Driving in dunes

Driving in the desert is not difficult at all. You have to know your vehicle, his limits and to accelerate correctly.

A good understanding of your car gets you to know where you will be able to drive and where you won't pass. It will also help you to get thru tricky situation.

Before going in the sand, deflate tires between 16 and 18 psi. In fact it will depend on the sand (the more the sand is soft the more it is necessary to deflate) and on the vehicle (the more it is heavy the more it is necessary to deflate). For myself, I have a Nissan Patrol Long base and I deflate to 18 psi to go on tracks and 16 in dunes. If the car get stuck, I reduce the pressure until 10 psi.

The very first step is to test yourself driving on a sandy track. You will "feel" and know how the car reacts on sand. Then go on dunes.

Passing a dune is quite easy : Drive straight towards the dune, accelerate until 3000 to 4000 rpm/min and decelerate on the top of the dune (do not brake, the sand will slow down the car). If you don't know the place, be careful to what can be behind the dune. Better get off the car to have a look. Another advice is to look at the land; it can have a small bump at the bottom of the dune before the rise. This one, if you accelerate, can make the 4x4 "jump" and you will lose the power to pass the dune. In this case, it is necessary to accelerate gently until the bump and give all the power just after.

Keep the wheels straight to go down the dune and use your engine brake. In the beginning, stay in first gear. If you jam on the brake, you can stuck the car.

If you get stuck, do not panic, it is part of the game. Have a turn round the car and think how you can take it out. In 99% of cases, you won't need help. Reverse, shovel here and there, reverse again and you are out! I agree, it is not so simple in the beginning.
Find below some advices :

• move backward
• go forward, reverse, dig
• push, dig, shake the car
• pull out a car
• change a wheel
• repair a tire off a rim