When the going gets rough, it usually pays to stop and walk over the rough section to decide on wheel placements - or whether to tackle the section at all!
Rough sections like this would only be encountered on our Hard 4WD tours. This photo is on the west coast of Tasmania (future trips).
Also with creek crossings - first check the water depth for isolated deep holes. If you continue, use low range and form a bow wave to reduce the water ingress to the engine bay. A tarp across the front would help if the water level was above the headlights.
Some of our local (Medium and Hard) 4WD tours involve creek and river crossings but are usually 200-500 mm deep. (Photo is the Gungarlin River in the Snowy Mtns - a future camping trip)
Crossings like this would only be encountered on our Hard 4WD tours. This photo is on the west coast of Tasmania. Some of our local (Medium and Hard) 4WD tours involve creek and river crossings but are usually 200-500 mm deep.
Fallen trees and branches are often encountered on bush tracks. Clearing such obstacles may mean estimated trip times are stuffed. Sometimes a very large tree may prevent progress and require reversing considerable distance along a narrow track with poor visibility.
Alternatively, there is often the need to turn around and 4-8 point turns are not uncommon.
During periods of high winds, the planned route may be changed as it is known that quite severe storm damage can occur in isolated parts of the forests.
Driving on soft sand such as on the west coast of Tasmania, or across the Simpson Desert, involves lowering tyre pressures to about 20psi. It normally pays to lower pressures before you get stuck! But, on the other hand, you probably would do this only once. Note the long handle shovel on the roof rack. There are also special "tracks" you can carry to place under tyres.
A snatch strap is used to pull a stuck vehicle out of a bog - provided that you can attach it to a secure place on both vehicles. These points are called "recovery points". For our Hard 4WD tours, we require vehicles to carry basic recovery gear and have recovery points front and rear.
On our gravel fire trails, I also lower the tyre pressures - to about 26psi which gives a more comfortable ride as well as giving a better grip over rocks. Too low a pressure however will increase the chances of damage to the side walls of your tyres. Proper "off road" tyres usually have greater resistance to puncturing than standard "road" tyres sold with AWD and 4WD vehicles.
When returning to the bitumen, the tyres can be inflated - this requires carrying a small compressor. If short distances on bitumen are required then drive at a slower pace as cornering ability is greatly reduced if the tyres are not blown up.
This photo is on one route into Bendethera on a steep hill. I have stopped on the flat part of a "hump" to permit the vehicle coming up the hill to pass easily. These "humps" are placed at intervals to control water flowing down the track and causing bad erosion gullys.
Take advantage of such humps to ensure your speed and choice of gears is suitable for the next section. It is best to proceed more slowly (in a lower gear) than to rely too much on your brakes.
This steep section (down) was tackled using first gear in Low range. The diesel engine has good braking ability that there would be little need to apply any foot brakes. Forward speed might only be 7-12 kph.
Automatic 4WD would offer a Low range but it is likely that some braking is needed - and more so for petrol vehicles.
Most modern 4WD and some AWD will have some form of "Hill Descent Control" whereby a computer senses which wheels are rotating too fast and apply the brakes to those wheels to keep the forward speed to about 7-10 kph.
In a situation like this, the lead vehicle of the convoy would radio the team (using a agreed UHF channel) that there was an oncoming vehicle. Further instructions might be to stop and pull over whenever following vehicles can find a suitable spot. With experience, you will learn how wide your vehicle is and how much space to leave. There is often a close fit! Remember that the edges of many tracks are not as well travelled and can be soft so it is best to pull over in a wide spot. Again the radio is used to confirm that the oncoming vehicle has passed all members, or to give further updates on the number of vehicles in the oncoming party.
Sometimes these situations can happen quickly - as in oncoming or overtaking trail bikes, or on bends.
Vehicles going up/down steep tracks with off road trailers are a breed that seem reluctant to pull over sometimes.