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HOW TO DRIVE A 4X4 Off-Road. FULL FEATURE VIDEO @4xoverland — Transcript · YTtoTranscript

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HOW TO DRIVE A 4X4 Off-Road. FULL FEATURE VIDEO @4xoverland

ASPW 4xOverland · 10,337 words · 52 min read · EN

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Below is the complete, readable transcript of HOW TO DRIVE A 4X4 Off-Road. FULL FEATURE VIDEO @4xoverland by ASPW 4xOverland on YouTube. Read the full text, copy any part you need, or generate a transcript for any video with our free tool.

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause] the dream of taking a four-wheel drive vehicle into places few have visited is a desire held by many for those who do it there are a few more rewarding pastimes for those who would like to do it it holds many mysteries the most obvious of which is 4x4 vehicle handling so I welcome you and invite you to sit

back as we learn some 4x4 driving skills drive anywhere let's discuss fully drive when do we engage rules right let's start with the front hubs for your front hubs are there to save fuel they serve no other purpose so in order to engage for a drive we must lock them but now the question is when do we engage

four-wheel drive let's talk about it let's keep this simple deciding on whether or not to engage for a drive has got everything to do with safety ask yourself a question does engaging four-wheel drive improve the safety of myself and my family in the vehicle let's say for example you're expecting the first rain of the season or there's

light drizzle that's the time to engage the front hubs preparing the vehicle so that you can engage four-wheel drive from inside the cab let's say for example you're on a long trip to a destination where you going to do a bit of off-roading when do you actually engage four-wheel drive the moment you

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leave the tar road you engage your front hubs and you leave them engaged for your entire holidays you never have to get out again to lock them you can make a decision immediately to lock four-wheel drive to put it in four-wheel drive just like that without having to get out of the vehicle you're on a dirt road it

looks like a good one you know that you're going to be traveling at 90 or 100 kilometres an hour do you engage for a drive absolutely that's when you need it you've spent a lot of money on your 4x4 use the four-wheel drive the four-wheel drive on a dirt road a gravel road you might not need it when going

dead-straight but you we'll need it in an instant if for example a truck comes in the opposite direction and threatens you and you have to swerve and you hit the kerb on the end if that happens in Ulan four-wheel drive you have complete control gently accelerating out of the corner you're in two-wheel drive you're just

like any other guy who is unlucky enough to be driving a two-wheel drive in a potentially dangerous situation it's a lot more wheel drive it does not damage the transmission is what it's designed for traveling up to 100 kilometres now is absolutely safe but those vehicles with so-called permanent four-wheel drive what you need to do at that point

is engage true four-wheel drive you lock that center differential without the centre differential locks you are not in four-wheel drive don't be fooled by the expression permanent four-wheel drive the additional tire wear and the additional wear on the transmission is so negligible and the increase in improvement in safety is so significant there really is no debate here now about

the vehicle you are driving because every vehicle has its vulnerabilities for example a solid axle has its differential protruding exposing it to danger in this case both front and back differentials aligned with the drivers left shoulder familiarize yourself with all low points of your vehicle this includes the approach angle where the vehicle body is exposed during steep

slopes and the departure angle again exposed to during steep slopes

in addition the wheels ability to articulate and grip on uneven surfaces will have an effect on driving technique make it a habit of passing high objects under the high parts or ride the wheels over the high obstacles clearing exposed components from harm let's look at one of the reasons for doing this passing a

wheel too close to our high object threatens the most vulnerable part on all four by fours the tire sidewall passing it safely over the obstacle may be more uncomfortable but it's good off-road driving the second most vulnerable part is the tire tread so avoid this selecting a path on a rutted track is

not as obvious as it looks common fault to follow the most obvious path all a rat has to be as deeper than the minimum clearance and the vehicle may bog reading clearances from the driver seat takes experience so begin by paying close attention to the path ahead pass the deepest ruts under the vehicle

and do not attempt to cross such a rat at less than 45 degrees doing so in slippery ground is likely to trap a vehicle this Land Cruiser is now struggling on account of the driver having chosen the most obvious path that is the scar from the previous vehicles differential between the tracks the

defender driver here has been more cautious misjudging the vehicles clearance can get you into trouble get into a habit of holding the steering wheel with your thumbs on the outside of the rim prevents a shock loading from hurting the fingers particularly painful with older vehicles with non power assisted steering changing gear in low

range can be a jerky affair especially when changing down a gear here on the low range second I'm going to change into first because of an obstacle ahead where to do it smoothly leave your foot in the accelerator when you depress the clutch smooth yourself go through the obstacle as slow as possible simply allow your

foot to rest on the accelerator as you depress the clutch the revs increase the gear goes in smoothly release the clutch you don't even feel it inside the vehicle the type of suspension fitted to a vehicle affects its performance over rough ground what is seen here is typical of independent suspension with it ground clearance varies constantly

notice how the clearance under the chassis on the left of your screen changes every time the suspension compensates for undulations the other type of suspension becoming less common as more vehicles are designed for better Road performance at the expense of off-road performance is the live or solid axle solid axles are an advantage offroad because they

maintain the clearance no matter what the terrain as the wheels ride over the ground it lifts the differential clearing vulnerable components from harm this type of suspension also permits better axle articulation better clearance and better off-road performance here it is working on a dry riverbed and here on the same riverbed is the

independent suspension the driving style with independent suspension must therefore be more cautious particularly over rocky terrain

looking more closely at how suspensions work and even more ideas terrain reveals how easy it is to damage a vehicle if driven too fast

[Music]

so many accidents that take place on a gravel road take place because of a sudden change in direction an emergency some an animal something appears in the way and there's now a sudden need to change direction now we're at the skid pan Duratec and this simulates exactly that traveling at about 70 to 80 maybe

90 kilometres an hour on a slippery dirt road and we are going to simulate that change in direction we're going to look at it in two-wheel drive and then we're going to look at it in four-wheel drive but if this doesn't convince you to engage we'll arrive on a slippery surface or gravel road I don't know what

will

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I'm gonna do now gonna do the same thing in board ride [Music]

[Music]

[Music]

I'm gonna give it a go [Music] yeah

okay that was good fun now completely out of control at the end of that now let's not [Music]

it doesn't need any correction also saying one more time just ten Christians around the corner I don't have to force a teacher [Music]

this is a skid pan with a difference a dirty skid pan and here we're gonna learn even more about driving on dirt gravel roads imagine this is a car rear wheels front wheels every vehicle is different every vehicle has a sphere of influence if you like severe of influence of the steering of the brakes

of the tires when we accelerate for example softly the severe of influence moves backwards and the vehicle moves forward if we accelerate violently and that goes beyond that sphere what happens will spin clockwise if we break we brake gently within sphere of influence of the tires and all of the other elements involved in the vehicle

the vehicle will slow and stop safely we use the brakes very hard perhaps the surface is slippery what happens is moves out of the sphere of influence and the tires skid exactly the same thing happens when you turn the steering wheel imagine coming in a straight line and hitting the brakes very hard the wheels skid now these

front wheels are steered so there now there is an influence in that direction what happens severe understeer this is what we call understeer the wheels are turned but the vehicle tends to go straight ahead that's understeer let's have a look at another scenario this is what we call oversteer imagine now accelerating fast

we turn this way to the right the g-forces as you know when the vehicle moves to the right are actually to the left if we are moving fast enough we will exceed the sphere of influence and that goes beyond it so does that the end result is that the rear of the vehicle

will swing in that direction this is how to correct it and I'm gonna try and simulate driving on a dirt road and getting into a oversteer situation you start going around the corner a little bit too fast and what happens the back that started to come out and you lose control okay - to remedy that situation

when a vehicle is turning and gets out of control the way to remedy this if you're driving along and you find yourself turning corner and you realize I'm going too quickly and the back starts sliding turn against the ease off the accelerator turn towards the slide ease the accelerator and regain control panicking

will likely mean that you'll hit the brakes put your foot on the brake in the vehicle screen sideways if there's anything that that the tires might hit as they're sliding violently sideways if they suddenly stop the rest of the vehicle will continue and will fall over one of the first principles we need to

understand before we go off-road is the effect of tire pressures on the terrain over which we drive and the vehicles performance firstly a tire is very very hard will tend to penetrate through a tire that is soft will tend to float now for sound driving such as this morning the sand is actually quite wet so it's

got a lot of buoyancy the vehicle even with fairly hard tires does not sink in but the moment the sand gets soft a hard tyre will penetrate through making driving difficult so the first question is what surface are we driving over and how will our tires penetrate if they're going to penetrate a lot and reduce the

power pool absorb the power from the vehicle then we're going to need to lower our tire pressures now we're going to go sand driving today and the first thing we're going to do is look at the condition of the sand and here the sand in some places is quite compact but where it's soft we're going to battle so

we're going to drop the tyre pressures our first port of call is one bar we can go lower or we could go higher but it's a good starting point so I suggest that one bar is where we are going to start today so to do that we need a tire pressure gauge okay it's the first thing

you're gonna buy at any off-road 4x4 shop you gonna buy a tire pressure gauge it's the first thing you're gonna need two point five okay one bar good starting points deflated tires while helping the vehicle float over sand or gain more traction because it's larger footprint are now vulnerable too much power can turn the rim inside a tire

which means that it will go flat and it's bulging sidewalls are vulnerable to damage by rocks and sticks what actually happens in this this is a tyre roundish and there's the road surface that's the layer on the road let down the tyre and it softens actually well there but the roads a new road surface there

that's the new footprint much longer many people assume it's the fact that the tire gets wider and that is what helps with flotation not really because a radial tire actually bends in at the bottom so yes it gets a bit wider but a wide tire has a higher rolling resistance and that's not where the

advantages the advantages here a long footprint but there's more to it than that I'm going to talk now about tire pressures on hard ground hard stony ground where the rocks and stones threaten the tire sidewalls I'm going to demonstrate something quite interesting to you now

okay this dough should be at about 2.2 now I'm gonna let it down there you go 1.7 bar now let's see the difference

[Applause]

this is the exception that proves the rule boy I love this job what I was trying to explain was if you let your tire pressures down to a point where they are soft enough to curve to mold themselves around an obstacle they do that to get more trade on the obstacle get more

traction this also helps the tires not slip off rock faces and expose themselves to damage that was a the idea behind us but this made it worse not sure why so we'll go and find somewhere else to go and film had makes it better these corrugations you better turn off the caravan I replace my teeth

corrugations what other things you've got to put up with on trails and it's getting really bad so it's a little trick with just eases the pain just a little bit like the tire pressures down a bit my normal pressures here are one point by two point eight bar I'm going to go down to two point two and do that

with all the tires about 10 to 15 percent of the pressure okay two point three it'll just soften the ride and the vehicle went dance around quite as much as she's doing before

hey congregations there are miles of them that never in and she's made a bit of a difference Emily madam

[Music] [Music]

[Music]

climbing hills successfully is a balancing act between traction and momentum if the traction is good momentum can be maintained easily and the choice of gears and driving style is wide open but when traction diminishes choices diminish with it when traction is poor there are three possible causes for momentum to be lost these are when a

gear ratio that is too low is used to the high top to the wheels causes will spin this causes traction loss and finally momentum loss when excessive speed is used the wheel is bounced over the rough surface loose traction and the vehicle slows if a gear ratio is selected which is too high for the climb

the vehicle may store the secret of maintaining traction and momentum is first select the right gear to enable the vehicle to climb without stalling but with a low margin of excess power from here delicates and well-timed use of the accelerator is used this shows a gear ratio that is too low

some jumpin joking and loss of momentum due to Wilston

at the same slope low range second gear demonstrates a smooth passage [Music]

[Music] this turbo-diesel discovery is in low-range second gear midi idiosyncrasies of turbocharged engines is that for power to be maintained the engine revs must not drop below the point where the turbo is working this means that in many cases turbo diesel vehicles must be driven in a gear ratio lower than would normally be the case

the most important element in climbing steep slopes is smooth power application [Applause]

try this decide on the ribs for the climb set them and maintain them all the way up keeping an eye on the rev counter and listening to the engine when the revs drop had a bit of power as they increase ease off the power do it smoothly a fraction will be lost

on climbs where the wheels battle for grip applying power at the wrong time can cause difficulties here as the front wheel lifts and loses grip the vehicle slows the driver incorrectly applies more power the correct method is to tap off at this point listen carefully to the engine revs and the timing of the

application of power

finding the best path on a slope is also important to successful hill climbs here the cult tries the most obvious choice of warm tracks on the right the second attempt the flattest path which looks deeper works better because the wheels do not get caught in any ridges and soles [Music] steeper but flatter is the better choice

likewise the slightest side slope on a climb should be avoided here the defenders good axle articulation works against it as the body leans and the two diagonally opposite wheels lose traction and spin out to recover from this situation the angle of approach must be flattened to equalize weight on left and right wheels

[Music] now what happens if we're driving along these here up these hills and we stall the motor there's an easy and safe way of recovering the vehicle I'll show to you now demonstrators I'm gonna store this vehicle that stores I put my foot on the foot brake most important thing to know to remember you never ever put your foot

on the clutch at this time we're relying on our gears to slow the vehicle to control the vehicle to prevent wheel slip we put our foot on the foot brake not on the clutch but we've got to get into reverse so some at some stage we've got to put off within the clutch so

forth in the foot brake nice and firm you can use your handbrake if you like I'm not going to it's an option vehicle is now secure I'm now gonna put my foot on the clutch I'm gonna do it slowly and carefully to make sure the vehicle is safe on the brakes I'm gonna take it out

of gear I'm gonna put it in Reverse make sure it's in take your foot off the clutch right off the clutch then I'm gonna release the brakes now the vehicle will start backwards and that noise is of course it not taking up on the transmission the vehicle is now stationary my foot is off the foot pedal

I'm going to crank the starter I'm not going to young-young out with a starter I'm just going to fire it click it just crank it over because I do not want to start a motor to drive the vehicle backwards I just wanted vehicle literally to start under its own power and it's just so safe and smooth the

secret is do not touch the clutch while the vehicle is in motion only do that once you've secured it on the foot brake put it in gear take your foot off the clutch crack the starter motor and the vehicle will come back under the gears under compression nice and safely and you'll have steering

you

loose round rocks and underneath it loose sand the defender battles we tried everything in the book this is low second just about flat out take a look [Music]

[Music]

now we've driven up let's go down the slowest speed manageable with the minimum use of brakes is our goal and descending steep and slippery slopes relying on the gearing to slow the vehicle means that when the brakes are applied they need only be applied lightly ensuring that steering control is always maintained going down steep

slopes the beauty of a four-wheel drive is that all four wheels are being controlled by the transmission so the primary tool we use for when going down really steep slopes is the transmission the transmission slows us before we use the brakes let's go right selecting the gear then let's get possible low range

first foot off the clutch foot off the brake I'm relying 100% on the compression of the engine and the action of the four-wheel drive which is slowing down all four wheels to slow the vehicle I have control because likelihood of locking a wheel cuz I'm not touching the brakes is low therefore I'm gonna have

steering control all the way down the hip so transmission is the primary tool to slow vehicle down a steep slope and what happens is sometimes it gets too steep and I've got to use brake I use the brakes gently feathering them I do not put my foot on the clutch I leave the engine transmission working

for me the brakes be sensitive if a front wheel locks because of heavy braking you will lose steering control if that happens ease off on the brake immediately regain steering control continuing to further the brakes with the use of compression braking steering control can be maintained and even the steepest slopes this one

using brakes on a slope must be done carefully here are two examples of how not to do it as the front left wheel falls into a hole the brakes are applying transferring weight forward this exaggerated s' the fall and the vehicle tips forward ABS systems do not work well in off-road conditions and

here's why as the driver uses cadence braking to slow the vehicle sand and stones are pushed in front of each wheel which slows the vehicle ABS works too fast for this to happen the wheels ride over the stands

let's get extreme when slopes are steep and rough wheels leave the ground and cause the vehicle to slip and slide you now watch closely and note the difference between the wrong way of doing it the first attempt and the second attempt done correctly here the driver controls the vehicle until all four wheels have gripped before letting

the vehicle roll down the slope

[Applause]

the action of open differentials on the axles of four-wheel drives means that when one wheel lifts drive from that axle stops pushing the vehicle when this happens to both front and back axle simultaneously the vehicle stops when remedy is momentum that this stresses the vehicle unnecessarily the first technique is smooth power application by

keeping the ribs constant when the twister becomes too much for the suspension to handle they only progress to stage two here we use the push-pull technique a method of controlling wheel spin by timing the application of power when a front wheel lifts and loses traction power must be eased as this wheel must not be spinning when it

touches the ground again the momentum needs to be just sufficient to carry the vehicle until this happens during this time the rear axle is pushing as the front wheel touches the ground power is then applied at this point the front axle with both wheels firmly on the ground holds the vehicle through but

what if the twister is so deep that any momentum would damage the vehicle ditches such as this should be crossed at an angle so that one wheel at a time drops into the trough in low range first gear gently coax one wheel to climb out as the next drops down in extreme cases

wheels will spin use a gentle rocking motion and steer for best grip [Applause]

[Applause]

discovery series - interesting vehicle it has traction control it has hill descent control now these things mean that some of the traditional of our driving techniques we've got to throw them away it doesn't mean to say that the vehicle is more difficult to drive if anything it's easier to drive but I must say for quite an experienced driver

like me it took some getting used to we're going to demonstrate it now on this roller test rig and we can look at it scientifically on how it works and then we're going to take it off into the wild and see if it really works first onto the ramp is the traction control

equipped discovery the front right and both rear wheels are driven onto the rollers in front of the only wheel with traction is an obstacle with gentle acceleration the wall grips the vehicle pulls forward now they're gonna see the difference between a vehicle with a center differential lock and no axle differential locks

[Music] I'm not gonna go anywhere let's try one with a rear differential lock open differentials on both axles means of the opposite wheels will spin leaving the vehicle motionless locking the rear differential and therefore the two rear wheels together is not going to help because it is the front of right wheel that must be driven to move the vehicle

now things are gonna get a little bit more difficult steep climb are gonna start with a discovery central differential box see how it looks here the articulation is not sufficient to keep enough wheels on the ground result one front one rear wheel spins out with the rear differential locked only one rear wheel needs to have

traction to drive the defender up the slope with traction control when a wheel spins sensors act on the braking system slowing it thereby transferring power to wheels with more grip the result is a system that needs no additional driver input the system's downfall is that traction must be lost by a spinning wheel for Drive to be transferred to

other wheels while the system is very sensitive to bad driving techniques if it is driven well it is effective in the most demanding terrain and vehicles equipped with it can display outstanding off-road prowess traction control requires specific driving techniques in almost all spheres of operation perhaps the most significant difference between the driving techniques of an ordinary

four-wheel drive and this vehicle with traction control is that when you go down a steep slope you must use your brakes yes you use the lowest gear possible we're in the range and we've locked it into first of course we engage hill descent control even though we might not need to might not need it

because we are going to maintain the vehicle under it's it's kicking speed of seven kilometers an hour other than that it's being sensitive on the on the break and when it slides ease off very slightly and let the gears take over if you don't use breaks because of a lack of a center

differential the vehicle can run away with you and it can do it quite alarmingly that's why you must put on your hill descent control because it'll act as a parachute if you do make a mistake you take your foot off by the time this vehicle reaches five to seven kilometers now it will engage and will

slow you down it actually feels very safe it's an unfamiliar way of driving but nevertheless it works before going up the slope word of warning if you lose traction halfway up a steep slope record ever you do do not release the accelerator apply the brake first

okay now quite a challenging slip and the technique is exam as we've learned earlier on this vehicle

just a little bit of momentum and if it falters you leave your foot on the accelerator okay what has happened there is the vehicle has slid sideways I've applied my foot on the brake before taking my foot off the accelerator that's a very very important thing to do if you take your foot off the accelerator traction

control thinks oh I'm no longer needed let's go the brakes and the vehicle will slide backwards I'm going to correct my position I'm did not put it in reverse if you find that sliding backwards you lose steering control use your handbrake as well but gently on this vehicle otherwise you could damage the

transmission because it's a transmission brake

made it up the hill wasn't service satisfactory or some particular satisfied because in harsh conditions like this it's true that the vehicle does check the ground a bit spin the wheels but nevertheless very capable off-road another technique we must master is the new technique of maintaining a constant accelerator even when traction is lost with regular

foil drive systems the accelerator is eased when the wheel spins do this with traction control and the vehicle will stop let's now compare the traditional with the new with traction control ease the accelerator when traction is lost and with a conventional system apply the accelerator when traction is needed and now traction control with the correct

technique and conventional four-wheel-drive with the correct technique to totally contrary driving techniques to different vehicles this demonstrates the right and wrong technique for traction control gentle approach and then accelerating the difficult section tends to cause wheel spin before traction is regained with a little more momentum and a constant accelerator the vehicle sales

through ear ejecta accelerator brings the vehicle to a halt over the easiest of obstacles

the game has smooth tile applications Esther but when things get really difficult maintaining good momentum Constance accelerator sees the system

[Music] similarly with jeeps quadra-drive smooth power application and nothin and mentum for the system to engage works best

[Music] an alternative to traction control and one which requires traditional driving techniques to be used is differential locks the most common is a rear diff lock which prevents wheel spin across a rear axle care must be taken with the use of axle differential locks lock them has seen here while the wheels are

spinning and damage could result stop and wait until there is no drive to the wheels before engaging it here is a typical situation rear diff lock is a great help the vehicle is hung a front and a rear wheel touring [Applause]

most modern day flocks are operated electrically 100% drive to both rear wheels the vehicle cruises through the obstacle diff locks allow the vehicle to pass over terrain that would otherwise require far more skills [Music] when you add a front diff lock to a rear diff lock things get interesting all the technology like in this vehicle we have

differential locks traditional differential locks this is one of the few vehicles with both front and back climb like this I'm only going to pull up the back okay in this vehicle its hydraulics not a little switch so you definitely know it's up it's right

okay now I have to lock my front differential now the trouble is with locking a front differential is that stealing control is seriously impaired let's see if we can get up this obstacle now with front and rear differentials locked [Applause]

this is interesting because I couldn't turn front differential of look that's now this engage that will allow me to turn back one was not disengaged yet but will disengage any minute that's the disadvantage with old technology the beauty of it is of course it's simple in electronics to go wrong it's very very

simple great for expedition use but to tell you the truth the new technologies are outstanding they really are brilliant and they do this job without the difficulty of knowing when to engage it and when to disengage it which you need a certain amount of skill

when driving side slopes two important factors must be remembered the first is momentum momentum gives directional control so drive smoothly power on all of the time the second is the effect of steering steering is the most important element in driving side slopes what often happens is this steering up the slope and accelerating now the effect of

the steering is demonstrated here yeah steering against the slope increases the angle and makes traction difficult so straighten the wheels momentarily contraction is regained

[Applause] here again the same principle is applied [Applause] [Applause] by making the turn as late as possible decreases the angle and the chance of wheelspin honesty [Applause] on slippery ground side slabs can be very handled here the drivers are too slow to react they should steer in the direction of the slide to maintain

steering control for one brief moment they lose control

for the novice mud can be one of the most challenging obstacles for the seasoned off-roader one of the most rewarding one way of doing it is this

or you could do it the proper way smooth constant application of power [Music] try keeping the accelerator movement to a minimum this decreases the chance of will spin and steer on the path of least resistance

let's see what happens with a dirty accelerator balancing momentum with control is important too much momentum can mean loss of control too little and mean bogging down more experienced drivers may use a different technique to maintain momentum when the vehicle slows because of traction loss decelerate the traction is regained in the speed

increases then apply light accelerator to maintain the speed steer during the deceleration phase in sick lying mode the technique of rocking a vehicle works particularly well

[Applause] [Music] in this situation the mud was so thick we were unable to turn the vehicle round so we went back up the slope in Reverse [Music] one of the terrains that I enjoy the most is a mountain pass in slippery mud yeah we were on our way to visit family taking a long cut through some hilly

terrain [Music]

we've been enjoying some mountain driving in the beautiful inclement weather the highlands of the free state and we've come a little bit unstuck glass concentration has slipped into the drainage covered at the side of the road this is a very very common way of getting stuck from London driving in slippery clay I don't have a local

difficulty I could get out of this quite easily but down below me it gets quite good [Applause]

[Applause] secret behind driving and conditions like this there is slippery mountain conditions there's clay it's thin and at the side of the road we have these drainage ditches he put two wheels in a drainage ditch and you'll stay here for the afternoon the vehicle wolf slide you correct the slide by turning into it and

accelerate and as the vehicle starts moving forward is sent to the steering and hopefully will stay clear in the ditch [Music]

[Music]

[Music] [Applause] [Music]

[Music]

driving on this stuff is so much fun treats no as you would have very very slippery mountain road until the point where you can no longer see the gravel or the road underneath the sea is what actually happens is the snow stops getting compacted on each new vehicle that goes over and you get a layer of ice and you

want to float on that at that point start thinking of it as sand you've got to drop your tire pressures as much as 50 [Music]

[Music] there are various regions of sand driving all commonplace on most expeditions there is beach driving sand track sand dunes but of these sand tracks is the most common challenge to adventurers steering feedback is weak on any kind of sandy surface and it is when driving on long stretches of sand track in semi desert regions the driver

fatigue sets in because of the lack of directional feel

what first-timers often do is fight the steering wheel the trick of driving on a sound track is to hold the steering wheel very very loosely I'm going to give you a demonstration now there's a nice corner ahead look what happens to the studio I'm hardly touching it okay and I coax it where I want it a bit to

go and basically I'm calling the plan track perfectly not happening to do any work at all now this is the wrong way of doing we're gonna go back and do that same corner again I'll show you the wrong way of doing here we are going wrong way of doing it the coup the curve

goes this way I'm actually going to turn in the opposite direction okay watch what happens doing the opposite direction was still going along the road now if you look at it from the outside of the vehicle it's amazing how little feel you get through the steering wheel and that's why novice drivers often do it they fight the

steering wheel but that's because they can't feel which way they will pointing like mud steering is more effective when the accelerator is eased under par there is massive understeer decelerate before the corner and accelerate out of it deep sound tracks can become like a railway track trapping the vehicle in cases like this steering can become

quite a challenge here we are in central Botswana driving among sand tracks hasn't avoided discovered front wheels led to a hell of a lot for our steering in such a track and then we can turn the steering wheel as much as we like and often nothing happens sometimes in a situation like this we'll want to get

off the sand track use the steering wheel alone we've already discovered doesn't really work there is however a trick I'm going to demonstrate it now let's pretend we've got a vehicle coming towards us and we need to get off the sand track I gave the soundtrack is fairly thick so it should be too much of

a problem if I do this all the steering will in the center ok and I'm going to jerk the steering wheel around and center it if it doesn't come off the track I'm going to say to it if it does come off the track I'm going to Center it watch this and I'm off the track

we're going to turn try that again watch again driving along jerk the steering wheel around and Center it you see how smoothly it comes up we already learnt that if I turn the steering wheel slowly the front wheels will drag then perhaps they'll suddenly get traction and the vehicle will shoot sideways by

doing this motion and straighten again the vehicle comes off very gently very very important but the center is no matter what happens if it's very very heavy sand the moment you swing the wheel around take your foot off the accelerator which induces oversteer and a four-wheel drive vehicle you only need to do that if we're not gonna do it now

other sand here here isn't thick enough you only need to do that if the sound is really thick you try it again and again and again remembering to Center each time swing it over and Center the action of breaks in sticks and is also interesting it piles a wall of sand in front of each wheel and in doing so

brings the vehicle to a halt so rapidly that it can be dangerous use your brakes gently in sand should this happen reverse a short distance before taking off

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jeune driving presents all of what we have learnt about sand but adds steep gradients with dunes it's all about timing of the accelerator and judging the momentum needed to reach the top which is slow enough to stop at the top with the vehicle pointing downward

[Music] power on a bend and you'll bog down [Music] too much power at the wrong time and you'll stop get it right and it looks very easy go too fast and something will break ascending very steep dunes should be done in low range second gear first gear is too slow and the sand flowing down

the moves faster than the vehicle this must be prevented that should it occur the vehicle will slide and control can be lost in sand tracks automatic gearboxes if it gets very difficult steep climbs very soft stuff very sharp curves don't just put it in drive drive will take care of most of us

but when you have a situation where its gearbox is changing gears are changing too much changes in the wrong time take it down to second and stop the gearbox I'm changing the wrong time interesting thing about driving and sand dunes and sand roads like this question of whether you lock the rear differential well

generally speaking no because it affects your steering and steering is obviously difficult in situations like this but I'm going to tell you something it helps a lot in most of us so lock it if you think that there's a lot of axial twist happening leave it unlocked if the corners are very very tight if you find

that it's been locked all there and you're battling over one particular obstacle try it unlock it to try it lock it drive

on dunes and tracks vehicles can get trapped when the vehicle fails to make a time a short run-up and a steep hill requiring momentum can pose a challenge one way around this is to go back and build a flat smooth run-up by gently rolling back and forward two or three times over the run-up area this compact

the sand and builds a run-up area where the speed can be built up before the climb

when pulling up is important to do so gently to avoid all wheel spin

rocking in sand if it's dry digs the vehicle in deeper but if the sand is wet you can have a very different effect

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beach driving is like June driving but requires many more precautions there are some practices which experience Beach drivers use to keep themselves out of travel as well as look after the environment first they straddle other vehicles tracks always below the high-water mark by doing this driving is an undisturbed smooth sand in this

position it's also easy to read the surface from the disturbance made by the vehicle in front of you on many beaches tide action create cusps these are sand ridges running perpendicular to the shore keep speed moderated as you hit one of these at speed and a vehicle can become airborne and they're often difficult to see many

drivers use low gears in high range which is bad driving practice on a beach much better is high gear ratios in the low range in low range a rapid change down into a lower gear is possible and can mean the difference between getting caught out by a soft patch which otherwise would trap the vehicle always

driving an outgoing tide and never ever drive and an unknown beach at night those who do invariably lose their vehicles in the tide

there is no question that two automatic transmission is superior to manual transmissions in many spheres of offer a drive but again driving techniques must change [Music] one of the most challenging terrain to drive a magnetic is uneven ground it all must be cooked the tendency for automatic transmissions is to surge this must be Delta

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approaching the obstacle at the wrong angle so it's another consideration situation like this keep the wheels

one of the secrets of smooth driving an automatic transmission is left foot braking in other words the torque converters working all the time you have power to the wheels all the time and you can control the amount of power you want to go to the wheels by applying the brakes watch this [Music]

holding it on the footbrake cloud power and release the foot brake a nap sheet I said it would help I didn't say it was for free

what I need is one large rock and our problems are over

and if I can get that excellent interaction birth size question he's gonna pull another wheel

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but what happens when a hillclimb is failed ordinarily reverse gear is selected and the vehicle runs awkwardly backwards a much safer way to do this is to engage drive and ease the brake when the vehicle runs backwards to fast apply light accelerator do you remember that this practice stresses the gearbox so be gentle and avoid doing it

aggressively [Applause] once that is done select a new path and give the hill another go

[Applause] [Music] here is an automatic gearbox with front and rear differential locks clogged tires on a very slippery surface [Music] [Music]

[Music] driving down steep slopes is one of the few places where manual gearbox is superior but the principles are the same engage the lowest gear and use a combination of gears and brakes although low range first gear is engaged on automatic gearboxes tendencies are overrun the engine braking is not the primary tool used for slowing the

vehicle

here use the brakes but their use must be regulated should a wheel lock the brakes must be eased to allow the wheels to rotate so that steering control is maintained practice smooth and gentle use of the brakes engage hill descent control if you have it and try and keep the speed as constant as possible

on this descent left foot braking was also needed the left foot on the brake permitted the right foot to accelerate the vehicle over each pole constant brake pressure arrested the vehicles urge to run down the hill too fast

[Music] beautiful part of Namibia and we're about to tackle the infamous phone sales past in northern Kirkland and we're going to do it with an automatic transmission vehicle and we're going to find out a little bit more about how to take them down steep slips never been here before this should be quite

interesting okay we're going to go into low range and I've heard it's particularly steep in it into low automatic transmission lowest gear and this one I have a brake function which I have now engaged now break off and villarica now one of the things about automatic transmission is they tend to race the idea of try automatic

transmission is do you take your foot off the brake and you let it get to speed you let it settle on the speed that it will run on the transmission then you apply brake if you apply brake once it's running it will tend to surge more

just a few things to think about engage your air conditioning system only if it is the type that does not have a compensator and increase the engine revs if it does not do that it will actually absorb power from the engine and increase your engine braking do that with both manual and automatic

transmissions when you look at your line aim for it and stick with it the side where you're going to put your front wheel and don't let things change if you know where your front wheels are remember your back wheels will follow if you are doing what is straight

aha oh look here this is now can get very interesting now this is what I thought this is definitely break on very slow approach because a one slip and one can take out of this will give us

just a word on differential locks when going down steep hills don't lock your back differential tends to induce oversteer inside keep them unlocked well we made it we're at the top of fun cells past the lookout point I waited a long time to get here I've looked I looked forward to getting here for a long time

in front of us is the murray and flus there in northern Kirkland and what a Miss astonishing place well finally made it at the bottom of on sales pass and like all worthy travelers select a rock and we're on the travelers power you what a wonderful trial [Music] [Music] one of the most impressive examples of

the effectiveness of automatic transmission is driving on sand the same rules of sand driving apply but because auto transmissions can change down a gear in an instant excessive use of power can bring a vehicle to a halt very quickly

this shows a typical over energetic method of driving on sand where too much car creates handling difficulties when too much power is applied on the corner understeer results delay getting power until the vehicles

[Music] more vehicles are damaged driving in water than any other terrain so you can do it this way

all you can do it the proper safe way so the question is how deep can you wait I'll show you a very easy way of finding out well you need tape measure three meter one is fine and the vehicle and effectors handbook and you look in this find the maximum waiting dates then you

take your tape measure and you throw it away that's how deep you go remember vehicle's got electronics it doesn't matter if you've got a snorkel this high it's not going to change things you collect rice often underneath the seat you've got axle breeders gearbox breeze so take your vehicle into water at your own risk but if you do and

you have a problem and you ingest water this is what to do take out the spark plugs from the glow plugs jack up the back wheel and this and disengage the center differential rotate the wheel by hand by doing that in fourth gear rotate the engine there's no stress you can feel it the water will come out once

you've cleaned that articling out the air filter the turbo etc put it all back together again it's a nice safe way [Music] checking the depth by foot is the first thing you do when confronted by deep water take a long stick to steady yourself because in most cases you will not be able to see what you're walking

on

be sure that the depth will not exceed that recommended by your vehicle manufacturer and take into consideration with the firmness of the roadbed the speed at which the current is flowing and undulations all these can increase the depth dramatically [Music]

[Applause] slowly gently ease into the water the entry speed even in shallow water must be kept down momentum can only be gained after a bow wave has been created in front of the vehicle this is what most drivers do they rush in and huge amounts of energy is absorbed as the vehicle pushes a great weight of water in front

of it the splash not only Rob's momentum the turbulence can damage a vehicle and wet electrics can stall a petrol engine

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[Music] river beds are another terrain demanding special techniques and offer a workout for both drivers and crew made easier when the bed is dry most river beds are driven in low range first or second gear because the most common obstacles are hard unyielding rocks low speed maintaining perfect control is required

high water cans leave large stones on which to drive slower cars leave banks of silt often softly water long

notice where there are stones the tires sink little but where there are few stands deep silt collects when the water is flowing vehicles get damaged if driven anything about the slowest crawl

in a silted riverbed the only way to determine gear selection and speed is to walk at first this is first gear low ratio momentum gained before hitting the deep soft silt

[Music] that riverbed say well maybe not nice and hard would you drive on this look let's see a little bit of an indentation oh look what's happening there oh dear now I did a little test a minute ago to my horror found this this is treacherous bottomless stuff and the amazing thing about it is that it looks hard but it

isn't now if you look at the lie of the land you'll see here there's actually a trough now close to the rocks it will be slightly harder in the middle of the trough there's where water will remain for a while and silt gathers and it's these areas that are particularly dangerous if you're going to cross the riverbed cross

it at ninety degrees across the stone don't try and run a long next to the river because that is where the silt gathers and that is this kind of stuff this is this is somebody will look at the stuff and I was about to drive through this [Music] on a rocky riverbed building bridges and

ramps is often necessary let's watch as the experts do it

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[Music] one of the delights bush travel here we are in central Namibia on a rutted track trying to find our way to our camp for the night just a tip on this kind of driving through heavy bush thorn bush is that if you wanted to wind down the window don't take it all the way down

and specially don't put your elbow out because thorns can poke your eye out and that will really grab your attention the best place to do it is about there it prevents any danger to your eyes and it's safe and still gives you a fresh breeze

four-wheel drives are ideally suited to many outdoor lifestyles boating being a common one the NSRI has drawn up a sequence for successful boat launching after removing the trailers tail board and loosening the boats aft hold down points the bungs are secured next the motor tie downs are removed and the lowering mechanism checked next the fuel

is coupled equipment including adequate life preservers for everyone on board are loaded it is vital to check that the motors will start easily especially important in adverse weather conditions reverse the trailer down the ramp until the boat is ready to float then unclip the boats forward fastening and pull away from the trailer make sure that you

clear your vehicle and trailer well away from the ramp have you filed a cruise plan or told someone where you're going and your estimated time of return [Music]

pulling trailers is not very different from normal offer a driving when it comes to technique but when it comes to the vehicle's ability it can be severely taxed there are however some important points to consider the track of the vehicle's rear wheels is similar but not the same as that of the trailer the

longer the drawbar the more the trailer will tend to cut corners steep descents need to be taken with extra care make sure that no part of the trailer will strike the vehicle of these extreme angles listen closely and watch where the wheels are when the power is applied the front wheels have started the climb

that the rear wheels are on level ground enabling optimum traction at the point of the application of power

the additional drag and lower speeds especially in mud and sand mean that a lower gear ratio is often advised for most obstacles this is why rear axle diff locks are particularly helpful when pulling trailers over ground wear anything but the slowest crawl threatens to damage the trailer

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here we are than in the notorious cutta cutta sometimes one of my favorite places on earth driving on the pans is really rewarding it's also quite dangerous the reason for the danger is this underneath this seemingly safe surface is thick black cloying mud so bad that when once your vehicle is trapped you really have to do a hell

of a lot of work to get out the secret of pan driving is never to cross the middle of a pan never be tempted to take that shortcut the reason for it is simple along the edges of the pan surface has had time to dry out away from the edges where the water was

deeper during the rainy season obviously the water has taken longer to dry out now what happens is the surface becomes a almost a waterproof layer preventing further evaporation so you get a crust on top which looks firm but just underneath it is this terrible moment the secret is to stay near the edge two

basic reasons why it's drier and secondly if you get bogged down you can get an anchor from another vehicle close by he doesn't have to drive through the same same soft stuff and risk getting stuck let's go and take a drive [Music]

[Music] second gear high register of choice don't be too tempted to go into third I can easily drive under section and third I'm staying in second I'm keeping the ribs up if I start to sink I've got that power or you put your foot down if you start to sink on these pans you

short get as much power as you can obviously if you get a lot of wheelspin you can ease off a bit but keep the vehicle moving that's number one objective if you start getting softer [Music] so important advice we're driving on pants this scar tissue here on the surface is created by turning the

steering wheel too hard if the vehicle had been traveling straight we wouldn't have broken through that little bit of steering breaks through rule number one never ever play pancakes on a salt pan the vehicle will roll this happens to the outside wheels only and before unit or vehicles on its side [Music]

doesn't follow you enjoy them as much as you do [Music] we've just been filming how to not get stuck or how to avoid getting stuck on events go and look at this follow me John oh I must introduce you to Joe give me the camera this is this is Jacques he's helping me

get stuck come here you get into we've got stuck up we decided let's give it a go let's go to cook on your Island between all Kay's across there we're on our own surface is fine so we give it a go following all the rules I've just displayed to you and it gets a little

bit wet where we keep going and it gets a bit wit about one and a half players across it's pretty wet but we're still floating about two K's across we start sinking about three KS across we just by the skin of our teeth managed to get onto some TAS across as we get on to it

I think oh gee thank the Lord we made it guess what in the match I I didn't film it it is so hot out here I come back I'm like I think we should quit filming it's too hard don't take the risk two vehicles don't do what we just did we got out it took us about an hour and

a half because I've been in this situation before I know the tricks I know what not to do be careful about digging when you dig you disturb the soil in the vehicle sinks deeper you've got to find logs and pack them underneath the vehicle balloon Japs Jax don't work you've got to have a high

lift Jack to get the vehicle up experiences but don't take sunglasses hats sunblock if you do get caught out here have a hell of a lot of water in the vehicle and don't danger on the way around these pans has lots of brass you get it packed in your radiator and when you're starting across this pan you're

using every bit of power that motor has to get across you overheat so rapidly we had a better grasp on the radiator and we clean out the radiator between there and here the thing went straight into the redline and that's with a clean radiator that's how hard vehicles work when they're when they're driving across

player pads let's get out

you

boy what a day for a drive oh yes salute

no I need now is a good trail book to read to find out exactly how lost we are look we've been watched okay see there's people watching television over there what's the first amout of them no no look at them whole bunch of them granny holily and sitting on chairs looking at the screen did you enjoy that then

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