De Wildt. Interesting lessons learned.
Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:10 pm
Hi Fella's,
Did De Wildt today, second time I've taken my Pajero there. Very hot and dry at the moment. temp got to 36 and my dad's disco 3 air suspension decided it was too hot to work so we had to park in the shade at Gert se klip and wait for it to cool down and as often happens, we made some new 'friends' during this time. two couples, one in a brand spanking new Toyota FJ Cruiser, and the other in a bran spanking new Merc ML 500.
The Toyota really impressed me. Its based on the last model Prado which i've trailed with before, but this FJ was just way more competent. It jumped a little here and there going up the Klip, but i think it may have been the tyres. The Merc - well I was extremely surprised for two reasons. Firstly, the young driver attempted every obstacle today (air suspension was full height), and secondly, that car answered every call of duty put to it! It just went everywhere!
Was a lekker day. I did most of the obstacles baring the 14th donga's - did them the last time and thought my dad wouldn't want to put his car in there, but when i checked the mirror, there he was, crawling through. bye-bye smart side steps
the last time I did this trail, i dropped my tyre pressure to 1.5 (road tyres), and really couldn't tell if that helped me or not. Today, i decided to leave the tires at normal use pressure. I noticed three major differences between these approaches.
Firstly, the ride was noticeably harder but not unbearable. An unexpected plus of this is that I found that due to the harder ride i could feel my way through some of the sections more precisely as feedback was sharp through the hard tires. I could tell exactly which rock or stone my tires were rolling over.
Secondly, ride height was better. On my last trip here, i was scraping the front and belly on some approaches and break-overs. And my tow bar square-tubing receiver was catching and scraping on quite a number of rocks, especially on the Klip, and also on the rock stairway near the mud pools (right turn at top of 10th obstacle). Today, This didn't happen once. The height gain of the harder tires, i guess around 35mm, really made a difference.
Thirdly, traction was affected. There was a lot more wheel spinning today, and plenty of dust to add to the effects but not to the point that I thought I was going to have to reverse and try again or be pulled out. Although in the deep mud pool i did get a big bogged trying to climb out, the car's bum lurched right and i have a nice scrape on the rear right plastic wheel arch trim. But it was my own fault for not being fully aware of where my front wheels were pointing...
I've read some articles that argue keeping your tires inflated over rock, hard sand and stone is a good idea as the inner air pressure compacts the rubber on the sidewalls and makes them harder to penetrate. I didn't have any punctures on the trail with deflated tires, nor on the trail with inflated tires. But i must say, I was less worried about punctures today. Perhaps i was influences by what I've read.
So, i think in future, I'll start a trail with inflated tires and read the 'lie of the land' as i progress, only deflating when i think it's an absolute necessity.
Good week folks, i'll be working in Malawi where it may be even hotter that Jo'burg!
Ciao!
Did De Wildt today, second time I've taken my Pajero there. Very hot and dry at the moment. temp got to 36 and my dad's disco 3 air suspension decided it was too hot to work so we had to park in the shade at Gert se klip and wait for it to cool down and as often happens, we made some new 'friends' during this time. two couples, one in a brand spanking new Toyota FJ Cruiser, and the other in a bran spanking new Merc ML 500.
The Toyota really impressed me. Its based on the last model Prado which i've trailed with before, but this FJ was just way more competent. It jumped a little here and there going up the Klip, but i think it may have been the tyres. The Merc - well I was extremely surprised for two reasons. Firstly, the young driver attempted every obstacle today (air suspension was full height), and secondly, that car answered every call of duty put to it! It just went everywhere!
Was a lekker day. I did most of the obstacles baring the 14th donga's - did them the last time and thought my dad wouldn't want to put his car in there, but when i checked the mirror, there he was, crawling through. bye-bye smart side steps
the last time I did this trail, i dropped my tyre pressure to 1.5 (road tyres), and really couldn't tell if that helped me or not. Today, i decided to leave the tires at normal use pressure. I noticed three major differences between these approaches.
Firstly, the ride was noticeably harder but not unbearable. An unexpected plus of this is that I found that due to the harder ride i could feel my way through some of the sections more precisely as feedback was sharp through the hard tires. I could tell exactly which rock or stone my tires were rolling over.
Secondly, ride height was better. On my last trip here, i was scraping the front and belly on some approaches and break-overs. And my tow bar square-tubing receiver was catching and scraping on quite a number of rocks, especially on the Klip, and also on the rock stairway near the mud pools (right turn at top of 10th obstacle). Today, This didn't happen once. The height gain of the harder tires, i guess around 35mm, really made a difference.
Thirdly, traction was affected. There was a lot more wheel spinning today, and plenty of dust to add to the effects but not to the point that I thought I was going to have to reverse and try again or be pulled out. Although in the deep mud pool i did get a big bogged trying to climb out, the car's bum lurched right and i have a nice scrape on the rear right plastic wheel arch trim. But it was my own fault for not being fully aware of where my front wheels were pointing...
I've read some articles that argue keeping your tires inflated over rock, hard sand and stone is a good idea as the inner air pressure compacts the rubber on the sidewalls and makes them harder to penetrate. I didn't have any punctures on the trail with deflated tires, nor on the trail with inflated tires. But i must say, I was less worried about punctures today. Perhaps i was influences by what I've read.
So, i think in future, I'll start a trail with inflated tires and read the 'lie of the land' as i progress, only deflating when i think it's an absolute necessity.
Good week folks, i'll be working in Malawi where it may be even hotter that Jo'burg!
Ciao!
