If you’ve never driven a vehicle on sand, you may not be aware of its dangers. Unlike gravel or dirt roads, sand presents a greater potential for vehicle stranding due to its tendency to sink quickly under the weight of the vehicle. Here’s a video that shows you the exact moment two Florida residents learned how to stay safe from the beach.
The video, first posted on Reddit in the IdiotsInCars subreddit a couple of weeks ago, is as funny as it is a little sad. It looks like a 392 Dodge Charger ran ashore as the surf came in and clearly needed a rescue before it becomes the next vehicle to need full recovery. Relying only on rear-wheel drive and the fast-disappearing sand beneath, towing was the only solution.
It seems the only transportation available at the time was an elevator Ram 2500. From what we can tell, it looks like the perfect tool in many ways for the job. It has four-wheel drive, as evidenced by the 4×4 badge on the rear, which is very important in this situation, and there appears to be a Cummins diesel badge on the front fender, which means it should have the torque to rip pretty much anything out of sand Unfortunately, things go downhill pretty quickly.
Read more: I got stuck with a four wheel drive jeep in the sand and it was my fault
At about the 18-second mark of the nearly 90-second video, we see both Stellantis family vehicles spinning their tires on the beach. The Charger drops to its axle and the Ram sinks a few inches into the soft surface. From the looks of it, the truck may still be in 2WD mode. On the second attempt, the tow rope snaps.
By the time they attach the chain to each car, the waves are creeping past the body of the sedan and under the truck. That’s when all four tires on the Ram start to spin and it starts to sink into the sand. It doesn’t help that the truck uses low-profile tires with giant wheels. This combination does not allow the truck to inflate the tires for better traction.
As the video ends, both vehicles appear to be a solid part of the landscape as the sea encroaches on them. Fortunately, a tow truck later arrived and both cars were able to escape before any serious damage was done.
Image credit: @OnlyInFlorida
https://www.carscoops.com/2022/07/watch-a-dodge-charger-and-a-lifted-ram-show-us-how-not-to-remove-a-stranded-vehicle-on-a-florida-beach/
