Reading the Sand to cope with it…

Driving in sand takes experience to master. A lifetime of ‘regular’ off-road driving will not prepare you to drive perfectly in sand unless you grew up in sand. Sand does not hold the grip of tyres well at all. Sand always moves away easily from something pushing it and hot sand moves more easily than cool sand. Here are some tips:

• Air down your tyres – letting air out of your tyres spreads the weight of the vehicle over a larger area so you sink less and push more softly.
• Avoid wheel spin with lost forward momentum. First high can often be used to allow a vehicle to idle with wheel spin as long as forward progress is still made – never dig in.

In sand with a soft top layer and hard under layer, try to use high ratio gears, but if momentum is consistently lost use low ratio with high gears. Between all gears and ratios, the correct speed and torque ratio is usually available. Test out all options while you can still move, but remember all vehicles are different, so do not generalise or listen too much to passengers who think they ‘know’ the correct gear and speed. You know yours and your vehicle’s abilities better than others.

Assess sand type and conditions: here are some general lines to follow on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being bad.
Dry sand types: Cold shady – 1; Cold sunny – 3; Hot shady – 6; Hot sunny – 10.
Wet sand types: Cold shady – 1; Cold sunny – 1; Hot shady – 4; Hot sunny – 6; Very wet – 10.
Assess texture: waves – usually means fairly firm – 1–6; smooth – 3–10 – walk it; hillside (dune) – usually loose and deep 7–10; Crusty – 1–4.
Assess colour: lighter than surrounding – softer and dry; darker – firmer and wet.
Assess terrain in dunes: top of hills – usually firmer due to soft sand being displaced by wind; leeward side of hill/dune can be very soft so take care; troughs of hills are soft, usually accumulations of light blown sand.

Depth perception is very easily lost in sand, so pay close attention to texture and colour changes. A change in colour or texture may very well be a dip, hill or hole, so take care – at high speeds this can spell disaster. Avoid other vehicles’ tracks in soft sand. Stay on other vehicle tracks on hard sand as this minimises environmental damage and avoids sinkholes. Avoid vegetation. Use high ratio and higher speeds in soft dune areas.

Ascend very large soft dunes at an angle to hill grade. Rarely do you turn your side to a hill, but often you must to keep up the momentum to climb the dune. This minimises loss of traction due to grade of hill, but remember that once sand starts to ‘avalanche’ it is hard to stop it. Large dunes may have to be traversed in large zig-zag motions in order to keep the general line of direction. The turns during the zig-zag should be smooth and even. Once the summit of the dune is reached lift throttle and slow momentum – do not go over the top of the dune. At the top slow down and turn to drive along the ridge of the dune. Get out and check sand on leeward side for structure type and drivability.

Driving down dunes, use higher gears and don’t brake. If your nose begins to sink or the rear of the vehicle begins to lift, apply throttle and steer straight down the slope to regain control. In the troughs of dunes, as you descend a dune don’t ascend the next. Instead, turn gently parallel to the dunes to gain or retain speed or find hard sand. Keep your momentum until safe! Remember, the lee and trough of a dune holds the softest sands.