On the beach.. lets see if I have this right

[JohnKel]

Sand mode
Hi range 2nd /3rd gear
DSC..off
GY SA's 18" 22psi
Easy on the throttle /Brakes
Shovel, air jack, tire repair kit and tow strap with D shackles

I"m going to Ocean City,MD with the family and plan on visiting Assateague Island MD as a side trip and not sure what to expect, but I want to be prepared

Thanks
John

 

[ChesapeakeRover]

So i played around with this last time i was on the beach and the most important thing was not the TR setting but that you of course lower your tire pressure. I actually started out doing what Nathan (nwoods) suggested in his blog which was to use sand mode + low range + 2nd or 3rd gear and turning off DSC... did that a couple times and it worked fine. Then i got curious and decided to play around with it a little bit and determined that High Range + DSC off with the TR in the normal setting did almost or just as fine as the previous set up... and since your not going to be bombing dunes on Assateague you could get away with doing the latter... But of course you can play around with it too... and i did this all with stock tires btw.

Your ideas will work perfect, just remember to keep up momentum that is key.


And P.S. Where are you located? I just was in OC a couple weeks ago and wanted to make a trip to Assateague but never left the city

 

[buddaman]

I use low range 3rd gear sand mode, dsc off and have great success. when I use high range I bog down.

 

[JohnKel]

Thanks for the reply ChesapeakeRover....I'll try both ways and have some fun ;-) I'm in NE Ohio around Youngstown. I believe that the ORV permit is around $70 and is good for one year from date of purchase so I may try and get back.
PM me if you know any seafood restaurants etc..... no need for "fancy" just great ;-)

 

[PaulLR3]

South of Boston it has only rained 3 times in the last 3 months. The sand was really deep on our beach last week. We went in the afternoon so it was crowded and I had to do a U-turn at the end of the drive-on area. Coming to a stop on an incline I bogged down and was digging myself deeper in place. I was in sand mode, low gear, and in normal "D" gear. Having been in this situation before, I went back and forth in a straight line to pack down a path. Turned off sand mode and was able to drive out by my third try. We think in sand the LR3 works better in normal mode than sand mode. It must allow more wheel spin to let you dig out.

 

[nwoods]

South of Boston it has only rained 3 times in the last 3 months. The sand was really deep on our beach last week. We went in the afternoon so it was crowded and I had to do a U-turn at the end of the drive-on area. Coming to a stop on an incline I bogged down and was digging myself deeper in place. I was in sand mode, low gear, and in normal "D" gear. Having been in this situation before, I went back and forth in a straight line to pack down a path. Turned off sand mode and was able to drive out by my third try. We think in sand the LR3 works better in normal mode than sand mode. It must allow more wheel spin to let you dig out.

So we weren't there and can't give you targeted advice, but nonetheless it might be helpful to understand how sand mode works (at least in theory). It actually retards the throttle, engages DSC, and forces a higher gear start upon take-off from a stop. This is so that you do NOT spin the wheels and "break through the crust". However, once you are rolling, it disengages DSC, makes the throttle response MUCH more immeadiate, and drops a gear from what it might normally be at. The key is is whip-snap throttle response when you need power NOW to avoid a bog, or climb a hill, or rooster trail your friends....

In a practicle sense, normal mode works okay too, but drive using command shift!

 

[vivaldi1]

I'm heading off to a beach with some dunes and beach access myself.

After coming off a recent Land Rover Wheels event, in mud & ruts mode, I'm just curious about the DSC portion. We were told to disengage it before we thought we might spin out in mud. So, apparently that's different for soft, deep sand? Also, I thought 4 wheel HI is supposed to provide more traction. 4 wheel LO provides more Torque, but is inclined to slip more, right?

I guess it's just confusing and probably more than anything lends credence to the fact that true 4x4'ing is a combination of art and science. And there are few absolutes that make an impact more than experience.

Also, I keep hearing experts say go 'low and slow' but then also say 'build momentum'. And our natural inclination when we are losing ground or stalling is to hit the throttle to maintain momentum. I'd love to understand better the momentum versus low & slow thing because frequently they seem at odds. In our recent event, we had 20 vehicles and more than half got stuck at a certain sudden decline into a muddy bog followed but a sudden incline into a muddy hill. I didn't get stuck, because I hit the throttle hard (newbie instinct). Sure i had to correct my steering as I almost fishtailed up the hill, but I made it out, while most folks who tried the slow and steady method got stuck.

 

[Houm_WA]

I'll take a crack at this.

You want to disengage DSC when you may want the tires to be able to dig (to find solid ground) or when you don't want any engine retarding like on a long hill climb. I turn it off all the damn time now when I'm off-road. The DII has its 3 amigos...well MY three amigos (in a positive context) are the DSC icon, the HDC icon and the 4-Lo icon. When I'm on a legit trail, they are all on.

4-Lo does give you more torque, but it's that torque (and engine braking) that allow you to control the vehicle at low speeds. If you tried to drive slow in 4-Hi you wouldn't have any torque available. If you stomp on the gas in 4-Lo you would use too much torque and spin out. So...it's a confluence of all those things....use 4-Lo to give yourself enough vehicle control and torque at low speeds that you can balance and/or manage your traction.

I like 4-Lo for total vehicle control. I know I'm not going to just have the rig run out on me and then require excessive brake inputs causing a slide. That goes for sideslopes and steep declines.

As for building momentum....there's nothing wrong with a little momentum on inclines or muddy pits where you know you're going to encounter some serious friction. "Hitting the throttle" when you're bogging down is NOT the same as building and/or maintaining momentum. Linear momentum is the product of mass and velocity. When you hit the throttle you're increasing your velocity AND producing acceleration. Linear momentum can have an acceleration component to it, sure, but you'd want to avoid acclerations during the obstacle to avoid any external forces. Force is mass times acceleration so keeping constant velocity (and hence zero acceleration) will keep the rig happiest. So build up your velocity and therefore your momentum BEFORE you need it and then just maintain it (without acclerations) as you climb the hill or traverse the bog.

That's the Physics of it. On the trail, that just means what I was saying before...build up your momentum on the bottom of the hill, keep the throttle steady as you are going up. If you have to give it throttle in the middle of the hill you could start spinning your tires and slip. If you don't give it enough throttle as you go up you could lose all momentum and start rolling backwards.

Balancing all this is what makes wheelin' so damn fun!

 

[ChesapeakeRover]

I'll take a crack at this.

You want to disengage DSC when you may want the tires to be able to dig (to find solid ground) or when you don't want any engine retarding like on a long hill climb. I turn it off all the damn time now when I'm off-road. The DII has its 3 amigos...well MY three amigos (in a positive context) are the DSC icon, the HDC icon and the 4-Lo icon. When I'm on a legit trail, they are all on.

4-Lo does give you more torque, but it's that torque (and engine braking) that allow you to control the vehicle at low speeds. If you tried to drive slow in 4-Hi you wouldn't have any torque available. If you stomp on the gas in 4-Lo you would use too much torque and spin out. So...it's a confluence of all those things....use 4-Lo to give yourself enough vehicle control and torque at low speeds that you can balance and/or manage your traction.

I like 4-Lo for total vehicle control. I know I'm not going to just have the rig run out on me and then require excessive brake inputs causing a slide. That goes for sideslopes and steep declines.

As for building momentum....there's nothing wrong with a little momentum on inclines or muddy pits where you know you're going to encounter some serious friction. "Hitting the throttle" when you're bogging down is NOT the same as building and/or maintaining momentum. Linear momentum is the product of mass and velocity. When you hit the throttle you're increasing your velocity AND producing acceleration. Linear momentum can have an acceleration component to it, sure, but you'd want to avoid acclerations during the obstacle to avoid any external forces. Force is mass times acceleration so keeping constant velocity (and hence zero acceleration) will keep the rig happiest. So build up your velocity and therefore your momentum BEFORE you need it and then just maintain it (without acclerations) as you climb the hill or traverse the bog.

That's the Physics of it. On the trail, that just means what I was saying before...build up your momentum on the bottom of the hill, keep the throttle steady as you are going up. If you have to give it throttle in the middle of the hill you could start spinning your tires and slip. If you don't give it enough throttle as you go up you could lose all momentum and start rolling backwards.

Balancing all this is what makes wheelin' so damn fun!

I completely agree with HOUM on his take of things, very good tips, and btw I loved the input of physics into a wheeling context, well done

muddy pits where you know you're going to encounter some serious friction

^But one thing i have to say and to be picky/annoying about (since we're talking physics):

Technically you would have less friction in mud than on normal ground(i.e. coefficient of friction is less in mud.) But the knobbier and more aggressive the tires you have increase your coefficient of friction in mud giving you greater traction, but none the less you do need momentum, but its because of the lack of friction (which takes away traction) not the addition of it.

 

[vivaldi1]

Thanks so much for the expert science and tips Houm_WA.

I did learn the slow and steady thing on a muddy hill incline during the LR off road Event. Kept it at 2000 rpms, in low range, 2nd gear, mud and ruts, and the damn vehicle figured out the rest up the hill when it seemed like it I wasn't going fast enough to make it up. It was beautiful But confusing

I wanted so hard to hit the throttle to go a little faster up the hill, but the guides were very adamant that I kept it steady.

Quick technical question though. Many of the terrain modes automagically engage and disengage the DSC as I understand. When you manually disengage it, does that make it unavailable for the modes to re-engage?

Learning is cool. Thanks for teaching.