Driving in Sand With a Skoolie

lapeer20m · 02-14-2006, 10:31 PM

a couple of us are getting ready to drive to south padre island texas and do a little campin on the sand for a week.

I was there last year with my car, and in places the sand was rather deep. In a regular vehicle it is advisable to reduce the air pressure in your tires. Anyone know if the same goes for large bus tires? WE both have 22.5" tubless radials.

I am not at all looking foward to getting stuck! I would like to avoid that if at all possible. I will bring shovels, planks, and a strap just in case.

Slowpoke · 02-15-2006, 01:47 AM

Just remember that the furter away from the beach access you drive, the move expensive the towing bill. I'd test it out by walking or with another car first, then park as close to the beach access as possible. I've seen people do this with their schoolies on Quintana Beach (south of Glavaston).

If you do air down, I wouldn't go below 90 psi. And air them back up before you leave. If you drive with the sidewalls rubbing on your rears, they will blow after a while.

lapeer20m · 02-15-2006, 09:59 AM

excellent point about the duals rubbing together! I didn't think of that.

the good news is that we do have 2 skoolies, so hopefully if one gets stuck, the other one can help out.....or we might end up with 2 stuck skoolies! lol

I'm a master of driving in the snow, and i have a good deal of offroad driving expierence, but never with a skoolie. I did drive over 200 miles on north padre with my 2wd vw fox, and nearly all of that was in the 4x4 ONLY area. In the snow, it's amazing how many people i have helped get unstuck with nothing more than a shovel.

I'm interested to see how things go with the bus on S. Padre.

wmah · 02-15-2006, 11:59 AM

I am no expert on sand either. But now something I would do when parking is to put down your planks down first and park the bus wheels on them so they don't settle in to the sand. So what ever planks you think you'd need, I'd bring extra on top of that. It's better to be prepared rather then scratching your head later.

Slowpoke · 02-16-2006, 10:24 AM

Excellent idea about the planks. I've done that many times under the landing gear when dropping trailers on soft ground. I'd get some 2x10's or 2x12's and cut them about 3-4 feet long. One under each wheel facing forward and aft. When you leave, drive out to solid ground, then walk back to get them, or have a passenger pick them up and carry them out behind you. That way, you don't loose your momentum.

I notice your bus has Dayton spoke rims. Don't forget to tap the clamps once in a while with a hammer to make sure they are still tight. I've found dozens over the years that had loosened up. For those of you with Budd wheels, look around the lug nut for rust streaks as a sign that it has loosened up. If they are loose, then head straight to a tire shop and have them checked and retightened with a torque wrench. Remember to have a metal valve stem cap on, as the valve in the stem doesn't do a great job of holding in all the pressure, the cap does the job better. (During a DOT inspection, they look for metal valve stem caps.)

dammitAndy · 02-16-2006, 03:14 PM

time for me to put in my crazy, sarcastic, but interesting and almost do-able idea.

You should just slap on a set of these...

they aren't called floaters for nothing!

Steve · 02-16-2006, 04:51 PM

You could actually probably replace duals with a single tire, I think I have seen trucks with those before, not sure where.

Griff · 02-16-2006, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dammitAndy

. . . interesting and almost do-able idea.

Not almost, it IS do-able! (It just isn't gonna be easy!) I used to work for Ravens, maker of aluminum flat bed, dump bed semi trailers (& dump bodies), and we custom made a few flat beds & dump beds with set-ups like this, the only difference was that they had highway tires vice terrain tires on them.

Hmmm, those were drag axles though, not drive axles, but the hardware's out there somewhere to do it, I've seen that set up on grain "weigh wagons" in the farming community. Lemme go to Rockwell's site & look at some axles. . .

Jim Ray · 02-16-2006, 06:26 PM

Drove a dognose schoolie in the desert in Baja, and Anza Borrego. One of the most useful things you have in the bus when stuck is rubber floor mats. They flex, can be stuffed under the drivers with minimum digging, and will allow you to get rolling. Dig them out, drive over them, replace and repeat. They won't kick up and hit you like planks, and take up no room if you use them for the original purpose. Planks are still great, do carry some. Another friend with a skoolie, and a REALLY GOOD tow strap help also. But they can be a killer, so use only when sober. Keep all spectators away, and hang a blanket or heavy coat in the middle of the strap between the buses.

Pull two or three pickups out with the bus, and you will have additional diggers.

dravo · 02-16-2006, 06:39 PM

Please keep us posted on how you faired in the sand. I'm intregued because after getting stuck & towed in Florida sugar sand I'm leery about beaches and buses!

Slowpoke · 02-17-2006, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve

You could actually probably replace duals with a single tire, I think I have seen trucks with those before, not sure where.

They are called "Super Singles", and used mostly on fuel trucks to save weight. A set on the drive axles and trailer tandems will save as much as 1,000 lbs in rotating mass. They provide a much better ride, allow more cooling air to reach the brakes, but are harder to find in stock if you should get a blow out on the road. I would think with the width they would work great in sand, but they do have a dendancy to "float" in the rain and snow.

phillbus914 · 02-17-2006, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dravo

Please keep us posted on how you faired in the sand. I'm intregued because after getting stuck & towed in Florida sugar sand I'm leery about beaches and buses!

Dont say that, your scaring me.

wmah · 02-17-2006, 09:32 PM

Another idea, if you don't have one already. Get a good bottle jack, some 2x4's are also good for extra height if needed. Jack it up fill in the hole. I suggested this to one guy with an old fire truck he was redoing for his enjoyment. He had it in his back yard stuck up to the bottom of the axle. He did that and got it right out.

the_experience03 · 02-18-2006, 12:55 AM

Sand is kind of like the snow I have a lot of experience driving in. If you plan to 4-wheel more than 4 months per year in Minnesota, snow becomes a factor.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to drive slow. A bus doesn't have the horsepower and troque to spin the tires like a baja buggy so taking it easy is the best bet. Wheelspin=digging. Just keep going at a nice steady pace and don't apply the brakes or throttle too suddenly. If you start to get stuck, STOP and fixd the problem before you're resting on the differential.

Also, be careful. I know it seems laughable when you see the size of the leaf packs on a bus, but they WILL get axle wrap and WILL toast u-joints (I know because a buddy of mine did with his skoolie saying "listen to the pipes" after he cut the muffler off.....silly boy)

Best of luck to you

rayne · 03-21-2006, 01:45 PM

time for me to put in my crazy, sarcastic, but interesting and almost do-able idea.

You should just slap on a set of these...

they aren't called floaters for nothing!
how bout fuel costs with those bad boys?

Steve · 03-21-2006, 02:32 PM

I was watching "Trick My Truck" on CMT and they put Super Singles on the rear of one of their semis, They were really nice and I don't think that it would decrease the gas mileage that much, and if you can afford wheels and tires for super singles you don't worry about gas prices.

Slowpoke · 03-22-2006, 01:29 AM

Super Singles save a lot of weight, and let more air get to the brakes to keep them cooler. From what I hear, you do get pettery milage due to having much less rotating mass.

The down side is finding tires if you get a flat. Not many small tire shops have them in stock. Also by switching to SS you have changed the strees oints on the wheel bearings, so you may need to replace your wheel bearings more often. Not much of an issue really, unless your are full timing it in the bus.

I know that Michelin's super single tires are a run flat design ( $$$ ).

You could check out a local tire shop for a used set of alunimum wheels for your bus and save a couple hundred pounds of rotating weight.
Or turn on your cb radio and hang out at a large truckstop for a while. Someone will be trying to sell a tire, rim, radio, or almost anything.

Over here in Europe, just about every truck runs super single tires.

Schmuck · 03-22-2006, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve

You could actually probably replace duals with a single tire, I think I have seen trucks with those before, not sure where.

I'm a truck driver, and some of our tractors and trailers have super singles where the duallies would be. They're about two feet wide, and I would guess that you'd get about 130-160% surface area over those narrow duallies. I bet the truck service centers at the truck stops could equip you with those. The closest one to Port Huron is... well, far away. :P all the truck stops in the Detroit area don't have service centers, except maybe the TA in Monroe, (exit 15 on I-75,) but I'm sure there are other places or a big truck shop somewhere in town that could get you equipped. My company has liked the overall performance of the SS tires. All the new equipment they buy comes so equipped.

Not that this post is really relevant, since you guys got back with quite the story. but... if you go back next year...

Eric von Kleist · 03-29-2006, 05:12 PM

Do you get better or worse mileage with the super-singles?

One advantage I could see to them is in reducing the number of wheels on the vehicle to 4. Sometimes neighborhoods or roads have wheel restrictions on them, and you might circumvent those with a set of the super-singles.

the_experience03 · 03-29-2006, 11:07 PM

I've heard they can be a chore to get used to. I guess they "walk" around corners (or so I've heard from truckers). My guess is that this means they understeer, a property I would attribute to them having more traction. Super singles on a tractor AND the trailer is the ultimate combo to get used to I guess. On the plus side they say they are far superior once they get used to them. They ride better, weigh less, etc. Of course if one blow you're going to feel it while driving....and in the pocketbook when you have to replace it

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