Howdy,

After 12 months of RRS ownership, I am going up to Qld on holidays and am thinking of doing a day trip to straddie.

I have bought a snatch strap and compressor, but I dont have any real 4wd experience. People have said that straddie is a good place to start as it is relatively easy to get around as long as I take the softly softly approach.

Has anyone on here driven there? Any advise, suggestions or reviews would be great.

Looking forward to 5 hours of beach driving followed by 20 hours of cleaning!! 2011 TDV6 Luxury - Baltic Blue, Ebony with Contrast Stitch, RSE, Stormers, Towpack.

JONRRS wrote:

Howdy,

I have bought a snatch strap and compressor, but I dont have any real 4wd experience. People have said that straddie is a good place to start as it is relatively easy to get around as long as I take the softly softly approach.

Has anyone on here driven there? Any advise, suggestions or reviews would be great.

Jon i would recommend that you look to Join the NSW Range Rover Club http://www.rangeroverclubnsw.asn.au/
get on one of the Sand Driving training days at Stockton beach, its absolutely great fun, they will teach you the ropes based upon the vehicles capabilities.. then go to Straddie with full confidence in the vehicle and yourself ..

Alternatively see if Jimmy Salsa (member on here) is up for a Saturday out on the dunes at Stockton, happy to tag along.. but i would say that would not replace a good days training with the club but we can have some fun

http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic18595.html
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic18569.html
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic8121-15.html

Cheers

Jim Another Pommie Bar Steward down under

MY20 Defender 110 SE P400 Eiger/Ebony
MY10 3.0 RRS TDv6 Fuji/Ebony/Anigre

p.s. They have a Sand Driving Course open on the 3rd March at Stockton, a mere 1 hour 45 min run from Sydney

Cheers Another Pommie Bar Steward down under

MY20 Defender 110 SE P400 Eiger/Ebony
MY10 3.0 RRS TDv6 Fuji/Ebony/Anigre

15-20psi (assuming you have 19" tyres), MaxTracks or long strips of carpet, snatch strap, rated shackle, shovel, air compressor as you have indicated, TR on sand (or rock crawl selected), DSC off, low range, command shift use higher gears, if you get stuck do not spin the wheels you will sink like a rock, if you get stuck try backing in your tracks (no spinning of wheels), if still no luck get out and dig - clear the sand from in the front of the wheels (depending on the direction you want to go.

Good luck 07MY RRS TDV6
Arctic Frost
Aspen Interior

I have also done the NSW Range Rover Club sand driving course at Stockton Beach and can highly recommend it.
Lots of good info including the best terrain response settings etc. (Not necessarily what is on the dial)
Regards
Barryp 2017 Range Rover Sport TDV6 L494 SE Fuji White
2011 Range Rover Sport SDV6 L320 SE Fuji White Loved but GONE
2010 TRAKKA Motorhome Fiat Ducato GONE (What a dud, don't buy one)
2006 Discovery 3 SE TDV6 Automatic Chawton White/Ebony. Loved but GONE
2006 BMW X5 diesel White/Charcoal, Bought new, Gone after 12 years! Was Excellent.
Ex Member Range Rover Club NSW

Zilch wrote:

p.s. They have a Sand Driving Course open on the 3rd March at Stockton, a mere 1 hour 45 min run from Sydney

Cheers

[quote="JONRRS"]

Zilch wrote:

Apparently now there is no driving allowed on the dunes, so it is purely hard sand.

Don't bet on it  07MY RRS TDV6
Arctic Frost
Aspen Interior

Maybe take a sandflag:

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/articles/2012/head-crash-stockton

Happy to take a crew out on Stockton just about any day I'm free. Can also possibly do a midweek day if I have enough notice.

Can run through a couple of basic recoveries for any newbies and tackle some hints and tips but please don't think of this as a training day as such

Might just fast-track you if you can't get to the set days that the RRC puts on.

One of the main things you should consider if you plan on doing a lot of trips like that on sand or any ongoing 4wding is a Llams height adjustment kit or the version that Gordon at Green Oval has developed.

On sandhills in particular, you often need good speed when tackling steep, high dunes and in some instances, the approach can be quite undulating. I have seen a number of vehicles bottom out at speed right at the worst moments when the car decides it is smarter than the driver and lowers itself from off-road height to road height. Bone jarring best describes the result. 'Black Betty' Java Black RRS 07 TDV6