How to navigate steep terrain

How do you conquer tracks with steep terrain with a minimum of fuss? We've shared our top tips so you'll be all set.

By Paul Todd 14 Min Read

The Victorian High Country is one of those places with a real air of invincibility about it. Pretty accessible for most of the Aussie population, full of iconic tracks, huts, and campsites, and a true bucket list off-road destination. It’s pretty daunting, though. Steep doesn’t even begin to describe some of the tracks; they look like nothing short of a mountain goat could tame them.

And while that might be true for some of the really extreme tracks, most of them are much more accommodating. The same can be said for another absolute offroad Mecca; Coffs Harbour. While the scenery may be different, the challenge remains the same. The tracks are steep.

The third feather in the cap of the east coast is the Glasshouse Mountains. While it’s different again, there remains some common ground. Some tracks are closer to vertical than horizontal. With the right preparation, there’s nothing to be feared.

All three destinations are nestled along the ridges and valleys of the Great Dividing Range. This mountain range stretched over 3,500km from the top of Cape York down to the Grampians in south-west Victoria, basically skirting the entire eastern coastline. It’s the highest part of Australia, home to Mt Kosciuszko, Mt Townsend, Mt Twynam, and the rest of the top ten tallest peaks on the mainland.

So how do you conquer the tracks to these monumental peaks with a minimum of fuss? Easy…

Jeep 4x4 steep terrain

Prepare for battle

As the old adage goes, ‘by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’. Your level of preparation will depend on a host of things. The difficulty of the tracks you plan on attacking, the vehicle you’re starting with, and your budget, just to name a few. There’s no formula here that guarantees success. A lot of that is down to the nut behind the wheel. However, there are a few things you can do to really improve the way your vehicle performs.

Like basically every driving situation you’ll ever encounter, traction is key. Forward progress is unlikely unless your tyres remain in contact with the surface beneath them.

Now, if you haven’t already got a 4×4, go get one. If steep tracks are on the menu, take short wheelbase off your shopping list, you want a decently long rig for a bit of extra stability. Make sure the 4×4 has low range, and if you can get a factory locker or two, you’re ahead of the game.

4x4s with independent suspension will almost always give you a nicer ride on road. And vehicles with solid axles front and rear will almost always go further off-road. There are exceptions to every rule, but not many.

Once you’ve picked your ride, there’s a golden triangle of mods that will get you further every time, without fail. Lift, lockers and tyres. Put some extra air between your chassis and the track beneath it with a good suspension lift. If you can avoid, or minimise bottoming out, you’re in with a great shot of conquering that track that’s been calling you names.

Lockers are basically a non-negotiable for steep tracks. The job of a diff lock is to ensure that no matter what, both wheels on that axle will spin at the same speed. If you can spare the cash to lock both diffs, all four wheels will spin at the same pace, giving you the best mechanical chance of forward progress.

Now you’ve got all four wheels spinning at the same speed, you need to add some friction and turn those revolutions into forward motion. Head to your local tyre shop and get the biggest and best aggressive all terrain or mud terrain tyres you can a) afford, and b) fit on your 4×4. There are plenty of options in road legal sizes, and heaps more beyond that for those private tracks.

What do I bring?

Easy. As little as possible.

Keep your car light and nimble. A light 4×4 is a capable 4×4, so you will get further. An added bonus is that you won’t have a tonne of stuff bouncing around inside causing dramas. Keep your roof load low, and that centre of gravity lower. There are a few things you need, though, and a few that are nice to have.

You need recovery gear. A set of traction boards, and a couple of straps and shackles should be the bare minimum. If you are travelling in convoy, and you should where possible, that’ll be enough to get you out of most binds.

If you prefer to explore solo, do yourself a favour and fit a good winch. It’s money well spent, and should be thought of as cheap insurance. You’ll still need a couple of straps and shackles, as well as a winch damper and a tree trunk protector. A pulley block is also a great idea to multiply the winch power for those trickier recoveries.

If you’re new to winching, do yourself a favour and do some research. There are a bunch of techniques to learn that will come in handy at some point. At a minimum, you’ll want to learn how to secure an anchor point and conduct a double line pull. A winch can be an incredibly dangerous proposition in inexperienced hands. Remember, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Jeep 4x4 steep terrain

Full of hot air

Let’s say you’ve just bought yourself a Jeep Gladiator. You opted for the Rubicon for a few reasons; not least the factory front and rear lockers. You replace the tyres with a good set of aggressive all terrains. You throw in a couple of inches of lift and point the thing at Morbid Trail in Coffs Harbour. You immediately fail. Wait. That’s me, that’s what I did. What went wrong? 

I had the most capable 4×4 set up I could hope for in the situation, but I neglected a few basics before tackling one of Australia’s most infamous tracks. I didn’t lower my tyre pressure. Once I remembered that, I dropped to 16psi, and walked up the track.

Tyre pressure is absolutely critical.

Unfortunately, there’s no magic number that works for all vehicles. A good rule of thumb is to let enough air out that the sidewall of your tyre is half as high as when at road pressure. This will increase the amount of tread in contact with the track surface and give you the best chance at traction.

Get going

Once you’ve prepared your vehicle as best you can, and you’ve dropped your tyre pressure, it’s time. Select low range, lock the hubs, and put it in gear. If you’re driving an auto, put it in either first or second gear and keep it there. If it’s a manual, the same applies.

In some vehicles, first gear will be too slow, so second will be better. If you leave your auto in drive, you tend to find that gear shifts can be quite harsh in low range. A steel hill climb is definitely a situation where you want to leave nothing to chance, so don’t let the car pick gears for you.

You’ll want to drive at a speed that gives you enough momentum to roll over any crests or humps in the track, but not so quickly that wheels are bouncing around and breaking contact with the ground. You might lift wheels here and there, in fact, you definitely will at some point. The key is to do it as slowly as possible.

Forget what you see on YouTube; the best off-roaders do it the slowest. If you’ve got sponsorship dollars to replace CVs, axle shafts and everything else you break, by all means, hit the track a bit harder for dramatic effect. But if you’re a regular person that needs to drive home afterwards, slow and steady definitely wins the race.

Modern 4x4s will have a host of electronic driving aids available for situations like these. A simple glance out the windscreen will tell you all you need to know here. If it’s muddy, select ‘mud and ruts’ or similar. If it’s rocky, you guessed it, select ‘rocky’. There’s no science there, just pick the mode that matches the material the track is made up of.

Use a spotter if you’ve got the option. The aim of the game is simple; keep your tyres on the ground as much as possible and spinning at a constant speed. To do this, you’ll need to pick lines that complement your vehicle. Your front and rear axles can be articulating in opposite directions; as long as you have traction laterally across each axle you’ll keep moving forward.

The more you can focus on lateral traction, the better you’ll do. To simplify that, basically you’re looking to pick lines that keep both wheels across an axle on the ground. That won’t always be possible, and that’s when you’ll lift a wheel. Your lockers will keep you in the game here, and keep that wheels that are on the ground in rotation.

Jeep 4x4 steep terrain

What goes up

Steep terrain isn’t all uphill. What goes up must come down, right? Steep descents can get hairy at times, but almost the exact same principles apply here. The main difference is that you want to select the lowest gear available, and let the engine do the braking.

You’re aiming for the same result; to keep all four tyres in contact with the track and limit any slip. In a manual, it’s pretty easy to do this. You pick first gear and let it idle. The engine will typically maintain very low revs and gently ease you down. Occasionally a petrol engine will want to bring the revs up under the pressure of deceleration, so you’ll have to cover your brake to be safe. If you find yourself needing to apply the brakes, do so very gently. You need to keep in mind that the harsher the braking application, the higher the likelihood of breaking traction. Maintaining traction is key.

An automatic 4×4 can be an entirely different prospect in this situation. Modern 4x4s are usually pretty good, and can be driven using the same technique as a manual, described above. If your rig is a little older, it won’t have anywhere near the technology available, and might try and run away down hill. This is because the torque converter in an auto (essentially the clutch) doesn’t engage until the engine revs are a little higher. This is the exact function that allows you to pull up to a stop without stalling. You will need to apply the brakes, and as always, as smooth as possible

4x4 in mountain range

Once you’re safely at the bottom, remember this; you’ve got experience. Every track you conquer will give you a bit more, and you’ll get better and better. The biggest challenge lies in learning your vehicle. Once you master the 4×4, you’ll tame any track.

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