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After perusing the available and most current videos of the Bradshaw Trail, and seeing how many TC’s are signed up for that part of the Rally, I feel moved to offer a checklist of equipment that could save you a lot of grief. With the risk of telling you what you already know, I apologize in advance. My experience comes from a long life of hard core jeeping and rock crawling; eventually aging out to a truck camper as our camping rig, but keeping the off-road techniques alive.
Taking a TC on soft sand requires that you reduce the pressure in all of your tires for floatation.
My numbers fit my 11 inch wide tires and my 10,600 pound GVW. YMMV. The numbers:
hard dirt roads: 32-34 pounds. softer, sandier roads: 26-28 pounds.
the softest blow sand: 24 pounds. Going up sand dunes: 18-20 pounds.
Tires are made a lot better and can take a beating much better than even 20 years ago. You don’t need a winch or lockers all around on sand unless you hit the mogols going uphill; then they will come in handy. Just lowered pressure is most of the ball game.
1. Install at least one anchor point each on the front and rear of your truck. These need to be up for the task if you sink into the sandy abyss.
2. Purchase a quality 12v air compressor with a high duty cycle to air your tires back up once you hit pavement. If you pay at least $300 for one, you are in the ballpark. Failing this, I’ve used a 30 pound CO2 tank for years for long trips, airing up and down every day, like at Moab. The tank will air up even truck tires about 32 tires worth. CO2 tanks use special hardware and gauges that won’t freeze up or crack when frozen, so don’t even consider using regular hardware and hoses.
3. Be sure to have a few, yes several quality tire pressure gauges in the correct range for you tires. These are notoriously fickle with every one showing a different reading. If you have duals, be sure to have the gauge with a long and reverse snout and be prepared for the siege.
4. Buy 4 pressure release, screw on valve core removers. Some even have an adjustable limiter to automatically set the same lowered pressure on each tire.
5. Buy a Safety Seal on-tire repair kit. I’ve used mine over and over (over 50 plugs) plugging gaping holes caused by those pesky sharp rocks in sidewalls and tread alike. The secret is the glue they use for those plugs.
6. Have a 4 inch, 20-30K pound tow strap; a couple large “D” rings, aka shackles; and maybe a short tree saver on hand. I usually take a “Cat Choker” along that will lasso just about any body or frame part for extraction.
7. A jack board: 2-one foot square, 3/4 inch plywood plates screwed and glued together to support a jack that will fit under the axle on the side with a flat tire. Mine’s a squat 12 ton hydraulic. In the jeeping days, i would also take a 2-ton scissor jack along.
8. Farm jacks, aka hi-lift jacks are approaching worthless with a truck camper.
9. Luckily, you will have a lot of compadres along to help you navigate, spot, and get you through the narrow, the steep, the off-camber and the bottomless.
If you chose to ignore all this free advice, (you get what you paid for) it will just be a longer day for you, but a memorable one.
jefe2020 Ford F-350 XLT FX4 4WD SRW SB SC 7.3L Godzilla Gas TorqShift 10R140 397 amps dual Alt dual batts Frnt Dana 60; Rr Dana M275 E-locker 4.30's 4580/4320/4066# payload 7243# curb wt. 11,300# GVWR 5-er prepped. 2020 Northstar Laredo SC, 12v compressor fridge, cassette, 320w Solar sub zero insulation.
Jay, yes it is. Google the Bradshaw Trail to get the lay of the land, and be sure to watch some of those vids on youtube. The trail changes after every year of big precip. One that i viewed was after a chunk of the canyon wall caved in blocking the ingress and the rigs had to go up and down a steep hogback to get around the obstacle. This was only a few years ago.
2020 Ford F-350 XLT FX4 4WD SRW SB SC 7.3L Godzilla Gas TorqShift 10R140 397 amps dual Alt dual batts Frnt Dana 60; Rr Dana M275 E-locker 4.30's 4580/4320/4066# payload 7243# curb wt. 11,300# GVWR 5-er prepped. 2020 Northstar Laredo SC, 12v compressor fridge, cassette, 320w Solar sub zero insulation.
Good advice, Jeff. We appreciate you posting this for those participating in the rally run. Its also good advice in general. FYI, I have a Warn 16.5ti winch and traction boards in case they’re needed. Alex B. will also be driving the road beforehand to get the very latest on the condition of the road.
One last thing I forgot to mention above.
If you have narrow sidewall 19.5 tires and wheels, there is no good way to air down for sand. Sand running with a 5 ton rig requires a lot of sidewall for deflating. If you are planning to attempt the Bradshaw anyway, be sure to have sturdy hooks or loops on both ends of the truck and a short handled shovel. The truck in front of you can pull you forward; and the truck behind you can pull you out by the rear loop.
Loops can be had to go right into your Class V hitch on the rear.
What about sand ramps? I”ve always thought that the ramps are just a crutch for lack of floatation on sand. I bought a set to help me level the truck ( I stacked them to gain elevation on one side) on our Elephant Hill attempt last spring, and they did help us get the side dragging camper away from the wall enough to back out. The ramps were pretty much wasted on that one move over undulating sandstone. they do come in a nice nylon zippered bag. I don’t see any out there that are geared for the amount of weight we put on each wheel.2020 Ford F-350 XLT FX4 4WD SRW SB SC 7.3L Godzilla Gas TorqShift 10R140 397 amps dual Alt dual batts Frnt Dana 60; Rr Dana M275 E-locker 4.30's 4580/4320/4066# payload 7243# curb wt. 11,300# GVWR 5-er prepped. 2020 Northstar Laredo SC, 12v compressor fridge, cassette, 320w Solar sub zero insulation.
Good advice from Jeff, it’s been several years since I was last on the Bradshaw Trail. Soft sand is going to be encounter along this trail and at least we won’t have to be concern about any over head objects or tight spots. The only place I can recall that had any decline was in and out of the river bed near the trail trestle. looking towards seeing everybody at the rally!
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