Sand Mode

[bobvance2005]

So Sand mode puts the truck into 4A, turns off traction control, and holds gears longer before upshifting......does it do anything else?

Cuz if I can get everything Sand Mode does by just putting it in 4A and turning traction control off, then using the manual shifting, I'd prefer that. Just want to make sure I'm not missing something else it's doing.

 

[bobvance2005]

Ok, so the manual seems to indicate that in Sand mode, 4A really means 4H ("provides electronically *locked* 4 wheel drive power to the front and rear wheels") whereas 4A *not* in Sand (or mud) mode means "electronically *controlled* 4 wheel drive power to the front and rear wheels"...

And the manual shifting doesn't work in Sand mode. So there's no way for me to get a 4H with manual shifting, basically, if I'm reading this right ....unless turning traction control off while in 4A causes it to lock power (true 4H)??

 

[apex96]

Turning the TC off while in 4A won't lock the wheels. Without the ELSD that can electronically lock the wheels under a certain mph, the wheels will independently spin based on the amount of available traction the ground surface provides. From what I understand sand mode produces aggressive reaction to throttle inputs, allows wheel spin, holds gears longer, is intended to power through difficult spots.

I'd run it in sand mode and let the vehicle do most of the legwork, if your going to be in areas with soft sands. If the sand is hard packed then you could probably get away with leaving it in normal mode and just engaging 4A and turning off the TC.

 

[bobvance2005]

Turning the TC off while in 4A won't lock the wheels. Without the ELSD that can electronically lock the wheels under a certain mph, the wheels will independently spin based on the amount of available traction the ground surface provides. From what I understand sand mode produces aggressive reaction to throttle inputs, allows wheel spin, holds gears longer, is intended to power through difficult spots.

I'd run it in sand mode and let the vehicle do most of the legwork, if your going to be in areas with soft sands. If the sand is hard packed then you could probably get away with leaving it in normal mode and just engaging 4A and turning off the TC.

Yeah, I've been using sand mode for the beach (soft deep sand) and 4A + TC off for back 'roads' (more packed sand).

I do have the ELSD, which sand mode does *not* seem to engage by default. But that should be independent of what the computer is doing with the transfer case anyways. I do think sand mode 'locks' power 50/50 front/rear at the t-case tho, according to the owners manual.

What I would like is a mode that locks power 50/50 front/rear and *also* allows you to use the manual shifting. Basically a 4H. Sand mode does not allow manual shifting to be engaged (cuz part of the mode spec is holding gears longer I guess). Maybe mud/ruts does...will have to try it.

 

[bobvance2005]

Did another beach trip recently. Sand mode is good *except* you also need to manually turn off "trailer sway control".

I got in a situation several times where I was in deep ruts in deep sand and obviously the truck is gonna sway back and forth because the ruts are not perfectly straight. Well, this triggers "trailer sway control" (which flashes on the dash) and applies the brakes. Exactly what you *do not want* in deep sand. Why the f**k does sand mode not disengage that automatically?

Anyway, it can be manually turned off in the "trailer setup" settings; I had no more problems after turning it off. But it turns on again automatically when you power cycle the vehicle, which is pretty annoying. So you have to turn it off explicitly every time.