1974 FJ40 through the Sahara and sand dunes! (5 Viewers)
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- Thread starter
- #382
The vast majority of people coming in the desert just stay in the outside or don't go further in than Lake Erreched. And amoung the few groups that aim at Sif Es Souane around 10% reach the destination.
So arriving here with the FJ40, without power steering, is no small feat, and you can hear it in previous video in the radio chatting between the guide and my friend in the HZJ78.
Guide had me park as close as possible to the top (even if in the end it was not necessary the best place for pics
).
On my side I'm quite relieved to have make it, the FJ40 is still whole and running. It's not falling appart and surviving this hell treatment.
Engine is always on high torque, often brutally revved, forcing to try to pass obstacles. Diffs, gearbox, and clutch are getting hotter than ever. Every single bolt on this vehicle is working is ass off to keep the vehicle together while the chassis is constantly torsioned, everything that can move, moves.
So arriving here with the FJ40, without power steering, is no small feat, and you can hear it in previous video in the radio chatting between the guide and my friend in the HZJ78.
Guide had me park as close as possible to the top (even if in the end it was not necessary the best place for pics
).On my side I'm quite relieved to have make it, the FJ40 is still whole and running. It's not falling appart and surviving this hell treatment.
Engine is always on high torque, often brutally revved, forcing to try to pass obstacles. Diffs, gearbox, and clutch are getting hotter than ever. Every single bolt on this vehicle is working is ass off to keep the vehicle together while the chassis is constantly torsioned, everything that can move, moves.
Do wider tires work well in the sand. On the first day you started letting air out of your tires. I notice that the two support trucks do not have extra wide tires on them either.
- Thread starter
- #385
It varies a lot, sometime the sand is hard and compact and you can crawl on it, even crawl up a slope. And some time it's very soft and you can't go through without momentum.
And obviously there are random patches of soft sand in the middle of compact sand so sometime you have surprises.
It's an infinite debate.
The wider tire will suck up more power to move through sand. Now they will offer more lateral stability at low pressure and may deform a little easier than a narrow one but weight rating maters a lot also and the more air a tire has the higher the weight rating at equal tire construction....
The 1st pickup is running 255/85R16, the second one I'm not 100% sure but I think they are slightly smaller, probably 235/85R16.
The only one with really wide tires is the troopy, I think they are 315 something. He is often doing far longer trips to Algeria or Libya (when the political situation allows it) where he needs a 1000km sand range and 4 weeks of food/water, and fully loaded he is passing the 4T. To move it through sand he has a turbo and intercooler, and a high capacity oil sump to keep it cool.
The prados are probably one size (width and diameter) over stock size but haven't checked. The 120 had bald mud tires, those worked really well in sand.
Great read! Thanks for sharing 
- Thread starter
- #387
Time to get down from Sif Es Souane.
Generally it's a very windy place but exceptionally there were absolutely no wind this day! Could have made a very nice lunch spot but it's still too early.
We took 2 different ways down.
Generally it's a very windy place but exceptionally there were absolutely no wind this day! Could have made a very nice lunch spot but it's still too early.
We took 2 different ways down.
MatthewMcD
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #392
I think I didn't used them much that time, depend of times. I was mostly in 2nd low for this kind of descents.
The path the KDJ120 took was way steeper than the one we took with the 150 (and not clean straight to the bottom, that's why we changed place).
By this time in the trip my brakes were not working great... my drums were full of sand. Had a few case attempting to get up a very steep bowl and failing where my brakes had a very hard time maintaining me in the slope the time I shift in reverse and low range.
At the end of the trip, once back on tarmac, I did a few brake tests and most of the sand got out, the car following me told me he saw a cloud of sand getting out of my wheels
- Thread starter
- #395
We now arrive to the Grand Gassi. As its name implies, it's the biggest Gassi by far, more than 8km wide in a L shape (most Gassi are ~1km wide).
Some time it's good to just stop and spend time contemplating the view
Some time it's good to just stop and spend time contemplating the view
- Thread starter
- #398
Time for the camp
And as I went to bed this night... surprise surprise crawling toward my tent
Friend coming here for 20 years had never seen one and everyone else was already sleeping. Next morning guides will confirm that she is not dangerous at all. Sadly they only knew the name in Arab and I couldn't grasp it, I tried to search what species it could be but haven't found anything matching on Internet.
And as I went to bed this night... surprise surprise crawling toward my tent
Friend coming here for 20 years had never seen one and everyone else was already sleeping. Next morning guides will confirm that she is not dangerous at all. Sadly they only knew the name in Arab and I couldn't grasp it, I tried to search what species it could be but haven't found anything matching on Internet.
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- Thread starter
- #399
This was really a great day, the greatest dune, the greatest gassi... but even more, the driving experience in this far south area is incredible, sand is dense, dunes are high and steep, you really get this feeling of surfing on the dunes, you feel isolated from anyone else. We have done so much in just a day. That was a blast!
And tomorrow reserves many adventures and twits
And tomorrow reserves many adventures and twits
MatthewMcD
SILVER Star
