Self rescue in sand

[UK4X4]

For educational purposes only no superb stuck pictures !

nothing serious just a basic explanation

Here in Muscat we have loads of desert as you might expect, not much to do here, so most expats head out to explore the countryside.

most with little or no prior offroading experience.

One of my canadian friends and his buddy were stuck on a beach for 8 hours the week before last and vowed to never take his hummer off road again, the guy in the toureg also got stuck, each trying to pull the other out, there's a descrepance on who got stuck first.....

I did agree to that point...however also wanted to show him what I described
on how to get yourself out of trouble BEFORE you get to the chassis sitting on the beach and a long wait for rescue

This weekend it was my turn, only the self rescue was 30 mins.

here it is in pic's

leaving the house

Stuck----not deeply but a another 5 mins of plugging away would have seen me axle deep and stranded.

mainly just the rear passenger was down to the axle tube, the others were on their way.

Scenic view-----jack has been placed on a 1/2" thick 1ft square piece of ply
cunningly brought with me.

All the heavy gear was moved from the trailer and truck to the nearby rocks i had been trying to get too, back end of the trailer to the sea

the trucks worst wheel was lifted and coral and rocks put underneath

tracks out of the hole were dug and lined with more rocks etc

Second gear was chosen in low range- a hefty amount of power was upplied and the clutch dropped, the vehicle was up and out and back onto harder sand, rather than the wind blown middle ridge

 

[UK4X4]

and the wifes dinner......not enough for two- a young grouper

 

[Maximus Ram]

And that is how its done.:victory:
Nice camp spot. I see you are running BFG KM2's. How do you like them ? I just had a set installed on my truck and will hopefully test them in snow conditions next week.

 

[dustboy]

Nice post--someday I'll be glad I read it. Funny about the hummer and Touareg, both have big wide tires and should be able to handle any sand if aired down.

 

[Martyn]

Great example of self extraction I had a similar experience myself, pulled out the sand ladders and was about to do my best to remove myself from the hole I'd created, when I suddenly had a one of my infrequent sensible thoughts. Reduce the tire pressure. :drool:

 

[UK4X4]

"I see you are running BFG KM2's. How do you like them ?"

Nice I bought them ages ago when that test company sold off a container load for 125 each...Revor put a phone no:victory:

Only fitted them two weeks ago to the truck- so the only real observation is their quieter on the road to my old BFG MT's

Oh and they sure fill the wheel arches better than factory standard

205's

 

[Maximus Ram]

"I see you are running BFG KM2's. How do you like them ?"

Nice I bought them ages ago when that test company sold off a container load for 125 each...Revor put a phone no:victory:

Only fitted them two weeks ago to the truck- so the only real observation is their quieter on the road to my old BFG MT's

Oh and they sure fill the wheel arches better than factory standard

205's

125, wow, I paid twice that. Ya , I have noticed they are quiter than the old M/T's too. But I miss that hummm they made on the road.:smiley_drive:

 

[jcbrandon]

Nice job.

One of the challenge events at the Expedition Trophy 2008 was self-recovery in sand. We were instructed to bury our trucks until the frame rails touched the sand. Then the clock started and we were timed until we got out -- or didn't.

It was very educational watching others figure out what to do. As my truck weighs well over three tons, I thought I would never get out. But after watching others, and learning what worked and what didn't, I was able to get myself unstuck in under 20 minutes.

Here's a picture of Lance deliberately burying the Disable Explorers FJ Cruiser:

 

[tdesanto]

Even when burried to the axles, if you air down to about 5psi and are careful about not spinning the tires too much, you can usually crawl out of a situation like that.

Maybe you cleared out a bunch of the sand before taking these photos, but that doesn't look that bad to me at all.

BTW, that's a beautiful truck. That camping spot looks like a nice place to spend some quiet time.

 

[UK4X4]

Yep, I did mention I was not a basket case "need rescue"

just a little intro into a simple extraction method, as from this point my two friends buried their trucks

yep air down..............

I was worried about that - I dropped to around 16psi-missed that photo
while the wife was mentioning how long is this going to take and where's the shade from the sun what the F are you doing taking photo's

The issue is I had 1 small compresor, the nearest "omani gas station" was an hour away and even then unlikely to have air

how low do you go ? when you have a baby- in the desert- and have a large mountain range with zero of anything between where you are and "civilisation"

No taxi's, no cell, just goats, an indian coffee shop/store and some fishermen.

This was meant to be as posted

"For educational purposes only no superb stuck pictures !"

If I was offroading in a group, with other equiped trucks- and a fully equiped town just outside the offroad park- I'd have happily dropped to 5 psi and wellied the ar#se out of it.

simple stuck- requiring a little effort- just thought newbies would apreciate

If you are buried to the axles....the truck weight is resting on them- not the tires---you can lower the pressure as much as you want- you will just spout sand

Just enjoy the photo's

 

[Brian McVickers]

Good post and nice recovery.
Your concerns about time and situation with child in the vehicle are also well founded.

I recently got stuck in the sand as well with a little on in the truck. With all the techniques available it was fastest for me to pull winch line to a nearby tree.

Brian

 

[Michael Slade]

It was very educational watching others figure out what to do. As my truck weighs well over three tons, I thought I would never get out. But after watching others, and learning what worked and what didn't, I was able to get myself unstuck in under 20 minutes.

So....you gonna tell us what worked, or do we have to beg?

 

[jcbrandon]

So....you gonna tell us what worked, or do we have to beg?

Airing down, then airing down some more. Shoveling. Also, locking diffs were pretty useful

I aired down to 10 psi, dug out a considerable path in front of each tire, laid out traction mats, locked in front and rear, and drove out on the first attempt without any drama. Some spectators told me later that they thought I could have done it without taking all of those measures. But I figured I only had one shot at it. If I didn't get out on the first try I was only going to get in deeper and probably not get out at all.

There were some pretty creative tactics. Somebody used the ladder from their roof top tent as a sand ladder. It worked great. Somebody else buried a tire and used it as a winch anchor. The tire pulled out of the sand. We mostly agreed that it might have worked had it been buried several feet deep. But that it is not something you would want to do as your first choice.

 

[Michael Slade]

Airing down, then airing down some more. Shoveling. Also, locking diffs were pretty useful

I aired down to 10 psi, dug out a considerable path in front of each tire, laid out traction mats, locked in front and rear, and drove out on the first attempt without any drama. Some spectators told me later that they thought I could have done it without taking all of those measures. But I figured I only had one shot at it. If I didn't get out on the first try I was only going to get in deeper and probably not get out at all.

There were some pretty creative tactics. Somebody used the ladder from their roof top tent as a sand ladder. It worked great. Somebody else buried a tire and used it as a winch anchor. The tire pulled out of the sand. We mostly agreed that it might have worked had it been buried several feet deep. But that it is not something you would want to do as your first choice.

:bowdown:

 

[roscoFJ73]

I got stuck a few weeks back even after I had aired down to 17psi.
Actually I wasnt stuck, I could still go forward and reverse but the beach was sloping towards the water and each time I moved it got closer to the water with an incoming tide no matter which way I turned the wheel.:Wow1:

Simple,aired down to -10psi and the landcruiser(2200kgs + 500k load) walked up the hill to safety in reverse with no tyre spin:wings:

I was glad I got out then as there was a 4x4 instruction class not far behind me and I didnt want to be the class example for the day:ylsmoke: