duneing at race point...

[Greencuke]

1074754

ok, this is an old story now, but i havn't been around a lot, so here it goes...
A few weeks ago right around the time u were all tearing it up in TN, i went to the cape w/ a bunch of my firends to celebrate our gradumakatoin from hi skool. anyway one day we went out to P town. I was driving around and i saw this train head that said something like "offroad permits required" or whatever. Being young and stupid, i figured id just go down the trail a bit and turn around....just to see it. of course, on the way back i get stuck. So its me, two of my buddies and my ex girlfriend. Me and the two guys tried everything, airing down the tires, pushing, jamming stick under the tires..we turn around and we see becky (my ex) sprinting up this dune and she's taking pictures of us....shoot, i gotta go, ill finish this story later
reggie[addsig]

 

[Sully]

1074756

C'mon,finish the story man.......[addsig]

 

[far_right]

1074757

was becky your ex before this, or after :lol: [addsig]

 

[jhiggins]

1074759

You can't just leave us hanging like that ...
give us the juciy details.........hahahaha :-D [addsig]

 

[Greencuke]

1074793

ok....so this tour group in surburbans drives by and the driver of the first one looks at us. "u stuck?" he asks me, followed by "is that a 4x4?". sily man. anyway, he advises me to air down my tires and jam some wood under the tires, wich i had alread done, but he was helping me as best as he could, which i respected. A few minutes later this middle aged beer bellyed man in a beater drives by in his blazer. My buddy asks him to help us out. the man replys "u got a sticker? (duneing permit)" which i reply to as "no". He says to me, "you boys are in some trouble". thanx buddy. So i say again, "Can u help us out?" then he laughts and me and says "you're "in trouble (doesnt say 'in trouble, but this is a family forum so u get what he said) and then he drives off and i can hear him laughing. we rock the hell out of the jeep and end up getting it out before any cops, probibly called by the guy in the blazer, can get there. I understand it was dumb for us to be there, and if he really didn't want to get involved w/ us tresspassing and get in trouble himself, thats one thing. but he broke to cardnal rule of off roading when he laughed at me and drove off. just really made me mad
oh well, im home in western mass now, where the people are nice ;-)
reggie[addsig]

 

[Tug-n-pull]

1074795

You were lucky to get out with out a big ol fine! Sorry to hear about the jerks not given you a hand but there are jerks most everywhere! Hope you had a good a time as the trouble is cost you. I have never done any sand driven and wonder what it is like. Tug[addsig]

 

[64Jeeper]

1074800

Well Tug, come on up my way, and I'll take you out to the Jersey Pine Barrens. There's plenty of sand for everyone. :-D [addsig]

 

[Utah_jeepster]

1074815

A little background info on sand running for those that never had the experience and enjoyment of playing in the local sand box with your full size jeep (tonka toys dont count here).
I am an old duner from way back with a small style of jeep (yamaha Banchee) that has chased the wild sand dunes from Cali to Idaho and every where inbetween.
Soft flower sand (dunes) not the wet heavy pack beach sand is a tricky monster to run over. Motion is your friend here as is floatation. Those of us with rock crawling tires have a hard time and have to air them down real low. Since you dont want to cut the sand as you go over but float over the whole friggin thing. High speed is not the key here since Jeeps dont produce the high RMP's that a two stroke motor do. Fat paddles type of tires work well on Jeeps but buying a special set of tires for the Dunes is rather exspensive (I wonder if they takes kids as trade here). If your dont have a viper motor in your jeep dont buy straight bladed type of paddles a good "Vee" type (sand diggers) help you compress the sand under the tire of a high torque type of vechicle (a Jeep). But nice wide bias plyed side wall street tire work in a pinch here aired way down.
A slow stead foot on the gas pedal and a clean line of driving is a must. By a clean line I mean not trying to blast over the tallest dune but an easy steady path through the valleys and letting the nature contours helping you turn and picking your way through.
Take a real good look at the type of dunes, there are three distictive type of dunes that you need to know of.

The razor backs: are a sharp peak type of Dune that has a fine razor edge along its top, it takes a bit more oompf to crest this dune since the razor top is softer at the peak and as soon as you pass over it your dropping down the back side.

Table tops: These dunes are a bit nicer to run over but they do have some things to need to be aware of. As the name states the top of the dune is flat and is some what firm (firm and sand dunes really dont mix). But there is always a witches brow on the windward side of this type of dune a 60-80 degree angle that drops several feet (seen them as big as 9 foot in the Imperial sand dunes (Glamis, Cali)) That if you drop your Jeep into your going to have to do a bit of bigging to get out.

The last type is called the Boulder Dunes: These dunes are plain rounded type of dunes usualy found near beaches and have nice rounded tops that are easy to crest. But beware the sharp valleys where flower sand(soft and lightly packed sand) lives that can grab your jeep and suck it in.

There is alot more sand type of terrain out there but these are the Dunes types only. Now a bit of info to prepare you for playing in the sand box.
For those with Automatic transmissions a bigger cooler is a must since you can burn a transmission in a few hours it takes alot more tourge to keep your wheels sninning in sand.
A good shovle is worth it weight in gold in the deep dunes...never leave home without it!
There are some products on the market that will help you when you go duning.
Steel fold out type of ramps that you can place under your tires that will allow you to drive onto and help you pull yourself out of the sand.
Sand wedges or also known as sand anchors are a blade type of attachment for your winch that hooks onto the front hook and shovles itself into the sand that allows you to pull yourself out please note here a good stout tree or rock are very difficult to find in the sand dunes.
A nice piece of stout ply wood for your high lift jack, those little bases just love to sink into the sand when your jacking your front wheel out...lol trust me here on this one.

A large can of water more than enough for you and your Jeep to drink. if all else fails soaking the sand on your dug pathway way out will provide some traction...(some only)
Last the good ole tow strap, bring many with plenty of spares for you and your friends.
Friends??? yes plenty of them too preferly with there jeeps.
You are the biggest thing on the dunes here Quads and sand rails arnt heavy enough to pull you out unless you have several around.

Well my fingers are cramping here and my wife is telling me the bisquits and gravy are done and get my a** in here to eat...lol
I will write again and go over alot of other things you will see in the deep sand dunes...ripple sand ,flower sand pockets ect...
Sand duning is fun but it can hurt your pocket book even more if you dont prepare for it.[addsig]

 

[Tug-n-pull]

1074836

sounds like it could be a lot of fun after you have broken several big parts and learned many a leasson the hard way. I would some day like to learn it but for now I will stick with my nice mountain woodland trails and creeks. But some day it sounds like Utah would be the man to have for a teacher. Thanks for the insite. Tug[addsig]

 

[Utah_jeepster]

Lesson 2

As we drive through the sand box there are some hazards that we need to look out for and know how to drive through and how to get out of.

Ripple sand (your best friend) This is where the sand looks like little waves of sand this rippling effect is caused by the wind over a hard packed dune. This is a good place to stop and check out the area since the snad below the ripples is relitivly hard packed. Dont let this deseve you in thinking that you can do everything on it since you can break the hard pack very easley and bury your rig.

Flower sand is found between two small hills and is some what lighter in color ( but not always). This is where fresh sand has just been laid down from the wind and still has alot of air around every sand crystal. This is where you can dig your self in and have a hard time getting out since this is a pocket of lightly packed sand between two hard angled hills. A slow build up of speed and a steady foot going through will get you through it. If you stall comming out dont try to continue to "dig in" climbing the hill in front of you...just put it into reverse, keep the wheels straight and drive out over your old tracks.

The bowls (a.k.a. as blow holes) these large bowls are steep sided semi round bowls that can be fun to play in but can suck you in like an ant lion trap. The bottoms are a very sharp angle and can catch a pocket of flower sand looking very deseving to the firt timer. If you crest a dune and find a your dropping into a bowl just give her some gas and cut the bowl rim dropping into the bowl to give you speed cutting the side and letting momentum carry you out of it. Never dive directly through the center or you will be breaking some thing at the bottom.

Transitions this is where some dunes and flats meet hills. As the wind pushes the dunes around the back sides are always vert steep and as they move across the hills they some times covers flat area's. They are very visable and easy to negotioate. As your comming down the hill and see a hard transition infront of you just give it some gas and cut the angle here. This works going down and getting on to on and reduses the hard hit your sepention will take hitting it directly straight on.

I was remined by my work mate to add a few things to standard equiment list. The biggie was a whip or a flag, buggie whip, that stands at least 12 foot above your Jeep with a red color flag on it. ( I run a stainless steel CB whip on my banchee) This is to let your fellow duners know where you are, and if they and you are going to crest the same dune it is a visable sign some one is on the other side.

Air filter wrap, this is a peice of nylon bag that fits over your air filter that your coat in a light oil to catch the fine sand dust before it clogs your air filter. K&N makes standard wraps that fit its air filters. I dont know about other brands since all I run on my jeep and banchee are K&N filters. The fine silica particles can flow through some paper air filters and scratch there way through your combustion chambers. If you cant find a filter cover ask your significant other to sacrifice a pair of nylon stockings and fit it over your air filter and tie knots on the ends to close them up. Most local bike shops have a pre-filter type of oil that works great for your wrap.

After you deep duning trip take a moment to vacuum out your filter box to remove any sand...it gets every where....lol and I mean every where. you will find it in places you never imagioned before.

Oh and Tim says buy a good set of gogles to wear incase you get some wind since sun glasses dont work in a small sand storm.

If your visiting the dunes for the first time go play on the smaller ones till you feel comfortable before heading into the deep dunes.
There are some amazing things to see in the deep dunes and a harsh beauty that you might fall in love with. Sand fever is very catchie making you want to go back over and over to the sand dunes.
Good luck and I hope this little leason might make you want to explore your local sand box. I know it did me and I went to my local sand box and threw some sand with both my banchee and Jeep....lol and yes I did stick my Jeep in one spot but had sand ramps to get out of the flower sand....sorry guys and gal no pic's forgot to bring my camera

edited by: Utah_jeepster, Jul 07, 2003 - 11:01 AM[addsig]