Hey, Brett!

Welcome to the world of heavy trucks on NC sand beaches!

Hope you enjoyed the trip! (Were you at Cape Point?)

You will find that huge street tires with a big foot print will do a lot better than most other tires, especially agressive mud tires on the beach. Some people even change rims and tires for such ventures!

The objective is to get as much contact with the samd as possible and to float your vehicle weight over as big of an area as possible when in sand.

You already know that there are soft spots in that sand where your are going to have to "get in it" to stay on top of the sand to keep from bogging down and risk getting stuck.

No matter what you do, if you are in the soft stuff, dont stop unless you feel yourself digging in bad.

I suggest you manually lock your front hubs before hitting the beach.

Your SD is not a light weight dune buggy, so this is one place you will definately be put into your place.

You can go down to 25 PSI in your tires before hitting the beach, but my experience says it gains you not much in increased footprint of your tires and flotation for the vehicle in the soft stuff.

When you stop, stop on hard-pack sand only. Your truck will tell you when you are on this stuff. (Less engine effort.)

Don't be fooled by the harder and wet tide line sand, it's often easier driving, but it can have TERRIBLE soft spots that you can get into before you even know it.

Don't be embarrased by needing to litterly floor your accelerator to get through a soft spot. The key is to know when to "back off" to keep from diggin yourself in a hole.

Running in "tracks" above the tideline is usually OK, but remember that lighter vehicles mostly made these tracks. So when you see a soft spot, you may want to accelerate and bounce out of the tracks if they look significant and are getting deep. You can often see in the tracks where somebody elese has been in trouble, so steer clear accordingly.

Forward momentum (speed) can also get you through some tough spots.

If you plan on doing this often, then mods to lock your front and rear axles should certainly be considered, after the cheaper "huge tire upgrade".

If you do get stuck beyond being able to "rock out" of a hole, you will need to get assistance from a fellow 4X4 or call a tow truck. (Don't be embarrased, and many 4x4 people will offer assistance)
And, don't burry it to the axle if at all possible!

Since this is not a place for the faint of heart, carry a long ****** strap, a jack, shovel and some wood blocks or boards with you. (A couple of sheets of "expanded metal" can be convient as well. )

Don't worry about the engine revs and work, but watch the engine and tranny temps. Stop and rest at an idle if needed to keep things cool.

If you are new to this stuff, don't be discouraged. It takes some time to learn to read the sand and tracks. Moreover, a heavy SD is not exactly the best chioce of vehicle for such an environment.

 

SoCalDesertRider i cant find where they offer the elctrac for the rear. i have found the front, and i think you have the web adress thing wrong. www.tractech.com

 

CatFish

Very well explained. I own a house in Carova and I drive 10 miles from Corolla up to the VA line on the beach.
All I do before hitting the sand is taking air out of the tires to around 25 psi and I go up and down the beach in idle.

 

Hello,

Thanks for all the replies. The place I took my truck is Corova.I used to spend a lot of time over there when I was younger in my aunts cottage.I wanted to go check out the beach for some surf fishing. I think I will be going there a lot this winter. I live only 2 miles from the beach ( by boat). But to drive there it is over 100 miles.

Catfish. I live on the island you can see across the sound.

Brett
Knotts Island, NC

 

You live in what I consider to be "Gods County" of NC. I used to get there frequently in the '70's and early 80's but It has been too long now...last time about '2001.

I've fished Back Bay and hunted Ducks there and at Mattamuskeet many times. Not to mention, many hours of surf fishing at Cape Point, and at Oregon inlet. And, yeah, I have been on the sand treck above Duck to the VA line.

You are fortunate to live near there. If you are serious about surf fishing, you have a long haul from Knot's Island to the best spots at Cape Point or Oregon Inlet. (Probably not a typical day trip.)

Like I said above, the heavy SD is "not exactly" the best vehicle for the beach sand in NC, but it will do OK if outfitted properly.

Enjoy your fishing! Wish I was there!!

Hopefully, my above post was usefull for those unfamiliar with driving in the sands along the banks.

Snow is a completely different animal from NC beach sand from those others reading the thread.

 

Question, I can't remember if I ordered my truck with LS or not. Only reason I ask is because the other day I wanted to prove that even stock my truck will smoke 38's. So anyhow I layed down about 25 ft x15.5" of solid black line, but it only did it on one tire. The other one only spun for just a few inches and then stopped. So is this limited slip? Or is something not working? Or what is this?

Thanks,
Corey

*Parts Changers*

P.S. It was on asphalt in a striaght line if that makes a difference.

 

Corey,

I'd suggest your post your concerns somewhere other than within this topic.