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4wd soft sand...
- Thread starter kittyjo
- Start date
I haven’t in my Ram yet (will be doing so next month) but we’ve driven our Land Cruiser on the soft sand of the OBX beaches quite a few times and I think your tire selection isn’t as important as is adequately airing down to get a bigger contact patch and help you stay “afloat” and not sink down. I just try to take it easy on the accelerator and keep momentum over any rough spots or when climbing up and over the dune line.
kittyjo
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Okay I will let u know how it goes this weekend. Recommended tire pressure for beach is 20 mine right now is 40 is that gonna be to low?
Cmerkert
Ram Guru
Agree. Air Down! And then, make sure you Air Down. I pull a 31' 8,000 lbs travel trailer on to the soft sandy ocean beaches of Long Island ever week all summer for the past 5 years as we rent out our house and live on the beach in out trailer July-LD and I can personally tell you tire treads don't matter much on soft sand. It's all about airing down and keeping the momentum. Light on the gas and just let her glide. When pulling I have even aired down the fronts to below 10 PSI due to tongue weight, but the Ram will pull much better than my Avalanche did. Good luck and stay in the tracks!
kittyjo
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Okay thanks!! It’s just gonna me me and my fishing gear and luggage probably no more than 200lbs
Fornstar
Active Member
I agree that airing down is the most important thing when on soft sand. As for traction and tread I slightly disagree. After years of desert offroading in So cal, tread does make a difference, along with throttle. Too little throttle will hurt you just as bad as too much. Its all about driving to the terrain conditions. I use to air down to 12psi for the dunes in my Jeep. That was with 33x12.50x15s. Not sure I would trust the tires on my Ram that low.
Word to wise, mind the tides! Grew up driving n the beach in NC and saw several trucks get swallowed by the tide coming in. If you are surf fishing, know when the tide is coming in and be mindful where your truck is parked.
kittyjo
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I agree this is a test run to see if I really do need different tires since I will be surf fishing a lot and will be airing down to 18psi luckily I have an air compressor with me
Fornstar
Active Member
Take a shovel and hope you don’t need it!
Cmerkert
Ram Guru
If it's just you serve casting and a little bit of gear your stocktars will be fine. Most daytrippers who go on the beach are all in their stock tires and then you'll have it better driving tires the other 340 days of the year. Yes a better tread would be better but would you really need to spend $1,000 to $2,000 for that small amount of improvement considering your only casually driving on the beach to surf cast absolutely not. Save your money for something else. I'm sure there's plenty of laws and rods and beers you can buy. Have fun and definitely mind the tide.
We go there about 10 times a year or more. The only thing that will get you stuck in the Ram is if you leave traction control on. The traction control on trucks is not the same as a Suburu and it will shutdown all of your wheels if they slip. In the sand you want max wheelspin.
Maximizing surface area on the sand is always best whether through airing down or bigger tires, but virtually any stock 4wd vehicle with an experienced driver can navigate the OBX beaches. Most of the local people/contractors I know out there don't even air down. Some don't even put it in 4wd until they need to. I put my tires down from 40 to about 30 and sometimes as low as 25 if it is high tide or a storm off-shore and I know I will be in the thick stuff for awhile. I like to keep my tires street drive-able and beach drive-able so that I can make trips through town w/o airing up.
I stay in 4wd hi and never had any hint that I would get stuck. Except... when traction control turns back on! During high season with slower traffic and the new regulations that want you up near the dune, airing down more is probably a good idea. Also, I think they have rules out there now that want you down to 20psi.
Good luck.
