“A little advice prior to your arrival at Inskip Point to ensure you don’t get bogged”
Visitors to Fraser Island often have no real idea of what to expect once they reach Inskip point.
It’s advisable that you make a quick stop in the car park area ( under the shade of the trees) and prepare to let down your tyres. Driving in the soft sand with fully inflated tyres is bad news and you ‘ll just get bogged.
You need to do this before you leave the bitumen road and reach the sand. If you don’t you may become another embarrassing victim of Inskip Point.
The Fraser Island and Rainbow Beach locals call this the Graveyard… why you ask ??? because so may vehicles and their loads don’t even make it to the barge or Fraser Island.
What Tyre Air Pressure Do I need in the Sand?
With over 20 years of experience driving all around Fraser Island and many hundreds of trips across the point to the barge I think we can offer a little guidance on this one…
- 4 WD only…..16-18psi of tyre pressure
- 4WD + trailor ( box or campervan ) 12-16psi of tyre pressure
- 4WD + Large Boat or Caravan – 12psi of tyre pressure
This is what we travel with and is dependant on sand conditions and recent weather, and is a guide only. If rain has hit the area the sand may have become compacted and therefore less fluffy with a minimal likelihood of becoming bogged.
However 9 months of the year the rain is minimal and the sandy point is often soft and fluffy. Perfect for vehicles with inappropriate tyre pressure to get bogged and block the tracks to incoming and outgoing vehicles.
NOT a great way to start or end a holiday having to be winched, snatched or dragged from the track or being the helper to assist the bogged vehicle.
Many drivers whom have found themselves in a rut and stuck with all four tyres spinning and their engines revving, step out of their vehicles with red faces.
Most wishing they had taken some advice, researched a little more on 4WDing and/ or lowered their tyre pressure from the usual 40psi they are accustomed to travelling with and had planned to let down once they reached the barge.
What to do IF you Get Bogged
- Stay calm
- Don’t keep spinning the wheels- you will just dig deeper
- Ensure you 4WD is engaged
- Check that your steering wheel is straight
- Asses the situation- is the vehicle underbelly in the sand ? Clear away the sand.
- Engage reverse gear and see if the vehicle will back out of the bog.
- Reverse and forward a few times to compact a base.
- If this does not work- check tyre pressure – * it should be around 16-20psi for most vehicles.
- If tyre pressure is higher than 20psi – drop the pressure equally on all wheels ( 12-16psi is a good start )
- Engage reverse again- hopefully you can reverse out a decant distance- stop – put in first gear and build momentum forward again
- Should this mot get you out of the boggy sand you will need to resort to more serious recovery.
- Disembark all passengers for a lighter load-use manpower to try and push if possible
- Clear away sand from front and rear wheels
- Pull out the recovery gear…max tracks, shovels, car mats, snatch strap etc
- Hopefully you can ask for assistance from another vehicle to assist with a tow out.
- Remember safety and take care – use enough power only to gain momentum- no need for serious engine revving or you may end up with a burnt out clutch or something more sinister.
- Once you are out of the boggy sand and on a firmer surface ensure you put more air into the tyres ( 18-20psi) particularly if you are doing higher speeds.