Damage from Sand driving?

Anyone have info about possible damage from driving in sand? I've heard the sand invades all aspects of the drive system and having sand mixed in with lubricants and in gears can not be good. is this a fact or an over-blown tale? If I ride on the beach, am I in essence taking te truck to an early grave or adding many future problems? Thanks ! -Jason

There are multiple posts here about driving in the sand. I don't recall anything about it being a problem in regards to invasion.

I would hope Honda has done their homework on sand invasion.

Cool, Since alot of dirt has high sand content I would think it had to have some level of resistance to it, just wasn't sure how sand only would affect the truck. Thanks for the info !

If sand could get into a lubricated part, then the lubricant would have already leaked out. Biggest problem sand could be doing is getting in between areas where fluid lubricants do not go like where suspension parts pivot on solid pins and rubber gaskets are not air tight. This can lead to eventual failure of these rubber grommets and they then get replaced without much permanent damage to anything.

Anyone have info about possible damage from driving in sand? I've heard the sand invades all aspects of the drive system and having sand mixed in with lubricants and in gears can not be good. is this a fact or an over-blown tale? If I ride on the beach, am I in essence taking te truck to an early grave or adding many future problems? Thanks ! -Jason

Just a guess, but I may be one here that has posted the most miles on sand. I have been on the beach, hard soft, very soft, and wet soft.

Frankly, to get sand or dirt/dust which is finer than beach sand, into any mechanical area which has fliud (other than grease) would mean you have a failure in a seal, a failure in a seal would produce leaks as already menationed here.

Not only Have I been trouble free in this area, I haven't even had sand get into the area between the break pads and the rotor. I haven;t babied the truch either. the only areas which accumulated sand is the cross beam which is under the engine/tranny and gas tank sheild. No other areas have anything other than tire spit which is normal anyway. I always rinse all areas underneath the ridgeline right when I get home.

The wheel wells on my ridge are well sealed, and close inspection after beach driving I have not notice any different than any other 4X4 I have driven off road.

Are the seals on the ridge really any different that any othe vehicles. If you bought even a Randge Rover, couldn't you be asking the same question?

You get my point?

Don't worry about driving on sand the ridgeline is awsome!!

Thanks for all the info ! Heading to OBX this summer and really want to go out on the beach - just wanted to be sure with info from those with experience that there are no issues. I didnt think the RL woud be any more vulnerable that other trucks, I just have no experience with it. Thanks again!

also, can anyone reccomend a good on-board compressor? Do most of you drive to a gas station and refil the tires or do you have an on-board?

Did a Google search of sand driving, came up with nothing on damage to vehicles.... they just recommend caution
links below are some good tips I found

http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-corner/reading/sand_dri.htm

http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/publications/p01605aa.pdf/Driving_on_sand.pdf

I've been using the VI AIR 200P with my CRV for awhile now and it's great, though I would mind an even more powerful (next time I will get an even better one). Takes about 2 1/2 minutes to fill from 13 psi to 28 psi on my tires which are 225/15/70. May take a bit longer on the Ridge since the tires are bigger.

http://offroadrecovery.zoovy.com/category/aircompressors/

This is my thought on Honda's and off road.
1st off although it can handle some off road i would not treat it as a 4x4 off road animal.(thats why i have a Honda foreman 4x4 ATV)
2nd thought Honda has been making ATV's since time began and they have been the best offroad animal for years so i would venture to guess they do know a bit about the off road enviroment.
3rd living in the northeast we get snow, rain, slush and nor-easter's and our roads get sanded regularly with salt and sand.

I would expect andy Honda to handle sand fine.;)

I've been using the VI AIR 200P with my CRV for awhile now and it's great, though I would mind an even more powerful (next time I will get an even better one). Takes about 2 1/2 minutes to fill from 13 psi to 28 psi on my tires which are 225/15/70. May take a bit longer on the Ridge since the tires are bigger.

http://offroadrecovery.zoovy.com/category/aircompressors/
You can get the same compressor (or a very good copy) from pepboys for $60. That is what I did, and I love it!

I heard this never tried it.On the beach bring a bucket with you.If you get stuck pour water over the wheels and drive away.
all the best,
lizzzard

I heard this never tried it.On the beach bring a bucket with you.If you get stuck pour water over the wheels and drive away.
all the best,lizzzard Wonder if myth busters would have fun with this? :eek: Basicly true, water on sand makes it firm up, it is the correct ratio of water and sand that is the trick. But with a RL you don't need water as you won't get stuck.:D

Can anyone recommend to me the best way to drive the ridgeline on sand?

Can anyone recommend to me the best way to drive the ridgeline on sand?

3 things are a must as far as I am concerned:

1. let the air pressure in your tires down to 15 PSI, don't question it just do it.

2. pull the VSA 20 amp fuse out from underneath the hood, near the brake master cylinder, you can question this if you want. but do it anyway.

3. carry at least the following:
a. a shovel
b. an air pressure guage from 4PSI and up, dial type.
c. a 18X18 3/4" plywood or something like it. to be used as a platform for your jack incase you get stuck.
d. recovery tools, including a tow strap rated for 18000 pounds min.

then use your head, if you want to peel out on sand the likelyhood of getting stuck increases dramatically. I have seen watered down beach sand actually become softer when drenched with water. did you ever walk on a beach down near the water after a wave has just flowed over the sand and sunk in? I have. no traction there. don't do it. if stuck, let more air out down to 10 but no less, and or jack up the car and fill your hole with beach roacks and more sand.

this basic info should get you on and off the sand safely. experience will be your next best tool. go get some

What about use of VTM4 lock Lowrider? Any good or bad experience locking on sand versus unlocking? TPMS probably needs disabling, but that is another level of traction variation I would like to hear other's experience with.

What about use of VTM4 lock Lowrider? Any good or bad experience locking on sand versus unlocking? TPMS probably needs disabling, but that is another level of traction variation I would like to hear other's experience with.

locking the vtm-4:

the locked vtm only really makes a diffrence when you are starting from a standstill. it gradually reduces power to the rear end as speed picks up and at (correct me if i forgot the right speed) 18MPH all power is shifted to normal and the rears are no longer locked. once you reduce your speed again it will gradually lock again.

you can notice a difference with it locked vs unlocked but how much difference is dependant upon conditions. For example, if the sand is super soft and traction is limited then the locked vtm will be a big help on getting you rolling. but if sand is stiff and traction is good you won;t notice the difference that much.

One more thing, you know that vtm only locks in 1st, 2cd, and R right?

it is not absolutely neccesary to disengage the VSA but it will hinder you ability to move around the sand. remember your chances of getting stuck in the sand are reduced as long as you have forward movement (or baqckwrard) but as soon as you stop, starting may be difficult.

the good thing about VSA in the sand is that you have virtually no chance to "peel out" thereby digging your tires into the sand and getting stuck. but at the same time you may have needed power to get you through a tough spot where you should have been able to power through. cosi cosi

Thanks for insights on VTM4. I don't get much chance to play off road, but this coming summer I expect to be doing light off roading up in Maine and possibly out at Montalk Point on Long Island (have to get a full sized spare for the beach permit). When you air down, what does TPMS system prohibit and how do you get around it if you have to?

Lowrider, the correct speed is 18 mph. :)

Lowrider, the correct speed is 18 mph. :)

thanks, i originally had 18 typed then seconded guessed myself, but i was to lazy to look it up.

Thanks for insights on VTM4. I don't get much chance to play off road, but this coming summer I expect to be doing light off roading up in Maine and possibly out at Montalk Point on Long Island (have to get a full sized spare for the beach permit). When you air down, what does TPMS system prohibit and how do you get around it if you have to?

remember when your tires are low on air, whether it is intentioanal or accidental the tpms will warn you and you will be unable to dissengauge the tpms as long as the air pressure is low. the only work around is to pull the fuse to disable the tpms or have a manual switch installed inside the cab to do it without having to pull the fuse.

I will eventually have a swtich installed but don't have the time right now.

I thought I read in one of the threads that one of the traction control systems was actually immobilized by the TPMS in a warning state. If it is only a warning message going on, I can live with the noise as long as the truck gets out of tricky spots using the features available on the stock set up.

I thought I read in one of the threads that one of the traction control systems was actually immobilized by the TPMS in a warning state. If it is only a warning message going on, I can live with the noise as long as the truck gets out of tricky spots using the features available on the stock set up.

If i'm wrong someone tell me, but if the tpms is lit, then you cannot turn off the VSA ,it will funtion and it cannot be turned off. You still may be able to get out of tricky spots as long as you can do so without slipping the wheels. the vsa wont activate if your wheels are not slipping. one it is activated though you won't have much control over the [power to your wheels. you could technically get stuck in the sand.

Thanks. That rings a bell as I remember that VSA cannot be turned off if TPMS is alarming. Next for me is to take this good info out to the beach and build some real-world experience with the existing features in a controlled test. This will help me when things are not so controlled. I still do not anticipate going down any type of hill where the ABS fails due to it being too slippery or the VTM4 cannot stay locked because of excessive speed. That is just out of my league and obviously out of the Ridgeline's on this early model.

Having driven daily on he beach for 18 years as a state park ranger, damage from sand exposure was much less of a concern than was salt corrosion. I would track sand into the vehicles which required vacuuming out the sand at end of shift. Also I washed the undercarriage of the vehicle at the end of my work shift. We ran these vehicles always to over 100,000 miles. We serviced our vehicles at 4,000 mile intervals.

Traction, or the lack of it was key to success in deep soft dry sand. A typical ½ ton pickup would have the front tires inflated to 18 lbs. and the rears to 12 often using stock tires and rims. Lighter vehicles like jeep cherokees were set at 22 lbs. all around. Most of the time I drove in 4 wheel high with the transmission in 2nd. or occasionally in low. Putting the transfer case in low range resulted in too much traction. However, listening to the engine (usually no tach installed) and using the throttle to maintain the correct RPM for the torque required was critical to not getting bogged down.

I would expect the Ridgeline to do well in the sand with the correct tire pressure settings, I wouldn't expect the lack of a low 4 wheel range to be a problme with some practice it should do fine in soft sand. I would install a TPMS cut off switch as indicated in the previous posting. I enjoyed driving on the beach, good luck and have fun!

Psango