Using diff lock on the beach

[ottz73 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close ottz73]

Stockton beach is my local beach (mainly just hop on at birubi) for a quick surf.

I have just upgraded my 120 grande to 150 Kakadu but still a little confused about the diff lock.

The 150 is already an all wheel drive right? Just like the family suv's you see on the beach. However it also has rear and centre locking diffs.

Do you need to engage the diffs when driving on the beach? What about when you are on the super soft sand?

Just my manual says to engage the rear diff only when you get stuck and unlock it when you are out?

I thought the purpose of 4wd ing was to select an appropriate gear, speed and locking so you don't get stuck, so I'm just a little confused as to when to engage the rear or centre diffs

Also a little confused about the terrain selectors and when to use them also

Thanks

[BiLLz0r Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close BiLLz0r]

Center diff gets locked on soft sand, rear locker only when you are stuck (or might get stuck) to stop the wheel with less traction spinning.
Center diff lock gives 50/50 power to front and rear. Rear/front locker gives 50/50 power to the left and wheels of that axel.

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

^^ what he said.

[dBC Member Find all posts View Profile Close dBC]

Also a little confused about the terrain selectors and when to use them also

Traction control is usually disabled once you select Low Range. Pressing the MTS button will re-enable it in off-road mode, and the knob will let you select how aggressive it should be. Mud-n-Sand is the least aggressive... i.e. allows the most wheel spin.

[MacroP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MacroP]

In my experience your number one priority when driving on a beach with soft sand is to let your tyres down. 15-16 psi is safe and will transform the vehicle and take the strain off the engine and tranny. 20-25 psi, maybe enough though. This will make the biggest difference as to whether you'll get stuck or not. Your kaka is a heavy car and it needs a big foot print. Sure, put your centre diff lock on when driving. Rear locker if you're stuck but it would have to be extremely soft if you need this or if you're towing a camper. You can't drive with it engaged at speed anyway.

If it's hard sand then that's another story and subjective. Trial and error goes along way.

[KarlCaudwell Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close KarlCaudwell]

Traction control is usually disabled once you select Low Range. Pressing the MTS button will re-enable it in off-road mode, and the knob will let you select how aggressive it should be. Mud-n-Sand is the least aggressive... i.e. allows the most wheel spin.

Traction control is not turned off when you select Lo4. Low range is when you need Yraction Control. Stability control is turned off when you select Lo4. Some say when in sand to turn traction control off. This is done by holding the Botton in for 5 seconds. I think this is personnel preference. Experiment.

[Rdae1981 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rdae1981]

I turn off the traction control when on the beach as the beeping annoys the crap out of me.

[Symo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Symo]

My GXL doesn't beep but you can hear the ABS pump fire off a few rounds every now and then but it's not an issue.

I do Fraser every year on only hear intervene five times in 200km of sand driving.


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