What should we know before taking it to the beach?

[bennyb29]

As long as you're not taking him around Fraser for his first outing he'll be right. Getting stuck is half the fun

Slightly off topic, but would be glad to learn.

What do I need to look out for additionally at Fraser? I regularly do the Bribie 4WD track, including the beach, and so far have fared quite well. I need to do a trip to Fraser, so info on what to keep an eye out for, will be welcome. Thanks in advance.

P.S. : My car is a Pajero NT, but I'd assume the risks would be similar?

[Pixie_au]

Check out the comments in the Inskip Point YouTube videos and you'll get a wealth of "expert" advice for sand driving.

[woffleon]

Do not drive on beach with the "air panel" fitted. An upgraded sump guard will see this removed anyway but check. The air panel is a plastic peice bolted to the radiator that hangs low into the light gauge sump guard you can see it through the slots in the front of the guard. Its only 20 - 25 mm from the guard so any deformation (bump on a rutted track) or a stick through the slots, will crack or break the radiator where the air panel mounts and your walking home!

Not hard to remove and doesn't seem to make any difference to cooling system.

Recovery points seem to be there for every else that gets stuck - I use them as "plan Z" in my 4x4 driving technique. 20psi gets me everywhere and that brilliant 8speed auto does the rest......gotta love that transmission.

[JohnFromPerth]

Regarding that "air panel" fitted below the radiator. As some have stated, it does not seem to cause any cooling problems if it is removed, so maybe it is not intended as an air deflector.
I wonder if its purpose is to protect the vacuum freewheel system on the front diff from road dirt and debris coming through the slots in the front splash guard.

[old Jack]

Regarding that "air panel" fitted below the radiator. As some have stated, it does not seem to cause any cooling problems if it is removed, so maybe it is not intended as an air deflector.
I wonder if its purpose is to protect the vacuum freewheel system on the front diff from road dirt and debris coming through the slots in the front splash guard.

The air panel you are referring to is an air baffle, its role is to force the air through the intercooler, condensor, radiator and ATF cooler rather than let the ram air escape.
When fitting most aftermarket underbody guards then this baffle need to be shortened in height so it only just touches the new guard. Leaving it off means the cooling system is not operating at peak efficiency, it may not matter for 95% of the time, but during heavy towing or crawling through deep soft sand then the difference to the coolant temperature could be significant.

OJ.

[woffleon]

The Air panel Is mounted with 4 x 8mm bolts to each side of the radiator "tanks". Any force on it will put pressure on the plastic tanks and possible crack or break them. If they had mounted the panel to the body or chassis or even the sump guard this would be a different story but NOT on the radiator....Wot were they thinking? It's possible it's there to "dam" front air pressure to aid flow at low speeds to the radiator but it's small size would make this very minimal.
In off road use I would prefer to have a slightly reduced cooling capacity than possibly no cooling at all.

[old Jack]

The Air panel Is mounted with 4 x 8mm bolts to each side of the radiator "tanks". Any force on it will put pressure on the plastic tanks and possible crack or break them. If they had mounted the panel to the body or chassis or even the sump guard this would be a different story but NOT on the radiator....Wot were they thinking? It's possible it's there to "dam" front air pressure to aid flow at low speeds to the radiator but it's small size would make this very minimal.
In off road use I would prefer to have a slightly reduced cooling capacity than possibly no cooling at all.

If you are worried about the air dam getting damaged if your front plate gets a hit and bends, then just shorten the height of the dam by 10mm. If you bend a front plate 10mm you are going to have a lot more problems !

You would be surprised at how much cooling air you actually lose. You will not notice any engine coolant temperature rises unless you are really working the vehicle hard in hot conditions but you can see the difference in the intake air temperatures because the intercooler is not getting the best airflow. Mind you if you have a split pan design bullbar (ARB, TJM, MMC etc style) then you have already reduced your air flows significantly. On the Bushskinz front plate of my Challenger I ended up adding rubber side gusset panels and blocking off all the "air vent" slots because I was tired of mud and sand building up between the radiator and guard. I was expecting to see a rise in temperatures so I monitored it very closely and to my surprise I did not have a coolant temperature problem but I did see a reduction in engine air inlet and ATF temperatures.

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=50101

I did a similar mod on Pajero 12's NW with his Bushskinz plates and MMAL bullbar.

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=59603

OJ.

[Kingbrown]

Watch out closely for the little streams that sometimes flow from the sandhills to the ocean.
They can be almist invisible until you are right on top of them, and they are often quite deep.

[joshinthecity]

Take your mates 4x4 and let it get full of salt, sand and rust

This....

[Jasonmc73]

For beach driving, it's a choice. Some do it, some don't, it's up to you. I like camping on the beach and he wants to come with me. I appreciate your concerns but I am more after technical tips and tricks than rust risk. But still thank you for your input.

My opinion is, it's very bad for cars indeed, not friendly at all, tough in many ways as are corrugated environments.

But i also think, life is not a dress rehearsal, if camping on the beach, enjoying as example world heritage listed islands & other areas of interest floats your boat, it's probably a good idea you get out there & do just that.
Unless you believe in reincarnation & your going to do that on your next round of life

Hence i brought a Pajero, to use for just that & other areas of interest over say the next 10 years, it's a big country.
Started prepping it as we speak .

[Jayctee]

My opinion is, it's very bad for cars indeed, not friendly at all, tough in many ways as are corrugated environments.

But i also think, life is not a dress rehearsal, if camping on the beach, enjoying as example world heritage listed islands & other areas of interest floats your boat, it's probably a good idea you get out there & do just that.
Unless you believe in reincarnation & your going to do that on your next round of life

Hence i brought a Pajero, to use for just that & other areas of interest over say the next 10 years, it's a big country.
Started prepping it as we speak .

That's sounds heavy man.................... and YES. 'Easy Rider' is one of my favourites !! LOL