During the winter months down here in the Outter Banks, North Carolina, a lot of people take their trucks on the beach but I have yet to do so. I've been a little hesitant as to what damages the sand/salt air might cause. Would I be ok just to go back and forth down the beach as long as I sprayed off the under carriage?

of course sand and salt arent the best things in the world to get on and in our trucks. but i have not seen anything yet and ive been driving on the sand for...... 17 years with several trucks. this one for 3 years. no problems . yet......well my uncle had some steel wheels on his bronco and we went down for a week few years back. he had to replace them.

If you are going in the water, you'll also want to change your fluids (differential, etc.).

I am by no means going in the water just along the edge enough to where sand isn't too soft. Never taken my truck in sand period. Does it sink as fast as you might anticipate? Imagine having to pull a duramax out....eh

I have been on sand many times with mine and it really matters what tires you have. A good mud tire will sink in really fast and want to dig in. Having a all season will make it want to hop and a A/T is possibly you best bet besides having a real sand tire. Also from past experiences a wide high side wall tire is the very best. Narrow low profile is NO GOOD. And yes salt will eat the crap out of your truck. But I would not know what it's like on a salt/sand beachas we don't have any of those inour parts. But when we put salt on our highways to melt snow in the winter, it will ruin a truck if you don't undercoat it and tke care of it.

Here is a clip of a truck in sand. It also has some cool stacks which also makes it cooler!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi13hx6gMTM

air your tires down to roughly 24psi.... you may find you need less but 24 is usually ok. then put it in 4x4 and have fun. do NOT use your brakes to stop in sand..... after youre done, hit a car wash or wash it yourself and if you can, use a sprinkler and set it where you can drive over it. drive over it slowly and it will wash the undercarriage pretty good.

down there you can do almost anything in 2wd if you dont stop. always safer in 4x4 all the time though because spinning may make you stuck when you otherwise wouldnt have been

ive been out on Assateague island many times with my truck the sand is very live here. i have 35's with 20's and i air down to 25psi and start out in 2nd gear. that way i wont spin the tires with all the torque our trucks make, especially if you have a tune on your truck. i wash my truck off very well when i get done and powerwash the under carriage once a month in the summer when im on the beach every weekend.

I drive on the beach a lot with stock size tires on the crew cab. I bought valves that screw on to the valve stem and have them adjusted to let the air down to 18 psi. They are worth the money as you can do all 4 tires at once and have the exact pressure in them. Stay away from the salt water and I rinse my truck off every time I come off the beach with out fail. Where I go on the beach a pass is needed and I see pass numbers as high as 6000. The majority of trucks are stock 4X4 but a good number have the larger tires that don't need so much air let out of them. Go for it.

Go for it. I ran mine on the outer banks beaches this spring. The only issue I saw was trans tempature. 200-225 degrees until I lowered the air pressure and ran in Tow/Haul mode. Keep up your speed, especially when entering or leaving the beach, the sand is very soft and you have the incline of the dunes. Carry a strap in case you need help or need to help someone else. Have Fun!

I've been out over sand at Cape Cod (National Seashore - Race Point) for many years, great fun. They require permits and require a training video for newbies. In addition to the other tips on airing down, it is always a good idea to bring boards to support jacks, good spare ( check it ), a good jack (if not a high lift off road version) and a tow strap or two in case you need help. And don't forget a shovel.

Take your time in the soft stuff, don't spin, you'll bury yourself.

Stay higher on the beach and try not to cross below the high tide line unless you have to. If you bury your rig below that point and don't get out before the tide comes in, your rig is toast. Rusty wheels will be the least of your worries.

I took my half ton extended cab with 265s on but aired down to 12 with no prob. I can't speak to 10 ply E's but others here have.

Sand conditions differ beach to beach, this is just my experience. Your mileage may vary.

Have fun. My family loved it, like having a private beach, no crowds. Very cool.

we do it at pismo beach all the time. as long as you wash it down real good you should be o.k.

Just rinse the undercarriage well afterwards

I would imagine that the roads we have to drive on in the winter months, daily, are way, way worse than any beach you could put your truck through.

The state park beach that I drive on has a mandatory list of things you must have with you to drive on the beach: 1/4 tank fuel, tow strap, shovel, 12"X12" board for jack, fire extinguisher and first aid kit.

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I would imagine that the roads we have to drive on in the winter months, daily, are way, way worse than any beach you could put your truck through.

You guys got it goos. I wish that all we had was salty sand on the beaches with some palm trees... man life is tough on the coast!

I had mine out on Carolina Beach this summer (285 BFGAT's) I didn't air them down and eventually bogged down in the soft stuff.

Air them down... It makes all the difference. Also like timzr02 said - watch yours trans, it will creep up there fast. Through probably not as bad now thats its cooler out.

Have fun, wish I was back there.

I run 285/75R16 ran the air stock had issues. Lowered them down with the advise from the forum to 25psi, and go everywhere at the outer banks except ramp 39 don't go there SOFT! I always spray bomb the bare spots on the frame and the inside of the bumper and fender wells with black or clear paint, the cheap stuff will last long enough, and put a coat of wax on the entire truck mainly around the bottom all the way around. People ask how I keep my truck looking so clean after being out in the sand about every month. Clean BEFORE and hose it off after and redetail. Sounds anal but I like a clean truck and not scared to use it. Min. equipment for a DMAX, air tank, a jack, piece of wood, strap,commonsense. Have fun.

I drive on the beach at least once a month. I also pull a lot of trucks out who dont know how to air down there tires. If you have any chrome or items you want to keep a little more safe then just spray them down with wd-40 before getting on the beach. It makes it easier to wash things off and protects the chrome. Check my garage for lots of beach pics.

I go to Pismo about once a year, although not with my LMM yet. I drop the air down to ~20psi on both my truck and trailer, it is important to air down the trailer too. And I don't drive in the water or really wet sand.

As a side note, make sure you keep your windows up or you will be cleaning sand out of your truck for months.

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Stay higher on the beach and try not to cross below the high tide line unless you have to. If you bury your rig below that point and don't get out before the tide comes in, your rig is toast. Rusty wheels will be the least of your worries.
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Check my garage for proof of this....

At least you appear to have a sense of humor about it, ouch, sorry.

I saw a jeep that looked like the statue of liberty in the planet of the apes movie - half buried in salty wet sand.

Well lets just say I learned my lesson for the first time going on the beach yesterday....I went to the county office for the permit which cost $80 (ridiculous) for non-residents, went straight to beach ramp totally forgetting to let air out of my tires. Guess it was all of the excitement and tunnel vision. Not even 50 ft. off the ramp my truck sank like a rock shuttering and those darn cooper discoverer stt's made trenches in the beach. I sat and watched the tide come in very slowly waiting on my friend to pull me out. He finally came, pulled me out and we road down the beach with my tires aired down but the truck still felt like it was straining the entire time. I saw egt's in excess of 1000 degrees at times and the stacks melted the black bed plastic cover to the railing. Worst part my trans temp got up to 275 degrees. At that point I just shut her off and sat for a little while. One of those old crab and oyster fisherman came up to me laughing hysterically as I was giving her hell trying to get up to the ramp. Overall I honestly hated it, thought it was a waste of 80 dollars. The old man said if my tires were aired down to 25 psi I could climb any sand dune out there....just doesn't seem possible.

Was it just my first time terrible and ignorant experience or can driving on the beach actually be enjoyable not having to worry you will destroy something?

Your luck its only $80, the cost here for a beach pass is $195, and you have to have fishing gear for everyone in the truck. I've found by trial and error that 18psi works good for me. We are not allowed near the dunes and if caught you will get a hefty fine, the dunes protect the island from being cut in half by the ocean. Most times I just follow in the tire tracks already there. When first driving on the beach an old timer told me when I park, have the rear of the truck towards the ocean so all the moisture doesn't get in to the engine compartment and not let it start. That probably from the days when the distributor caps were junk and had tiny cracks. I have seen a truck or two with waves crashing over them as they got to close to the water and got stuck and the tide came in.

The old man said if my tires were aired down to 25 psi I could climb any sand dune out there....just doesn't seem possible.

Was it just my first time terrible and ignorant experience or can driving on the beach actually be enjoyable not having to worry you will destroy something?

I have seen some friends in a rental 4x4 1500 Chevy drive up comp hill at Pismo on the stock tires. They had them aired down to ~15psi, they did pop one off though, but then again it was a rental and they where trashing it.

You really need to air it down alot, the more you do the more it floats accross the sand.

$80 is outrageous, if I remember right it only cost $5 a day to go on Pismo.

Well its $40 for residents and my grandmother has lived down here for 35 years...way before anything was developed. They used to have to ferry to the island and the b*tch woman still wouldn't let me pay resident price.

I have seen some friends in a rental 4x4 1500 Chevy drive up comp hill at Pismo on the stock tires. They had them aired down to ~15psi, they did pop one off though, but then again it was a rental and they where trashing it.

You really need to air it down alot, the more you do the more it floats accross the sand.

$80 is outrageous, if I remember right it only cost $5 a day to go on Pismo.


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Dont be scared to air down. The stock pics in my garage were aired down to around 15psi. I could go anywhere in the (flat) dunes in 2wd. I only used 4wd when i would go up hill or the sand was extra soft from other ppl getting stuck in the same spot over and over again. At 15psi you wont pop ur tires off the bead. YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT WHAT AIRING YOUR TIRES DOWN WILL DO!

Any unfamiliar terrain will take some practice on your part thats the fun part of it .Unless you ruin your truck of coarse .:eek:

Well lets just say I learned my lesson for the first time going on the beach yesterday....I went to the county office for the permit which cost $80 (ridiculous) for non-residents

Where in NC are you having to pay to drive on the beach? I go to OBX every couple of years off season (Oct-May) and you don't have to have a permit to drive on the beach outside Nags Head? We drive Corolla, Hatteras and Avon.

4 lo will keep your trans and egt's in check, i can drive all day in the sand (its been done :) ) on 95 degree days. sand is tough to drive in. the truck has to work harder to keep going so it it will seem like its straining. driving around in the sand is one of the funnest things known to man. to me anyway.

Ever notice how clean the tires are after a day of driving on the beach sand?

yeah it cleans them really good.i had mud stains on mine for a while and it polished then right off. but it rounds the leading edges of your tread down. takes a couple hundred miles to get the edges back on pavement

I tried going on the beach again yesterday....took pressure down to 30 lbs. and it was like night and day. I could go through all of the soft sand even on partial dunes. My exhaust temps were 400 degrees less than before and trans. temp got up to 175 vs. 275 lol..