Dear All,

I have recently acquired a 2003 GU Patrol 4.8L. I took it for the first time over the weekend for some seriously soft sand action. I had the tyres down to 18PSI, but the car still struggled. There were a lot of smaller 4wds (including the new Prado) which seemed to glide over the sand a lot easier.

Also, the Patrol struggled up a couple of sand dunes which the smaller cars seemed to have no problem with.

Do I just need to play around with different gear selections, tyre pressures etc? Or is there something obvious that I am not doing?

I would appreciate any advice as I am new to the 4wd World.

Thanking you in advance!

You want to effectively double your tread footprint area. To do that you need to measure your fully inflated tire height.. Then ,deflate the tire until the height is 3/4 of the first measurement. That ought to be your sand driving tire pressure, and will probably be in the neighborhood of 10 pounds , or less.
I've run 6 psi all day long( don't go fast), but again , it's going to depend on the size tires you are running and how heavy you are.

18psi might be comfortable on washboard road, but it realy doesn't increase your tread footprint any- in sand. YOu want to "float", so go lower( and don't forget a good air compressor).
Welcome to the board.

.....................
'98 FAD FrontyKC
160,000 miles
Packin ARB'd 9"(5.00)& Tornado w/ Dual Remotes;-)
Mobi-ARC 200 is tits!( can I say that?)

Just checked out the specs on 2003 PatrolGU4.8.
ooks like you have 275/70 R16 on there. That converts to around 31' x 10.50.... That's the size roughly of my rear tires- that work great at 6 psi... Just keep in mind that at these low pressures it's not advised to drive more than 30-40 mph( 60 kph roughly) due to the sidewaLL FLEXING

.....................
'98 FAD FrontyKC
160,000 miles
Packin ARB'd 9"(5.00)& Tornado w/ Dual Remotes;-)
Mobi-ARC 200 is tits!( can I say that?)

Georgie, just checked out the specs on 2003 PatrolGU4.8.
looks like you have 275/70 R16 tires on there. That converts to around 31" x 10.50".... That's the size roughly of my rear tires- that work great at 6 psi. Your rig is a good 300 kilos heavier than mine, tho, so 6psi might be the lowest you want to go.. Just keep in mind that at these low pressures it's not advised to drive more than 30-40 mph( 60 kph roughly) due to the sidewaLL flexing. This cuases heat, of course, which is not good. Also, you don't want to turn too sharply, either for the same reason. You could unseat the tire bead from the rim.

Also, most air pressure gauges don't read very accurately at low tire pressures, so shop wisely for a gauge- cheaper is not better.

.....................
'98 FAD FrontyKC
160,000 miles
Packin ARB'd 9"(5.00)& Tornado w/ Dual Remotes;-)
Mobi-ARC 200 is tits!( can I say that?)

What bille said.

I usually air down to about 10 lbs for sand but you can get away with 8 without too much stress.




1995 XEV6 4x4, AC Susp. Lift 3" Body Lift
33" Pro Comp MT's
Custom Sliders, Steering, Roof Rack and Skids.

A combination of Narrower rims, lower pressure, and wide street tires help ALOT!

Thank you for all the advice. I will try out the new pressures this weekend.

Is there any advice on gear options or is 4H Drive (Auto) the best option for most sand conditions?

Thanks again!

quote:

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Originally posted by Georgie:
Thank you for all the advice. I will try out the new pressures this weekend.

Is there any advice on gear options or is 4H Drive (Auto) the best option for most sand conditions?

Thanks again!

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For normal beach driving/firm sand I run 17psi in my GU. For dunes/soft sand I go down to 15psi. 12psi is for when you're in trouble so reinflate to 15 as soon as possible. GU rims are notorious for tyres rolling off when below 15psi. Done it - twice.

GU Patrol
4.2 Turbodiesel
with extras :-))

I'd use 4Lo for deep, soft sand unless you're trying to move along over 20-something MPH. 4Lo is much easier for the engine and transmission to work against the drag of the sand, and since it keeps the wheel RPMs down you're less likely to dig your tires in.


Brent