No Air - The Proper Use Of A Chair

Floatation is the key word when it comes to getting to where you want to be when that place is in the sand. Any tire will work better in sand if its floatation is improved. The best way to do this is by letting the air out of it. Not all the air, just some of it. Take it in steps. With ATV tires I would consider a step to be no more than 1 psi at a time - 1/10th of that for racing purposes. Street vehicles seem to do well when the air in their tires is let out to about 1/2 of what they run on the asphalt. I drove my Ford Taurus in more sand than I thought could be possible with a street car last year when running 20 psi in the front tires and 17 in the rear. When I take the RV there, I let the pressure of the air in the dual rear tires down to 25 psi (from 70) and it turns it into a bulldozer. It is necessary to air down the front for steering purposes as well because it grabs so much traction it just wants to push the front - even at chugging speeds. I never go past the sand with this little air in them.

There is this section of soft sand that people seem to have a problem with that's near where we usually camp. It's so entertaining that we often set up chairs to watch the action - so many vehicles get stuck, it's like watching a fire - enthralling. Everyone has their own ideas about how to get through it. I heard a couple of people talking about pouring concrete there so they wouldn't have to deal with it. A few others thought it would be a good idea to bring along a small tractor with a blade on the front to push the soft sand out of the way. I thought I had seen everything until last year when someone showed up with a 900 ft. long tow rope (actual footage) that would be used to drag people from the good sand through the bad stuff and into the good stuff again. This section of sand was measured carefully. It was determined that a tow rope that long could start out on good ground, tow a vehicle that was stuck in the soft stuff and not get stuck itself because of its long length. We watched as a heavily built 4 WD pickup (with $5000 into locking axles I was told) worked its magic upon the stuck vehicles in their party. As great as the sounds were that were coming out of that engine, it was a joke to watch the technique they were using. With the amount of stretch that strap would show, I knew I would feel bad for anyone that would get hit by it if it ever let go. Like the tow rope behind a boat when a skier falls or lets go, it only takes getting hit by it once before an idea comes to mind - they use safety nets there now.

Every time a new vehicle tried to get through it we would go over to them and ask if they had aired the tires down. The answers we got was that it shouldn't be necessary. Well, I agree. It shouldn't be necessary, but it is necessary. Because every year - and that time included, we air down our RV's tires and we could drive it across the soft section of the sand they were having trouble with - towing a trailer (we would air it down too). I asked how much the 900 ft. tow strap cost them - I got back several laughs, a few rolling eyes (like if you have to ask you can't afford one) and a general lack of respect. Apparently it was several hundred dollars and I should have known that. I asked why they don't just air down the RV tires and drive through it... they replied that they had no way to air them up again. I told them perhaps they should have bought a $100 compressor instead - they laughed at me. We left them alone, sat in our chairs drank margaritas and watched the entertainment. When we were ready to leave we drove out of our spot with the same amount of air we drove in with. When we reached the hard pack we fired up the compressor and aired up the tires.

When people get stuck in sand I'll offer up a couple of suggestions to see what's been done and where they're at in their thinking. I'll help them air down the tires and offer to air them up again if they need. I'll offer a real shovel to get them up off their knees. I'll do this because I don't want to help them unload a trailer then unhook it because its not helping. I don't want to dig it out either and I don't want to carry water or pour concrete. I want to be helpful but I can't be if none of the suggestions I offer are taken seriously. There was a time when I learned about sand - to drive through it I must drive on top of it. To drive on top of it I must float the tires on its surface. To float the tires on its surface I had to let some air out of them. Perhaps there is confusion when people say they need to drive through some sand - maybe its a matter of semantics. From now on I'm not going to say that I'm going to "drive through the sand" to get somewhere. Instead I going to start saying I'm going to "drive on the sand" to go places. Maybe the wording will translate into better thinking.

Rick

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