Got Sand?

[sepi]

So here's a stupid thing to do: right as the sun is setting on a late April afternoon drive your 3-day-old CX5 right onto the sands by the Pacific ocean. Yeap, I did it. And needless to say I got stuck with my 2-wheel drive manual transmission. I tried digging under the front wheels, turned off the Traction Control and gave it some gas and let go of the clutch real slow. The slightest movement caused the car to sink deeper in the sand so I stopped before the sand would hit the under body. Called the tow truck company and they tried to screw me and charge me $200 for pulling the car out. I settled it at $130 which I still thought was a lot, but better than waiting for the tide to get higher. To make the whole thing more fun, while I was waiting for the tow truck a cop showed up and gave me a ticket for being on the beach...
So why the background story? Cuz today as I was driving on the freeway I noticed at higher speeds (above 55MPH) the steering wheel starts to wobble and I was wondering if anyone had any idea as of what could be wrong.
I'm going to hose down the car today and try to wash the under body and the break rotors and the wheels.

 

[protegedude25]

Sand in rotors

 

[sepi]

So just wash it off with water?

 

[nizzy1115]

How did the tow truck driver pull you out? did he pull at the wheels or did he pull with the tow hook? if it was the wheels he might have damaged part of the suspension

 

[sepi]

No he used a hook and pulled the car backwards.

 

[geocord]

If the wheels are just wobbling at a certain speed it usually is a tire/wheel imbalance. Possibly you got some sand stuck in places on one wheel and it is causing the imbalance or maybe lost a wheel weight. Also, there is potential for an out of alignment situation but you would probably notice that at lower speeds as well.

 

[sepi]

When I got out of the car after getting to work this morning I did see a bunch of sand stuck to the rim... I guess if it takes a small weight to balance the wheels that whole bunch of sand on one side of the wheel could throw it off. I will brush and wash it off today after work and keep you guys posted.

 

[CX-SV]

Sand stuck on rims is enough to cause imbalance, happens more often with mud on rim. Sorry to hear about the somewhat expensive tow and ticket.

 

[sepi]

CX-5 on the beach



At this point I was $200 richer and didn't have wobbly wheels... haha but at least it was a nice shot I think.

 

[CX-SV]

^^ Nice shot, obviously no attempts were made at rock-crawling.

 

[vincey2kr1]

Sorry to hear about the tow and ticket, but did you let the air out of the front tires(like down to 15psi)? It makes a world of a difference in the sand, just a heads up for next time .

 

[sepi]

No, I just read about it today in other places. I wish I knew this yesterday... We live and learn.

 

[sepi]

Alright so as an update, l checked and there was a whole lot of sand stuck to the inside of the rim of the left wheel. Just used my hand to clear those up and everything is back to normal again. Thanks a lot guys for your support and remember not to take your brand new CX-5 in the sand... haha

 

[inodes]

Sand is one of the worst surfaces. It's a very Australian pasttime to drive 4WD on the sand. There are a lot of sand islands in Australia (the world's largest is Fraser Island - pure 4WD territory).

But most drive serious 4WD vehicles in sand (e.g. Nissan Patrol). Tyre pressure must be let down. It's serious work on the engine as well.

4WD Tips: Safe Beach Driving

The beach is seen as a 'soft' 4x4 destination, but nothing could be further from the truth.

One of the biggest assets to the beach driver is tyre pressure. Lower tyre pressure helps the vehicle 'float' on the soft sand, while higher pressures will give the vehicle a tendency to dig in to the sand. Pressures should be lowered to around 18-20psi for a start. Remember, two of your greatest assets in sand driving are your tyre-pressure gauge and pump.