Bogged down in the sand!

[jlrocks]

I was driving on the beach with my family at dusk last night and my JLU Rubicon got very bogged down in the sand. I've driven on the beach alot and it has always chewed through the sand so I was really surprised. The sand seemed to have a cakey consistency then with enough dryness to be deep and make you sink but enough wetness to be sticky and fill in the gaps on the AT tires.

I was in 4H the whole time and tried to get it into 4L after I was stuck but it wouldn't make the switch. I eventually got it out by turning the tires and using some reverse but by then smoke/fumes were pouring out profusely from around the transmission area.

So a couple questions for you guys.

Should I look into any maintenance at this point? Driving home the clutch didn't feel quite the same. It seemed stiffer.

How can I keep this from happening again? I was thinking of getting sand tires but I'm mostly on the road. My PSI is about 34. Would airing down help a lot?

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[grady2hig]

Get some MaxTrax
https://us.maxtrax.com.au/

 

[Torero]

In soft sand Your psi should be low 10s, 4 low from the go and keep wheel spin to a minimum. You want flotation and not to dig in.
You overheated the clutch off course for being in 4H. It should feel fine after it cooled down.

 

[am1978]

I was driving on the beach with my family at dusk last night and my JLU Rubicon got very bogged down in the sand. I've driven on the beach alot and it has always chewed through the sand so I was really surprised. The sand seemed to have a cakey consistency then with enough dryness to be deep and make you sink but enough wetness to be sticky and fill in the gaps on the AT tires.

I was in 4H the whole time and tried to get it into 4L after I was stuck but it wouldn't make the switch. I eventually got it out by turning the tires and using some reverse but by then smoke/fumes were pouring out profusely from around the transmission area.

So a couple questions for you guys.

Should I look into any maintenance at this point? Driving home the clutch didn't feel quite the same. It seemed stiffer.

How can I keep this from happening again? I was thinking of getting sand tires but I'm mostly on the road. My PSI is about 34. Would airing down help a lot?

Ummm. Air down. You should be chewing through sand, but rather floating on top of it at 14-18psi. Even the road tire on a Sahara handles that well.

 

[jlrocks]

MaxTrax looks awesome. I'll check that out.

4L from the go? I get up to 20mph or so on the beach. Can I go that fast in 4L? I've only tried 4L once I think and I couldn't believe how low it was geared so haven't tried it again.

Is there an air compressor you guys like? How is it powered?

 

[Sorbs]

4L at a minimum and airing down when it gets deep.

Take a look at this at 9:29 to see something that looks easy get tough

 

[am1978]

MaxTrax looks awesome. I'll check that out.

4L from the go? I get up to 20mph or so on the beach. Can I go that fast in 4L? I've only tried 4L once I think and I couldn't believe how low it was geared so haven't tried it again.

Is there an air compressor you guys like? How is it powered?

Depends on how deep, otherwise 4H is fine, but airing down will help a lot. There are too many compressors to get into. There’s probably a thread for that.

 

[TxJeepers]

Air down in deep sand! Keep your momentum going. Don’t floor it and dig down.

A Rubicon has open diffs so until you are in 4lo and engage lockers you have less traction than a Sport with limited slip rear.

While in 4hi on the beach I turn off ESC to keep it from limiting what I’m trying to do. With it on and in deep sand it brakes constantly. Also, if 4hi, manually control your your auto and keep it in a lower gear that increases your RPM. Your tranny will like you. Seen too many with overheated tranny on beach.

That is strange you not being able to get it into 4lo. Have done this before? Putting it in 4lo, engaging lockers and that thing should of crawled right out.

 

[RubenZ]

I live by a beach and never in my life have I used 4lo in it. I rarely even need to air down. That’s one negative about the Rubicon, it’s too specific to rock crawling that your Rubicon has open diffs unless your in 4lo. I believe a flash or programmer can fix that.

 

[Highonlyfe]

You can travel in 4lo up to 25mph.

Also, if you are not moving, it is hard to get into 4lo and will grind.

You need to be going 3-5 mph when going into 4lo for best results

 

[RubenZ]

I thought for 4lo you need to be in neutral.

 

[grady2hig]

I thought for 4lo you need to be in neutral.

But ideally rolling a bit.

 

[Highonlyfe]

I thought for 4lo you need to be in neutral.

Yes, but rolling

 

[Neanderthalman]

Yes, but rolling

You *can* engage 4L while stopped with a caveat. Because there’s no relative motion between the gears, the gears might line up exactly wrong so that a tooth hits a tooth and the gears won’t engage. A little bit of motion helps the gears mesh. However, it’s also possible for the gears to be lined up exactly right and they engage without problem.

So, try. If it won’t engage, re-engage 4H, shift to drive, attempt to move (shifting all gear positions in the process), and then try again. Repeat until the gears line up and will engage.

I had an old manual that would do this sometimes with the reverse gear. Put it in neutral, let out the clutch to move things around, and then put it back in and shift. Worked like a charm

NB- it might be a spline shaft or other coupling that engages rather than directly engaging gears. I have no idea of the specifics but it’s irrelevant. The same principle applies.

 

[47Jeepster]

You can travel in 4lo up to 25mph.

Also, if you are not moving, it is hard to get into 4lo and will grind.

You need to be going 3-5 mph when going into 4lo for best results

The manual quotes 2-3 mph (3-5 kmh) with the transmission in neutral. But on my Rubicon, I've found that there is less chance of it grinding when I stay below even 2 mph. I've now settled on barely moving up to 2 mph ... I walk at ~2.5mph, so I use that visual as as an upper limit.

@Neanderthalman is correct that it can be done when stopped ... with some futzing as he explained.

As another comment, I kept having to remembering when to use neutral and when not to. It finally dawned on me that when shifting from 2H to 4H or back, if you're not spinning any wheels, then everything is spinning at the correct speed to simply slide the gear into and out of the 4 wheel drive ... no neutral shift needed. The manual says: the transfer case will engage/disengage faster if you momentarily release the accelerator pedal after completing the shift. Hmmm, I've found mine shifts smoother if I lightly let up on the gas while shifting. YMMV

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