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Sand Dune Demo (photos)

pdxkevin

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Apr 17, 2002
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Elk Snout, Oregon, USA
Got sand? We're talking about a 5 mile stretch of ocean front beach that holds over 14,000 acreas of sand dunes!! Where? On Avalance's Incredible Oregon Coast Run, a.k.a. "Oregon Coast Meet/Cruise Nov. 9-10,2002"

AvaLance, Chief, and I stopped to talk with some locals out in the sand dunes. ?We needed directions which they had and they wanted to see the AVs up close. ?They showed us the fun way back out to the pavement. Imagine a mile long trail of 1 and 2 foot sand moguls. Can you see it? ?Now fill them with fresh water! Oh yeah, photos will be posted!

Anyway, back to the demo. ?They loved the versitility of the AV, the side storage that works as a cooler was a hit. ?We liked the idea they had of towing people on plastic saucers around in the sand.



 
It was fun on the dunes for the most part I was not to happy when I had to drive though that wave I had water splash over my hood and roof and I got to test out the 4L it is great I did like the water it was fun here is a pic that my grandpa too going though the water it was hard to hold the camra still so that is why it is blury
 

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Me too, sounds like something some of us "rednecks" would do down here in the South. Can't wait to see pics. :)

Cannon
 
All of you who want to go on the dunes....Chief and I are putting together a 4x4 cruise on the dunes. It is in the Cruise forum. It will be Dec. 7,2002 or Feb. some time. Give us your input
 
Can anyone quess who is driving this AV out on the Oregon Sand Dunes?

For more photos please check out my first photo album.

More to come as soon as I get both rolls developed. These images are stills from the digi-cam. I am working on making some AVI's for posting.
 

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I'm interested to hear how your (anyone's) Avs were in the sand. Sand running is different than off-roading. Tire speed is critical (high tire speed) in soft sand (not hard packed sand). Keeping the tire speed up can be tricky especially with big, heavy vehicles like these. I had my Av in the sand and once I slowed down it was digging in and getting ready to get stuck. Based on that experience in soft sand I'd say the Av is not a good 4-by for sand duning at all.

Comments?
 
Yep, the AV and deep, soft sand do not like each other. It is very easy to punch the gas and dig straight down.

When out on the coast this past weekend, ;D ;D ;D I was climbing up a hill when the AV started to slow down. At about 10 mph the Av started to dig in. I slowed really fast from that point and dug in. :cautious:

It is weird getting out of you AV with the side steps flush to the ground. :eek: Must be what it is like to have a lowered AV. ;)

Getting unstuck was a breeze! Just had to scoop the sand out from behind the wheels. Put it into 4lo and steadily back down the hill. There was a nice imprint of the fog lights in the sand up there as a high water mark so to speak.

I have had great fun 4wheelin' the AV on rock and in the mountains otherwise.
 
I went surf fishing, dune riding, ferry riding, (and playing) this past weekend in mine. I managed to get it stuck for one reason...I didn't lower the tire pressures enough! Once I lowered the pressures to at least 15-20 psi it was a mountain goat. Completely different vehicle. And that was with the stock Firestone Steeltex tires. From now on I'm bringing my little plug in air compressor along in my toolbox. You don't want to drive around on pavement with less than 20 psi. I had a great time though. Check out the picture!
 

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Wow! Great pic Tiger :eek:! That's some serious nasty soft sand you're in. I actually was very happy with my Avalanche performance in the sand. I found that to climb the dunes I needed a running start in 4-Hi. To get back out the same way the sand was very soft on the approach, so much so as noted you could see the under carriage dragging and actually get the front end plowing the sand. I found a running start in 4-Lo and hitting it at 25 to 30 MPH was more than enough to claw my way to the top. Pretty amazing have the gas pedal planted in 4-Lo the engine screaming and the Avalanche crawling. However I know that my differential repairs last month were successful! >:D

I didn't air down, however my Goodyears have 21K miles on them and I'm guessing the thinner tread meant less digging in. I need to get quick tire deflators now that I have the QuickAir 2 pump. It would have been nice to air down to around 15 PSI.

I found the Avalanche EXTREMELY capable of dune hopping and having more than enough umph to get the front wheels off the air coming over rises. I also found it very capable on washboard terrain, and I mean the washboard bumps are one to two feet high! :eek: I've done off-roading in the woods, mudding, beach driving and some light rock crawling in the year I've owned the Avalanche. I've had the most fun on the beach (although I HATE the interior clean up after) followed by off-roading in the mud.

I'm very happy with the Avalanches performance, as other reviewers have found. The only disadvantages are the location of the rear trailer plug, which tends to get torn up and the wide track, which causes problems on jeep trails. However on the open dunes and in the mud - that's not an issue! :B:
 
Chief and others...

Thanks! The trip was great fun. Couldn't think of a better way to get used to my Av. Interesting to read about your experiences in the sand dunes. There's nothing like some real user tips. It was definitely more balanced f/r than my old full size truck. The width was the same, but noticeable compared to my old S-10 ZR2.

The beaches in Eastern NC allow you to drive in many areas...you can surf fish from your tailgate! The number of Suburbans out there is unreal. That's why I thought it'd be a fun place for a meet! Just picture a Ferry covered with Avs...great photo op.

I'll have to post a pic soon of when we were really stuck! You know, the kind of stuck when all 4 wheels are spinning freely...now that was kinda funny. Lower the pressures men. The clean up was a time consuming process. I know I spent 30 minutes under the truck with a brush followed by a water hose to remove the salty sand. The interior was completely sandy after a weekend of camping with 2 dogs. Still, with the help of a vacuum cleaner and some patience it was worth it. If I didn't want to clean up after, I'd leave the midgate up...but that doesn't leave the smile on my face like the open "Jeep" feel. The midgate was easier to clean (vacuum cleaner!) than I thought. I'm also glad I bought the rear seat cover...great idea.

I'm going to have to look into the Quick Air 2 pump you mentioned. I need a better (quicker!) solution for the Av, MTN bikes, Dirt bikes, air mattresses, etc...

Thanks for sharing you experiences! :love:
 
I second that. Thank you one and all for a great run. We are looking forward to the next one!

I just got a couple rolls back and have posted some more photos in a new album.
 
Great shots PDX! I'm still hurtin' from missing this! :cry:
 
Great Pics!!

Too bad it is such a long drive to get there....

 
Thanks for sharing your experiences. It looks like a lot of fun! I went off-road at Glamis desert once -- not too fun with the stock tires. Do you think the dunes at the beach is more compact than the sand at the desert?
 
Problably all the same. There are hard pack spots, soft softs, and quicksand out at the beach. The key is learning to figure out which is which.

I think I should have aired down when we went out. I had a mind-fart and didn't even think of it. Next, I will head down into the 18-20 psi range and give that a go.
 
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