Off-road driving and safety tips
There is nothing worse for a driver than stumbling into an off-road road. Driving off-road is fraught with serious consequences. First of all – for the car. Then the driver’s psyche suffers, though there are different cases. First of all, let’s find out, what off-roading is.
1. Pits, potholes on the asphalt.
2. puddles.
3. Muddy road.
Perhaps, these three types of roads are the most often encountered by the motorist on his way. Let’s review safe driving techniques for each type of road.
Potholes, Potholes in The Asphalt
This is the most common type of road. Sooner or later every motorist is faced with it. However, not everyone knows how to drive properly on potholes. The consequences of the wrong driving are the damages to the car’s running gear. Also, potholes can be the cause of accidents. That is why you should not ignore this danger – pits are not as harmless as they may seem. So how to properly drive on the road with pits?
1. If there is an opportunity, it is better to bypass the pit.
2. If it is impossible to bypass the pit, there are two ways to safely overcome this obstacle – skipping and crawling.
Skipping
This method is based on the principle of the machine itself. When the car brakes, its entire mass is concentrated on the front. It is clear that under such weight the hood is as if it “beaks its nose”. It follows from this that if you press the brake pedal before entering a dangerous area, the car will receive two strong impacts – on entry (because of spring unwinding due to the loss of stability) and on exit. And the main damages occur at the exit – the disks and tires get punctured. Therefore, it is impossible to press the brake pedal while getting on a road section with potholes. It is necessary to reduce speed by means of clutch and gearbox. Therefore, before entering a pothole, it is necessary, strange as it may sound, to increase speed. Thus, the load on elements of a front suspension will decrease, and will pass to the back part. Because of this property, the car has an opportunity to literally fly through the pits. However, not everything is so simple here. It is necessary to remember that it is necessary to unload the rear part. That is, as soon as the car’s front end has passed, it is necessary to unload the body by pressing the brake.
Crawling
If the previous method is more suitable for drivers with experience, this variant of movement is created for beginners. It consists in that it is necessary to decrease speed before a pit, but not at the expense of the brake pedal. If you did not have time to reduce speed – pass with such speed, which was. At least, the undercarriage will be intact. It is safest to drive on pits on the first or second speed. It all depends on the type of the road and professional skills of the driver.
Tire Deflation
Many people know that the easiest and cheapest way to increase traction or traction is to deflate tires. After all, deflating the tires increases the contact area of the wheels with the road, and this allows the SUV to more easily adapt to the road surface. Thus, the traction of the wheels on even the most slippery road is increased. Another plus of this method is the increase in the vehicle’s cross-country ability, which is especially important when driving, for example, on soft sand. If you are going to drive below 10 psi, this method is recommended if you have automatic wheel locking.
Improving Traction
You think you’re riding on four wheels, don’t you? In fact, with an open differential, you’re only driving on two wheels. And that’s because open differentials direct power to the wheels with the least resistance, this can lead to a loss of traction (i.e., traction) and control. The only way to fix this, and to be sure that the car will actually travel on four wheels, is to equip the engine with a device to help increase traction force, a locker. A locking differential ensures that the action is on both axles, and power is distributed evenly to each wheel, regardless of road conditions. An alternative to this is a differential with increased internal resistance, but they still allow for slippage and therefore are not as reliable as lockers.
“Portable Clutch”
The sand tractor is a device that allows you to pull out a stuck vehicle. They are especially good for those who venture out on their own. Whether you get stuck in soft sand, or lose traction in the mud… Sand trucks are a great way to “heal yourself” by creating artificial traction where none exists. In particularly “sticky” situations, you can use several of them connected to each other.
Choosing the Right Tires
You’re not taking a knife to a gunfight, so why would you want simple tires designed for city driving in the pits and mud? Choosing the right tires for the terrain you’re going to follow is just as effective a way to increase traction as using lockers. Choosing the right tires will reward you with an uninterrupted four-wheel drive.
Flexible Suspension
Ever wonder why flexible suspensions are so popular in the automotive world? The more flexible the shaft, the more likely it is that all four wheels won’t lose contact with the ground. Having all four wheels in contact with the road will provide the highest available traction force.
Therefore, it is no secret that when driving a car, there is nothing more important than good traction. It is through good traction that you can move, it is the traction that allows you to control the situation, it depends on the traction whether you can overcome an obstacle or fail to cope with the control. The grip is the key to driving, without which the latter is virtually impossible.
