[Samba]

Many vehicle owners these days are taking their cars out for vacations to destinations that are beyond the beaten tracks. Thanks to the new good roads and highways and increased connectivity, this is now more and more possible and the preference for taking one's own vehicle is becoming more common for the sheer pleasure of driving.

However, beyond the regular Shimla, Manali, Darjeeling, Gangtok, Jaipur of the world, there are a lot of offbeat destinations where we want to drive down for the first time, but we are not sure as solo travellers, lest "something" should go wrong.

Ever wondered what that "something" could be? Is it the vehicle, or is it our fear of getting stuck in an unknown place in an inopportune situation?

This is not meant to be an offroading thread, it is rather a thread on how one can use one's knowledge of their own cars, and their own driving prowess for navigating through offbeat destinations.

So is it a 4x4 vehicle that gets you through?
Now in an affordable range there are many 4x4 vehicles available, which can ferry a small family comfortably. But there are terrains where a 4x2 will also go with equal ease.

There are also many expedition teams who take people for self drive to off-beat places. If a person has not much prior experience of off-road trails, these guided expedition teams are a good way to experience the not-so-regular terrains.

Few people have adventure-ready vehicles equipped with things like off-road tyres, high lift jack, winch, sand ladder, shovel, snorkel and many more. And they mostly know when to use these appropriately.

There are people who want to venture solo, or many people venture with their 2WD cars.

But that fear of "something" may be a situation where one is stuck in an isolated area, where there is no network in the phone to call for help.

On the other hand when a not so equipped driver visits a place in a stock car, they may not be that prepared to take on a tricky situation. Plus carrying too many extra gears for the car will not leave enough space to pack your own luggage!

Is a 4x4 or SUV mandatory to take on bad roads? Not always! Even sedans and hatchbacks can negotiate bad roads if driven in the right way.

It is important to understand the limitation of your vehicle before venturing.

So let us have a small discussion in regards to travelling on the roads less traveled! Again a simple normal tar road can get tricky if it snows, rains or after a landslide!

Now OTRs and off-road clubs are getting popular day by day.

I believe that in most cases the cars are more capable than their drivers, primarily because we do not spend time to know our cars and stretch them to their threshold. It is important to stretch one's driving capabilities and one's vehicle in a measured way in a more controlled environment so that both our driving skills and our knowledge of our vehicles come handy in real life situations.

My suggestion will be, if you are into solo touring, and even if you do not own a 4x4, still sign up for OTRs to gain experience.
Drive a car in the OTR, and if it gets stuck, there is ample instant help available.

Knowing this, will give you the comfort of also making an attempt of trying to recover the vehicle by yourself - which is extremely important.

There are loads of self-recovery tactics, and those videos are hugely available on YouTube. I will share few links in this thread. One can learn from them and practice.

The below pics of my Duster and Etios are from OTRs, just to see the limitation of the vehicles & its driver. Now I know how much water the Duster can handle or how much slush the Etios can handle!



On the first attempt the Etios was stuck in slush when I attempted to drive slowly and the car had to be towed out. In the 2nd attempt I used momentum and was able to come out from the same slush.



I have a couple of experiences where self-recovery techniques came in handy. One was with a Ecosport stuck on loose gravels in a water crossing and the other one was with the Duster AWD stuck on a sea beach.

To take the Duster out, I had to rock the vehicle, lower the tyre psi, place floor mats and wooden logs to gain traction and take the vehicle out.





For the Ecosport rocking the vehicle helped with slow release of clutch and by minimum usage of the accelerator. The front left wheel actually got bogged inside the loose gravels. It went in till the rim and the wheel was loosing traction.

[Samba]

I will share my own experience

Know your car well!

You should know the underbelly of your car like the back of your hand. If your car does not have an underbelly protection then knowing the location of the important components like the sump, oil filter, gear box, silencer box, catalytic converter, differential, the lowest point of your car etc. is even more important.

While attempting a water crossing, know the placement of the air intake pipe, whether the ecu is water proof or not, knowing these are important.

The essential items to carry while travelling to offbeat places

1. Toolkit.
2. Tow rope and shackles.
3. Tyre inflator
4. An extra tube
5. Jumpstart cable
6. Extra fuse
7. Few spares (Most cars have their own weak point, identify that and be prepared for that.)
8. Extra mats
9. A small shovel
10. One 20L jerry can
11. Zip ties
12. Snow chain/Nylon ropes.

All the above hardly require one duffle bag.

Now, coming to places like Ladakh/Spiti they are no more off-beat destinations. There are ample of help available everywhere. But then there is always that off-beat place which one can opt to explore.

Common places where our cars may get stuck

1. Water logged roads or water crossings
2. Inclines with less traction
3. Snow
4. Slush
5. Sand

Now many cars come with terrain mode. They have special modes like snow/slush/ rock/ sand.

These work in tandem with the traction control. The traction control detects the wheel spin and the Ecu controls the power supply accordingly.

But many cars do not have these modes, but they only have a traction control.

Traction control can be helpful and not helpful both. If the traction control cuts the power where I can take the car out even with the wheel spin, I switch off the traction control. The decision has to be taken on the spot.

Water logged street/ Water crossing-

Try not to be the first vehicle. Let another vehicle pass, gauge the depth and the path and then venture. If no one is in the vicinity, get down from the car and walk. Then decide whether to venture or not. If you venture then identify the track first & then take your car. Hidden boulders inside the water can be dangerous. It is always best to have a spotter who can get down from the car and guide you.

I know where the air-intake pipe in my car is located, so I make sure the water level is at-least a feet below the air-intake pipe & drive as slow as possible to not form a high wave. If a vehicle is coming from the opposite direction, it's best to wait until it passes by so I do not have to face the wave created by that car.
Still in-case your luck runs out and you stall the car, do not crank it inside the water.

Taking few water crossings with my Duster and Etios. Slow, but steady is the key.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUS2mNAehcg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPvGjOetL3Q

Inclines with less traction

Lower the PSI. At few places the car can crawl slowly, whereas in few places it requires momentum. It is important to take the right decision. My first approach is always slow, and if required, I increase the throttle. There is no shame in failing in the first attempt. Infact that can give you a better idea of the obstacle on where you went wrong. In such scenarios I put the traction control off.

Here the traction control will cut the power as soon as the car detects a wheel-spin, so with the TC off I could throttle it out.

An AWD or a WD generally manages to take such inclines. FWD cars suffer a lot on inclines with loose gravels. The front wheels struggle to gain traction. Sometimes taking the car in reverse helps. It will push the car instead of pulling. RWDs perform better than FWDs in such a scenario.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3y7SQpUO3g

Snow

I will prefer a FWD over a RWD.
An AWD over a FWD
&
a vehicle with a low range gear box over an AWD!

Do not hesitate to put on your snow chains if you are driving on the snow. If you do not have one, tie the nylon ropes. On a slippery surface, always try to send less power to the wheel, in 1st gear there will be more wheel spin than 2nd or 3rd. There is no heroism on driving in 2wd mode. If you have a 4wd, engage it in a tricky situations and be safe. Always engage the 4wd before entering the tricky part. Once you get stuck things get more difficult.

On snow I just engage a gear and most of the time I leave all the three pedals and tap the accelerator when required. The lesser the braking the more the better.

If required, the tyre pressure can be reduced, but avoid reducing tyre pressure on black ice.

If stuck, shovel and floor mats come handy with reduced tyre psi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj1DuDA9K2w

Slush

Slush is always tricky. I fear slush the most. After driving for a small distance the tyre treads get filled with muck and they start to loose traction. If the car refuse to move ahead, I instantly reverse the car without trying to go ahead. The more I press the accelerator the more the car will dig in. Rocking the car helps.

My preferred gear in 2wd/Awd vehicle is 2nd, and if required 1st.
With a 4wd I generally prefer 4H over 4L.

Reducing the tyre pressure helps too.

There were instances where I cleaned the tyre treads to gain traction. But that was a failed attempt. So am not sure whether it can help or not.

A self recovery try from my end. If I wanted, the car could have been towed out in a minute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XyzjhjxXnE

Negotiating slush & boulders in low GC vehicles like Etios & Punto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YcCd9PI9Wo

Do note, how the local vehicles are taking it slowly, just before the Punto's attempt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwxScRuGlVA

In this scenario the momentum was necessary, else the car will get stuck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCvreS6Ijo4

Sand

Driving on loose sand is very tricky too, but thankfully we do not have to drive much on sand. But in Ladakh region there are instances where due to heavy wind the road get covered by sand.

First thing I do is, I reduce the tyre pressure to 15 PSI. Please check your tyre ratings before doing so. In some cases if the tyre pressure is reduced too much, the tyre can come off from the rim.
The throttle input should be precise. Enough power to move the car ahead, but you need to make sure the wheels are not spinning and digging in. My preferred gear in 2wd/Awd vehicle is 2nd/3rd and only if necessary then 1st.
With a 4wd I generally prefer 4H over 4L.

If the car gets stuck. I dig out the sand from the stuck tyre, put a rubber mat below the car. Then I rock the car front and back with little accelerator input and once the space is made, I take the car out with a bit of momentum.
A nice video of self recovery on sand-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXmTtMGW_mY

Clearance in the underbelly of the car-

This is a very important aspect. I always ask someone to check the underbelly clearance and then I take the vehicle slowly. Once it refuses to move forward, it is important to check the clearance again. I have personal experience of breaking the front bumper clips of my friends car by trying to rock and reverse it out, when the car was stuck in sand.
Plus self recovery is possible till all the four wheels are on ground. If due to lack of clearance the car gets beached & the wheels are on air, self recovery will be much more difficult or not at-all possible.
Even on loose sand or slush or snow, if one accelerates a lot and digs in, the car will get beached. So never accelerate hard once the wheels start to dig in.

Rocks & boulders are the most dangerous. one mistake can damage important components of the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT7udUa5HVA

To sum it up, few things which help are-

Patience, keeping the cool, do not panic, survey the road or no road.

While taking on these adventurous drives, we often forget where to stop. There is a thin line between being stupid and being skillful. For example, I will take a calculated risk during the day time, but not during the night. I always turn back if I am not confident to venture. If I am not confident, I will only venture, if I have a backup.

There is no end to learning. The more you experience, the more you learn.

Will like to read and learn from the experiences of the other members as well.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Jaggu]

Excellent tips and thread! You have pretty much covered the points there. Few things that I felt needed highlight:

- The most important thing and tip to remember is "get down and walk first" as much as possible. This will give you a good idea of the conditions, what to expect, some idea of line to take, what technique and most importantly WHAT NOT TO DO.

- For slippery surface be it mud, sand or snow, air down does help. But remember unlike SUV tyres, road tyres that come in cars have softer sidewall which can be prone to cuts as well as coming off the rim if you air down too much. Yes once stuck, most often that would be the only option that can really help.

- Always have someone outside to watch and warn you in really tricky bits, it is easy to dig yourself to very complicated recovery and expensive repairs if one just sits inside and do things.

- It is better to loose that ego and call out for help when things go bad, than to really push yourself further.

- Water is the last thing that you need in a vehicle component. Avoid it as much as possible, car may come out of situations but the damage it will cause and slow death that follows is BIG with water (water in connectors, in oil, brake fluid, bearings et all). Always do a complete check up if you have been in a situation where water was involved.

[Chhanda Das]

Oh, this brings back a lot of memories where we had to move our stuck Landmaster and 1986 Ambassador Mark 4, both RWD with 4x2, from slush rivers masquerading as roads in the nooks and crannies of North East India. We used to carry rough cut wooden planks in the dicky/boot instead of logs. Also, since we didn't have access to portable tyre inflators then, we used to carry a rubber gas tube contraption to inflate the tyres with the help of the exhaust gases We also used to cover the dynamo (yes dynamo not alternator for the newbies here) with plastic packets to keep it dry when driving through rivers. We would often return home looking as if we had been crawling through mud. Taking a bath after a drive was almost mandatory

[Roy.S]

Originally Posted by Samba

A self recovery try from my end. If I wanted, the car could have been towed out in a minute.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=9XyzjhjxXnE

The Jimny and your recovery skills were impressive. The gent asking "cigarette achay" is one of the most Bong things ever.

[Mile_Breaker]

Excellent write up Samba! This is like "Recovery made easy" type notes. Print and keep it handy and look it up when in a dire situation. But you are absolutely right to say we need to know the limit of the car we own and drive. Mostly we do not. We just drive till we get stuck and then make frantic calls for help. Knowing the limits would give more confidence to the driver to venture out in odd places.

[GhostRider28]

Originally Posted by Samba

While taking on these adventurous drives, we often forget where to stop. There is a thin line between being stupid and being skillful. For example, I will take a calculated risk during the day time, but not during the night. I always turn back if I am not confident to venture. If I am not confident, I will only venture, if I have a backup.

Nice summary of an interesting and informative thread. Must read for the enthusiastic amateur, especially since capable 4wd/AWDs are now within the reach a lot of people.

For most amateurs, technical knowhow will not come easily; for example, few would know the weak exposed areas of the underbelly. Attaining skill also will take time for most people. Having the right gears does help - right tyres, underbelly and radiator protection, avoiding water wading and black ice as much as possible are some of the key highlights for me. Thanks for sharing in the thread.

Participating in OTRs is a great tip. It really allows one to know the capabilities and limits of the car and boost her/his skills. It has helped me a lot.

[DogNDamsel12]

Samba, this is a very good thread!! This is the starting point of testing terrains. You have aptly summarised that starting point. Once, one starts to deviate from the highways, there is so much to learn about our own vehicles and also about our own driving skills.

Having the opportunity to learn from some really passionate offroaders, I have learnt many new things over the last few years. Especially sitting next to you at the copilot's and thanks to our trips, and your unconventional detours that inevitably put me in a situation of gaining a lot of understanding from practical exposure and experience.

Here are some of my learnings!

Waterlogging & wading

When I started driving my WagonR back in 2008, Delhi had a huge problem of waterlogging. So many times there was a queue of stalled cars. I had learnt to drive on my WagonR itself that year from a gentleman in Maruti, and I referred back to him as to how to avoid this situation. He was kind enough to show me the position of the air intake pipe, how to gauge water from the wheel of other cars, how to avoid stopping the car altogether and starting it in water and instead crawling the car out.

Also, I was asked to keep the AC off so that the radiator fan does not spill any water into the engine bay accidentally.

Slush

Vikram from ORAZ, Gurgaon sat next to me and taught me how to feel the throttle in my car, where to place the wheel in slush, how much speed to carry, how a 3rd gear was more helpful than a 2nd gear where you tend to send more power to the stuck wheel and dig a hole. He gave me a first hand experience of rocking a car back and forth to create some space for the car to move out of a situation, and also that when you get into a murky situation, you can sometimes back out on the same track. All of this was on my Polo MPI 1.2 2018.

Inclines and OTRs

While I used to go watch the ORAZ OTRs quite often, I really got hands-on at the KO OTRs with the old jeeps. UBS Sir and Ade and others at KO are so hands on. Even observing some of the 4x4s being able to or not being able to take a hurdle at the first go. I think this is where you drilled home the point of accurate throttle.

UBS Sir has said so many times no clutch, no brake, no accelerator on a down slope, and take the incline straight. Same for up slope, where one is supposed to apply appropriate throttle, else sometimes tracks if they are sandy, even a heavier vehicle will go an dig up the track and would get beached. I have seen cars being taken down on back gears.

I was taught where exactly to go full throttle right before taking on an incline on the way up!

All of this experience, has been real unlearning and relearning for a person used to smooth high-speed North Indian highways.

I'm also sharing a video from your YouTube channel on that is on-your-point.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tIhtptkMY9o

Again, on knowledge of the gears to use for self-recovery, some simple tips such as when we use tow ropes for safety, we cover them with floor mats, so that if the rope snaps, they don't fly off in different directions and become accidental/fatal hazards for people and vehicles around.

On actual hills and driving the Duster vs driving the Polo

This has been the toughest over our last few trips. From driving a VW Polo that I was happy shifting gears of to match the speed rush, switching to a Duster with a heavier steering and more power that took on inclines with finesse and didn't require shifting and from a tough taskmaster sitting next to me, I was literally never cut any slack for errors. This meant learning to take curves at an accurate gear, applying accurate throttle and matching revvs without a noise - damn my years of driving experience and any iota of ego that I had was pushed off the edge

Here, I have always been made aware of how to preempt an incoming vehicle from the other side, especially a biker who may be using the road bank to take on a curve, so at what point I should be getting onto my side of the road before it is too late!

I have seen you drive to Dzongu, especially the last stretch that even the hoteliers told us that a vehicle that is not 4x4 won't make it. But you did take the Duster up on 2WD itself, and all along you said let's see, if we can't, we will apply 4WD. Later, the next day you had applied the 4WD, coz we were driving in the night. Again the point that I am making is you knowing the Duster like the "back of your hand." The carefully applied throttle was commendable. A very similar experience was at the waterfall at Dzongu. Most importantly, it is never an act of bravado or ego, I have heard you discuss and explain the possible pain points and walk the area when required. So I know that you are calculating the risks. And I have learnt from observing and being included.

Snow

Albeit, I have driven really less on snow, but the little that I did get to drive during our Spiti trip was fun learning!

Suffice for me to say here that before we took the cars to the wayside onto inches of snow for those photos, you made me walk over to the side and feel the hard ground beneath the snow with my boots. Again a lesson that has sat with me now and forever. There was a running commentary on black ice, and sleet and road. Feeling constantly what is there under the tyre, where the tyres are trying to glide and slide a bit more than on regular roads, is now becoming a habit for me. (Only hope that you will let me drive a bit more without being such a painful neighbour )

But so many times I have seen you get down from the car and walk the path, check out the incline before you actually took on a path - a terrific practice that has been followed without exception when there is even an iota of doubt.

Me driving on the road to Losar from Rangrik

https://youtu.be/paLXwBhZOi8?si=B7xNXjkDwHLnFcqg

Closing note

I deviated slightly from the topic of self-recovery but I wanted to embellish the essential underlying points of your thread with the experiences that I have personally had.

Some additional videos that I wanted to add:

1. This video from Prashant Adventures - a superb terrain driver and YouTuber (not sure if he is on Team BHP) on starting a vehicle at -20
   

   https://youtu.be/Jtpb_7cwcxc?si=IUGbhUvhGK7jF4ur

   
   
2. This video on 5 things you should not do with a 4x4

   https://youtu.be/4-Wy5ENm_lM?si=HWxyj36tb0xbpzB4

Again, thanks for such an enriching conversation starter. Hope to hear from other experienced BHPians as well.

[Neurodoc]

Hello,
Please advise self recovery in below situations as i have faced it or seen my friends facing it, not typical off road but some misjudgments.
1) Front wheel of one side gone into manhole, how to self recover? Should we use jack or reverse car or go front.

2) Back Side wheels gone into manhole or below the edge of the road and underbelly touching the ground? We accidentally reversed vehicle in similar situation during early days of driving.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Excellent tips and thread! You have pretty much covered the points there. Few things that I felt needed highlight:

Thanks for adding these super helpful pointers.

Originally Posted by Roy.S

The Jimny and your recovery skills were impressive. The gent asking "cigarette achay" is one of the most Bong things ever.

Thanks, that was our very own DBhpian SS-Traveller.

Originally Posted by Mile_Breaker

Excellent write up Samba! This is like "Recovery made easy" type notes. Print and keep it handy and look it up when in a dire situation.

Thanks a ton. Even if this thread helps a single person, I will be happy.

Originally Posted by GhostRider28

Nice summary of an interesting and informative thread. Must read for the enthusiastic amateur, especially since capable 4wd/AWDs are now within the reach a lot of people.

Thanks. You summed it up perfectly.

Originally Posted by DogNDamsel12

Samba, this is a very good thread!! This is the starting point of testing terrains. You have aptly summarised that starting point. Once, one starts to deviate from the highways, there is so much to learn about our own vehicles and also about our own driving skills.

Thanks and this indeed is an exhaustive reply sharing your own experience. Am sure your post will be helpful to others. Some points I missed mentioning in my post has been covered by you.

Originally Posted by Neurodoc

Hello,
Please advise self recovery in below situations as i have faced it or seen my friends facing it, not typical off road but some misjudgments.
1) Front wheel of one side gone into manhole, how to self recover? Should we use jack or reverse car or go front.

2) Back Side wheels gone into manhole or below the edge of the road and underbelly touching the ground? We accidentally reversed vehicle in similar situation during early days of driving.

Firstly make sure you do not burn the clutch in attempt to try self-recovery.

Firstly get down from the car and inspect.

Check out which portion of the body has touched the ground. Accordingly decide, whether you need to go in front or reverse it out. In which direction you need to turn the steering is an important aspect too.
If the front bumper is stuck and you reverse the car, you may break the front bumper, if the rear bumper is stuck and you go in front, you may break the rear bumper. Always take the car in the direction where the resistance will be least.

The wheel which went into the pothole is ideally stuck, in that scenario the wheel diagonal to it will be on air or will have less traction.

Things will be different for RWD/FWD/4wd.

4wd

In case of a 4wd engage the 4H or 4L, the car will come out. Even in case, if the wheel spins use the BLD/BTC or the Diff locks.

RWD/FWD

Placing a stock jack in a monocoque body wont be easy, as the running panel will be very near to the ground and you wont get that required space. In this case a bigger hydraulic jack with wheels can be helpful, which can lift the car up from the front or rear.
For the body on frame cars, you can mount the jack below the suspension and lift the car. Once the wheel is lifted up, put something like a wooden flank or similar below the wheel and take the car out.

If putting the jack is not a provision, identify the free spinning wheel. You need to add more traction to that wheel. For that you can add weight to that side of the car by asking a couple of person to seat on that side. Plus try to add something below that wheel to add more traction. eg brick or something similar. When you rev, make sure no one is around, as that loose object placed below the wheel can slip out and injure others.
In a body on frame suv, people can stand on the foot board to add some weight. Always note that, in such cases handling a monocoque has to be much more delicate than a body on frame car. Plus the body on frame cars have better articulation, so the chances of self recovery is higher.

Try these, but do not try much if the car is royally stuck. Please make sure, you do not damage the car to try self-recovery. Even if you can smell the burning rubbers due to wheel spin, I will suggest not to try much. Ask for help.

Lastly, now a days many cars do not come with the towing hook in the rear, recovering those cars in such scenario will be much more difficult.

Originally Posted by Chhanda Das

We also used to cover the dynamo (yes dynamo not alternator for the newbies here) with plastic packets to keep it dry when driving through rivers.

Old cars were less reliable, but much easier to fix. No ecu or electronics, and the mechanicals were simple. Instead of warning lamps, there were proper amp meter, heat meter, etc which used to show us the real time data. In our modern cars you need to put an OBD scanner to get the real time data.

And to add to your post, if water enters through the distributor cap, you need to wait till it dries up, else the car would refuse to start!
Plus the cars which used to run regularly on higher altitudes used to have a slightly bigger number carburetor jet! It had it's own advantages and disadvantages.

[Chhanda Das]

Originally Posted by Samba

Old cars were less reliable, but much easier to fix. In our modern cars you need to put an OBD scanner to get the real time data.

I couldn't agree more about your statement regarding older cars. For example, the fuel filter in my 1986 Ambassador could be removed, cleaned and reinstalled in less than two minutes but required frequent cleaning as early as every 1200 kilometres or less.

And yes, you are absolutely correct about the scanner in modern cars too. Here is the one in my FWD first generation 1.6 petrol AT Creta in the following link :-

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...ml#post5205818 (DIY : Viewing fuel efficiency figures in the 1st-gen Hyundai Creta)

Speaking of my Creta, here is a video showing some very mild offroading in it in Achipur at the erstwhile East India Company's gunpowder house near Kolkata with our car getting stuck at one point initially due to the improper initial assessment of the breakover angle by my son with a very limited time period for turning the car into a narrow road. The lack of proper traction on the grass didn't help either :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTcoXWgy180

Originally Posted by Samba

... if water enters through the distributor cap, you need to wait till it dries up, else the car would refuse to start!
Plus the cars which used to run regularly on higher altitudes used to have a slightly bigger number carburetor jet!

Indeed yes but my Ambassador had the stock jet and I never even considered upgrading it.

[Sandman689]

I think you've thoroughly covered almost every aspect. If I were a newbie, this would instill in me with enough confidence to handle most if not all situations.

Originally Posted by Samba

Know your car well!

I would say that this is very underrated point. A lot of obstacles can look more difficult that they actually are. There have been times where I have carried momentum (sometimes too much) upon seeing the vehicle in front struggling. But later in my second attempt, I realize that I can idle through it.

It's a good idea to take input from senior members, only the owner know how their vehicle will respond to the terrain. Especially when it comes to clearance.


In my (albeit little)experience, tyre pressures have had the most impact in terms of traction. Be it sand, slippery rocks or mud, lowering just 5psi has allowed me to gain a lot of traction.

Last but not least, as stated by many experienced people here, it's totally fine to fail and get your vehicle stuck! Part of the fun.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Chhanda Das

our car getting stuck at one point initially due to the improper initial assessment of the breakover angle

If interested, you and your son can join us for our off-road events around Kolkata.

This indeed is a very important point you have raised.

Let me share few points from our OTR lessons on what we do in such scenarios-

1) Get down from the car and judge the obstacle.
2) Take the car slowly and ask the spotter to check the underbelly clearance.
3) The thumb rule is to take a slope at 90 degree, but in some cases we can't do that due to the limited break-over angle.
4) In those cases we take the car with an angle approach, which is actually risky and best to be avoided if possible.
5) Turning the steering and letting the wheel roll towards the direction where the car is tilted is very important, else the car might roll over.
6) Braking should be done very carefully.
7) In this scenario one wheel might go up in the air, but that is nothing to worry about if the steering and accelerator input is correct.

Sharing a video of a similar case. You can view from the 1 min mark. Here my left rear wheel was on air when I took the obstacle in an angular approach. Due to the lesser break-over angle of the Duster, I had to take it in an angular way. And on the other obstacles where the break-over angle was not a challenge, my approach was straight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F7Z7eClMe4

Originally Posted by Sandman689

I would say that this is very underrated point. A lot of obstacles can look more difficult that they actually are. There have been times where I have carried momentum (sometimes too much) upon seeing the vehicle in front struggling. But later in my second attempt, I realize that I can idle through it.

Thanks Sany.
What I feel is, my two best friends in an offroad trail are- traction and ground clearance!

[soumiksett]

Excellent blog. Read every point line by line, came to know many unknown facts.

"Know the limitation of your car" - this is the most important point for all of us who travel by own car in the beaches, forests, hills and other various places.

I appreciate the efforts given by Samba, who took the pain to accumulate all the points and to present here in the form of a blog. The total blog is an excellent learning guide for me.

Thanks a lot to Samba for sharing this wonderful blog.