Off-roading in sand with a w124

[JordaanDMC-12]

So a friend and I drove down to Amboy crater on Tuesday which is an extinct volcano out in the middle of the desert that you can hike up to and into which is really cool.

So we took my 300E, drove over there in the morning and went on the hike which was great, when we got back to the parking lot, we decided to take some pictures of the car with the volcano in the background and drove her out on the sand, she did excellent and I felt pretty confident because things were going well! We finished taking pictures and as I continued to rally it up, I slowed down because I thought I saw a large rock up ahead, the car came to pretty much a stop and when I hit that accelerator pedal, all you heard was the gravel but there was no motion, my friend shot me a look like O_O and I hit the accelerator again and all you could hear was it just digging in deeper.

We got out and saw the right rear wheel digging into the sand, not too bad, but it was in there. I prepared for this because I knew we'd be in the desert, so I put some rubber mats in the trunk and I have a folding shovel I keep in the car 24/7. So we put the mats in front of the wheels and got some lava rocks and put them in front of the wheel, we were like "no problem, we'll be out in no time" well when we tried moving forward it just shot out all the rocks and scrunched up the mat so we were like "okay, so plan b". So we jacked up the car and lifted the wheel off the ground, put the mat and rocks under the wheel to which at this point, we noticed only the wheel with no traction was spinning and the other, apparently had traction wasn't doing anything, which had us scratching our heads like "what the hell??" We lowered the car back down, no reason why this shouldn't work, right? Went on the accelerator and out shot the rocks again, all the while, the wheel is digging further into the sand. The pressure was on because the sun was starting to set, I knew if absolute worst came to worst, I could call AAA or a family member and have them pull us out, but we were out in the middle of nowhere, so it'd be awhile until they came, and waiting in the pitch black desert, just didn't seem appealing.

So we started digging out around the wheel, looking for larger rocks around us or anything that we could use. I came across this good sized, ramp looking rock that I grabbed and placed by the wheel, put more lava rocks and the mat, went on the accelerator and nothing but the wheel slipping off the rock. We were loosing more and more hope with each failed try, so we decided to try again and lifted the wheel, placed the rock directly under and hopped for the best. My friend went on the accelerator as I guided, nothing but slipping and slipping until it caught suddenly and then it sipped off again. Seeing this I told him "keep going, keep going, try and rock it!!!" so he began to rock it by letting it catch, slip and then as it went back down accelerate again and then all of a sudden she caught and backwards she went!

It was honestly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen Lol, as he was backing up, he started to slow down, which I assume he was going to stop so I could get in, but I yelled "JUST GO JUST GO!!!" so he gunned her to the sweet paved road that was about 25 feet behind us. We were both yelling and laughing and just pretty proud of ourselves because after about an hour of failure, we finally got her out.

After we were back on the road, we decided to stop at the one and only gas station in Amboy to get some waters and stuff. We pulled up and walked in, the man behind the counter looked outside and saw the car covered in sand and dust, turned around, looked at us with a puzzled look and was like "what'd you guys do, off road in that thing?"

Now I didn't enjoy being stuck, but we learned a lot from the experience.. especially about differentials and that my 300E doesn't have a limited slip differential which I always thought it did and was pretty disappointed. But then while we were discussing it, if it would of had the lsd, would both wheels have gotten equally stuck OR would it have helped us pull it out? I had heard before that you're supposed to gun it when getting out of a hole when you have rocks and things next to the tire for grip, but that didn't work for us and we abandoned the idea. Then we thought about the 4matic, but the sand was so soft, in the case of the 4matic, wouldn't all the wheels of gotten stuck? Some pictures:

[Fulcrum525]

You don't get much snow/ice in your part of CA do you Happens to me in the SDL at least once a year. I'll let someone else give you a more detailed explanation but basically your power was taking the path of least resistance so it was going to the slipping wheel vs the one that was firmly planted (This is also a good example of how diff locks would work in a situation like this)

Also if you had a compressor you might think about lowering your tire pressure first next time

Tyre Pressures and off road vehicles - YouTube

[ptoro01]

That doesn't look all that soft. I'm guessing your front wheels were in a dip.
Yup, airing down the tires would have helped.

As for the traction, a stiffer suspension would help distributor power better.
And obviously wider tires.

I'd advise slow roll instead of full throttle, but that only works if the other wheels are free to roll.

Looks like fun! Do any doughnuts?

[Skippy]

LSD would have kept power going to both rear wheels. You probably wouldn't have gotten stuck. Four wheel drive is even harder to get stuck. However, if you do manage to get one stuck, then it tends to be really stuck and harder to get out. Tracked vehicles have ridiculous traction, but when you get one of those stuck (and I know people who've done it), getting it unstuck is quite a project.

My personal best stuck was with an International Paystar 5000 6x6 tractor pulling a 32 cubic meter end dump full of gravel. At some combat outpost I never heard the name of in Al Anbar, I bogged down in some deep loose gravel. They hooked up two MTVR's (7-Ton in USMC-speak) to try to pull me out and I managed to break the jackshaft between the transmission and transfer case trying to power out of the gravel. Then they went and got a D7G dozer which pulled me out no problem. Luckily our support truck had a spare jackshaft which I changed while the rest of the team went back out for another load. Upon return, one of my friends got his Paystar stuck and was pulled out by an Abrams tank. I managed to get a picture of that.

[Botnst]

I once got a Suburban stuck in the middle of a paved road. It was black ice. If I attempted to move it would slip sideways toward a ditch. This is when my buddy taught me how to put on chains, "Oooooh, that's what all those laddery-chain things are for!"

I'm from a state that doesn't do black ice. Mud I understand.

[Skippy]

Black ice is no fun. Dedicated winter tires probably get some traction on it, as do studs and chains, but all seasons or even AT mudders just slide. Luckily, even though it snows we don't get very much black ice here.

[Botnst]

Originally Posted by Skippy

LSD would have kept power going to both rear wheels…..

LSD slipped my mind.

[Skippy]

Not that kind of LSD

[Simpler=Better]

Air down and keep your momentum. Glad you brought a jack

If you get stuck, go easy on the gas and reverse/first rocking can help a lot.

If you want to upgrade I believe there is a spring unit that mimics a locking diff and can be installed relatively easily.

[TheDon]

Next time bring some boards or dedicated get out of sand things. Heh

[iwrock]

Originally Posted by TheDon

Next time bring some boards or dedicated get out of sand things. Heh

This.

Luckily you didn't need to get pulled out!

[panZZer]

Good thing you did not get to Kelso--they got dunes there, and its much finer than that pulverized granite "sand" you got stuck in.
no one mentioned setting the parking brake halfway-it gets both wheels spinning, then pivot between drive and reverse back and forth a few times, and work yourself out-but dont let the wheels start spinning.