Thanks.David M wrote: ...
Simply put it is all about power to weight ratio.
2 vehicles virtually identical but the one who had bumpers, rocksliders and protection plates would not get as far.
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This is the thing I've not managed to work out. ie: Back when I drove the dunes, my truck was pretty much standard. No replacement bumper. No steel underbits. No rock sliders etc. Pretty much a factory standard truck (apart from the suspension upgrade). I was also very lightly loaded, as we'd towed the caravan down to trans-boegoe, and I had virtually nothing in the truck apart from a compressor and my normal recovery kit / tools / etc. Most of the 4.8's were relatively modded (bumpers at the least) or relatively loaded (roof racks, fridges, etc). As such, I didn't expect the extra 300cc's to result in such a difference between the vehicles. But it was a massive difference...
In short: I've always wondered whether it came down to tyres (I was running 32" Bridgestone AT3's), or the fact that automatics do better in sand. I'm still curious. I'll try them again one day and see...
I can imagine Michael's truck would've eaten the dunes. I've always been curious as to how a diesel would fare in the dunes. Back when I was there there was one 3L diesel, two 4.5's, a bunch of 4.8's, and Tommie's monster truck... Because of the setback we had in Kuruman on the way to Boegoeberg, I missed the first day's dune driving, and didn't have a chance to see Stephan's diesel in the dunes. So nice to hear good things. :)David M wrote: ...
The surprise to most was Michael's diesel. I thought the usable rev range would be too small but he actually did brilliantly and if he did not have quite enough he would tinker under the bonnet a bit, there would be even more black smoke and he would then make it.
If all goes according to plan I will take the Firetruck next year as it has less weight, should be making big power by then and will either take out some of the leaf springs or maybe a coil conversion on the back. Could be the perfect vehicle.
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