The most common off-road driving mistake (& how to avoid it) | Auto Expert John Cadogan 

As someone who grew up in the bush during the 1950’s and 60’s in Land Rover and later, Land Cruiser, the biggest mistake is city types who think that they need to find the worst tracks to test their vehicle. Anyone with common sense avoids the rough stuff if at all possible, and only gets into the rough stuff when there is no other choice. 4WD capabilities exist to get you out of trouble, not to get you into it.

The slow driver in front saved his life.

The way he reads out the spelling mistakes is the best.

Well said John. One suggestion, during the walk around place your hand on the tyre and on the hub to check the temperature of the tyre and the brakes. Don’t forget the trailer if one is in tow.😎🇦🇺📷

If you're doing a lot of higher speed dirt road at reduced pressures it's a good idea to check the temperature of the sidewall after 5-10 kilometres. A quick check with the hand will let you know what's happening if it feels hot the pressures are probably too low for the speed you're travelling at.

God I absolutely love your comedy inserts... little gems littered throughout the response. Can't stop laughing.

Never lowered the tire pressure on my truck for off roading, but have off roaded a lot of motorcycles and I see a lot of riders, esp. of big adventure bikes, do this. It always ends in bent rims and popped tires off the rim, for the little bit of added traction provided if any. I ride with the same pressure on and off road, as, I need to get back on the road and get myself home and like my rims just as they are.

Absolutely brilliant john !

Thanks big lewy, i approved your insurance claim and your forgot to mention some of this info

I always use Max Trax after heading up the steep curb when taking the new Lexus RX up onto the front lawn for its wash, never been bogged yet. Never had to drop inflation, I know this isn't correct but I desend down the curb backwards straight onto the bitumen. Another excellent off road dilemma averted. Yeeeees.

You were on fire with comments on this one, and provided great advice as usual. Your experience is appreciated by the weekend driving warriors

I reckon half the vehicles on our roads would be driving with tyre pressures not much more than 25psi. Ah the good old saying ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ turns into ‘its not fully flat on the bottom yet so just keep going and if it does go fully flat on the bottom just rotate the tyre 180 degrees and she’ll be right mate’.

I love Big Lewy's attitude. I hope we hear from him again

Spot on with the 4x4 info and tyre pressures JC, in less than 15mins you provided more precise, clear, direct and far more important information into the basics of 4x4ing than most 4wd training companies (who claim their 70yr old instructors are the most experienced out there, yet none have little or no idea about modern 4x4 systems, winch operations, recovery equipment, rated recovery points and all other equipment not used in the 70/80s) do in a 3hr video or a days physical instructions... Well done JC, the information you have just provided as is very helpful..will in no doubt saved lives. 👍👍👍

John this story is a sign of the time, I have been driving 4x4 for decades down Australia's outback tracks and in the last few years I find I'm helping more stupid people unprepared for that type of travel and it's starting to get serious last trip to Birdsville had to call the RFDS (sat phone) when we come across a 4x4 on its roof I noticed two blown road tyres and all the had was a mobile phone the didn't work, bigger problem coming as 4x4 sales clime, cheers mate.

when we do gravel and long corrugation we always air down to 22 psi with no issues, just feel the tire every once in a while to make sure it does not over heat. But yeah 100kmph is a bit much...

Another great, learning and entertaining video. Thank you 😊

Solid content. Also, of you don't want to break your vehicle when off-road, slow down, Especially when mudding and rock hopping. The fun will last longer and so will your car. Coming to you today from Munduberra. I suspect that the real Dingo Piss Creek is just near here.

Yet another amazingly piss funny episode John👍. Keep up the good work mate.

Pressures are also different diameter of rim. It’s why most people who are serious off roaster use a rim between 15-17” cause of higher profile, which means less heat in sidewall when deflated. Minimum pressure are higher with lower profile OEM 19” then say a 16” higher profile tyre. There is a chart online for different tyre profiles and rim sizes for optimum tyre pressures without damage.

When 'bush bashing' out of Kalgoorlie/Boulder, 2 spares were a *must* ! When the first tyre change happens (it certainly will), the second spare is to get you back to the black top from where you are...

lool 100kph on low tyres on gravel and wonders why there is a problem

I work as a technician in an anatomy department. I do love a good crossover. Keep entertaining us jc.

Oh ffs John , Its like this. Q: Can we get up there A: Umm I dunno Decision : Lets have a go and see. Conclusion: Yeah/nah maybe a winch. Fun,fun,fun

Side note. Thank you for your amazing videos. Follow all the way from South Africa. We have very simelar vehicles so your videos make for informative watching...

Big Lewy - join a reputable 4wd club. One that provides training.

I’m still trying to work out why some people choose to take the most difficult route to a camp site, just to feel heroic in their efforts and quietly satisfied it was successful.

Thanks for the info on tyre pressure for off-roading.

Pure gold John.

The most common off-road driving mistake? Spilling latte into the auto crawl hill top ascent traction deflation dual battery 270 degree awning wine chiller induction hot plate 1000 amp-hour lithium unobtanium battery selector switch? Something like that.

Land Rover back in the 1990's published an excellent book called "The Land Rover Experience". In there, apart from specific recommendations for each vehicle in current production at the time, were some general guidelines which I use to this day. They were, for tracks and poor roads up to 65 km/h (40 mph) deflate to 80% of normal pressures, and for emergency soft use up to 20 km/h (12 mph) deflate to 60% of normal pressures. If you can't get specific recommendations from either the vehicle or tyre manufacturer, you'll need accurate axle weights for the latter, it's a good guideline to follow, particularly as it's from a vehicle manufacturer.

@AutoExpert No mention on ‘LT’ rated tyres for off-road work? (much stronger sidewalls) I wouldn’t really be game to drop the pressures on OEM road tyres!!

The Fun Never Stops, with John & the comments :) Learning too. Big L won't make That Mistake Again - & - He's Shot to Instant Fame :) What a Man! What a Man!

Dear John :) While mostly correct and with the general gist of it, your recommendations are a bit limited. Tyre pressures are possibly the least well understood things in motoring. While they tyre pressures either in the manual or on the tyre plackard are, sufficient information for most standard passenger cars, it gets a little more complicated for heavily loaded vehicles and those with tyres differing from those fitted from the factory. Many of the commercial type 4wd vehicles ( like 70 series toyotas & the like) many have very much higher tyre pressures than the passenger types, AND may have very much higher pressures in the rear tyres when heavily loaded. Some of these vehicles may have recommended loaded pressures in the rear tyres of around 55-60 PSI, this in turn changes the wise reduced pressures for off road use. This brings the 33% reduced pressure ( for rocks and dirt roads) down to around the 40PSI and the 60% reduced pressure ( for sand) down to around 20PSI Thus the starting point differs as should the pressure reduction. My strong recomendation is that every 4WD owner should consult and Probably carry a copy of the "load V Pressure table" for the tyres fitted to their vehicle. As you will be no doubt aware this is available in the Tyre Standards Manual of from a tyre manufacturer web site. They should also weigh their vehicle ( as loaded for travel) at a local weigh bridge and from the tables work out the correct tyre pressures to use. For example my aging Hilux with aftermarket wheels and tyres correctly runs lower pressures than on the tyre plackard, when lightly loaded should be running the same pressures front and rear around 30 PSI, when heavily loaded to capacity the rears should be up around 50psi. The wise speed at reduced pressure is a bit of a matter for discussion and all a but rubbery :) ........ but it seems reasonable that speed should be reduced in proportion to tyre pressure ... so for the 30% reduction for dirt and rock a maximum of 70 or 80 KMH and for the 60% pressure reduction a maximum of 40 to 50KMH

Many people drive around on under-inflated tyres, mostly because they're either too lazy or simply don't know to check the pressure. Probably, 25 psi would be around an average pressure for these under-inflated tyres, yet most of them actually get away with it for months if not years. So it seems unusual that a short drive on a 25 psi tyre would cause it to fail so quickly, most likely it already had damage or ran over a rather sharp rock.

You missed, touch the tires and check the temperature.

100km/h on a deflated tyre....eheheh. Why did it fail?

You missed the main point. Paj Sport only carries a few litres. The guy in the Prado wasn’t in a hurry as he had 150 litres on board. Lucky he slowed you down.

As tyre pressures are so important, how about a video on tyre pressure gauges, John ? A quick survey at around 30psi with my gauges gave the following: two tubegauges, identical make and model, bought 10 years apart 2psi difference. Two gauges, identical in appearance, but one marked ARB, 5psi difference. The gauge on my compressor (probably Chinese) 10psi higher than all other gauges. The knock off ARB gauge does not seem to read below 20 psi. Don't get me started on digital gauges!

Hi John absolutely enjoy these videos. This may lead you to your next video. With the pressures is this for all types of tyres? Highway terrain, all terrain and mud terrain. I am aware that H/T will have better traction for sand etc. Keep up with the videos.

I love the hole bit !!!

Always enjoy me some quiet success.

Occam's razor explanation - loved it.

An easy to follow rule is the 4psi rule for off road vehicles. Check your pressures soon after dropping air and if the tyres increase in pressure by more than 4psi, your pressure is too low or your driving too fast, so change one or the other. Tyres flex and heat up just like a piece of wire, thats where the extra pressure is coming from. Let them get too hot, say driving on soft tyres at road speeds and the tyres will fail. I was in the car with my uncle one time and he developed a leak in his front tyre, so decided to limp to the nearest servo only about 5km away. By the time we had got there the tyre had gone flat and the sidewall had melted and failed and molten rubber was stuck to the side of the car, and this was from driving at only 20kph at most. Bit of an exaggerate example but shows how much a tyre can heat up under flex.

🤦‍♂️ People spend more money on 4wd accessories than rather investing in knowledge! The first thing that anyone should do that wants to 4wd and before they put big muddies and a fat bullbar is actually spend $300 on a accredited 4wd drive training course.

You might get away with wearing no pants to a job interview if it's done over Zoom and you are meticulously careful about the camera angle. But that's still living dangerously.

Again John, you lift me up from my Andrewsvid quagmire, (Victoria), well done there ,,,

Hi John. Great channel! Please tell us all about rapacious deceitful and outrageously dismal car insurance companies and how they may fail us in the bush, and illuminate some of the challenges and costs involved in having one's valuable vehicle recovered from the remotest parts of Shitsville should that become necessary. Many thanks.

Tyres always have holes in them. Big round bar stools for putting the air in, usually sealed by a wheel rim! My Prado, cough, “, pulled a Hyundai “4 WD” (according to the owner) from saturated beach sand with 8psi all round for extra grip, but his luck only extended so far. Next time, dudes, follow the examples of Tojo drivers! B-)

Eating a slice of pizza without chewing. Fkn gold.

Thank you, posted on our group page - It may however get blocked by Fuckerberg because the Pajero is white

quite often people don't want to inflate their tires for a short run because it takes ages with the tiny little air compressor they bought (that they think is big). i highly recommend getting the biggest mother you can fit. then its nice a quick and you can do it every time.

Without wishing to denigrate your correspondent, another issue I see here is that the Prado (hopefully with correct tyre pressures) was doing 60kph on this dirt road, presumably because the driver thought it was unsafe to go any faster. Further, Big Lewy says that he was following in the Prado’s ‘dirt cloud’; this would have obscured Big Lewy’s vision and so he may not have been able to see any washout, or any other obstacle that could have contributed to the damage to his tyre. So we have low tyre pressures, low visibility and potentially excessive speed for the conditions. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

12 psi I fine on the beach. Some beaches, you might need to go lower. Even on factory road tyres.

There are so many articles about tire pressure and running low pressure at speed is a no no. If you intend to deflate, have the ability to inflate.

I usually do the opposite: i don´t deflate when i go off road. In part because i don´t have yet the means to re inflate, and in part because i usually only go a few miles and avoid the really rough stuff, and i have never drove on sand.

John, if you're going to continue to do 4x4 videos, you're really going to stock up on blue singlets! But jokes aside, from the videos/channels I've seen, you Aussies are truly blessed with a piece of paradise to explore. Maybe a video on new vehicles that you would recommend for beating the outback into submission? You know...for the walton mountain crowd.

Sounds like Big Lewy is also new to common sense.

Driving offroad with road pressure is asking for trouble, everything is working harder, the tyres have less give, so they're more likely to stake on sharp rocks and stumps, and it also wrecks the track because the smaller contact patch tends to spin far more easily. As for on-road, absolutely agree that you need to air up first, if it's not feasible, keep it below 60kph, especially with road biased tyres, as their soft sidewall flexes more easily, so heats up to failure point far quicker. 100kph on 25psi is an accident looking for a place to happen.

I met a bloke on the Gibb River Road, which often has endless corrugations. He insisted that it’s best to run the tyres at road pressure 40psi and drive at 80-100kmh on this surface as you just “bounce across the top”. I don’t think his suspension would have thanked him.

what is the bet, his mitsi had road tyres on and he thought that tyre is tyre road tyres dont perform like AT and MT tyres High end MTs will handle low pressure but I wouldnt be doing 100kph with flat tyres anyway

John gives the best intellectual slap downs around.

Excellent

The country NEEDS you in Canberra, John.

BF Goodrich state that the correct tyre pressure, based on the vehicle load and speed, for their all terrain tyres on sealed roads, is also the correct pressure for unsealed roads. In other words do not let your tyres down unless you are driving on beach sand. As BF Goodrich state the air in tyre is all that's supporting the vehicle, not the tyre. I have always subscribed to this and never had tyre trouble even on the roughest roads in Australia. But I have stopped dozens of times to offer help to someone changing a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere and I always ask what pressure are they running. The answer is always a ridiculously low pressure well below what's on the placard because they believe the urban myth about letting tyres down on gravel. PS BF Goodrich have had extensive experience running their AT tyres in extreme events such as the Paris to Dakar Rally and the Baja Desert Race which is why I'll take their advice on tyre pressures before anyone else.

#1 upgrade for almost any factory vehicle. A high quality set of tyres to suit the specific task at hand. The highway tyres on your new 4by aren't a great deal of chop out in Dingo Piss creek. Unless you very rarely go off road or only on the sand, a decent set of all terrain tyres is a great plus. Stronger sidewalls and a bit more grip. The latest all terrains have come leaps and bounds over things like the old BFG KOs

RU-vid is such a double edged sword. People watch a video of someone rock crawling their highly modified Cherokee and think "That looks fun, I want to do that." However, there are a number of initiation fees required to play in the sandbox with the big boys. They include (but not limited to) skill, experience, and a shit load of expensive 4x4 mods to your vehicle, like 35" tires (tyres) with bead lock rims, pneumatic diff locks, lift kits on the suspension, etc. Buddy with his Toyota Tacoma straight off the show room floor can get in over his head in a hurry.

John I think you missed the pressure with tryes at 20 degrees C. My 4x4 Sprinter van I run at placard my TPM shows they go up about 10% when at working temperature or slightly more when near dingo piss creek and the sun shining down on them can get to as high as 50 or more degrees C. So another rule of thumb about 1.5 psi for each 10 degrees rise in temperature. Oh and of course don't even think about off road without TPM fitted then Larry would have seen the tyres overheating. Mine will beep annoyingly at over 50C so I just slow down if I've reduced pressure which I've only done once on a terribly corrugated section of our fine highways.

World class sledging...nice work son

Not sure where to ask but here goes, after a 4x4 to drive to Birdsville for that great Strailia outback drive but with a $10-15k budget.

Cadogan, it is so wonderful to listen to someone who is an expert in everything.....even such things as the origins of life and the universe, and us, without ever having seriously studied it, it is so much more awesome. You mentioned five marriages, but that's probably an idle boast, no doubt someone like you is not that much of a dud in the sack...... Some would call you a professional smart arse, but I would not be so rude.

Reinflating is so important. Driving on low pressure tyres is a risk. It's been a little while since I did any off-roading. but it does sound like a good crash and burn story of how not to drive off-road.

This one really was like the car crash you go by where you don't want to look at the blood, yet you just can't look away.

Just a winging Pom here John, In Blighty we are still stuck with miles per hour, yes I know, but it can be useful for tyre pressures. A golden rule is, never drive faster than double the tyre pressure in psi and speed in MPH. 25psi would allow 50 mph max.(80 KPH) Not sure if you could work out a metric version, maybe triple the psi as a rough guide.

Totally lost my ‘ laughing’ shit John, so very on point on oe tyres, I myself use 18 psi on LT tyres as my ‘go to’ and adjust from there depending on the ground I’m traveling on for the trip. Not blowing sunshine up your arse but keep it coming. 🤣🤣🤣

6psi is actually possible if you are badly stuck in sand. You don't want to go joining around at that pressure but the bead won't usually break if you just use it to get unbogged. Dropping pressure on gravel helps with corrugations, both in prevention and smoothness of ride 25psi is common on gravel.

Interesting article john, although tyre pressures are in reality far more subjective than this. I have run pressures as low as 10psi in various conditions and up to 50psi on road and everywhere in between and this is with a vehicle of 3600kg gvm. In fact I would say that off road tyre pressure is best assessed using a tried and true 4wd adage: As low as possible, as high as necessary.... Problem as always, is the modem 4wd habit of treating every off road track as though it were an autobahn....... Repeated sidewall flexing caused by too high speed is almost always the culprit of tyre blowouts. I mean if you're in that much of a hurry why take the road less travelled? Slow down and enjoy the drive, or else air up and hit the black top.

John, can you do a video on the rule that you need to slow down to 40kph when passing an emergency, police etc, stopped on the side of the road, I don't think too many people realize that it is law imagine doing 110 and having to slow down to 40, so many accident are happening because of it

Love your TRB3 spaceship t-shirt ✔️😂

Nice. As a off-road hobbyist, these tips should be useful to me. Oh and yessssssss!

Big Lewy & Little John.

In my case I did not “air down” at all and failed to climb the last incline of the Poletti Track on the way to Mt Terrible.

Nice one 👍

Brilliant. Can’t wait to see John Wick 4 after a four pizza a day habit. Probably be set in a CCU.

I do not know what the answer is for people that only get half the story. Deflate the tyres for difficult terrain, but return to recommended pressure before driving on the open road. It is similar to ironing instructions on some clothing; remove item before ironing. Or "this packet of mixed nuts contains nuts". If I was to buy a 4x4 to go out there, I would PAY for training before hand.

See, this is one of the best things about TPMS. Even a cheapo one off eBay will usually display your tyre TEMPERATURE as well as pressure and tyre temp' is often more important than pressure when you're monkeying around on/off road.

2021 Hilux told by dealer at 1000km sevice to turn off the lane departure system when I raised concerns about instabilitie on sweeping 100 km curves . Once home checked basics ,10 psi diferance between front tyres. Once this was corrected handeling improved. Have I voided warranty altering factory settings?

It is technically a tyre issue, as your probably using road tyres for offroad. ALso speed matters as its all about the temperature that causes the tyre to fail. Just drive at a very low speed and your fine. Get a proper tyre for offroad and you won't have this problem. Muddies for example are designed to run at lower pressures (25-30) on the highway or they wear unevenly.

So was Tiffany worth it in the end? Need your input for future reference? Thanks in advance .

Precision and discipline are characteristics we need. Not apathy. Responsibility is a burden.

Keep off beaches. A mate nearly died when an dolt in a 4WD rolled on a sandbar & personally nearly did a reboot of the sands of time. Driver's condition is 'in traction, nil solids & all via straw'.

Never lowered tyre pressure. 16 years offroading. I wouldn't recommended unless you are stuck in sand. If you have a pump along then that's ok but you should reinflate immediately.

Very funny and instructive.

John, recently stumbled across your channel and am living the videos... I have a question that I thought you might be able to assist with and maybe even throw up a future narrative on. I'm currently driving a Landrover Discovery 3 that serves 2 main purposes. 1) Due to a considerable level of disdain for modern society I like to get away from people when I can and the Discovery serves that purpose well, no blue singlets in sight. 2) It is also my tow car, used for trailering around a few classics I have stashed (around 2.8T Max towing mass) around the place. Recently I have been considering an upgrade and given the issues surrounding the new Defender and its starting price I am looking at other options. Interested to know what your thoughts on the upcoming Grenadier are. Is it looking like it will live up to the hype. Trying to find a proper 4x4 capable alternative that won't result in taking out a second mortgage.

Maybe if deflating often, then invest in Beadlock or something similar to keep the tyre on the rim

John, when I was a mere whippersnapper of 18, I put my grandmother's Ford Fiesta on it's side, in a ditch. Luckily Grandma was at home in bed at the time. I have always blamed my youthful exuberance and inappropriate velocity into that bend. Luckily I was uninjured. However, if I recall, when the remains of the fiesta where removed from the ditch, the left rear tyre was off the rim and deflated. Could it be that after all these years it was actually caused by a tyre inflation error?

Don't directly impact the sump

Hey John. I have my own newbie accident tale while I was out "4-wheel driving" one day that went horribly wrong, but as expected. Put simply, I was going up a steep hill and the engine stalled. Next thing I knew I was cartwheeling it down the hill. Only thing that stopped it all was reaching the bottom of the hill. Totally caused by my complete and utter lack of situational awareness. If your engine stalls, you start it again, right? Right? Foot on the brake pedal, in with the clutch, and my fate was sealed. When the engine stalled my front right wheel was just slightly to the right of the crown between a pair of deep ruts, and when the wheels were disengaged from the stalled engine, along with my feeble brake application, the car rolled backwards and the right front fell into the rut, turning the car at an angle to the slope of the hill. I didn't even have my hands on the steering wheel, one hand going for the ignition, and the other, neutral. Everything happened so quickly, except for the noisy part.

A while back I saw one of your videos regarding a bulls**t probability matrix .... is it still around ? :)

Some car brands use runflat tires on their streetcars. Do these exist for 4x4's? 4×4's seem to be more inclined to suffer tire punctures when used for their intended purpose, offroading. I suppose this run flat tire technology could be useful for offroading 4x4's. Or am i missing something?