Planning a journey of 4×4 off road driving on a sandy beach, dune or desert? First time sand/beach/desert driving can be tricky to get the hang of, so just because I’m a nice guy I’ll put together a few tips and great advice from around the web on the mysterious art of sand driving.

Getting Started

So you want to engage in 4×4 sand travel, huh? Despite the fun stories you may have heard about sand driving, it’s often difficult, dangerous, and a real chore. Proper preparation is a key component in avoiding sand-driving mishaps. Certainly the first thing to do is to lower tire pressures. By doing this, you will dramatically improve traction while driving on the sand, in addition to minimizing vehicle strain. Offroaders.com offers a good technique for finding the optimal tire pressure for each different vehicle:

“Park your loaded vehicle on a level surface and place a brick 1 cm away from the sidewall of your rear tire. Deflate that tire until the sidewall just touches the brick and then measure the tire pressure. Use this pressure as your starting point when initially lowering your tire pressure for sand driving. As you become more familiar with sand driving, you can alter this pressure as the terrain dictates.

If you haven’t performed the above technique before you reach the sand, don’t fret. A good rule of thumb is to use a pressure of 15 psi.”

Always remember to re-inflate your tires as soon as you return to a regular road! For more info on tire pressures, check out Harry Lewellyn’s well-researched piece.

Driving Techniques

Momentum, momentum, momentum! This is the ‘trick’ behind driving in the sand, above anything else NEVER lose momentum, as it won’t always be possible to get it back—leaving you stranded and stuck in the sand. Good tips for driving for beginners are to look for tire tracks (ideally from the vehicle driving in front of you, but also if you are driving alone). Keeping a steady rate of speed is key in maintain your momentum on the sand—any sudden acceleration/braking could trap tires in the sand easily.

Even stopping in the sand require good use of momentum. It’s suggested that drivers coast to a stop rather than braking. Avoid stopping on soft sand dunes also, to avoid sinking your tires. Turning in the sand should be done in the widest arcs possible to reduce bogging. As far as steep sand dunes go, avoiding them is the best option, yet if you must only go STRAIGHT up or down steep dunes (going over them at angles is the easiest way to rollover vehicles while sand driving.)

Vehicle Recovery in Sand

Bogging is bound to happen at one point or another while sand driving, and it makes more sense to be prepared than not. Do not floor the gas and try to ‘power’ out of the sand if you get stuck. Instead, try gently reversing the vehicle to get back onto the tire tracks behind you. If this doesn’t get you unstuck, lowering the tire pressure and clearing away any sand that touches the underside of the vehicle could allow you to reverse out.

Takeo De Meter over at the Internet Landrover Club offers an entertaining, yet informative write-up on all the dangers that sand driving pose for the uninitiated. He urges sand drivers to bring their own ground anchor in case they get stuck.

“Having to bury your spare wheel for an anchor will only get your mood even worse and you may well bend the rim, pull the tire off and get nasty blisters on your hands while digging,” he says.

One Response to “Tips for Beach Driving”

• July 9th, 2009 Parejas:

  Your post Tips for Beach Driving was very interesting when I found it over google on Thursday by my search for piece 4×4. I have your blog now in my bookmarks and I visit your blog again, soon. Take care. Parejaspareja.es

Leave a Reply

(4 votes)

 Loading ...