AWD v 4WD

[Kevaclone]

Another tip for small AWDs for a quick and easy extraction
is to carry a good bottle jack(hydraulic or wind up) and a piece of wide flat timber(6x6x1.5 inch)


I had an old 80 Subi Leone bogged on the track at Indian Head and a combined effort of a 60 series + Hilux could move it.
I jacked the front(under the bullbar) and rear(under towbar) and just filled in under the wheels while the wife just went up the track a bit leveling out the centre hump of the track, took less than 3 mins to unbog


My lil subi went everywhere, Wabby Lake etc. ngakla rock stopped it though
it was a standard 80 model(first of 1800 dual range models) with larger 185/75/13 tyres and the suspension wound up 2 inches(back when all you needed was a spanner to adjust the ride height)


Only time I got bogged was because I had to stop for someone in a 60series bogged just north of Orchid Beach(?) and the guy from the old shop who came to rescue the cruiser forced me to back down into a soft boggy spot I couldn't get out of. He towed me to the shop and then abused me because I said I didn't need him to tow me across the big sand patch to the beach. Reckoned the Subi wouldn't make it and I'd be on my own "when" I got stuck, he was standing there, Hands on hips as I disappeared down the track


and the second time was on the track at Indian Head, massive Migraine headache and not quick enough to boot it through a dip in the track and got stuck as I came out of it




Kev

[Kevaclone]

Well said... You have a point about p platers though. They are dangerous in any car.

I know I was, and I'm pretty sure just like most who made it past the 18-25

[griz066]

I know I was, and I'm pretty sure just like most who made it past the 18-25

Yup me too and just like most on here, but now we have a label to put on them, a friggin big P to put on the car. If P plates were not fixed to cars then you wouldn't know the driver was on his P's just like we all were before P plates were mandatory. I get sick of people bagging P platers all the time. Sure they do some silly things but don't we all.

[hungry6]

So how was the 4wd with the trailer go?

[wosdam]

Wow...what a way to wreck a soft roader...

please dont post that up as an advert as to what they can/should be doing.

I know plenty of people who push their 4wds to their limits, even beyond - to the point where stuff starts breaking.

So you're telling me its perfectly ok for someone to drive a Patrol past its limits, but on the other hand, its not allowed for someone to take a Forester anywhere near ITS limits??? Who are you to make that rule?

[GBC]

I think he was alluding more to the way the vehicles were driven in the conditions.... A driver who's confident with his tools would not drive those simple obstacles like that, no matter what brand is on the steering wheel. Much less commiting his vehicle to an obstacle before the vehicle in front has cleared it.

Just my view anyway.

[ozscott]

Yep - thats what I was getting at GBC. It was just bashed over and then in effect stuck up as an advert for what a soft roader can do. It does not stick it to the harder off roaders by posting that because they would slowly walk over it with the torque and clearance and gearing without any real risk of damage.

Cheers

[YOOT]

Ozscott, I now have a new patrol and traded the Subaru in for a new outback and can categorically say that without the turbo the outback will be a bit gutless and reserved for shitsandgiggles runs up the beach.

The patrol being auto is ridiculously easy to drive on the sand and is much more rewarding to have offload. I fitted some st maxx coopers and have already towed a Hilux 10 kms through mud and hills without too much drama ( the D4D grenaded due to driver error).

Just a bit heavy on fuel.

[ozscott]

Nice mate. I love beach driving and it's so much more relaxing when your rig is effortless. There is nothing like having the torque, gearIng, clearance and tyres to make it easy. Cheers

[Zippidy]

I took a Suzuki Grand Vitara to Fraser and back and got stuck once whilst going over the top of a dune to get to our camp site. It was the new shape hairdresser model.

As long as you know the vehicle and it's capabilities then you shouldn't have many issues. The little 1.6L barely chewed any fuel either :-)

[Linedropper]

Glad you mentioned the Grand Vitara. Seems like a worthy candidate to me and we are probably going to be getting one towards the end of the year for the odd trip to Fraser, DI etc. I have 2" lift kit and some better off road rims and tyres in the budget. Going to get the 3.2L V6 model for bit of grunt to tow the 15 footer (on road only). Not much else out there in a small 4WD with low range.

There are some cheap new 2012 Landrover Defender 90's around at the moment. They are going for around 40k drive away which is 10K off normal price. I'd buy one in a heartbeat (I already have a 1972 SWB Series 3 ute) but the Admiral has said no. Reckons they are ugly.

[MudRiverDan]

And you base this on what ? your vast knowledge of AWD vehicles or possibly you own a 4WD and nothing compares in your eyes. What will I be recovering it from? I guess you assume that as I have made an inquiry about AWD's I know nothing about Fraser Island and the art of driving on sand and the like.

Now if anyone has any factual comments to make i would love to hear them.

I own a Subaru Forester (non turbo), 5 speed manual.

Ok here is what I know from a laymans point and Ill post up what I think.

Number 1 in my opinion is clearance, if your vehicle has not got the clearance then you will bottom out frequently.
Number 2 The beach, anything can do the beach if it has clearance, If you seen a Beetle done up for the beach you will know what I mean.
Number 3... clearance
Number 4 ... yes you have to have clearance or else you will bottom out.
Number 5 From what I found many beach entry points are dug by 4WD with a lot of clearance, so if your car has less and you drive in the tracks it will bottom out in the ruts.
Number 6 If you get on the beach make sure you have lowered your tyre pressure for sand driving.

So there you have it...

Cheers

Dan

[YOOT]

Bottoming out is still a long way from stuck. The lat thing I worry about is ground clearance on the beach. Many more things will get you in trouble first. But the point is still valid.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk

[MudRiverDan]

Oh yeah and I once bogged my un-lifted Forester trying to enter a beach at Iluka at 10pm at night.
Sand was real soft but when I hit the break of slope and it went upward quick I went downwards (didn't even lower my tyre pressure so that might have helped a little).

Slept on the beach and next morning rang the RACQ, about 7 the next morning this old guy shows up from Maclaen and I am sitting up in the dunes... hey here I am!..

"There is no way I can get in there", so the best bet was to wait around till some local people got out of bed and I could ask them for a tow...

So we went uptown and found this guy who owned a very nice patrol (sweet looking 4WD), he said no worries and drove down looked at the car and said "how did you get that far?"
He reckoned I would have been ok if I had tried another entry point some km away.

Well he hitched a long tow rope as he didn't even want to risk the powder dune sand the I hooked it up, pulled me out is a flash, though mind you I thought it was going to rip the ass end out of the subie roo..not a good look.

Pulled the car out of its hole and lowered the tyres unhooked it and it flew out of there like a rocket in reverse.

Thanks Mate whoever you where, champion effort!

They reckon the Subies go like the clappers on the sand but you need a lift kit.

Subaru has constant AWD, with LSD and High/Low range, with a torquey little 2.5 to push you along.

Soft-roader?.... of course, they are mostly marketed as a safe get around with the ability to do dirt roads, mountain roads and the occasional mud track, and they do that very well.

Cheers

Dan

[MudRiverDan]

It's a forrester and not a tank!!! I got a 2010 turbo one in the driveway and somehow I dont think it will climb the 700mm high rock face at Browns Rock fraser Is. to get to sandy cape or muster enough grunt to get over the sandtrap at ngakla rock. I love to be proved wrong with the ability of the forrester.

Mine weights 1400kg which is kinda heavy for a 4 cylinder.

Though I would bet that forester in the footage had a lift kit.

No way I would attempt to tackle those rocks in the clip, without any height mods you would have great chances of damaging your sump.

cheers

Dan