Driving in sand?

Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration
Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Driving in sand?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By JohnH on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 08:25 pm:

It's well known that in their day the T's were driven in conditions where today only a 4WD would be used. And indeed, my own T has negotiated some pretty awful dirt and rocky roads successfully.
This has got me thinking as I'd like to do some driving on the beach and other sandy areas but don't have a 4WD.
How would a T go in these conditions?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Norman T. Kling on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 08:33 pm:

Be careful. If it gets stuck at low tide, you might have a wet car when the tide comes in! They drive pretty well on wet sand, but on dry sand, you will bog down.
Norm

We had on our Hawaiian shirts, but should have had wet suits. It was cold that day. April 2012
at Pismo Beach, Ca


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob McDonald-Federal Way, Wa. on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 09:08 pm:

John H
You might see if you can find one of these after market Kits that was made and shipped to the sahara desert in Africa and also used in the Everglades in the southern U.S. in the 20,s. The only difference between it and the Snowmobile kit was the track on the front wheels. I don't know now well they worded.

Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 09:10 pm:

They say wrapping a large rope around the tire going through the spokes will give traction like snow chains. Never tried it, but it makes sense. I have driven in deep sand and never been stuck but never say never. Go slow and keep the rpm up or it will stall. It will go back and forth, but it keeps going. Whatever you do, don't hit deep loose sand at speed.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hap Tucker on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 09:25 pm:

John,

1. The salt will serve as a catalyst to cause the metal parts to rust quicker. You can wash the car afterwards -- but historically you will still have more rust running near the salt water than if you stay away from it. That is one reason when folks go to sell a boat they are quick to point out if if has only been in fresh water rather than the salt water.

2. I cannot find it at the moment. But there is a good picture of the old wood spoked rear wheels up to the axle in the sand/watery sand as the tide is coming in. The caption read something along the lines of "Many folks like to drive along the smooth beach but when they would hit a soft spot they would become stuck and the tide would come in over them.

3. Even modern four wheel drive cars can get stuck. A friend in my unit drove his Land Rover on the beach. It got stuck and they got it out before the tide got much past the door bottoms. Not a good experience. If you Google "Cars stuck in beach sand as the tide comes in" you will see several modern examples. Click on: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=cqn,rate_low%3D0.025,rate_high%3D0.025 ,min_length%3D2,cconf%3D1.0,second_pass%3Dfalse,num_suggestions%3D1,ignore_bad_o rigquery%3Dtrue&cp=7&gs_id=j&xhr=t&q=car+stuff&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw =903&bih=505&wrapid=tljp134326574646808&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&ta b=wi&ei=05sQULKyJYyK8QS4_oGoDA#um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=car+stuck+on+beach+as+ tide+comes+in&oq=car+stuck+on+beach+as+tide+comes+in&gs_l=img.12...2687.10844.0. 12937.36.24.2.6.6.0.172.2904.5j19.24.0...0.0...1c.5N1nRH1ghUg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r _pw.,cf.osb&fp=1bfdd6d189630e68&biw=903&bih=505

4. And if you are talking about your very nice original car -- I would highly discourage you from exposing it to the salt. Remember it is only original once.

5. If you are still going to do it, be sure to have another car/truck come along and stay much further from the water. Have several long straps, jacks, boards, shuffles, come-a-longs etc. Drive along as the tide is just starting to go out. It gives you more time to recover the stuck car. Also if the tide comes back in before you get it unstuck the car will not be covered in the ocean water.

Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bede Cordes, New Zealand on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 09:32 pm:

John, ask constantine ! Cheers, bede


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 10:31 pm:

Driving on sand is simple. You just let enough air out of the tires to flatten the bottoms so they won't dig in. I used to drive my beetle over Mojave desert sand dunes this way. (No ocean required.) I kept an electric tire pump in the car so I could reinflate the tires after crossing the sand. I think this would work with the later Model T's that have balloon tires. Where you run into trouble is with clinchers, which need to be kept over 60 psi. Those are going to dig in and get you stuck. That's where the Sandmobile attachments in Bob's picture would come in handy. I would think that the extra rear wheels wouldn't be necessary if you had the single-wheel treads on all four wheels.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peter Kable on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 01:34 am:

It's not quite as simple as letting air out or using rope for traction. There is sand and then there is sand. Depends where you are. Take Daytona Beach the sand packs down tight and is a hard surface. Other beach sand can be loosely packed especially if it is not subject to the tide and is above that line.

You can often drive over sand or in mud with more success than using 4 wheels drive with thin tires even Clinchers.

A lot of the early cars handled the bad conditions well because they had skinny tires. They would sink into and through the mud and hit firm ground underneath. Modern tires being wide don't do that as well and often loose traction as they can't get down to hard ground.

I drove the Kamper on the sand in Washington state on Long Beach which is the longest beach in the world (90 plus miles from memory) no problem but I can't drive on the beach out the front of my house.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Schedler, Sacramento on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 02:12 am:

This is the same tour that Norm and his wife were on. Pismo Beach has a long stretch of sand you can drive on... I did cut some pretty deep ruts though. I still have Pismo Beach sand on my tires.

My Fodor on Pismo Beach


The back wheels were spinning but I kept going


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep NZ on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 05:08 am:

Mine went 2 feet then sank up to the frame and the tide started coming in.... So avoid driving in quicksand.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 05:53 am:

I can't imagine, as narrow as these tires are, these things not acting like cookie cutters in loose sand. Air or no air.

Not me. I have more experience driving on beaches in Coos Bay growing up than most people get their entire lives. I have seen 4x4 rigs get stuck and I have seen 2WD rigs do just fine with wider tires and the air let out - all depends on which zone on the beach they are driving on.

T Tires? Naw. I'll pass if it's in loose sand.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Halpin on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 05:55 am:

I live in southwest Florida 2 blocks from the beach. A little advice, don't drive a Model T in any sand you wouldn't take a motorcycle on. Hard sand near the water is OK but getting to the hard sand near the water, that's something completely different.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Patrick on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 08:03 am:

Kep! Finish your story... What happened?!:-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Keith Townsend ; ^ ) Gresham, Orygun on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 10:11 am:

John-
Here is my favorite sand picture:



: ^ )

Keith


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Anthony Bennett on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 11:30 am:

I have tried loose dry sand in my T and while it was ok going down the slight incline, there was no way it'd climb back up. I took as much run up as I dare, considering the steering on a t gives you little mechanical advantage over the wheels but despite some pace in top, when the momentum came off and I went for low it still didn't get far. My engine is a bit tired so it doesn't have lots of compression or pulling power. While the 4:40x23 clinchers I run all round are a little wider, the fronts cut in enough that it just didn't have the power to drive through. I suspect that it'd be ok with an underdrive but 4 extra blokes pushing did the trick at the time.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/06/24/2284513.htm

I have seen pictures of the Dutton Talbot being driven through sand with a stepney wheel clamped on each rear rim, effectively giving it dual tyres on the drive axle. Must have worked for them;)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Anthony Bennett on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 11:35 am:

http://www.history.sa.gov.au/motor/exhibitions/talbot/original%20journey.html


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration