Sand Car Stability at Higher Speeds

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Dockmaster

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How does your sand car feel at higher speeds on straight stretches?  I’m wondering if mine is typical or if I should try some adjustments? I love my little 2 seat, mid-engine Revo. It’s like a slot car in the sand. However, when I hit our sand freeway here in Oregon or on the straight beach runs it starts to feel a little squirrelly as I get towards 90 and more past 100. The car has lots more in it and really I can honestly say it has more in it then I have in me 🥵. I originally just assumed it was tracking back and forth in the ruts and maybe that’s all that’s happening. But curious if this is typical or is there any adjustments I can make to help it track and feel more stable on these higher speed runs? Could it be as simple as playing with front tire pressures? I currently run right about 9-10 psi. Maybe I should try lower pressures? Maybe some shock setting changes? I have the power steering dialed down pretty low so don’t think that’s the issue. Or is this typical and I’m expecting too much? I don’t do this often enough that I would want to sacrifice the handling in the dunes. So if this is a case of just wanting the best of all driving conditions, I’ll gladly live with the high speed characteristics if it means giving up something else. What say you experts? 

 
My last car, sand limo squirt+, Honda 3.5, 2D. I clocked it at 109, I would get a little squirmy at that speed, I got the alignment corrected, and suspension dialed,  it fixed most of the problems, but still a little squirmy at high speed. I believe it's an attribute of short wheelbase car. New car is probably 2 foot longer, much more stable at speed...

Edit to ad, I usually run 9-11 psi in the front of that car as well.

Every car is a little different, tire pressure is easy to fool with, run it up to 15, then try it, drop a few psi and try again. 

 
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Honestly, I feel like I’m on the knifes edge at 70+ in my SU 5 link, I don’t like driving past my abilities and the sand can always be unpredictable.  

 
Alignment helps (caster and toe) as does having a front end with minimal bump steer. Tire PSI helps a little. I know my YXZ is night and day when i swap from front buffed tires to a single rib mohawk. Hate the buffs when duning, but hate the mohawks when going fast/straight.

 
I've seen lots of rails and class1 cars running 140-150 and perfectly smooth, no wandering (check out jeff pont's vid on ig where runs an easy 150 last week)

 
The other thing I have always done is run a string pulled tight around all 4 tires at the centerline of the wheels. Then square the fronts to the backs and set the steering wheel. Then set toe.  

 
You can try to get your suspension better tuned but I think your short wheelbase is the issue.

 
Thanks everyone. Some good things to consider and check here. I do not notice any bump steer but I'll have a look at toe in and camber. Of course, when under heavy acceleration the front suspension is extended upward as the front end wants to lift. So, I'll check it with the front end lifted to see how it looks. And I'll play around with tire pressures as well. As noted, it may just be the short wheelbase which is fine if it is. It's certainly manageable, just trying to improve it a little if possible without heroic modifications. 

 
Rear toe out can make it squirelly...  Front toe out will make it darty and tramline (follow ruts) but should be manageable unless you're expecting German car autobahn tracking. 

But wide tires tend to tramline.  Paddles are wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide.

There's also the fact that buggies have terrible aerodynamics.

 
I have only had a few sand cars. The King turbo busa car did this and scared the living poop out of me. It would be so squirly going down the drags or long fast flats. I think the short wheelbase and weight is a big factor in this. I did not have this issue in the bigger cars like my S&S or Funco. But what do I know. I just want to dune!

 
My Hustler was like that at the top end of the drags. Speed, who knows. Faster than I really needed to go. In the dunes running as hard as I could I had no problems. The G52 was better but only ran the drags once in that car.  I've since stopped going to the drags. Nothing good was going to come from it IMO. I like to dune and the drags are just not my thing. No different then Olds or China. Ill shoot up it once in a while but it's just because our group wants to.  @Mac seems to have an internal beacon that puts us at olds every time. 

 
Something nobody’s talked about is the way the back of your car is set up. It’s a 3 link set up like my King Sand Car was. Those rear tires are always changing directions. That’s what was fun having the car was you could set the car into a corner. Nail the throttle and slide the back end around and drive it like a sprint car. 

 
We don't have a drag strip here like you have in G where everyone lines the edges and watch people go at it. But I do enjoy a high speed run every now and again but usually not racing anyone. Only time I race is when someone thinks they have a fast SxS and given my car is about the same size as a SxS they sometimes try to give me a go. It's usually only about 5 seconds of me into the throttle and for some reason they slow down and turn off another direction as if they suddenly remembered they were supposed to be somewhere else 😀😜

 
I have a 2 seat SU Ultra light mid engine with the 5 link rear.  It is not a fast straight-a-way car.  The rear starts to wiggle and float.  It's just not built for that.  It's a pure duner.

I started out in the dunes on 2 wheels.  I sucked hard at first.  I felt bad that the people I camped with had to babysit me so I rode a lot by myself I had to learn to navigate and read the dunes for myself early on.  I don't care much for a GPS and never used one so I have this weird sense of where things are and if in doubt...go to Olds and recalibrate... :lol:

I still like to dune alone.  There's just some peace and serenity in it.  

 
1newbie said:
Alignment helps (caster and toe) as does having a front end with minimal bump steer. Tire PSI helps a little. I know my YXZ is night and day when i swap from front buffed tires to a single rib mohawk. Hate the buffs when duning, but hate the mohawks when going fast/straight.
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This.  ^^^   I think the problem is incorrect caster and toe adjustments. My Foddrill has been up to 115 mph and it felt rock solid at those speeds. It never feels twitchy or darty.

 
Something nobody’s talked about is the way the back of your car is set up. It’s a 3 link set up like my King Sand Car was. Those rear tires are always changing directions. That’s what was fun having the car was you could set the car into a corner. Nail the throttle and slide the back end around and drive it like a sprint car. 

 
my desert dynamics is extremely stable at high speeds. after several miles of running 105, slowing to 65-70 felt like i was crawling, lol

 
ROBERT L said:
Something nobody’s talked about is the way the back of your car is set up. It’s a 3 link set up like my King Sand Car was. Those rear tires are always changing directions. That’s what was fun having the car was you could set the car into a corner. Nail the throttle and slide the back end around and drive it like a sprint car. 
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I also had a King Sand Car and it definitely got real squirrelly at the top end of a straight away. I also believe that it had to do with the rear suspension constantly changing toe and camber as it cycled up and down. Also, the hard flat wide Sand Squirt tires didn’t help. BUT MAN WAS IT FUN to dune in!!

 
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