Sand Driving - Experiences/Technique/Equipment

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jptruck

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Ironically, street tread isn't bad for sand at all. I'd guess best in order are balloon tires, dedicated sand tires, well worn street tires, normal street tires. You want a lot of contact area for float. The only problem with the stock 19" wheels is you have damn near no sidewall when you air down. Best hope not to hit buried rocks!

I see guys with RRS' running 20"-22" tires in sand all the time. Talk about no sidewall, but they do fine.
 

Surfrider77

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I wasn't talking about capability, I was talking about wheel protection (sidewalls). Hitting a buried obstacle like a rock, etc would pretty much guarantee your rims damaged on stock tires while aired down. There's very little sidewall & even less on the 20s.
 

jptruck

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I wasn't talking about capability, I was talking about wheel protection (sidewalls). Hitting a buried obstacle like a rock, etc would pretty much guarantee your rims damaged on stock tires while aired down. There's very little sidewall & even less on the 20s.

Not arguing that one. I don't see many beaches/dunes in my area with mix of rocks and sand. I'm sure it's an issue.
 

Surfrider77

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My crummy little dash video of my Disco in the dunes. Camera doesn't give a real impression of the dune's size / vertical face. It was kinda nuts.

Little side note: You can also hear my Magnaflow exhaust I had back then. It's a shame it drones so bad, else I would have kept it. Removed it in the end because it was so annoying on the highway.

 

Surfrider77

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Found a LR driving experience video that pretty much echoes everything I have said in the thread.

 

Surfrider77

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Another great non-LR video explaining and showing the massive difference deflating your tires makes in the sand.

 

toddjb122

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Found a LR driving experience video that pretty much echoes everything I have said in the thread.

On my LR3 I used to always turn of DSC as indicated, but I stopped. It was just one more thing to remember every time I started my car and sometimes I'm not always the one driving it (wife/friends will pick me up down the beach after a kite surf session). So I like to leave the car in a mode where someone else can drive it with minimal instruction. (tire pressure down, sand mode, off road height). My instruction is usually, "don't stop on a hill or in soft sand. if you start to get stuck don't floor the accelerator and bury yourself. If the truck starts beeping at you, slow down."

Doesn't the LR4 have an improved sand mode over what the LR3 had? I thought the LR4 had two modes. Haven't driven an LR4 in the sand....yet. ;)
 

Surfrider77

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Depends on the sand driving, but it's imperative to turn off DSC for dunes or else it kills any momentum you have trying to climb. If you are simply beach driving on relatively flat ground, I would guess it wouldn't hurt much leaving DSC turned on.
 

toddjb122

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Depends on the sand driving....
What about sand mode on LR4s. Am I correct that the added an additional mode/option for sand driving? I thought they had done something to allow for more wheel spin.

Yes, agree on the DSC. When I came over to the LR3 from my prior Durango, I always turned DSC off as I was used to the spin. Then I learned to trust the LR3 a bit more I guess, or I started to let more air out. :) I'm not sure. I can of course see why on your dune driving you'd need it. For me, even when I am going up and down deep soft sand ramps, I can get by with momentum as my friend. Not saying I've never gotten stuck, but what's the fun if you don't push it to the limit once in a while... :D (and 2-3 stucks over 12 years of ownership isn't bad. Only one required a tug)
 

umbertob

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What about sand mode on LR4s. Am I correct that the added an additional mode/option for sand driving? I thought they had done something to allow for more wheel spin.

Not to my knowledge, Sand mode is the same as it's always been since the LR3, AFAIK. The additional wheel spin may be due to 25% more ponies in the 5-liter engine... :)
 

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