It's okay, the pressure's off

"I told you we should have lowered the tyre pressure some more."

Some 4WD trainers reckon deflating tyres is one of the worst sins an off-roader can commit. But go out with some tough club guys and anyone running more than 6psi is a pansy. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere between the extremes. Trainers often argue that dropping pressures at the start of a trip potentially uses your "get out of trouble free" card before you even get going. Extra grip offered by the bulging and elongated tread may lure the driver into trickier situations than his vehicle and/or skill level can handle. And with the pressure already dropped, it may not be safe to lower it further when running tubeless, as most 4WDs are. The tyre may come off its rim, causing more trouble than the vehicle and its occupants were already in. Trainers are also aware that many 4WDs come with fairly low profile tyres whose "short" sidewalls are likely to part from the rim after a much more modest pressure drop than, say, "tall" 75- or 85-series rubber.

Hard-core enthusiasts, on the other hand, want maximum traction and will run the lowest pressure they can get away with. They will normally run tubes and maybe beadlockers to achieve this. I've never had beadlockers, but used to run my tubed tyres as low as 6psi on the Land Rover when conditions warranted it. The grip was amazing. Usually, I found 16-17psi satisfactory for a rutted and muddy track. Many drivers, myself included, also like to drop pressure for off-road comfort. Rutted tracks can give a jarring ride at street pressures; going down to about 24 is wonderfully smoothing.

Dropping pressure for sand driving is common, but only once or twice have I needed to go really low, like below 12psi. Running in the 20-24psi range usually does the trick and often it's not necessary to go anywhere near as low. However, there's more to good sand driving technique than just losing air.

It's okay, the pressure's off, II

 
Had a bit of a play in some mud today. I kept my street tyre pressures, partly because I was feeling lazy, but the others dropped theirs by varying amounts. Turned out we all got through okay but it prompted me to dig out and post this diagram showing the effect of lowering tyre pressures. This one was stolen from a Mickey Thompson brochure, as if you can't tell from the "Baja Claw" tread pattern. When you look at a part-deflated tyre, it seems from the "bulge" that the extra contact area is lateral, but the diagram shows that the big footprint gain is in added fore and aft contact.

Tyre pressures between 16 and 28psi are often recommended for mud, although some drivers go much lower when using tubes and/or beadlockers. On the other hand, you may not even need to lower pressures. The most suitable pressure depends very much on the type of mud, the steepness of slope and what sort of base lurks under the mud. That's both my experience and what the Mickey Thompson brochure says. If it's thick mud, with a loose, deep base, lower pressures and less wheelspin with some decent momentum may get you through best. If the mud is watery with a solid base, you can maintain higher pressures, maintaining momentum without going fast enough to either lose control, hit something or wreck the track. Higher pressures will be required when carrying heavy loads. 

Politically correct disclaimer: Remember, whenever you reduce pressures, re-inflate as soon as you drive back to the road.

Here's another take on tyre footprints, this one from Andy Cockroft's book, 4WD North Island: 102 Off Road Adventures (Shoal Bay Press, 2002).

Effect of tyre pressure on length of footprint. (Measurements taken from Land Rover Series IIa with Dunlop Mud Rovers fitted.)
1. Over-inflated to 35psi, Reduces the footprint to 7.5 inches (-6.25%)
2. Normal inflation of 25psi. Footprint measures 8x8 inches.
3. Halving pressure to 12psi increases length of footprint to 11.5 inches (+43.75%).
4. Halving again to 6psi increases footprint to 15 inches (+87.5%).

'You got gum …?'

The latest statistics that lurk behind this site note that Americans are the second largest group visiting 4wd Newz. They now comprise 15% of visitors, after the local audience at which it's aimed. I'm guessing most are lured here by Google after searching for "Jeep", but maybe there's just a groundswell of interest in off-roading Down Under! Whatever your reason for visiting, welcome to this USA friendly corner of the 4WD world, guys. Just to save any confusion, your Liberty is our Cherokee (but in Australia the Liberty is our Subaru Legacy!); and a ute is a pickup.

Take a second to say 'Hi' in the comments section, especially if you own a huge 4x4 discount shop and have killer shipping prices to NZ!

4x4 Action site plugs out of the bog

It's been under construction for, well, ages but now the new 4x4 Action magazine website is up and running. It's still a work in progress but shows lots of promise and I like the extensive coming events listings. For anyone looking for some great 4WD trips this summer, it's worth checking often. One of the things I like about the revitalised magazine itself is that it reads like those involved have put some effort and enthusiasm into it.

Para Rubber comes through again

It seemed like there used to be a Para Rubber shop in every suburb, but nowadays their ranks have thinned. Nevertheless, they're still a great source of rubbery and foamy things for 4WDs. My latest purchase was some ribbed rubber sheet cut from a bulk roll and I used it to make treads for the sills of the Wrangler and for the built-in steps on the rock sliders. I'm really happy with the result. The helpful Para guy, who turned out to be the store owner, gave me two useful pieces of advice; thoroughly clean the surface of the rubber you're going to glue with methylated spirit, and use a water resistant contact adhesive. He stocked Bostik's Super Contact. I bought some and it seems to be holding well but there may well be other products that do as well or better. Suggestions welcome in the comments section.

Paris today; here … not for months and months

Range Rover’s Evoque is about to be launched at the Paris Motor Show but don’t expect it here until about the second half of next year. A Land Rover spokesman told 4wdNewz that the company’s still planning production and shipping of the New Zealand models. But maybe we're not being disadvantaged, as even the Poms aren't getting it until much the same time. Evoque is the smallest, lightest, most fuel efficient Range Rover and its mission is to attract new customers to the brand. It’s being offered in both four-wheel-drive and (choke, splutter, gag) two-wheel-drive. 

UPDATE: Land Rover boss Phil Popham said at the Paris show that pricing will start at around £35,000, or about $76,000 in our currency (see also the Comments, below).

Another of the old Land Rover ads – this one is from 1954 and among other features promotes "improved all-weather sealing". Yeah, well …
Idle thought: what would 1954 buyers make of the Evoque (above)?

Another Kiwi footprint in 4x4 cyberspace

So you're a web designer and you're also a 4WD enthusiast. Seems like a perfect combo for another 4WD site … which is exactly what we now have at 4x4 Stuff.  It's the work of Dunedin's Ben King and provides a largely South Island perspective in words, photos and videos. There's a forum, too. Ben told 4wdNewz, "I have always owned a 4x4, currently HJ60 Land Cruiser. I'm into more exploring than hard core 4x4 and because I am a web designer, I thought I better make something." 

Army's hand-me-downs = off-roader's good kit

Dodged the homeless, the noon-hour drunks and off-duty adult entertainment workers on Auckland's Karangahape Road today to check out the big Kiwi Disposals surplus store. Man, do these guys have a bunch of good stuff for off-roaders, from clothing (by no means all of it camouflaged, although the colour selection is predictably military) to storage cases and serviceable jerry cans. Only incredible willpower stopped me from buying all sorts of well priced stuff. Tip of the day: as much as we all love 4WD equipment shops, it's worth keeping an eye on the local war surplus outlet.

End of track around next corner for vehicle CDs

Ford's decision to drop CD changers from next year and to then phase out single-slot CD players spells the beginning of the end of the track for another vehicular entertainment system. The rest of the industry will surely follow in this MP3-obsessed world where playing CDs in a vehicle has as much appeal as an eight-track tape. Back when I started writing about 4WDs in the early 1990s, CD players/changers and off-loading were largely incompatible. The bumps on the earthly tracks caused the digital tracks to jump and skip and make horrible noises.  But it wasn't long before the engineers had it under control and you would race along a badly rutted track without losing a beat.

I quite liked CDs for off-road entertainment. Four-wheel-driving is not all adrenalin-pumping action and it was nice, in the boring bits, to have something to listen to when even National Radio's signal faded into the static. Having been caught out once or twice, I always made copies of my CDs, so if they got scratched, dropped into the water or whatever, it didn't matter. Even when an early Kia Sportage swallowed one and refused to give it back. Guess it's time to give up my standing as one of the last 10 people in New Zealand without an MP3 device. I wonder what they'll fit into the space freed up by deleting the CD changer/player mechanisms?

Coming early 2011: a Toyota nobody actually needs

Wallowing in American mud and soon to wallow in ours, the Toyota 4WD that many may want, but nobody actually needs.

Toyota's holding a long-lead press launch for the FJ Cruiser in Australia in a few weeks and, no, 4wdNewz isn't on the guest list. But the event's timing got me thinking that this tough and capable lifestyle vehicle that has been a success in the US might be here before Christmas. Sadly not. The way I see it, after talking to New Zealand's top selling brand's HQ in Palmerston North, is that they could have had it ready to be under the Christmas tree but chose not to. The holiday season is an appalling time to launch a new vehicle because the marketplace has its collective mind on other things.

So expect it here in the "first quarter", expect it in one specification level only and expect it not to be cheap. I asked whether it'd be in the "$70,000s", thinking that was fairly generous. Meaningful pause on the phone: "Well, maybe not that low." Volume has something to do with pricing and the FJ isn't likely to sell in Toyota's usual mega-numbers. Unlike any other 4WD in the company's range, it's a vehicle that nobody needs – but which reasonable numbers will certainly want.

Update: Toyota execs said at the Highlander launch Oct 4 that the FJ Cruiser will probably be here in February or March, with  a significantly revised Hilux in the "second half".

The all-knowing Wikipedia has the goods on the FJ Cruiser here.

My mechanic's going to have to work faster

"Hey Sarge. I've got a bolt left over."

Okay, this is a Jeep thing, but owners of other makes will miss something if they don't watch this YouTube gem showing keen army guys dismantling and rebuilding a Jeep in four minutes. You'll note that they cheated a bit by doing some advance preparation, but it's still a great watch. The guys are soldiers from a base near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Two sets of tyres? Makes my back ache just thinking about it

"Hang on, I'll just change the tyres."

Wasting time in a tyre shop today, I overheard a conversation between the salesman and a customer who wanted a set of mud tyres and rims for when he went off-roading. I'd be the last person to sink a possible sale, but I felt like dropping my brochure and screaming, "no, don't … whatever else you do, don't buy a second set of tyres!" While it seems like a really good idea, there are three things wrong, and I  speak with knowledge and authority, having been down this very track.

• The first is that you will always have the wrong set of tyres on the vehicle. If you reckon the track will be a quagmire, it will in fact be surprisingly dry and perfectly suitable for the all-terrains. If you head off on the all-terrains because it's a beautiful sunny day, there will be a massive downpour just before reaching the track and you'll be sliding all over the place. There is no meteorological or climatic reason for this, it is entirely due to the act of changing your five tyres.

• The second reason not to do it is the physical effort involved. It might be okay for your Jimny running 26s on alloys, but have you lifted a 35 on a steel or even alloy rim, then tried to place it on the little studs? Five Times? Weightlifters and well toned athletes may have less of a problem, but after lifting the fifth and final wheel onto the spare carrier, I'm buggered – and you might be, too. Remember, as you take an inventory of your aches and grazed knuckles, you'll probably want/need to replace them with the street rubber once home. Or give up and just leave them on. You also have to find somewhere to store the second set. Until that time arrives, you'll not believe how much space they take up.

• The third thing wrong is the cost although, if you have heaps of money, ignore this objection. The guy in the tyre shop was going to be up for more than $3500 for steel rims and a set of decent mudders. I think this might have dampened his enthusiasm; you could tell by the body language as he left.

No, no, no, don't buy extra rims and tyres unless you're planning to do winch challenges or something. Just buy the road-friendliest set of mud tyres you can find, and leave it at that. About 13 years ago, I gave up on multiple sets and formed a long and happy relationship with the BFG Mud Terrain, which was good off-road and better than it had any right to be on the road. They also seemed almost impossible to wear out. There are other good mud tyres that ride, handle and stop well on the road; don't think I'm trying to steer you to a BFG outlet. I'm happy with my asymmetric Goodyear Wrangler MT/Rs and other road friendly mud tyres I've watched over the years and know something about include offerings from Cooper, Kumho and, more recently, Mickey Thompson.

'Just gone up north for a few days'

Auckland's Noel Hahn in action on the dunes at an earlier Northland Kauri Coast Safari. No, it's not snowing, that's glorious white sand. The event's on again this year and it's a long one, from 15 to 21 January. Run in association with the Kauri Coast 4WD Club, it starts at Dargaville and travels through some pretty decent beach and forest country. Local schools are used for overnight camping and provide a meal each night. The trip is family oriented and while there have usually been plenty of driving challenges, it's not truck-breaking stuff. Contact Chris or Leanne Kemp at 0-9-434 6005, Serena Carran 0-9-439 0064, write to PO Box 18 Dargaville, or email the Kauri Coast club at kauricoast4wdclub@yahoo.co.nz.