Beach driving tips

[Bogantaxi]

I have got a stock '85 L series manual dual range with stock ride height and 13" rims (the back tyres are jap spec snow tyres ). Now I really want to take it up the beach but I dont know how it will go, I have heard both good stories and horror stories of L series on the beach. I think it will be alright, I have taken it through some pretty soft mud and the only time it ever got bogged was when I went down a track with too deep ruts and bottomed the front out. So before I commit to buying a bribie beach permit, what is required to get an old subaru ready to cruise the beach safely and reliably? My main concerns are overheating and corrosion protection. For corrosion protection I have sprayed the underside of the vehicle in thick corrosion protective paint and I am planning to treat all the drain holes in the doors and sills and crannies in the chassis will fisholene oil, but I'm wondering if it might be worthwhile investing in an electronic rust protector off ebay. Also my car tends get warm when off roading, going up steep hills or on really hot days, it only has one rather small electric thermo fan though so I will probably change to a bigger one or maybe even try and squeeze in a pair of falcon thermos

Anything else I should be concerned about when taking my subi on the beach?

[RSR 555]

Ok.. this is just my opinion but I have found Mud & Snow tyres to be great for dirt/mud driving but pretty useless on the beach. They tend to grab the sand (making great rooster tails) and flick it out and in such causing you to get bogged quicker I found that general highway tyres to be the best (the worn the better) for the soft sand. Normal thing of letting them down is a must. As for the rust, it's best to wash the car with fresh/tap water once you get home. Unfortunately rust will start no matter what but washing and some fishoil in the cavities will slow it down. Cooling.. make sure you use a good quality coolant, the more greener it is the better and make sure the the Radiator is flushed on a regular basis. 2 therms will also help

[Bogantaxi]

Ok.. this is just my opinion but I have found Mud & Snow tyres to be great for dirt/mud driving but pretty useless on the beach. They tend to grab the sand (making great rooster tails) and flick it out and in such causing you to get bogged quicker I found that general highway tyres to be the best (the worn the better) for the soft sand. Normal thing of letting them down is a must. As for the rust, it's best to wash the car with fresh/tap water once you get home. Unfortunately rust will start no matter what but washing and some fishoil in the cavities will slow it down. Cooling.. make sure you use a good quality coolant, the more greener it is the better and make sure the the Radiator is flushed on a regular basis. 2 therms will also help

Well I recently flushed the cooling system and filled it with genuine subaru coolant. Unfortunatley it had a leak (refer to my rusty coolant pipe thread). But even with the genuine coolant it still got warm. It is strange, the temp never seems to go right up into the red, but it often sits on the line between normal and red and I worry that heavy load like driving in the soft sand might push it over the edge,

[RSR 555]

Subaru coolant is the best you'll find.. so I'd look at other things like the sender unit? Can you get hold of an external/aftermarket gauge?

[TOONGA]

Anything else I should be concerned about when taking my subi on the beach?

high tide

seriously know where the high tide and low tide marks on the beach are

TOONGA

[Phizinza]

sorry, didn't read anything but the subject. But heres a couple of sand driving tips from me anyhow.

Lower tyre pressures to 10psi. Don't corner hard/drive erratically. Keep revs up (between 2300 to 3000 while crusing and don't be affraid to use 4000 or so for the very soft stuff). Stay away from the wet sand. Not only is it easy to sink in, you also get more salt thrown and stuck all under your car!

And lastly remember to put it in 4wd! haha

[Alex]

momentum is the key.

also when coming to a stop dont jam on the brakes and dig holes, either roll to a stop or lightly use the brakes. When stopping i always reverse back afew meters to recompact your tracks to make for an easier take off.

Also remember where the top of steering wheel is, its very easy to lose track of where your steering is pointed(and the car will continue to go strait) if you ge what i mean.

other than that, low tyre pressures and as phiz said avoid erratic turning. Just let the car do its job and try not to fight it.

as for cooling, maybe look into adding another thermo fan to your radiator i like to have it switchable so when your giving it shit through the sand, jsut flick it on and itll help with the airflow ALOT. Abit of lift is very helpful in sand also.

alex

[last celtic warrior]

When driving on the beach, keep to the sand... Stay away from the water and don't drive over vegetation. I've found from personal experience that cars don't drive too well in the ocean (aquaplaning was the least of my concerns at the time).

And yes, the tide will get you if you don't watch and respect it. Don't get stranded.

When you feel you're getting bogged, don't panic and start spinning wheels trying to apply more power. Power isn't what you need, it's traction and momentum. Ease the car backwards and forwards, gradually increasing the length of the packed sand runway you're making, then hop out and scrape out the front of the ditches so you've got a ramp to get out. Hop back in, reverse till you're climbing the back of the ruts and catch it with the brakes. When you've taken a deep breath and let it out fully, gently accelerate off your starting blocks and keep going out the end of your ruts. Make sure you've cleared the path ahead for the car though, so you've got somewhere to keep up your momentum. Most cars are only as bogged as their driver's mind is...

Biggest one to remember is, have fun, don't get upset if you get stuck "temporarily" and count everything unplanned that happens as part of the whole adventure.

The other guys on here have posted some great advice too, I just put things into my own words, even if I AM repeating what's been said. Some things just can't be said enough...


One thing I've got to mention though, is... Don't run different tyres on the front and rear if you're going to use 4WD at all. Even with the same rolling diameter, different treads will give very different traction and effective drive distance per rotation in various terrain. This is how people twist tailshafts and bust open gearboxes.

[INEEDABEER]

anyhow.

Stay away from the wet sand. Not only is it easy to sink in, you also get more salt thrown and stuck all under your car!

I would say keep to the wet sand especially on Bribie.Its harder packed and will make the going a lot easier.Try and go for the higher profile tyres,they tend to work better at lower pressures.
Don't worry about the salt because there is just as much on the dry sand as the wet.

[Morcs]

Buy a larger capacity moto cross bike tow bike on trailer to the beach goes much better on the sand then most other vehicles and dont have to change a thing.

That my opinion any way mind you i used did have a knick name of Seth (hold it pegged and hope for the best) in younger years.

Spent lots of time in the Dunes in Esperance...

[Alex]

I would say keep to the wet sand especially on Bribie.Its harder packed and will make the going a lot easier.Try and go for the higher profile tyres,they tend to work better at lower pressures.
Don't worry about the salt because there is just as much on the dry sand as the wet.

i think this is a 50/50 mix. Sometimes the wet stuff can be seriosuly dangerous with sink holes and some parts that look hard but are pretty much quick sand, then youre stuck close to water which is shitting bricks material.

Ive made this mistake before, following an unlifted ej22 MY down the beach, i was towing a quad bike on a big trailer(probably close to a tonne together)

the MY appeared to struggle so i panicked abit and cut down to the water where it appeared harder. Needless to say my wagon went strait down and was going no where with waves washing up against it. The MY proceeded to get stuck cos he was a knob and cut down to the water also and the l-series behind us got stuck cos it had a blown cv and was rwd.

We were stuck for about 3-4hrs digging out my car which then recovered both the other cars and recovering a trailer is blooooody difficult.

What im saying is, id rather stay up in the dry stuff rather than the wet stuff, unless im 100% sure its compacted good and proper.

alex

[Bogantaxi]

i think this is a 50/50 mix. Sometimes the wet stuff can be seriosuly dangerous with sink holes and some parts that look hard but are pretty much quick sand, then youre stuck close to water which is shitting bricks material.

Ive made this mistake before, following an unlifted ej22 MY down the beach, i was towing a quad bike on a big trailer(probably close to a tonne together)

the MY appeared to struggle so i panicked abit and cut down to the water where it appeared harder. Needless to say my wagon went strait down and was going no where with waves washing up against it. The MY proceeded to get stuck cos he was a knob and cut down to the water also and the l-series behind us got stuck cos it had a blown cv and was rwd.

We were stuck for about 3-4hrs digging out my car which then recovered both the other cars and recovering a trailer is blooooody difficult.

What im saying is, id rather stay up in the dry stuff rather than the wet stuff, unless im 100% sure its compacted good and proper.

alex

I have some experience with beach driving as my old man used to have a nissan terrano (import TD pathfinder) and then a nissan X-trail, both of which we took on the beach quite a bit. I would like to think of my subaru as being just as capable as the X-trail, since at least the subi has high + low range and a locked center diff. My dad would only ever go to the beach at low tide and get straight onto the hard sand near the water. Driving on the soft sand at the top would make even the newest most mechanically sound 4by struggle/overheat after a while, where as driving on the hard sand is pretty much like driving on bitumen AFAIK.

So, just to clear things up I will be going while the tide is at its lowest and be aiming to get straight onto the hard sand.

Another thing I was wondering about is I read on another forum about sealing a gap in the bell housing with silicone otherwise the sand chews out the rear main or something, has anyone here done this? I only replaced the clutch and rear main 2 weeks ago so I'm a bit nervous about sand getting in there

[riksta]

I have read all the above and I think there must be a big difrence in the sand in Qld to the sand in WA.

I have been driving Subarus on the beach for about 15 years and in QLD around Brisbane/Sunshine Coast the best place to drive on the beach is at low tide on the hard sand, that is sand that would have been under water at high tide.

This sand is hard and is like driving on the road, but DON'T drive to farst, for a first timer 60km would be a good speed till you get the hang of it, and look out for things that have been washed up like logs and bottles and look out for holes and wash outs, as thay can do lots of damage if hit at speed.

Soft sand is harder going and if your in the wheel tracks of anough 4wd dont fight the wheel, a good tip is go down a gear and get the revs up, and if you have your tyres down to 15 psi you will get there.

Good luck with your trip.

Rik.

[cockroach]

i think the sand you are driving on makes a bit of a difference too. one of my mates had no trouble driving around lancelin dunes (north of perth) but when we were in coral bay he got stuck a few times. just from normal driving on flat sand. i would agree with dropping tyre pressures to around 10-14psi, just dont go turning to hard. trying to get a tyre to re-seat can be a pain in the butt sometimes

[Phizinza]

I would say keep to the wet sand especially on Bribie.Its harder packed and will make the going a lot easier.Try and go for the higher profile tyres,they tend to work better at lower pressures.
Don't worry about the salt because there is just as much on the dry sand as the wet.

I think we are talking about different types of wet... What I mean by wet sand is the stuff you can see a glaze of water over.
I've even watched a mate drive into the water...

[Bogantaxi]

Well, might be heading up the beach tomorrow, hopefully it all goes well. I have checked the tides and it should be low at 12pm, so that's good timing for a day out at the beach

I think we are talking about different types of wet... What I mean by wet sand is the stuff you can see a glaze of water over.
I've even watched a mate drive into the water...

Well I definitely wont be driving in the actual water, that's just asking for rust problems, even though I know I will still end up having to drive through salt water wash outs