Whether you've ventured out alone, or you just don't want a mate to claim bragging rights for pulling you out; here's 5 simple steps to get yourself out of many bogs with no outside assistance!
Step 1: Crawl Control
Crawl control is a feature specific to some later model Toyota 4WDs, but it may be worth checking if your manufacturer has their own version of it fitted to your vehicle. Just flick some switches and let the system do the work
Step 2: Tyre Pressures
Hopefully you’ve already lowered yours to beach pressure, somewhere south of 18 psi depending on your rig. If not, do that now.
However, sometimes your go to beach pressure will still be too high for the conditions; so don’t be afraid to lower them to 10psi or less to get yourself out of a situation. Just remember to drive very carefully on such low pressures
Step 3: Dig
It’s time to get physical! Much of the time, being bogged in sand means your wheels have spun on the spot and dug holes – sometimes deep enough to see you hung up on vehicle components.
Use a long handled shovel to clear sand from in front of and behind tyres, around chassis rails, diff pumpkins and anything else that looks partially buried.
Step 4: Rock The Vehicle
By this we mean; switching between forward and reverse – apply just enough throttle to move the vehicle without spinning the wheels. If you can get the vehicle to move this way, it will steadily compact more and more sand under the tyres and give you a chance to drive out
Step 5: Traction Boards
If rocking back and forwards didn’t work; it’s time to break out the recovery boards. You’ll still need the long handled shovel to clear some of the sand as in STEP 3; but then the boards can be poked under the tyres and hopefully the vehicle pops straight out.
If you don’t feel the tyres grab traction straight away, stop the vehicle and re-position the boards. Spinning wheels on these is no use at all, and only ruins your traction boards.
You’re out!
Hopefully anyway. You’ll find these steps will get you free of many tricky situations.