There I was cruising down a wash when I saw a coyote! Jam on the brakes and too late realize that I just made a bad decision and stuck myself in sand.

On this particular day I happened to be in a two wheel drive pickup so there was no button to push or lever to pull that would help me ease out of my predicament. What now? I put the truck in park and got out to take a look. Not so bad, just a pile of sand in front of the front tires and the rear is still for the most part on top of the sand. I grab a shovel from the truck and scrape the built up sand from behind and in front of the front and rear tires. This should help me.

Back in the truck I put it in drive and ease the throttle. The truck moves so I give it more gas and forward progress stops as the rear of the truck drops down, digging in deep in just a second or two. This sand is pretty fine and deep, time to get serious here. I don’t feel like camping in the wash tonight.

Today is actually a lucky day for me because in the bed of my truck is a hi-lift jack along with the load ramps for my quad, good stuff to have right now. I take the jack along with a 1’ x 1’ x ¾" chunk of plywood that I use for a base, and use them to jack up the rear of the truck. The base is placed under the jack to help keep it from pushing in to the sand and making the jack useless. My trusty hi-lift picks up both rear wheels off of the ground. Carefully I take the shovel and fill in the holes and place the loading ramps under the tires with the extra length in front of the rear tires. You can also use strips of old carpet, small logs, rocks or even long grass or bushes, anything you think will help you out, just remember to not leave it behind. Back to the jack, I lower the truck down onto the ramps (which are nothing more than seven foot 2" x 10" chunks of lumber), get the shovel and make a nice clear path for the front tires, put the jack and shovel away, hop in, start up the truck, put ‘er in gear and give it a bit of throttle. You do not want to floor it yet because it will probably just shoot the ramps or whatever you have under the tires out and you will just be stuck again. Low and behold I got out and am once again on my way, at the nearest hard spot of ground I will stop and go back to pick everything up.

Now if you wonder why in the world was I out in a sandwash in a two wheel drive all I will say is - run what ya’ brung. No really I had the chance to go out after work and had not intention of being in a wash, but I was lucky to have enough equipment with me to make extraction somewhat easy. Besides I have been out in my 2x4 where a 4x4 fears to tread and I have heard of a certain Ford with a stripe on it that can go most anywhere dry.

Got any stuck in sand stories or photos? Send them in. I would like to hear about it.

Ted Scholl
AZOD Off Road Staff Writer