Hitting the tracks can be a life changing experience, you’ll be bitten by the bug and want more, this is why it is important to at least have an idea on what makes your 4WD tick, and also go in with a few tips and tricks to get further offroad!

Rules of thumb!

Always check the terrain ahead, particularly if you are unsure. If you wouldn’t walk it, and you don’t know your vehicle like the back of your hand you should seriously think twice before driving it.

By getting out and walking a section of track before you drive it you make yourself more aware of what the obstacles look like and can have a bit of mechanical sympathy for your pride and joy.

By getting out and looking you will also have the ability to look for scrapes and grinds on the rocks in the area, giving you a better idea of where others might not have had as much clearance as desired.

This rule applies for steep hills, water crossings, soft sand, and deep muddy sections and can save your bacon when it counts most!

Another Rule of Thumb is one of the most important for personal safety whilst driving, and that is to keep your thumbs on the outside of the wheel and always have a good grip on the wheel, no one hand hanging from the bottom of the wheel maneuvers, as ruts and big rocks can put feedback through your front wheels all the way back through your steering mechanism, making your 4WD’s steering wheel kick extremely fast. With your thumbs wrapped inside the wheel you increase your risk of one of these situations breaking both of your thumbs or at minimum giving you two jarred thumbs!

Drop your pressures down nice and low, with a specifically designed tool, like the Adventure Kings Kwiky Tyre Deflator, with an integrated gauge, and offering the maximum amount of control of your tyres pressures when you are hitting the tracks!

Reducing tyre pressures whilst offroad is critical, and when done properly can offer massive amounts of additional grip by increasing the surface area contacting the track surface, this allows your 4WD to effectively float above the soft stuff, the ability for your sidewall to flex over hard obstacles works in a similar way to a tanks tracks, by lengthening the tread contact area, you increase control and grip, but there are certainly a handful of tradeoffs to keep in mind!

Your tyres use air pressure to keep the bead firmly seated on your vehicles rims, and reducing your pressures too low can result in loosing the seal with the bead and effectively flattening your tyres, and potentially damaging your rims.

When you are driving with your pressures dropped it is important to keep driving smooth, avoiding sudden braking, sharp turns and even driving at fast speeds to avoid losing a tyre off your rim!

When getting offroad for the first time ensure your vehicle has 4WD engaged and your free-wheeling hubs (if fitted) are locked in, even if the tracks don’t appear difficult, as driving in 4WD will result in less track wear, and more control regardless of the track conditions.

People driving offroad with highway pressures and in 2WD end up getting stuck sooner and tend to cause a lot more damage to tracks by spinning tyres.

STAY CALM

When you’re driving offroad and things don’t go as expected you will need to make sure you stay calm, as a cool head will sometimes be the only way you can make it out safely. Getting bogged is always somewhat alarming, and when you are with mates, it will surely involve some taunting and name calling.

In many situations where people get stuck and panic they give it more right boot, which is likely how they ended up in the situation, in the first place. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit less accelerator for your  tyres to gain traction. By stopping, calmly backing up and trying to hit the obstacle with more momentum and smoother accelerator is all it takes.

If you get stuck and are unable to reverse, with gentle accelerator inputs and steering left and right, you’ll allow your sidewalls to grab a bit of the ruts you’ve created and simply drive out, this isnt always effective, and giving it more boot can sink you down to the chassis. So when all else fails it’s time to do a recovery!

This leads us to our next pro tip – ALWAYS BRING RECOVERY GEAR!

No matter whether “its an easy track, she’ll be right” or not, bringing a quality recovery kit like the ones from the Hercules Recovery Kit Range, that have independently tested load ratings, and are built from quality materials, but just like everything, it pays in dividends to know exactly what all the components of your setup are, and how to use them safely, to avoid injury or death in the event of a 4WD recovery!

If you want to also add a set of traction aids like the MAXTRAX MKII, you’ll be able to gain extra footing in some seriously slippery situations, by increasing the effective footprint of your tyres in many situations simply allowing you to drive straight out of trouble!

By bringing a reliable air compressor with you, you will always be able to get your tyres back up to highway pressures no matter where your rubber may meet the hard stuff, we recommend using a Thumper MKII or Thumper MAX for one of the fastest inflation times around, not only that but both units include a pressure gauge and 8m of high pressure hose to reach around your whole vehicle, and even your trailer tyres!

Finally by bringing a Hercules Tyre Repair Kit, an equipped first-aid kit and adequate water, food and fuel for your trip you’ll have an extremely good time away!