How To Safely Drive Your Off-Roading Vehicle on Sand
Going off-roading gives you a chance to enjoy a vast array of terrain, such as sandy dunes. Although you may have experience off-roading on a particular landscape, that doesn’t mean you’re prepared to handle sand. This type of terrain calls for its own kind of preparation. Off-roading in the sand is far from impossible, but you should know a few essential things beforehand. This comprehensive guide will show you how to safely drive your off-roading vehicle on sand. Check out the tips below so you’re ready to maneuver the terrain when the big trip arrives.
Prepare With Recovery Equipment
Like with any terrain, your vehicle can get stuck while off-roading in the sand. Don’t worry; recovery equipment is available for off-roaders heading out onto a wide range of terrain. If you don’t know the right gear for the job, we can give you some helpful pointers. Read the section below for some useful recovery equipment for sandy off-roading adventures.
Winches
A must-have piece of recovery equipment for any off-roading trip is a winch. Adding a winch to your vehicle will prove invaluable when you need an anchor point to get you out of trouble. At Ironman 4x4, our recovery winch collection includes designs capable of pulling up to 12,000 lbs.
A winch will come in handy anytime you get your vehicle stuck and need help moving forward and getting out of a tight spot. Likewise, if you run into trouble getting up an incline, you may be able to use a winch to help out. A winch attaches to your vehicle and provides a cable that you can attach to an anchor point, such as a large tree. Always use a tree strap to protect the tree when using a tree as your anchor point. Once you have your anchor point, you can use the winch to pull your vehicle to where it should be.
Shovels
Another critical piece of recovery gear is also one of the easiest items to pack: a shovel. Unfortunately, although sand is sometimes packed and firm, it is frequently soft enough to allow the tires to sink and get stuck. Packing the right shovel ensures you can dig your tires out of the sand when they sink in.
At Ironman 4x4, we offer an off-road recovery kit with a shovel for an easy escape from the ground underneath your tires, including sand. Our off-road recovery kit also includes other materials that make vehicle recovery even easier. Included are various recovery straps, recovery boards, and more. Different types of recovery straps are needed for varied situations, so be sure to carry a tree strap, tow strap, and kinetic strap in your kit. In addition, the recovery boards provide you with a stable surface you can use to wedge those tires out of the sand and back in working order.
Reduce Your Tire Pressure
The soft sand under your tires makes it challenging to remain in control of the vehicle. As a result, traction is critical when off-roading on sandy terrain. One of the most common and effective ways to optimize traction in this scenario is by reducing your tire pressure. No, we’re not saying that you should deflate your tires entirely. Suffice it to say that would not make driving on the sand any easier. What can make it easier is reducing tire pressure to around 15-20 psi.
There is no set standard, so it comes down to experimenting within that five-psi window between 15 and 20 with your vehicle. At Ironman 4x4, we have an Air Champ smart deflator with a gauge you can bring off-roading. That way, you can easily deflate and monitor air pressure.
This pressure reduction aims to give your truck more tire surface area to use. By more evenly dispersing the tire across the sandy terrain below, you can gain better traction and control when driving. Sometimes, all it takes is a lower psi to make your tires better to handle, but don’t forget to readjust the air pressure once your trip is over.
Sharpen Your Driving Skills
Reducing the tire pressure isn’t the only action you can take to handle the sand more comfortably. Carefully adjusting your driving skills for the terrain will help you prepare your vehicle, and your expectations, accordingly. Read the following section to learn how to sharpen your driving skills to improve your sand traversal abilities.
Optimize Your Vehicle’s Momentum
Besides traction, momentum is your friend when driving across the sand. Simply put, avoid starting and stopping when driving your off-road vehicle on the soft sandy ground. When you start and stop on the soft terrain below your tires, it can drag you down and make it harder to accelerate. Of course, we don’t mean you should never hit the brakes when driving on sand. The important note here is to be mindful of when you brake and accelerate because it can cost you momentum and control over the vehicle.
One simple way to avoid this issue is by consistently looking ahead before driving and planning out your path carefully. Consider how you will maintain momentum safely along the way so you know what to expect from the terrain. The more you know about your path ahead, the more easily you can prepare yourself and the vehicle to travel across it. Momentum is particularly critical to prioritize when driving up and down the dunes. If you lose momentum ascending the dune, you won’t have the push you need to get over it and continue down your trail.
Maneuver Dunes With Care
We’ve already touched on proper acceleration, but you also have to think about your angle on dunes, too. The common rule of thumb is to only go straight up and down the dunes when you’re moving over them. This is a common tactic because when you ascend and descend, taking advantage of momentum is easier when you keep the wheels straight. If you start turning while ascending or descending the dunes, you risk causing a rollover.
Now that you know how to safely drive your off-roading vehicle on sand, you can prevent rollovers and more problems from making your trip less fun. Use these tips next time you go off-roading to easily maneuver sand with the proper knowledge and hardware.
