Gravel Roads 4 HIGH, advantages around the Flinders

Thanks Mike for the advise mate i'll keep it in mind , and i'm caming around your place for tea sounds good cheer's GREENDOG

Thanks Mad Dog i'll keep it in mind cheer's GREENDOG

Thanks Paul i'll give it a try when i'm up there and what about tyre pressure i've got A/T Bridgestones 693's fitted to the paj i run them at 35 psi on the the hard stuff if i was to drop the pressure what is a good figure to run them at on the dirt just thought i'd ask cheer's GREENDOG

Try around 28 psi

Shaker is that front and back mate sorry to be a pain

Yes.

Tyre Pressures

I run BFG A/T's on my Nissan. Dirt I run 28PSI front and 34/36 rear as I am usaully laden and towing. I also adjust according to vehicle feel going down to 26 PSI front and 32PSI rear but I keep around 80kph at these pressures and watch temps carefully. (275/70x16s on 8 inch steel rims. The PAJ will be different)

Two things - as a guide

Tyre temperature - If the tyres get too hot they will fail. Tyres pressures directly affect running temperatures. As you lower the pressures keep an eye on tyre temperatures.

Tyre sidewalls - As you lower pressures the sidewalls bulge. Tyres become more prone to sidewall damage.

Tyre pressures are always a delicate balance. If the ambient temperatures are high you really have to watch tyre temps so may be unable to lower pressures at all (may have to increase to decrease heat build up).

If its gibber country na dor sharp stones I go higher in presurres to minimize sidewall sag. BUT this can encourage tread fracture and or stone cuts/punctures in the tread area.

Everytime I stop I always do a visual inspection of my vehicle (walk around). I place my hand on each of the tyres to feel the temps. I have a good look at the sidewalls looking to see any evidence of scuffs or developing damage.

Your Ks may vary:-) Its what I do.

Regards

Paul

Thanks Paul for such a great detailed input on tyre pressure mate sounds like you know what your talking about,i should of said that i would'nt be towing a C/T so it's just vechile weight and fridge and roof rack on board,you've given me a rough idea any way on what i should set them at,thanks very much Paul much apperiated cheer's GREENDOG

Thanks Footloose i'll keep that i mind,thanks for your reply cheer's GREENDOG

Greendog, let me give you an example. I was once driving a dirt track with a car load of noisy people. (I love my peace and quiet :) . I had driven it a few times before, the last about 2 weeks before. A little rain but not enough to worry. I'd always driven in 2wd and not thought about it. There were cars doing the track two weeks ago. Worrying about the passengers etc I'd forgot to put the hubs in when leaving the tar.
The council had clayed a couple of corners since my last trip. Came up to one and managed to lose all directional control. Ended up off track, badly shaken and about 1m from a tree. Nothing but my ego damaged. I was lucky.
I'd made a few very basic mistakes, even though I wasn't all that new to it.
Lack of concentration
Going too fast ..."I know this track" syndrome
Not locking the hubs in when leaving tar
etc etc.
So my advice is based on what I now call experience.

Good way to get your peace and quiet back!

Yes, the only sound for the rest of the journey was my knees knocking together !

He simply doesn't know - and he's asking for input,
that's not a problem, it's sensible.

Mike Harding

No harm done by asking Willem if you don't know mate.espeacially if you haven't had the opertunity to use your vechile off road,When it came's to driving off the bitumen i'm a novice cheer's GREENDOG p.s i have alot to learn yet about 4x4 ing cheer's GREENDOG

Good grief

Howcome your rig pic shows you driving in some deep ruts offroad-ish. Or is it a digitally enhanced photo....LOL

was that picture taken a training long weekend at Robe with David Wilson (Adventure 4 WD) et al???????????

George

Training weekend with VOXSON they mad me do it,lol

hehehe...

Hi Grant tell them i had no choice please,how are you mate gettin closer.

I would like to add to the tyre pressure comment...

I once watched a video at a training session for search and rescue and it showed 2 senarios..

1) A tyre going over bumps and rocks at 60kmh @ 38psi.
2) A tyre going over bumps and rocks at 60kmh @ 28psi.

The exact same amount of sidewall met the obstacles,,, the pressure didnt make any difference to the sidewall flex or compression.....
BUT what did make a difference was the pressure (28psi) made a crapload of less damage and cutting to sidewalls and tread area...

Same as a balloon with high pressure another with less pressure...
The one with less pressure is quite a lot harder to pop... Same theory with tyres..

Such a simple rule...

MMmmm tyre pressure, thanks Grant for that i'll keep it in mind bloody talk about conflicting reports cheer's GREENDOG

Well,, you didnt have much choice since i was telling you how easy it was hehehehe...
But you had a ball that day...So it cant be all bad..
Getting closer yep...
Going through Kowanyama and Pompuraaw are going to hard yakka we think...
We heard from the Sarge up there that we will be probably going through 1.5metre river crossings with no way of walking them first because the crocs are too cunning...
He said we will have wait for locals to cross then do as they do...

Yeah mate had a ball that week end it was great we loved every bit of it plus meeting great people like your self ca'nt bet that cheer's GREENDOG

G'day blokes,
Voxson, we came back through Pormpuraaw and down to Kowanyama on our last trip to CY in 2004. We did it later in the season, so bulldust was our main enemy. We crossed the big river (Mitchell?) when it only had a small amount of water (about 400mm max). It had a very firm rocky bottom, but was about 100 meters wide with some sections in the middle not being under water at all. I'd be bloody petrified if I had to try and cross it with those middle bits totally covered......the bits that we experienced @ 400mm will be the ones you say will be 1500mm and even with a snorkel I'd be chitting myself......the ol' sphingter valve would be as tight as........ hahahahaha

BTW, I agree about locking in the hubs on gravel and using 4H.....gives you much more control. I cannot understand why some blokes refuse to do this........I think they are same blokes who say things like..."I've got a big powerful V8 donk, so I don't need to drop my tyre pressures to get up Big Red and do the Simpson...." etc. These are the blokes that destroy tracks......
Using 4x4 is far kinder to tracks and also to the overall wellbeing of your vehicle as it spreads the load over both axles etc.
I also agree withwhat Voxson said about reduced tyre pressures NOT adversely affecting sidewalls as much as a lot of people mistakenly believe. Reducing tyre pressures tends to lengthen the foot-print of the tyre; not broaden it.

Cheers

Roachie

Hi Roachie,,

Yep,, The Mitchell River...
Fingers crossed that the levels are down,,, but it is only 7weeks till we are there...
From memory can you tell me if the Mitchell is a straight across crossing in line with entry and exits or is it like Cockatoo Creek (a weaver)...??????

Mate, as I remember it, there was a bit of a curve in the middle bit, over some of the exposed rocks......if they are submerged it could get a bit "interesting".....

The southern exit (where you'll be entering) was a little jump-up, like a railway sleeper height. If the water is up higher than our crossing, you will probably already have your wheels in the water by the time you drop off it.

I hope it's not too bad when you get there....

Cheers mate

Roachie

Thanks Phil for your reply for the in experianced 4x4 driver your reply has helped

Hi Richard,

I've been visiting the Flinders and SA outback since the late 70's and look at it a little bit different. There are heaps of rollovers up there on very good gravel roads. If you come across a rollover, you often ask how on earth it happened because its usually not obvious. I reckon the factors are speed and complacency.

I personally never go over 80kph no matter what the road is like. It only takes a dip in the road or an offcamber corner to cause the vehicle to start going sideways on the pebbles, or for a tyre to blowout, and over it goes.

Cheers
Phil

Good follow-up Phil,

I've started to do a follow-up to Richard 3 times; but each time when I re-read it, I ended up deleting it because I thought it sounded like I was up myself and was preaching.
Richard asks: "Why use 4wd when it is not needed?"
I would ask instead......."Why would anybody spend $$$$$$$$$$ on a 4x4 vehicle and then proceed NOT to use the 4x4 feature they've just spent their hard-earned $$$ on?"
What is the downside to driving in 4H on gravel roads? Buggared if I can think of ANY downside. Some will argue that fuel consumption is a bit higher cos the donk is being asked to turn more moving parts....... To this I'd say "big deal, what's a few cents worth of fuel compared to the risk of a oversteer/understeer induced roll-over that could have been negated by using the vehicle in the manner it was designed?"

Here endeth the lesson......

Cheers

Roachie ;-)))

Thanks Roachie and Phil you both have been a big help,thanks for your reply's,I hope by now that Willem has a better idea why i asked this in the first place going on all reply and follow ups.GREENDOG

Thanks Neil. I have a manual 5 speed so think the idea is just to put the gear stick into 4H and only 4 little green lights on ans tyre pressure sounds good cheer's GREENDOG

Experienced or not 4H should be engaged to enable you to have control of your vehicle should road conditions change suddenly.
I believe if you have spent $$$$$ on a 4wd then you should use all it's attributes to ensure safe driving.

Mike

I'll clarify, as somebody said earlier, on a baked hard dirt road, (not gravelly) I'd be carefull about engaing 4x4 unless you want trans. wind-up.

Found the same thing with our Paj.
Use super select to slip into 4wd high with the centre viscous coupling engaged.
Better handling and braking.
And the rear tyres don't chip up as much either.

Thanks to every one that has replyed to my thread the information i have recieved has been a great help to me and i apperiate every one taking there time out to reply,cheer's GREENDOG

Be aware that only the NM/NP have a viscous coupling in the center diff. NH/NJ/NL have a completely open center diff (Except when it's locked of course!)

Peter

Hi mate we are staying out at Parachlina Gorge so i'm. just generally talking about the dirt roads between blinman and Wilpena and the gorge roads if you now what i mean cheer's GREENDOG