Driving on the pans.

Need some information for an upcoming trip or have questions about a camping site, etc, ask it here.
Post Reply
User avatar
bullit
Low Range 4WD
Low Range 4WD
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 1:52 pm
Town: Johannesberg
Vehicle: Toyota Hilux
Real Name: Ryan

Driving on the pans.

Post by bullit »

So a few more days and we are outa here and up to bots.

Can't wait.

What's the recommendation for driving on pans.

Tyre pressure?
High range 2nd gear?

Appreciate all comments.
User avatar
JohanW
LR 4WD Rear Locker
LR 4WD Rear Locker
Posts: 477
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2012 9:56 pm
Town: Strand
Vehicle: 2014 Land Cruiser 76 V8
Real Name: Johan

Re: Driving on the pans.

Post by JohanW »

Was there 2 weeks back. Firstly, stick to the tracks. North of kubu its dry. Like driving on tar. Round kubu is also dry. South of kubu there are wet patches (under the surface) here and there about 2 meters off the track. You will see these areas clearly due to the number of deep ruts that have formed earlier when it was very wet. My tires were 1.6 front and 1.8 back due to the bad corrugations in places north of kubu and the sandy bits. D697 LT.

South of kubu there are some huge "plof stof gate" from earlier mud pits. Beware of deep holes obscured by the dust. Especially one track going down a narrow tunnel of trees. This tunnel has some high edges too. My bakkie is a bit higher than stock and I did some extensive "middel mannetjie skuur" down that bit. I managed to send the rest of the convoy round. You can hurt your vehicle quite badly here. This must have been a hell hole earlier...

We were told in Kasane that it was still too wet to cross the pans. This is not true. Check closer to the pans again. But it was fine when we crossed. We even had a heavily laden 2x4 fortuner along all the way. It just needed a bit more momentum in the sandy bits up north closer to gweta.

Enjoy it!
Post Reply

Return to “Route Planning questions/discussions”