off road

off-road vehicles

Off Road Truck Driving Techniques and Safety

Responsible 4-wheeling is about finesse.

Driving diagonally = Rollover.

Always drive straight down hills or steep terrain. Know your approach and departure angles, the bumper to tire distance. Some off road trails will require off-camber driving. Trucks will tend to slide sideways before rolling over the tires will slip sideways a little.

Reducing tire pressure will increase traction on gravel and sand. For most 4-wheeling purposes, a tire pressure of 18 to 20psi will be adequate. Highway pressure is another consideration altogether. The tire is marked on the side, i.e., 50psi at 3300 pounds. Depending on the weight of the loaded vehicle and the size of tire, a tire pressure of between 28 and 35psi works in most on-highway applications.

Dropping the tire into a ditch or crack in a rock can put you and your truck in a vulnerable position. Sometimes the vehicle pitches and one or more tires will catch air. Turn the vehicle at an angle to facilitate the one tire at a time approach. Be careful not to allow one of the front tires and one of the rear tires to get in the ditch at the same time.

One of the most crucial aspects to off road understands the absolute importance of tire pressure. Among the most pertinent tire pressure considerations in regards to summer off road is utilizing optimum sand tire pressure. Optimum sand tire pressure is a combination of many things, of which truck-owners myths are least productive. However, your tires, their construction methods and materials, what your car weighs, how it is loaded, and wheel width, all play into the sand-pressure tire formula with predictable results.

For those who say skinny, hard tires are better for snow, mud or whatever, please tell me why they don’t use ten-speed bicycle-type tires on snowmobiles? Sand rail people and mud buggers know big feet work better as well.

The choice of tread pattern, otherwise known as your tires footprint, is extremely important to consider during your new tire decision making process, and especially so if you are fitting your truck for an off-road adventure. The most popular tread pattern for all around off-road use is a mud terrain pattern.

The mud terrain or mud tire pattern is characterized by large lugs on the tire with big voids between these lugs. The large lugs provide plenty of bite in low traction conditions while the big voids allow the tire to clean itself by throwing off mud or other material when spinning, thus providing a good bite on every rotation of the tire. These tires are also very popular for rock crawling as the large lugs can provide a way of gripping and pulling the tires up and over irregular rocky edges where a smoother pattern would just spin.

The general purpose all terrain tire generally has an interlocked tread pattern with sipping (small cuts) on the tread blocks. The voids in these tires are usually much smaller than those on tires designed for use in the mud. The denser pattern of blocks and smaller voids make these tires quieter on the street. It also increases the surface area of the tread which gives the tire improved flotation on surfaces such as light powdery snow or sand.

A variety of manufacturers also offer a family of tires sometimes called trail tires or some similar name.

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