steep and loose

[swaddo]

Newbie alert
I went for a drive on the weekend (out toward Mt Coree) and tried unsuccessfully to tackle a hill that was quite steep (close to 30 degrees) and covered in loose, sharp rocks.

http://www.swadling.com/4wd/pics/dead_end.jpg

I made it about 1/2 way up but ended up spinning everything and making zero headway. ytou can see y track on the left. I wound up retreating back down in low reverse and managed to find another track around.

Others have made it up (there was rubber from wheel spin left on some of the rocks at the top).

What is the best way to tackle this kind of obstacle?

Someone at work suggested more speed http://www.vocinelweb.it/faccine/confuse/pag2/60.gif but the idea of taking a runup at this one scares the crap outa me.

Cheers
Blake

[Mick.]

It depends on the tyres and wheather you have beadlocks,diff locks etc. But if there was no other way out but up that hill i'd let my tyres down to 15psi or if bead locked down to as low as 5psi which is what I do because I have internal bead locks and no lockers at the moment and just take your time and crawl up it. Speed usually breaks things and sometimes you don't get as far as what you would if you took it easy but every track and 4wd is different. Hope this makes sense Mick.

[Brendan]

Tried airing down to around 24-26 psi?

Try the poor man's lockers routine (short sharp jabs on the brakes) -- it's worked for moi.

Get a wheel on the greenery on either side! Instant traction.

[-BJ-]

That track looks sooo familiar, how do you get there from the creek crossing before Mt Coree, is it anywhere near the creek crossing ? What tyres are you running ?

[Patrolman Pat]

Pics never do it justice. There looks to be plenty of areas with traction

I'd have aired down to 12-15 psi and hoped for the best.

What 4by do you drive??

[swaddo]

That track looks sooo familiar, how do you get there from the creek crossing before Mt Coree, is it anywhere near the creek crossing ? What tyres are you running ?


it is well before the creek crossing (i turned around there). Just as you are exiting the pine forests near the "locked" (been pulled open i think cause it is bent).

I am running 265/75R16 BFGs on an '03 GLS Triton dualcab.

I'll try airing down a little more next time and might give the brake trick a go. Also might toss some extra ballast in the tray.

Thanks fellas

[baby_troupe]

I would have run abount 15 to 18psi tyre pressures for a start & engaged the rear locker fro the start.
Towards the top where it gets a bit harder, i would have engaged the front locker (just to make it easier on the vehicle)

BTW I run 265/75 16 BFG MTs

[swaddo]

heh, onya BT. I would have engaged my lockers too (if I had some).

I have invested in a set of staun deflators and upgraded my compressor so I will be a little more comfortable dropping my pressures down low.

Another thing ... I would have loved to have had lower gearing for low range. I feel like I have to ride the brakes in LL when crawling over obstacles. There is a bloke on outerlimits who is trialing some crawler gears (3.15:1). Handbrake willing i might get hold of some http://community.the-underdogs.org/smiley/misc/shiftyeyes.gif

Cheers
Blake

[cpt-mud]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/cpt-mud/Landcruiser20only.gif

[bad_religion_au]

heh, onya BT. I would have engaged my lockers too (if I had some).

I have invested in a set of staun deflators and upgraded my compressor so I will be a little more comfortable dropping my pressures down low.


Cheers
Blake


why not a tire pressure guage and a stick/ valve core remover?

[swaddo]

my only excuse is pure laziness http://img117.exs.cx/img117/9585/q9crolleyes.gif

[2 BRUTAL]

airing down would definately help, as would filling in any holes which you may have been getting stuck in if possible.
it is amazing how much difference even 5psi can make to traction.
LOCKERS, there is no point in having diff locks if you dont have the ability to drive the vehicle, so many people think they are the bees knees with lockers, when in fact the couldn't drive for nuts,
Lockers will get you in trouble if you are not accomplished and confident at driving the vehicle,
A 4WD will normally go a lot further than what the normal driver is capable of driving it to.
I have proved the above to a fellow who had no experience in 4WD's, he had a double locked vehicle and I had open diffs and was still able to drive further than he could locked.
They best thing mate is practice, take it easy and experiment with different things, even different lines can make a huge difference, the best way to learn is not to be afraid to ask for help and get out there and do it, ;) :D

[bad_religion_au]

agreede with 2 brutal

[cpt-mud]

agree totaly, driver skill will take you further ;D, ive got away without diff locks, and done things that cars with lokkas have taken a couple of goes to do.

[-BJ-]

Thats right, Lockers would definitely help but only if you know how to use them. I wont buy any for a while yet, im having too much fun going places with my open diff.

[cpt-mud]

looks like the pic dosnt do the track justice, then again they never do, dosnt look like the loose rocks on rockey track toolangi

[luxor]

I usually put some ballast (5 spare tyres) in the backof my single cab hilux and it helps so much. You could try that and then airing down, Wouldn't go down further than 15 psi without beadlocks though.

Hope you get up there next time, good luck

LUXORR

[swaddo]

Thanks mate. I havent been out ther again for a bit, but I'll be hving another crack at it in the near future. Fingers crossed ...

[nqgu]

With the tyres aired down and the vehicle in low range you should be able to almost crawl up a 30 degree slope. In any case, the less throttle you can get away with the better especially on slippery rocky stuff. Speed is definitely not the answer, as your vehicle will tend to bounce and lose traction. If you have LSD's you may want to keep just enough throttle to keep em locked.

2Brutal is right. Try different lines. A line that lessens traction on wheels at opposite corners will bring you unstuck quickly.