How do you go towing off road?

[sem]

Hey Guys
I was just wondering how you are finding towing off road with you Nav. I have a camper trailer but if we go off road I just take the tent even though I have a off road camper. I have a D22 and have never had any problem towing other than starting on hills but I'm kind of used to that. I'm going to the beach in a couple of weeks and want to take the camper so any any thoughts or shared experiences would be great.
Cheers

 

[raywise]

Mmm, we tow our ON road camper trailer in some narly places and it goes fine, thats with a std tow hitch as well, not a fancy rotating one. (But we did buy it when we had the Commodore).

Haven't taken it on the beach yet but everyone says its best to make sure if possible your track is the same between Nav and trailer, makes towing in the soft stuff a lot easier. Someone will have a lot more info on this subject.

 

[Bryce]

Should be fine.

just make sure you let the tires down on the camper as well as the nav, this will get the camper on top of the sand so it wont be like dragging an anchor.

But you should be fine.
Bryce

 

[Old.Tony]

+1 on deflating the tyres, and make sure your compressor is really up to the task. Large wheels on the trailer are an advantage. Don't forget to keep your engine running while you reinflate the tyres and have someone keep the revs at about 1,000rpm so the alternator can help a little - the larger compressors really suck down the juice.

That said, we don't do beach. We've done some sand - and it gets exciting when it gets soft, hauling 1.8T of van - but we don't go to the beach, which has a different set of rules to the sand we've driven on (pic is below). At the beach, water can cause the sand to move, or solidify, or give way completely. With our van's little 14" rims and all that weight, I would never contemplate putting it on the beach.

Take care, and don't forget to give the rig a good pressure spray when you get back home to get the sand and salt out of every nook and cranny. Oh, take plenty of pics too, camper trailers on beaches aren't common, so putting up a few pics would be a great thing to see.

 

[WoodyD40]

+2 on letting down ALL tyres - you may also consider letting your rear tyres on the Nav as low as you dare, like down to 18psi to compensate for the weight on the tow bar to keep your rear wheels from bogging down.

I've towed my camper trailer off road around the vic high country, and you could harldy notice the trailer was there. But i know it will be very different once you take the trailer onto the loose beach sand. Try to avoid stopping anywhere but on the solid sand - taking off in soft sand with the weight of the trailer could proove to be not so easy. Do take off gently and avoid spinning the wheels at all times. Once your moving and about to hit soft sand, try to keep your momemtum up without too much wheel spin. Any spinning wheel will DIG you into the sand instead of keeping you on top.

Avoid any sharp turns while driving also - risk of turning vehicle and trailer over.
watchout for washouts - could be 4 inch's deep or well over 12inch's, very hard to tell until your almost on top of them.

 

[KraftyPg]

Avoid any sharp turns while driving also - risk of turning vehicle and trailer over.
watchout for washouts - could be 4 inch's deep or well over 12inch's, very hard to tell until your almost on top of them.

+1 After the rain the last 3 days the drive way on our new property is only accessible in 4wd, it's a dirt track with a series of bends that's been used for 20 odd years so it's very defined and solid but thanks to all this rain parts of it are no longer where they used to be.

I was towing the tandem cattle trailer up it this morning and there is no room for error, the rain and torrents of water for 3 days have dug out furrows between the defined tyre line, moved rocks and dragged all sorts of crap down with it. People always say get out and walk a track before you drive it but this is the first time I've ever had to walk a driveway before hauling something up it.

Gonna be fun tomorrow coming down with more than 3 tonne of angus bouncing around back there.

 

[bullwinkle]

Quick delivery to Macca's, Krafty??

 

[KraftyPg]

Nah I'm taking them to HJ's and going to pen them up with that Angry F**ker on their ad and see who comes off second best.

 

[sem]

Thanks Heaps but I'm not sure if this is making me feel better or worse. I have read before that deflating the trailer tires are just as important as the ones on the truck and I am pretty comfortable driving on sand without the camper but now I'm thinking about getting bogged. I have a set of Maxtrax and sing their praises. I have been bogged in soft sand going up hill with no option of going back down and they have got me out but will they get me out with the added weight of the trailer?

Also now that you mention sharp turns what happens if i need to turn around and once i get to the sight what if i need to reverse?

 

[Old.Tony]

I think it's probably better that you have these misgivings about it right now. It lets you figure a way to approach the problem, and when you get onto the beach you will have a plan to handle the situation. It's much better than going in there blindly ignorant of the issues and rolling over, or getting bogged at low tide.

 

[tagMan]

I am not an experienced sand driver with a trailer on and i was thinking all the same things on my first trip. A lot of "what ifs?"
Since the first trip i have now done about 6 fully loaded beach camping trips.
Never been bogged. Never even looked like getting stuck. If you have a lot of soft sand to get thru then let all your tires down. I do down to 20psi all round.
When reversing into a camp in soft sand - plan the approach, i use low range and take it slowly.
Maybe if you had a D40 it would be easier for you?

 

[Tiburn]

Make sure the ute has most of the weight. We were towing up a sand dune and as we had the dogs in the back we were unloaded in dads Jackaroo but the trailer was fully loaded and it just sunk in. Also got to watch for jack knifing when reversing down a hill as it will cause heaps of trouble.

 

[micksnavara]

Ok some years ago about 10,
I was lucky enough to tow a Jayco Flight around Australia for 12 weeks.
Over west i was camping on a cattle property, I camped just behind the dunes out of the wind (in soft sand ) .

My advise is as you have done some sand driving, you will no when your tyres are to hard. ( they dig rather than float, and the engine works harder )
Towing a camper you just need to pay alot of attention on tyre presures especially the trailer. As the tyre to weight ratio on the trailer will be higher ( I found ) I needed to let the tralier tyres down more than the car (Pajero ).Possible up to 4psi difference lower on the trailer. You will know if your pressures are right or not.

On a hill you WILL need a bit of momentum and right boot !!!! Not to forget the right gear selection.

If you get stuck as I did once Don't wheel spin to much and reverse up a little on your old compacted tracks and have antoher go.

Tyre pressure is the most important thing to remember.

you will be fine.

 

[edsnav]

First post here but done heaps of towing on sand with a 1.2t camper. Let your tires on rig down i go to 18 psi place a stick where tyres meet ground front and back of one tyre. Measure distance between sticks then let tyres on trailer down to give you the same footprint. Hopefully that makes sense.
Thats what i do anyway and always seems to work for me.

eddy

 

[Laith]

Done it plenty of times. It's nothing to worry about.

I normally drop the campers tyre pressure down to 12psi straight away and as I have aggressive tread on the Cruiser it's pressure normally needs to go down to at least 16psi.

You need to drive with at least 30 seconds ahead up your sleeve. That way you give yourself plenty of time to stop, gain momentum or just plan an easy route ect.

No sharp turns at speed is a good idea as well as ascending or desending steep dunes straight on.

If you have a distance to travel try to get on the hard sand on the low tide. It's almost like driving on bitumen.

Here we are at Fraser Island last year

And one of our many weekends at Stockton Beach.

 

[NAV80]

Mate if you get your tyre pressures right you shouldnt have a drama towing a camper trailer...

Every year we go to fraser island with a 2.2tonne Haynes hunter in tow... we drag it up to orchid beach so through all the soft and tricky places... Dont be scared to play around with pressures... When running along the hard sand we usually have the car around 24 psi, and boat trailer around 20 psi, as soon as we approach the first soft and boggy section the boat goes straight down to 12-14 psi and the car down to around 16-18 psi....

If you are in a manual, the trick is selecting the right gear before you hit the soft stuff... the old saying slow and steady wins the race... the amount of people i see charge into indian head on fraser in 2nd gear high range by the time they are 2/3's through the motor has run out of puff and its all over.... I have found 2nd low and 1st high to be the two magic gears... i like to hold engine rpm around 3000rpm, so if i need to give it a few more berries through a heavier patch i have some revs up my sleeve. If the motor starts to die im usually going quick enough that i have time to put my foot down and catch the motor before it comes off boost.... If you start to slow/bog down, dont take your foot off the loud pedal and dont punch it to the floor either... just hold it at 3000rpm and give the steering wheel a bit of a shake from side to side. Most times the front tyres grabbing the edge of the tracks will help to worm it through... If you start to really slow/bog down but still making crawling pace, back off the throttle to around 2000rpm, while you still have forward movement there is still a chance it will grab some harder sand eventually.... The second you stop going forward or start diff hopping stop!! Grab reverse and try to back out.... If you start bogging down in reverse, stop!... disconnect the trailer from the car, dig the car out, drop another 2psi from your tyres. If you can, re-connect the trailer from another angle.... If thats not possible and you are really stuck, pull out a coldy sit back and wait for someone to come by and give you a snatch... Doesnt matter if you get bogged, there is always a way out...

But just remember it happens to the best of us... mum and dad have been going to fraser since 1974, towing trailers, caravans, camper trailers and boats and always been pretty fortunate... until this year... First trip towing it with the new 200.... even with its 4.5L twin turbo V8 diesel throwing ponies left right and center.... Dad had to pull out a coldy and wait for me...

But we got it out...