Driving in sand

[imbored20]

I was thinking about getting a set of the Proline Sandpaws and driving in sand, like at the beach. Anyone done this before? Do you think it would be fun or a bad Idea?

[bullfrog]

its both fun ans a bad idea if a little grain of sand in your motor or engine it will shred the wire around the armature or its will score your piston and sleeve.

[jeepinator]

Sand can be fun and safe. Ocean sand is the worst ! It has that salt in there and rust will happen RIGHT NOW if you don't wipe it down and dry it off real fast.
Some tips for sand:

1) Don't let your ride sit damp, even for a very short period, after playing on an ocean beach.
2) For electrics, use a motor sock thingy. You can even use something home made. The goal is too keep sand out of the motor.
3) DO NOT let salt water get in your electronics. Clean water is far better than salt water in this regard, and clean water is bad ...
4) Gear very low. Sand is a huge drag on motors. Your batts and motor will be much hotter in the sand if you don't gear down.
5) I have found that huge knobby tread is better than sand paddles. Plus, you can go on the smooth wet sand with ease as well. Paddles only work in that dry fluffy sand. Get some old, hard as heck, huge knobies. Pro-Line still has a line of "fun" backyard bashing style tires.
6) Trucks are WAY better (and more fun IMO) in the sand than buggies. The small tires just don't work out there very well.

I hope this helps !

[Crazy Canuck]

I was doing this at my cottage. I used spike tires they worked really well. To keep the sound outy of the electronics I wrapped the chassis in Seran Wrap, It worked great.

[WhoKnowsWho]

Hey, did you use Reynolds Wrap or a generic type? :) That's actually a pretty good idea, I would guess it did a good job, it sounds like it would.

[Rc1oGtMaN]

Another good idea is to seal up your diff cases. Use either tape or silicone, and just put a line of silicone, or strip of tape, right on top of the seams.

[Crazy Canuck]

Glad Wrap. The clinging stuff

[XXXER]

Wow, when i went to California, and cruised around on the beach, I used Sand Paws, and my only gripe about them were they caused me to push a ton! it is a blast to race the waves(when you had a D4 in a rustler, they did not stand a chance :p ) but my fun was dampered when my pinion came off my motor :( so, take some tools with you!

I think that Jeep's post was the most helpful and informative so far, so heed his caution. And the motor sock thingy, take some breathable fabric/paper type stuff, and put it over the motor(especially the endbell, and any other "cooling" holes) and wrap a rubber band around them.

[Rc1oGtMaN]

I bet a shop tower or one of those "Book Sock" school book covers would keep the sand out of the motor.

[Andrew the RC man]

sand paws for sand eh? boy this is gonna sound stupid but i figured those tings were best for snow and that the spiky type tires(im being general here) were best for gravel/sand/everything :D

[TC3Racer]

another good thing that i noticed that no one mentioned is to wrap or cover your receiver in a little baggy of some sort. I have an electric Blizzard and I wrapped the receiver in a little baggy and it works great. I drive it around in the snow all the time. The reason you need to have a baggy around your receiver is because water and electricity is a bad match and we all should know that. The receiver can short out and your car/truck can go flying forward at top speed away from you and you cant do anything about it. or it will just burn out and you will need a new receiver. So trust me, take my word for it and wrap your receiver in a baggy or anything water proof!

That Saran Wrap also sounds like an excellent idea. That way you are prtecting the whole car, not just the receiver. good luck.

[paxil]

the "sand" paws do work very well in snow.....Andrew the RC man i agree with you

[SwedishPhish]

I drove my T3 in sand one day using Masher 2000s, and a hellload of sand was in my chassis by the time I was done. Ive got to try that seran wrap thing.

[Kevin_366]

I am gong to the beach sometime next month for vacation. XXXER, do you mean using something like a thin section of fabric to use as an airfilter over your motor? Would the saran wrap cause the batts. or esc to overheat and them melt to them????

[CBlakeNS]

I drive my t maxx all the time in sand just make sure you have a air filter that will cut it so you wont blow your enigne up and make sure rihgt after your done clean it up!!

[Kevin_366]

would an hpi rally car work on hte sand at all? or would it just get stuck. (in the fluffy stuff or wet) would u still need saran wrap with the other body inside of it??

[Rc1oGtMaN]

I think your need something taller than an HPI rally for the loose stuff, but it will handle the wet sand great. If I were you, I think I'd seal the inner body and the chassis at their seams. You could try some rubber insulator or something to seal the crack between the inner body and the chassis, so you won't have to reseal the chassis all the time. The rubber thing would probably be the best.

[Matt Russell]

How about a long strip of heavy duty velcro to seal the body to the chassis? it's reuseable, at least...

-Skip

[Rc1oGtMaN]

If you try an clow up all the seams with anything it should be fine. You might get a bit of sand on the velcro, but wouldn't you rather have it there, than on your belts?