Trailer towing off road videos

teotwaki

Excelsior!
Any videos of pulling a trailer through roads of deep sand? I've got a trip coming up in Arizona where I've gone before without the trailer. There is one sandy uphill that concerns me where it is rutted, twisty and full of sand. I cannot simply gun the motor as if I was going up a dune face. I know that a steady throttle, low tire pressure (16 to 18lbs or so) and engaging 4W Low and locker are important. I've seen posts about pros and cons of leaving the trailer's tires at street pressure.
 

skersfan

Supporting Sponsor
Long sand uphills are normally the death of a trailer. I have heard both versions, but I think keeping more air in the trailer tires allows it to roll easier as you are not soaking up bumps normally in deep sand. It squishes out so to speak. I ran into a hill up by chicken rock that stopped me cold with my box trailer, had to figure a way around it. Having trailer brakes is a god send in those situations as I had to back down, and it was most likely the scariest thing I have ever done with a trailer. I do not know if it was death defying, but it was certainly destruction to trailer and truck if I screwed it up. Will always try to avoid those situations in the future for sure.

Just be sure you have someone in front to tie off of an use the winch before you need it is the best advice I can give sir. I think there is somethinng like what you are talking about on Kokopelli, we will soon see I guess.
 

Jeff Wanamog

Off Road Camper Guy
Long sand uphills are normally the death of a trailer. I have heard both versions, but I think keeping more air in the trailer tires allows it to roll easier as you are not soaking up bumps normally in deep sand. It squishes out so to speak. I ran into a hill up by chicken rock that stopped me cold with my box trailer, had to figure a way around it. Having trailer brakes is a god send in those situations as I had to back down, and it was most likely the scariest thing I have ever done with a trailer. I do not know if it was death defying, but it was certainly destruction to trailer and truck if I screwed it up. Will always try to avoid those situations in the future for sure.

Just be sure you have someone in front to tie off of an use the winch before you need it is the best advice I can give sir. I think there is somethinng like what you are talking about on Kokopelli, we will soon see I guess.

I agree with your comment about the importance of good brakes. It was the first thing I changed out when I started my current build. What I was thinking was making a controller that we could brake the wheels separately. Sort of like how we used to put steering brakes on dune buggys and baja bugs. There is a yellow unused wire in a 7 pin connection that could brake one of the wheels. OOPS! sorry, I didn't realize I was thread hijacking. Just thinking out loud.

Jeff
 

teotwaki

Excelsior!
Long sand uphills are normally the death of a trailer. I have heard both versions, but I think keeping more air in the trailer tires allows it to roll easier as you are not soaking up bumps normally in deep sand. It squishes out so to speak. I ran into a hill up by chicken rock that stopped me cold with my box trailer, had to figure a way around it. Having trailer brakes is a god send in those situations as I had to back down, and it was most likely the scariest thing I have ever done with a trailer. I do not know if it was death defying, but it was certainly destruction to trailer and truck if I screwed it up. Will always try to avoid those situations in the future for sure.

Just be sure you have someone in front to tie off of an use the winch before you need it is the best advice I can give sir. I think there is somethinng like what you are talking about on Kokopelli, we will soon see I guess.

On the upcoming trip there will be two trucks but neither has a winch. I do have plenty of straps so a tug from the lead truck might be enough help. I really cannot imagine reversing down this trail with a trailer. It is not full of dangerous drop offs but I just don't want to jack-knife the trailer or damage the hitch (Lock-N-Roll)

Is the "Chicken Rock" you refer to the one out by Death Valley and the log bridge? I could never imagine having to back down that trail with a trailer. Makes me sweat bullets to even think about it happening to me.

I do have electric brakes on my trailer and love them, especially on a steep downhill such that the trailer is not pushing the truck forward.

For my trip I know of a longer trail that goes around this particular hill so I wil be able to avoid it at the cost of some time and gas. On the inward leg I will go down the trail so I'll be able to judge if I can have a chance of going up it.

Worse case is that I don't bring the trailer. Not a showstopper though.
 

skersfan

Supporting Sponsor
Jeff, I actually started making one a few years ago, but could not make it look right and had problems getting the levers to equal out. I still have it somewhere I think. It would be a great addition to serious trailer off roading I think.

You have to take the trailer, that is the reason for it.

The hill was about 8 miles east of chicken rock, I drug the trailer over chicken rock and all thought I was crazy, went right over no problem, but we were camping in one of the cabins, and over the hill was the shortest way. I watched the others struggle with just their FJ's and Tacoma's. I knew I could not make it, but tried it anyway, all dark gray shale, flat and 1 to 4 inches in length. What a nightmare, had to back down a good two hundred yards at least. Scared the bejesus out of me for sure. I would guess over 30 degree grade or at least close. Vowed never to do that again. Made it around the hill and down to the cabin about the same time as the guys did over the hill. But I missed the view. Was not concerned as I thought I was going to see God earlier. lol
 

Jeff Wanamog

Off Road Camper Guy
Nothing like a real good religious experience to make a trip something special, or dirty your shorts!!

Jeff
 

elcoyote

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0004
Any videos of pulling a trailer through roads of deep sand? I've got a trip coming up in Arizona where I've gone before without the trailer. There is one sandy uphill that concerns me where it is rutted, twisty and full of sand. I cannot simply gun the motor as if I was going up a dune face. I know that a steady throttle, low tire pressure (16 to 18lbs or so) and engaging 4W Low and locker are important. I've seen posts about pros and cons of leaving the trailer's tires at street pressure.

The goal in sand is to "float" on top of the sand and eliminate wheel spin. When you drive over sand and leave a perfect imprint of your tire tread, you have reached that goal. Be mindful that different types of sand require different pressures i.e. coarse hard packed moisture laden sand on a beach vs. fine almost silt like sand that would be near a dry lake bed. We did some experimentation a few years ago in some dune sand in Arizona in order to find the "traction sweet spot" for my Comanche and trailer. The truck weighed in at 4250 lbs and the trailer at 1400 lbs. Tire size on the truck and trailer was 285/75R16 E rated, BFG AT. We made several attempts at climbing the small dune, first at "dirt road pressure" 20 psi on the truck and 15 psi on the trailer. We were stuck instantly due to wheel spin. We lowered the truck down to 15 psi and left the trailer at 15 psi. We got a little further up the dune but still bogged down and got stuck. We made several more attempts, gradually reducing pressures to find the "traction sweet spot" until finally with pressure down to 10 psi front, 12 psi rear and 8 psi on the trailer, we climbed the dune without heavy throttle and leaving a perfect imprint of the tires in the sand all the way up.

If you have the opportunity, I would suggest going through a similar exercise with your tow rig and trailer to find your traction sweet spot for sand. A fun way to spend a few hours and learn a lot about your rigs capabilities.
 

teotwaki

Excelsior!
Thanks to all for the awesome feedback! Mario, last week I watched an Aussie video where the narrator did what you did for his instructional video. He attempted to get up a sand dune multiple times, gradually lowering the tire pressure. Each time he marked his max progress and finally had an easy time topping the dune when he reached 16 PSI.

There are lots of idscussions on this topic and lots of different experiences. I am now seeing that the variations can be wide because of sand types, track width of vehicles and trailers, weight of vehicle and trailers, tire types and so on. I think that these variables are why some people swear against airing down trailer tires and othesr swear as loudly that you have to air them down. Going back to what Mario said it is important to get out with your own vehicle and determine the sweet spot for tire pressures.

Expo discussion: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/57365-Towing-trailer-on-beach-Air-down-trailer-also
Aussie PDF document: http://outbacktravelaustralia.com.au/doc/DesertDuneDriving.pdf

Aussie video (on topic!):
 

teotwaki

Excelsior!
Here is the one that I watched last week about getting a trailer up a dune and marking the progress achieved with different "tyre" pressures. :smiley_drive:

 

skersfan

Supporting Sponsor
Like I have said, this is a learning process, you have to keep your mind open to all things, all ways. I have learned that you can learn from anyone, whether they are right or wrong, you can learn how to do or not to do.

I enjoy the challenge of taking my trailer on very dificult trails. Learning your boundries is what life is about. Towing a trialer is building on knowledge, and some crossing what you would normally do with what you have to do. For me it is a true adventure to play with it, learn what it is capable of and what I am capable of.

The hills featured here are nothing like what I faced.. way taller , a lot steeper and shale, not sand. Slick not trapping. Sand I can deal with I think, or have done so in the past, shale is different, and honestly I have had enough learning with it.

Great videos sir. Thanks for sharing them.

Are you doing the Kokopelli in April? I know quite a few from here are headed there. I am hoping I am healed and can do it. Then on to Cruise Moab and Overland Expo.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,539
Messages
2,875,662
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles

Members online

Top