I was on my way home and i decided to take the scene route. I drove down by the beach and I said hey lets do so baja'ing and thats when i got stuck... !! right on the side of the road! I swerved only a few feet to the left and thats when I got bogged down and I was wasted. There was probly four feet of sand right there!

I locked the front axle and I put 'er in four LO and she was buried beyond belief!

I tried reverse and everything but she was going nowhwere with tires freewill.

Finally a dude came with a ford ciesta or something with a chain and I wrapped my junk up so that with reverse I could get some leverage.
We pulled my baby out in reverse and I was more grateful than ever.

Why did this happen to an ultimate 4runner? Any tips on how I can get by myself next time? It was too embarassing for a toyota!!!

-Distressed 4runner

 

Right when you know you are stuck before you bury yourself too bad air down your tires in sand and it will help out a lot.

 

First, congrats on getting stuck. You can't learn if you don't get stuck sometimes. I 2nd the airing down tip. I go down anywhere from 10 to 15 PSI. Without airing down your tires will just dig in.

 

Yup. Unless you air out you a dead man.

 

The first thing to do is stop digging! When you first came to a stop, get out and air down.

 

I know I have to be in 4 lo just go anywhere in sand. Even with my 35" STS's which are awesome sand tires.. Sand just steals all power, everything.. Its like snow, the more you spin the more your ed..haha Air down, 4 low and just get some!

It does offer an interesting aspect to wheeling when you come upon a huge pit of it... Some of my favorite times are on beaches and sandy rivers.

 

Thanks guys! haha, I guess I would have to take it to the gas station immediately afterward to refill the tire pressure huh?

Will use that tip next time!

It was crazy because I thought 4low would stomp out everything, I never got stuck before especially off road climbing hills, but this time it was just a bad hole I got into..

 

lol i remember the first time i went offroad in my 1st gen and thought that 4low would get through anything...

 

at pep boys they have a small compressor for 50$ to 70$ bucks Master Flow MF1050
heres a link so you know what it looks like
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Flow-MF.../dp/B000L9AD2U
I used mine last night took under 4 min per tire to get them to 45 psi.
just watch out when you are done using it because it gets very hot.

 

You weren't lacking enough power in 4 lo, you didn't have enough friction to climb out of your tire holes. Airing down gives you a bigger foot print so you have enough surface area to grip the sand and not just throw it.

Those amphibious vehicles the marines used in WWII had tire pressure control in the cab so they could drop the pressure to climb out of the dunes and into some cover. On some of those black sand beaches in the Pacific they had to go below 7 psi to make it out

Erich

 

before you went in the sand you should have deflated the tires, also bring some planks with you to put under the wheels if you have to, it works :]

 

could be your tires didn't have clean voids, etc. Really how you get un-stuck depends on what you're stuck in.

 

Re read the parts I quoted and think about it for just a second... I think you answered your own question. BTW you locked your hubs not your front axle... I drive my crawler around on 15psi all day long running on pavement between trails. It's not that big of a deal airing down.......
tires freewill? Ford Ciesta??

 

I hate sand. I'm always sweating until I'm back on firm ground. I know it's because I don't have enough experience, so I'll try a little here and there. I've never been in a place I could practice airing down, so I've never even tried that. Give me a nice dirt trail with some fun ups, downs, and arounds and that's good enough for now.

 

You got pulled out by a Ford Fiesta...LOL

 

no such vehicle made by Ford in the U.S. It would be a festiva. And I'd like to see a 2500lb festiva pull out a 4200lb 4runner, lol

 

Ford Fiesta was an import from ford of brazil sold in the late eighties to early nineties. It was the ultimate econo box, but not very survivable in a fender bender. not sure if it was available in all markets... they had it here and in some but not all states I think.

 

it was called the Festiva, not fiesta. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Festiva

 

Actually there were Ford Fiestas sold in the USback in the late 70's-early 80's.
http://home.san.rr.com/gilligan/ford/
There are still some running around.
Ford has been making them in one market or another for over 30's...Basically Ford's VW bug....
There is even some talk of ford bringing them back to the US since nothing else they seem to sell (besides F150 and the mustang)....

Military vehicles (Humvees, 5 tons) still have got CTIS, Central Tire inflation was on option on Civee H1's. Probably get it on Unimogs too.

Sand is fun!