Jeep Garage  - Jeep Forum banner

Sand Driving Training - Stockton

16K views 87 replies 19 participants last post by  MMAG4X4 
#1 ·
Some of you may have noticed in the sand failure thread that a sand driving training day was suggested.

I have made some enquiries with a company I did a training day with a few years ago at Stockton Beach - Getabout Training Services.

Getabout are willing to run a dedicated day just for us provided we can get 5 - 6 cars. They would organise for whatever day suits us with a discount of $50, this would make the cost $225 per vehicle. The $50 discount will pay for your fuel.

As I said, I did the day a few years ago with my son and it was a fun, family friendly and relaxed day, but you will learn some new skills and go up and down some big dunes. While I have done a fair bit of beach driving now, I'm still keen to go again.

SO....

What I need to get this organised is to confirm a FIRM day that will suit the majority of people. As a start I suggest the following days over the next couple of months (all Saturdays) :

29/6
20/7
27/7

Once I have an indication of numbers and preferred date, I'll go back to Getabout and confirm details. You will then need to book direct with them under a reference I'll give you later.

I guess they would take 8 or so in the group, but the smaller the group the better day you will have - so first in best dressed. If there is significant numbers showing interest maybe I'll have to draw a line in the um...sand.

Remember, I'm not getting anything out of this so no grief please.

Otherwise, I look forward to meeting you and having a fun day out.

I'll leave this up for a week or so - so who is interested?

Cheers,
GMWK2
 
See less See more
#57 ·
Some of todays images from Stockton Beach.
 

Attachments

#59 ·
An excellent day, and a great bunch of people, a pleasure to meet you all. And how capable are those cars! Thanks to GMWK2 for organising a wonderful event, looking forward to the next lesson.

Some extra pics to add to the collection. And Bob, what were you doing under the car....!

If anyone is interested, I have hi-res images of these and others, pm and I can email.
 

Attachments

#61 ·
Yep it was definitely a great day out there yesterday. Just a shame Jeep Australia let me down by not installing the fix for the Sand Mode issue - especially considering I specifically enquired about just a couple of weeks ago and took it in due a dealership also. How much time I wasted on getting it going again and being unable to relax whilst driving it as I constantly waited for it to reoccur (which it did).

A big thanks for the organiser GMWK2 and for everyone else who was there and made the day what it was. Hope there are more of these small events organised in future - regardless of whether that be for training or for some simple fun days out.
 
#62 · (Edited)
My pics below. I suffered a bit of damage, a few hundred bucks maybe. As some of you saw, the cardboard belly pan popped off the front and bent back under the car. Unfortunately it then pushed the mud guard liners onto the tyres which then shredded the liners badly. I'm still mobile and it's nothing I can't fix myself, if I can get the parts. Moral of the story, if taking #1 son off-roading, turn the radio way up loud so you can't hear the constant, "Floor it dad, floor it dad!"

Did anybody think to check what engines we had there? Mine was the CRD.
 

Attachments

#65 ·
Here are my mobile phone camera shots. I have more but don't have the patience to remove the rego plates. PM me and I can send you a link to my google album. A few videos will follow but Grant took those using an iphone held at the wrong angle!!!
 

Attachments

#67 ·
It's amasing what phones can do these days.
 
#68 ·
Maybe it's my imagination but my GC seems to be quite a bit more economical since blowing the crap out of the DPF going up that huge sand hill. It doesn't feel any different to drive though. Has anyone else with a CRD noticed anything since Stockton?
 
#70 ·
Only thing I notice was sand on the carpets.
Sund on your carpet, your'e looky! Oi just had a look in my air filter box and found nearly 1cm of sund. No they are not typos just my attempt at a Yorkshire accent as in this Monty Python skit Monty Python - Four Yorkshiremen - YouTube . But seriously there was that much sand there from Stockton. That was probably when I hit that sand berm hard and did the damage to the plastic belly pan.
 
#71 ·
Just back from a nice weekend away at Port Stephens, stayed at Anchorage and had a fantastic meal on Saturday night. Highly recommend you give the barramundi a try.

We had a quick run on the beach and I'm now very confident in my jeep. Ive now been on sand numerous times and it performs faultlessly and all very easy.

I noticed that there is now two big new service stations on the main road west of the turnoff to Anna Bay set up with a couple of tyre pumps so you can air up quickly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BobT
#72 ·
What is the process if you have nitrogen in your tyres instead of air, letting out nitrogen to say 20psi then after a play on the sand and needing to air up to normal pressures, irrelevent if it's 18 or 20 inch tyres?

I'm sure there is no nitrogen in the tanks at the servos and my small air compressor compresses air. Will it be ok to pump it with air for the long term or does it need to be all expelled at some time and filled with only nitrogen asap?
 
#75 ·
As Fatboy says, there is certainly no problem mixing air and nitrogen. The only real benefit of using nitrogen in a passenger car is that it is seep through the rubber slower so that tyre pressures are maintained longer. I guess the hope is that for those that go from service to service without checking tyre pressures, the pressures will not be too far off safe levels. For off-roading, nitrogen is a waste of money. Marketers of nitrogen can claim that it must be good otherwise why would they use it in motor racing. In motor racing tyres are expected to work to extremes of heat where dry nitrogen becomes a real advantage. Passenger tyres cannot be driven legally anywhere near these extremes.
 
#74 ·
Thanks for all the pics and info from folks using theJGCs to the max off road. Am interested in the comments...only 1 GC stopped due to not having the 'sand fix'?.

The circumstances causing the 'sand' issues seem unclear to me, from the text. Is it as a simple as error messages flick on when driving on sand? Or is it when really loading up the drive train?

Were all the vehicles bar 1 updated?

Should I get my Crd MY14 July build updated, though no obvious issues?

As a keen Australian offroad13, am keen to learn even more from the great input from Oz Keepers.

Regards
Max
 
#78 ·
  • Like
Reactions: mm1964
#79 ·
G'day all
Well looks like a great time was had on the Stockton beach in 2013.
The new Jeep GC Limited is on its way and living in Newcastle, a trip on the beach for the family and dog is a must when she arrives.
Any pointers for driving on Stockton? Just looking to start at Birubi and drive down the beach a few Km's to give the dog a swim and the little one time to build sand castle or two. No dune driving at this point, just a little adventure to start the ball rolling.
Any pointers for driving between the waterline and the base of the dunes appreciated..

Cheers
Mark
 
#82 ·
I agree with Allypally but I would say go down to at least 18psi. I've done it at 16psi and it's even better. Just don't do any radical manoeuvres at that pressure.

Also, while driving on the hard wet sand might seems safer, it's not. Firstly, if it's low tide and the car has a problem, you’re in deep s***, not to mention you will get salt sprayed up everywhere. Secondly, the area between the hard wet sand and the dry sand is often very soft and the area you are most likely to get bogged. Stick to the dry sand and don't be afraid of dunes but only ever go straight up and straight down them. If the Jeep stalls going up a dune, just roll straight back down and try again, DON’T TURN! The other thing about driving on the dry sand area is that it is just so much more fun as I'm sure others will attest.
 
#80 ·
G'day MMAG4X4. Stockton is quite an easy beach to drive. If you go in via Lavis Lane the beach down to the wreck is wide and pretty easy driving. Lower your tire pressures, a bit of momentum and away you go. Permits are available at the servo. Best to go with someone if you are inexperienced and get yourself a front recovery hook from Chief Products and a snatch strap.


I have not been up there since last October but the Anna Bay end was fairly limited for driving due to beach erosion.

Info is here :

Worimi Conservation Lands - Stockton Bight, Stockton Beach, Stockton Sand Dunes, 4WD on Stockton Beach

Enjoy!
 
#85 ·
#84 · (Edited)
They look like low profile 20s at that.

Edit: No they don't, it was the sand making them look that way.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top