Diesel VS Petrol sand tracks in the bush

[dalkill]

Not sure if this has been discussed before.... if so, please point me in right direction as i could not find appropriate thread.

As you may know I love my fishing. Just recovering my the sale of my 2.7 about 1.5 yrs ago...
Been wheelerless since then.

Recently i had the pleasure of driving in my buddies Isuzu 300tdi (pre-dteq). What i pleasure on the road. Compared to my buddies 2000 colt 2.8 where rear passenger space made for every uncomfortable, even just driving from Langebaan to CT (+-120km).... But that another story...

Recently isuzu trip to arniston lead us to venture thru the bush to Galjoengat. Around first bend, the diesel hit some soft sand. Bit of winding track and last bend had hill, not too steep, but at foot of hill was slight turn with softish sand. 4x4 low 2nd or 3rd, tyres down to about +-1.2... couple of attempts and bob your uncle... however, the revs that the diesel had to endure made me very uncomfortable...

Later we found ourselves fishing at Die Gruis walkerbay.. coming out we faced with steep sand track, very uneven... again 4x4 low 2nd or 3rd , flying up the hill... heads bumping the top of roof... I was not too comfortable 'abusing' a bakkie like this either.

This reminder me of the time i went to arniston, driving to De Draad... came across 2.4 colt 4x4, failing to get up similar steep uneven hill. Along comes the 2.2 SFA .. asked the guys to get out as it would get rough... 5000rpm, 2nd low... bounce, bounce, head hit roof... over the hill.

At that point i was not happy driving like this, as I feel it's dangerous if another bakkie came of the hill (in this instance we had a lookout), and suspension and engine was taking a terrible hammering. Although we all know the good old SFA likes it rough, and only comes alive at 5000rpm, i still felt bit bad i abused my vehicle like this.

here is an example of the type of hill and approach i'm talking about . About 2:10 into video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnt_D9zKjiY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is how i would like to approach it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0oSnxDeGuI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Second vid sounds like a truck so the comparison my not be the 100%, but i like the slow safer approach.

Now i thought that with diesel i could get this approach. But with my friends 300 tdi, i found that we still had to storm the beaches of Normandy.

Maybe i'm doing it wrong. Maybe there is a trick to make a diesel 4x4 crawl up even rut filled sand tracks.

And if not, or if you did all the basics to attempt the slow approach (2nd low, 1 bar, difflock (if avail) ), and still have to use brute force... how much damage will the diesel engine suffer running it like this? Everybody always tell me don't go over 3000 rpm for turbo diesel. If you doing a long sand track like route to Galjoengat, you may encounter a few of these steepish sand tracks.

So in this case, would you guys recommend petrol, or will diesel do the trick.

While researching diesel sand driving, I came across this vid... firstly , nice channel crossing by this guy... but even more impressive his fishing skills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUkFsj0ubP8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Scott]

The Isuzu 300 tdi was a brilliant motor and far as I am concerned better than all most every other.On lose stuff sometimes momentum is a must but with plenty of tour q and kilowatts from that motor maybe high range 2nd would have been an option.

[Woesman]

Hi Dalkill
I'm not an expert, but I have driven a couple of sandy tracks and got stuck a couple of times as well. With sand, you unfortunately need speed (not too much, just like the first and last video clip explained), as you won't have any grip once you started to climb a dune. Petrols tend to do better at sand, as the have more kw and can rev quite high with better performance, where as the diezels don't realy add any power or kw beyond 3000revs. This has changed a bit with the technology in the Diezel bakkies these days. Its unfortunate that you sold your 2.7, as they love revs and perform good in sand.

When climbing up a dune with rut filled sandy tracks (here I do not have a lot of experience) it gets difficult as you will damage your vehicle if you apply too much speed. The guy in the first video clip did a good job at applying the right amount of speed at the right time (although the track was moist and the sand was not too loose and soft). I think here it comes to knowing your vehicle and how it handles in these conditions.

I hope that helps

[ThysdJ]

Shaakir.... in a diesel you need momentum, that is the only thing that will get you over any kind of uphill sand track... Been there, done that, went back to Petrol for sand driving...

[Hangover]

a 1UZ with 35's goes quite well on the sand at 0.6 bar

[dalkill]

And so, i almost put the hilux name to shame.

End of year we went to De Dam for week holiday.
So they put a gate in place to the secluded fishing spots for the poachers coming in thru bush to break into holiday homes.

But there a back road running along side the gate. For most parts it's OK, just that one hill. Steep as you go rutted sand bush track. Tried slow and steady approach but at foot already got bogged in thick sand. 4L - 2nd

So i gave way to a 2.8 colt. runnup... high revs, bounce, bounce , and up the hill.
As explained in original post, i really don't like this approach but it was only way out.

SO i try the high revs approach. 4L 2nd... midway up slight little bump in the hill, dug in.
let air out of tyres a bit... 1.5 bar... another attempt... dug in.
difflock on... another attempt... dugn in

try to get enough speed to 3rd thinking 2nd may be to powerfull thus digging in.
couple of attempts in 4L 3rd, and up goes the hilux. Even got comment from another hilux owner... "this is all Colt manne standing here. Don't put Hilux to shame" - the pressure

in the end hilux did make it up but the abuse the diesel engine had to endure... I'm sure i touched 4000rpm at some point. Eish, i hope i have not damaged something

[Johan Kriel]

Petrol have longer revs, thus go further uphill. If you limit a petrol engine's revs to 3-4000 of a diesel it would probable not go as far as a diesel, due to less torque. On flat sand, a diesel would be better as it has more torque.