We're back....Boggings and Idiots....

Submitted: Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 19:33

ThreadID: 52891 Views:4652 Replies:6 FollowUps:9

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Member - greg S (QLD)

Just got back from Fraser Island last night. Looks like it was a good move as the weather looks like it will get worse, and we we're only going to be there for another couple of days anyway. The beaches were a bit of a mess, but it was pretty easy going coming back along the beach. We caught a few fish, done a little sight seeing, drunk a bit of grog, and generally had a great time.

OH and snatched a few people out, after they got bogged because they never let their tyres down and were still running around with 32 psi in the tyres.
A group of 4 in a rodeo with 32psi in their tyres, had no snatch strap, or rated bow shackles, and no hitch pin for their towbar(my brother used his). The only thing they had was a compressor to pump the tyres back up after we dropped them to around 20psi.
One guy in a white Prado said he had around 18psi in his tyres, and when we asked if he had a tyre gauge, he said no, I checked them at Kingfisher Resort on their gauge. He had 24psi in them. He didn't have a compressor to pump them back up again, he would use the one at the resort. He didn't have a shovel either. But he did have a snatch strap, which we used. We dragged his sorry arse out of there. I told him when he gets home to go straight to his local 4wd shop to but a decent gauge and compressor, but I don't think he liked that??
Another couple that we snatched out in an old pathfinder at Indian Head had no recovery gear what so ever.

And we never got bogged once even with over 4.5T of Patrol and camper. H4 first gear behind Indian Head. Never got into low range at any time on our trip, High 4 second was all that was needed even at Ngakala Rocks(without the camper). But I had the tyre pressures down to around 15 psi.

The only problem we had was the bleep s who don't know how to give way. My brother nearly got side swiped twice, the first one when he was coming down off the bypass around Yidney Rocks by a wanker in a black Prado coming up at the start of the bypass, and the other in a 100 series Landcruiser towing a camper on the bitumen at Inskip Point, who went straight through at the intersections instead of slowing down and actually staying on his side of the road. My Brother had to actually get right off the road, and even then he only just missed him.

Anyway we are all good, everyone is home and safe and we caught a few fish.

Greg

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Reply By: Member - Mal W (NSW) - Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 20:39

Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 20:39

Greg,
Yes it happens. I once winched a party of two hopelessly bogged vehicles out near Savory Ck on the Canning, and neither vehicle had any recovery gear at all, even there. They had broken their clothes line !

Mal

AnswerID: 278645

Follow Up By: Member - greg S (QLD) - Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 21:25

Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 21:25

Mal,
My only hope is that they really appreciate that someone has the gear needed to recover them and go out and buy the gear themselves when they get home. I think it is going to get to a point that a lot of people are going to leave people bogged and not recover them because of the expense. We all know that our gear has a limited life and using it on others means that you cannot use it to its full potential for yourself. You don't mind doing it for your family or friends, because you know they will appreciate it. I now have a couple of less uses from our snatch straps.

One good turn deserves another, and I believe that I will receive help when required, as I already have by members of this forum. Pezza is one that has dragged my sorry arse out of the crapper when I got stuck in our Terracan. He used his winch to get me up a hill. It was greatly appreciated, and when we purchased our Patrol I promptly got a winch fitted,and bought (hopefully) all the gear required to go with the winch, as I don't want to have to rely on other peoples gear to get me out of a situation.

At least if we have all of our own gear people will hopefully be more inclined to render assistance.

When we got back to camp and settled in I thought maybe I should have asked for money for dragging them out, but then I know it will be a sad day when that happens, but as coats are going up I think it will be more prevellant.

Greg

FollowupID: 542693

Reply By: firestorm - Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 22:17

Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 22:17

Sorry to burst your bubble, but all this talk of tyre pressures is severely over rated. I drive a 99 Pajero Exceed and was up on Fraser in September. I ran the entire Island with four passengers inside on hard beach sand and soft sand ( Orchid Beach area ) and never got bogged or looked like getting bogged. Tyres pressure 27 psi.... all the time.

You can let your bloody tyres down to 8psi, but if your a useless driver who thinks there great just because they have a 4wd your in trouble. Likewise if your half smart, know your vehicle, what it's capable of and the terrain you'll be right.

Mind you a 3.5L petrol engine and auto do make easy work of sand driving. Momentum and smooth acceleration is the key i think.

Cheers

AnswerID: 278670

Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 22:41

Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 22:41

hey firestorm, you're right, you don't have to let your tyres down but its easier on everything if you do, including the environment. Tyres with less pressure in them do less damage to the tracks. Now sand is going to move anyways and I wouldn't go under 18psi without beadlocks, but I find it overall smoother and easier on 18psi rather than the normal 32/34 i run.

I would run 28 psi on dirt tracks and around Broken Hill for example, and find that thats the recommendation of the tyre dealers there too.

you don't know Lucy do you??

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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 10:20

Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 10:20

I second your comments Bonz!

Unfortunately, people don't realise how much damage they can do to the track surface, because they have already driven on it and don't look to what they have left behind them.

Bill

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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 13:08

Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 13:08

If you dont know the value of deflated tyres on sand
- well then you just havnt driven on soft sand

FollowupID: 542784

Follow Up By: Andrew (Bris) - Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 14:37

Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 14:37

Plenty of people can say I went here or there and didn't let my tyres down, but the conditions on Fraser change constantly.
One day you need to be down to 18psi, the next after a couple of millimetres of rain, you can leave them at 36psi and not bother with 4WD to get through the same piece of track.

To be safe and reduce track damage, tyres generally should be let down on the tracks at Fraser Island.

Glad to hear you had a good trip.

Hope to be back up there for the clean-up in January.

Andrew.

FollowupID: 542793

Follow Up By: Ozboc - Monday, Dec 31, 2007 at 14:15

Monday, Dec 31, 2007 at 14:15

I agree with other posters , if you drive at 30 + psi and did not notice any difference in driving - then you did not hit ANY soft sand at all.

I have driven is soft sand at Stockton last year when it has not rained for many months and at 18 PSI i was still sinking in the sand ( when you Physically walked on it yourself you almost sank to your ankles) Once i got down to 15 PSI the 4.2 ran smooth with little effort ( whilst towing a trailer )

I would agree that an auto is easier to drive in the sand because of the fact of very little time difference between gear changes, but then again why buy an auto if your claiming to be a good driver? My partners 9 yr old can drive an auto and slowly and smoothly accelerate on soft sand ... can he do the same in a manual ?? No ....

Boc

FollowupID: 543223

Reply By: Member - Brad S (SA) - Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 22:40

Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 22:40

I think one thing a lot of folk don't understand is it's just about not getting bogged. It is also about damaging the environment and tracks as over-inflated tyres tend to dig in. You may well proceed without getting bogged but what's happening to the track?

AnswerID: 278676

Reply By: porl - Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 23:29

Thursday, Dec 27, 2007 at 23:29

Well I was once such "w#anker" (ie mistracked trajectory, got bogged due to over inflated tyre pressure) and well deserved the abuse so then went out and bought $399 compressor and found my French made tyre gauge i bought for going round the Aus circuit on my bike in '87 and it worked fine (good advice I suppose, a round tyre is way more reliant on accurate pressure than a "square based" 4wd tyre so i still suspect the best tyre gauge is found in a motorbickle shop (anyone got spare YB 100 parts?) and since then have never been bogged, at least not till i shovelled out the offending bits, lowered the pressure a few psi, and was away. So just to put perhaps a glass half full measure to the story, maybe they did learn, though maybe they not i suppose, which is why people do u turns without indicating, change lanes without checking blind spot, just do sh#t, what to do ...

AnswerID: 278681

Reply By: Mark & Jo, S/side, Bris - Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 00:33

Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 00:33

Hey Greg!
Glad to hear you all had a great time besides the so and so's!

Looks like we might have to have another get together in the new year to check out the Patrol!

Cheers
Jo

AnswerID: 278684

Reply By: firestorm - Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 14:40

Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 14:40

If you have a look at the last sentence of my previous posting, i think i said something and the key being " smooth acceleration". Now if you accelerate smoothly and dont spin the wheels i dont see how your "cutting" up the tracks.

When you driving on soft surfaces weight is more a factor than anything else. Trying tell me than the toursit buses at Fraser dont cut the tracks up more than your average 4WD......

AnswerID: 278741

Follow Up By: gbc - Monday, Dec 31, 2007 at 12:40

Monday, Dec 31, 2007 at 12:40

Meet me at the Ngkala cutting on a warm day and we'll see just how much of Fraser you can drive with full tyre pressure.

"When you driving on soft surfaces weight is more a factor than anything else"

Your words - would you not agree then, that a decreased psi on that loose surface would improve you're ability to drive over it?

Why am I wasting my breath - one day you'll work it out.

FollowupID: 543212

Follow Up By: Ti Trol - Tuesday, Jan 01, 2008 at 23:49

Tuesday, Jan 01, 2008 at 23:49

Firestorm, First a bit of science - sand is a uniformly graded soil type that compacts when saturated by water (as happens twice daily between high and low tide) by the rearrangement of the grains into the most compact, load bearing arrangement. As the sand drains, the compacted arrangement has a limiting bearing strength, expressed in kPA, that it can withstand before being displaced. The load your vehicle puts on to the sand is a function of your tyre pressure not your weight. As the weight increases the amount of rubber in contact with the sand increases, not the pressure, or the loading on the sand. Running tyres at high pressure will exceed the bearing stregth of the sand and cause the vehicle to sink into the sand.

So you may have a 3.5 L petrol engine to overcome the additional rolling resistance as you drive over the sand at 27 psi and destroy the load bearing structure and ruin it for everyone else until the tide comes back in, but that doesn't make you a good 4wd driver. I would highly recommend next time you are on sand, let your tyres down and experience the phenomenal difference that it makes. Also it will help preserve the track for the people behind!

And yes, I will tell you that a tourist bus at 18 psi does a lot less damage than a pajero at 27. (and the Queenland Parks Service will tell you the same.) But then, like gbc, I am probably wasting my breath.

FollowupID: 543435

Follow Up By: firestorm - Saturday, Jan 12, 2008 at 12:12

Saturday, Jan 12, 2008 at 12:12

Firstly GBC,

Rather than beat your chest, try reading my posting and then you may be able to give an "informed" response. I never once mentioned running "full tyre" pressures. Read my initial posting again...slowly and then consider hitting the keyboard.

Secondly Ti Trol,

Going be your logic, and fully laden tourist bus with deflated tyres would exert less pressure on the than say a Suzuki Sierra with fully inflated tyres. I don't think so mate. Everything is relative.

And you as well as GBC should read my posting first. If you think i run my tyres at 27psi all the time your sillier that your posting makes you look. My tyres are deflated but just not as much as you two obviously believe sufficient.

Next time you try to impart your knowledge.......remember it your opinion, and like the saying going there like arseh*les everyone's got one.

Cheers

FollowupID: 545516