it.

Now review your tire pressures.

Incidentally, if you get the triangle right then 4WD is NOT required for driving on sand. 2WD is a lot more fun and let's you learn how your car will handle in extreme situations on or off road.

[Drewboyaus]

Nothing is better than a manual on sand - right up to the moment that you need to change gear. Then (if you're going up) everything is better than a manual :D

More seriously - Nothing beats a manual for self recovery on sand.
Drop tire pressures to 15 PSI, remove ABS fuse, coast to a stop and avoid sudden manoeuvres.
Driving on sand is like driving on a million ball bearings - there is a triangle of requirements
1. Flotation - provided by deflating tires to correct pressure
2. Momentum - yep, you've got it. if you don't have to stop then don't stop. your truck weighs close to 3 tons
3. Power - this is a double edged sword. on it's own it's deadly. with either 1 or 2 above then it helps.

It's possible to drive on sand with any two items from the triangle, Flotation is the most important - but you're gonna hit a problem sooner or later if you don't have all 3.

32 PSI works on sand - God help you if you stop, come to think of it - even changing gear can be fatal, cos you lose momentum. Leave it in first and floor it.

Now review your tire pressures.

Incidentally, if you get the triangle right then 4WD is NOT required for driving on sand. 2WD is a lot more fun and let's you learn how your car will handle in extreme situations on or off road.

If there's a bloke on here who knows about sand driving........


Tip tip tip......tap tap tap....

[krbrooking]

You might find it will change depending in the conditions. As in it you are stopping in the softer stuff you might find H won't be low enough to pull you out especially with a trailer, same as when exiting you might need that few extra rpm to keep the momentum to get you over. On the other end if you find you are sitting in 3rd low and your revs seem high the you might be better off in H, just be aware around the softer stuff that you don't loose too much momentum in say 2nd or 3rd H as once your idle drops too low you will struggle to keep going without changing down, which in an auto you should be better off


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[NissanGQ4.2]

low pressures are usually better for sllow driving on the beach

Did you read the original post? He was asking if he should be using low or high gear.

Nothing 2 do with tyre pressures