I got stuck....your perspective (please). (1 Viewer)

[User Name]

Another invaluable bit of kit for a winched rig is a sand anchor. If I were to be driving solo in sand a lot the two things I'd like to carry on board would be an anchor and maxtrax. I'm slowly bringing my cruiser up to more of a solo tourer and those bits of kit are on the list.
I wouldn't worry too much about PSI limits, perhaps start at around 20PSI and work down. You might find depending where you are you only need to lower to 18 or 16 to reduce the risk of a bead if you are getting stuck. As well as mentioned, slow throttle and momentum and if you are winching and the winch is reaching it's limits 2:1, 3:1 even 5:1 are all options with the right gear (and a lot cheaper than a new winch).

 

[Matty f]

and if desperate bury spare in hard pack sand and winch off of it.
Not as good as a proper made sand anchor but it can work.
Just remember safety first

 

[Colington]

Great read with all the comments. I recently got stuck to the axels in a drift of soft sand that blew into a parking spot by the beach. About 15 cars drove in and didn't drive out lol. There was a newer Tacoma next to me in knobby tires who likely did what you did and let the clutch out too hard and "dug to China" as well. Sand is a nasty foe if not respected. I did not air down (although I knew it was the right thing to do) and I run KO-2 33*12.5*15 but instead went 4-LO and SLOWWWWW. it took a good minute of SLOOOOOWWWWW turning to move 5 feet and grab more stable purchase on the ground. It was very humbling as I thought these could drive across Africa and Sh!t... As mentioned above, tire pressure is your friend and requires mastery. plus you can usually drive to a gas station on low pressure without damage.

p.s I made it out and pulled 8 cars out as the tow truck sneered at me since I didn't charge $150/car lol

 

[87CRUSR]

Been there done that....stuck on a remote Mexico beach without help. Waited til morning, aired down, shoveled and out she went. All with a young family. Nice beach sunrise as I recall!

 

[Cruzerman]

We have some pretty good sand dunes out here in Oregon. My experience is as follows:

It is all about flotation. This means that you want to spread the weight out on as much surface area as possible. So, wider tires that are aired down to create the largest surface area possible is key.

Lockers aren't much help. In my 40, I would rarely use my lockers. They tend to push you sideways down the side of the dunes.

So, light weight rigs with large tires and horsepower will eat up the dunes. I don't think this describes most cruisers. However, you can have some fun out there. Just remember your in a cruiser, not a rail.

 

[Haggis]

The same thing happened to me at Pismo Dunes. I was too used to my Tacoma, which I rarely need to air down, plus the 60 is a pretty heavy vehicle. 12 psi and a Maxxtraxx is your friend! I may someday spring for front and rear ARB lockers but all the above advice will most likely keep you moving. Glad you are having fun with her.

 

[doug720]

Another invaluable bit of kit for a winched rig is a sand anchor. If I were to be driving solo in sand a lot the two things I'd like to carry on board would be an anchor and maxtrax. I'm slowly bringing my cruiser up to more of a solo tourer and those bits of kit are on the list.
I wouldn't worry too much about PSI limits, perhaps start at around 20PSI and work down. You might find depending where you are you only need to lower to 18 or 16 to reduce the risk of a bead if you are getting stuck. As well as mentioned, slow throttle and momentum and if you are winching and the winch is reaching it's limits 2:1, 3:1 even 5:1 are all options with the right gear (and a lot cheaper than a new winch).

Another option if you need something to bury as a "Sand Anchor", and much easier than you're spare tire is a good chuck of wood.

I have used a piece of 6" X 6" x 24" of Douglas Fir as an anchor. I wrap a short piece of proper chain around it, attach the cable and dig a hole a couple of feet deep. It has plenty of surface area, is strong, and has worked well. Plus, if it pulls out, dig a deeper hole.

Make sure to use proper winching precautions and I always use a cable/line arrestor.

It much easier than burying the spare tire, plus if the spare is under the rear end...

This only weighs a few pounds, easy to pack, and if not needed, burn it!

 

[umpqua]

Thanks for all of the comments and advice.

I don't venture on to sand all that often. Honestly most of my driving, probably like most everyone else's is on pavement. Having said that, I definitely like the "skinnier" tires. I just recently replaced my tires and went back with the same size....33x10.5x15. I would have gone with 9.5 if they were available. I have the 9.5 on my 40 and it drives noticeably better than the 62. The wider tires seem to want to wander in the pavement ruts. Hopefully the skinnier tires also produce better gas mileage and less wear on the front drive line.

87, that's a great memory to have with your family. I love Mexico and my member pic or whatever you call it was taken at Agua Verdi in the Baja. If you ever get down that way it's one of the nicer beaches I've found.

As mentioned, the end game on all of this is a drive to Patagonia. I want to prepare as best I can for any eventuality that I might encounter on that trip. I'd rather get some experience here where I at least know the language. I put in on-board air this week and that should solve the air down/air up issue on sand or even other off road trails. I'm going to get the Maxtrax although I don't know at this point where I am going to carry them. I guess that will necessitate the rear bumper purchase. Damn, this stuff never seems to end. I also really appreciate the input on putting the locker in the back. My mechanic agreed with that so that's where I will start and plan to have that in by the end of the year.

Getting stuck a couple of weeks ago at Pacific City has turned out to be a good thing for me. Like I said.....I didn't bleed over it and it got me off my butt to do things I should have already done anyway.

I'm taking the slooooow comments to heart while in sand while maintaining momentum. Good input on tire pressure as well.

Another thing that I might have discovered and would appreciate input on is this; I tried to winch this stuck pig out of the sand pit I created and the winch pretty much "gave up." When installing the new compressor my mechanic put in the biggest deep cycle marine battery that would fit from Interstate. He said the old battery, also an Interstate was installed in '06 (man....hard to believe). So....if the battery was that old maybe it wasn't supplying full power to the winch thus reducing the pulling power? Does that make sense?? The winch is now pulling from the main starting battery. All of the accessories (refrig at this point) are on the aux battery. I bought a 90w solar panel which will charge the aux battery so I can set up on said Mexican beach for a week and not worry about running out of power.

This is becoming expedition portal material.

I will appreciate your comments about the winch not pulling maybe because of a less than ideal battery.

Thanks everyone.

 

[collk22]

It's possible it was a power issue; could also just be an issue with not having enough winch for your truck. A few posters already hit on that, so I won't retype what they said, but 8000lbs of pulling power comes on the first wrap around the drum - if you had more than one wrap you weren't getting 8K worth of pulling power which could be why the winch wouldn't pull you out.

With two batteries, I'm pretty sure they can be wired together so that they both provide power to the winch during heavy winching. How to do that is beyond me though.

 

[Skniper]

As previously mentioned, your winch may be a little light...look into and learn about snatch blocks. I'm not in the know on vehicle extraction but certainly understand the value of multiple pulleys making work easier.

 

[jbzee]

So I had a fairly embarrassing situation on my hands a couple of days ago. I went to the beach and got the Land Cruiser stuck pretty much to the axles in sand.

Last week I bought new BFG All Terrains. 33x10.5x15. I know that they were aired up to ~40psi. Went to the beach and went up on a small (6') incline that quickly leveled out. Just a nice place to sit in the sun and enjoy the beach. Lot's and LOT's of other folks around in various 4wd's running around in the sand. When it was time to leave I tried moving forward and the Cruiser immediately dug for China. Stuck. Not quite to the axles just yet. Ok, there was a guy in a F150 that offered help. I tried to winch (8K lb warn)myself to him but the winch appeared to give up....quit puling. Long story but the F150 and a Dodge truck along with a pile of people pushing from the back were able to get me out.

I know that it would have been helpful if I would have aired my tires down (15psi??). But, I didn't have a way to air them back up. Yesterday I ordered an ARB compressor so that will solve that problem in the future. I do think that my 4x4 was working. The green 4wd light was on. When trying to get out I noticed that the front left tire WAS spinning so that seems to have been engaged. In a couple of months when I recover from the new tires and the compressor I am going to install front diff locks. The truck is heavier now with all of the "overlanding" gear although I don't know the exact weight.

So I don't even know if I have a question but does this sound like a potentially reasonable outcome of going on the sand. It sure doesn't seem like anyone else was having an issue. Should the winch have given up with this heavy truck buried nearly to the axles? The truck was running and the battery appeared to have a full charge.

While this WAS embarrassing, it was better to experience this with help available instead of having the issue in some remote beach area of Mexico.

I don't have a high lift jack....yet. No shovel. I know.

Anything that I should be thinking about? I'd like to prepare for any possible eventualities. Should I have the winch and 4wd checked or simply chalk it up to being a moron.

Again, I'll appreciate any perspectives.

When wheeling at the beach, a bucket can be a life saver... Pour water on your intended path, hardens the sand up and makes it much easier to drive out... Air down now that you have a compressor enroute and at minimum, get a snatch block to increase pulling power of the winch...

 

[Mace]

Your truck was running while you were winching right?

 

[umpqua]

yes.

 

[jbzee]

Another option if you need something to bury as a "Sand Anchor", and much easier than you're spare tire is a good chuck of wood.

I have used a piece of 6" X 6" x 24" of Douglas Fir as an anchor. I wrap a short piece of proper chain around it, attach the cable and dig a hole a couple of feet deep. It has plenty of surface area, is strong, and has worked well. Plus, if it pulls out, dig a deeper hole.

Make sure to use proper winching precautions and I always use a cable/line arrestor.

It much easier than burying the spare tire, plus if the spare is under the rear end...

This only weighs a few pounds, easy to pack, and if not needed, burn it!

That's a novel idea, I have buried the spare when mired in the goo with no trees in sight then started carrying a danforth anchor, when set correctly they will hold fast and are a real life saver in the mud flats or sugar sand. I run a pto winch that I prefer over electric...old school =)

 

[User Name]

Another option if you need something to bury as a "Sand Anchor", and much easier than you're spare tire is a good chuck of wood.

I have used a piece of 6" X 6" x 24" of Douglas Fir as an anchor. I wrap a short piece of proper chain around it, attach the cable and dig a hole a couple of feet deep. It has plenty of surface area, is strong, and has worked well. Plus, if it pulls out, dig a deeper hole.

Make sure to use proper winching precautions and I always use a cable/line arrestor.

It much easier than burying the spare tire, plus if the spare is under the rear end...

This only weighs a few pounds, easy to pack, and if not needed, burn it!

That's brilliant, will have to try this some day. I would have thought it would let go quite easily.

 

[cruiserfj45]

When I'm at Pismo I run 33x12.5 tires on 15x8 rims, no lockers. I usually start at 10 psi and depending on conditions go down to 6 psi or lower if I were to get stuck. I know not to turn too sharp at speeds or under to much power. I have never lost a beed at the beach. Go spend some more time out there before you head south.

 

[hj 60]

I like the sand ladders most to get out of sand because it is just like driving uphill for a bit, just stop throttle at slightest sinking feeling.
I have 4 type WWII but they are very heavy and I saw a picture where a guy sliced them in half, still thinking about doing that as I don't need to land a plane on mine.
Further getting stuck alone is always all odds against you: no tree to winch, no sand to bury the anchor, no smooth ground for the airlift, no hard soil for the hi-lift.

I started with rear lockers and the rear wheels soon got off the ground and that got me stuck, now in the front also got lockers and that makes driving on hard soil a bit harder in turns but I like how it is unstoppable uphill.

Do you see a sunk to China hj60 below?
NO, so it didn't happen!

 

[umpqua]

Thanks for the laugh HJ. NO.....no pictures and I may have even asked the spectators to look away. "You aren't seeing this. Move along. Nothing to see here."

No, I don't see a thing in your photo. What are you talking about.......

Output, I appreciate the info on the winch. Never thought about the coils on the spool but the next time I'm stuck and use it I will be aware. If I get out.....via the winch, I will have a celebratory Hamms in your honor. I'd go with a bigger winch but was barely able to stuff the 8K behind the bumper.

 

[umpqua]

We had a nice weekend at the coast this weekend....likely the last for a while. Went to the same beach spot....aired down the tires to ~15psi and it worked like a charm. A huge difference. Tried out the Arb onboard air for the first time when leaving and it pumped the tires right back up....quickly. Still waiting on the locking rear diff but will have that in soon.

 

[Mace]