When out and about venturing through new terrains, even the most experienced of drivers can find themselves in sticky situations. If you find yourself encountering tricky territory or even falling into some trouble, you’ll want to be prepared. Getting bogged is a hassle that none of us want to have to face while enjoying a day out 4-wheel driving, so, as the ute and four wheel driving enthusiasts that we are at Austates, we have put together a list of tips on how to avoid it as well as how to get yourself out of it.
Let some air out of your tyres
For the beach lovers among us, first thing’s first, before you get going on the sand make sure you have released some of, or rather, a lot of the air out of your tyres. Generally tyres perform best on sand with 16 psi, but research your specific vehicle and the sand that you are driving on before you start to deflate. Usually a good gauge on the right tyre pressure can be tested by letting air out until the 4WD no longer struggles through sand and halts to hard stops but rather glides to a gentle stop when you take your foot off the accelerator.
Turn carefully
When doing a turn on sand, plan it out. Turning up a hill when you have the least momentum and when you will have to go up the steepest incline increases your risk of piling up sand and getting bogged. Try to start on the high side and turn into the low side of the incline and use the momentum to slowly make your way back up the beach. Taking wide turns rather than short, sharp turns will also reduce your risk of doing unnecessary damage to your vehicle.
Have the right gear
Make sure you’re ready for the worst possible case scenario because the last thing anyone wants is to get stranded. You should never head out on a trip without first checking for the rated recovery points on your vehicle in both the front and back and making sure they are good to go if they need to be used. Trying to recover a vehicle without using these points can result in a very unsafe environment, and also risks doing huge damage to your vehicle. Ensuring that you have all of the tools in your ute to get you out of this situation is crucial and a fixed storage box is great for keeping these items secure.
If you get bogged:
Keep calm
Getting bogged is stressful, we understand that, but you need to think rationally when it comes to getting yourself out of this situation quickly and safely. Remain calm so that you can remember the protocols of getting yourself unbogged and ensure that if you are attaching something to release your vehicle it’s done securely and correctly. You don’t want to end up with even more expensive damage, or worse, a trip to the hospital.
Take the pedal off the metal
If you are accelerating and you aren’t going anywhere, you are bogged. Once those tyres have sunk in, the more you accelerate the worse it’ll get as you are essentially just digging a deeper hole and creating less traction for your tyres.
Create traction
Usually one of the key reasons that people are unable to unbog themselves is loss of traction in the tyres. If you’re able to create this traction, you can work around the dangers of pulling out your vehicle. This can be as simple as trying to reverse onto the path that you were just successfully driving on, digging around some of the sand that is stopping your tyres or wedging a mat or rug underneath the leading edge of the wheels. Make sure that your tyre pressure is also low enough as this can help increase wheel traction in this situation.
At Austates we care about our customers and their vehicles. Our custom, made to measure ute boxes and canopies are great for both work and play to keep your gear safe and secure. Contact us today for your quote!