This time of year again in eastern NC. What are yalls opinions on the kinda toll driving on the beach takes on trucks. Im thinking about taking mine out on the beach to surf fish but i dont want to if its abusive on it. What do yall think? Think i will be fine as long as i wash and spray the underbody to get all sand off?

 

i was down there in July to Nags Head area and i drove out at the Oregon Inlet a few times and had no problems at all. Just take your time and stay on the hard pack sand. If you go up into the dunes or into the lose pack sand good luck because it's quite soft and hard to get traction unless you have wide tires. When i got off the sand i just went to the car wash and hit the underside a little and got all the salt water/sand off the truck and it was good to go.

OBXREDNECK lives right there...i'm sure he could give you some good insight

 

Like gui88ford said, just make sure to give it a good cleaning on the underside for any sand and salt/water that may have gotten up there. Haven't driven on any in this truck but in previous vehicles I did and just washed it well after and had no issues.

And you will get a good amount of sand on the inside too. So keep the windows up and try to get as much sand off you before you get in...obviously.

 

I just came back from the Outer Banks last week, spent a week up around Corolla. It was some extremely loose sand up there this year, I didn't air down although I wish I would have. Just keep your momentum going and you should be fine, but like the guys said earlier the compacted wet sand is your best bet. Last year I didn't see some big ruts and hit them pretty hard I had sand everywhere, and it took me a while to clean it out of every crack and crevice in my truck, but I didn't have quite the mess this year. I spent a lot of time cleaning it up when I got back though. HAVE FUN!

 

http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-...g/sand_dri.htm

You truck will not have to work as hard if you run a lower tire pressure.

 

Thanks for the tips guys. The beach i will be driving on usually has a hard pack sand during both tides so im not as worried about that as i am getting sand and salt up underneath the truck into places it will mess the four wheel drive up or start to prematurely rust.

 

On weekends I drive on the beach down here on Padre Island all the time and have never had issues. I do make it a practice to drive through one of those vehicle rinse stations afterwards. They are the secret to keeping your truck looking nice years down the road.

 

I drive my 04 on the beach all the time with stock tires' all you have to do is air down to 15psi in all tires and you will not have any problems. Wash your truck when you get off the beach and you should be OK. A little hint, keep your windows closed and you will not have all the salt on the inside of your truck. You will still have sand but that is easy to get rid of.

 

I have taking all my trucks on the beach all the time. A lot during this time of the year because the local beach is open to drive on for the winter and we do commercial fishing. Always when I am finished I take the truck to the little quarter car wash things and power wash them off. If you do that you would not ever know years from now the trucks were on the beach. I occasionally miss a washing if I got to go rush somewhere and it wont hurt the truck just as long as you wash it off later.

I got a 93 f150 and drive that on the beach most of the time. About two month ago was the firsts time I took the new truck out there on the beach. I was rushing because we had a huge catch and they needed help and did not have time to wait for the 93 to warm up. I got some stock FX4 tires on the truck and that thing did beyond what my expectations were. I had 40 pounds(rushing) in them and the sand was very soft but she pulled right on through it and did not miss a beat. I will be using it now for my pleasure beach driving.

We got trucks out there for fishing that are 1980 F250, 1984 toyota pickup, 1990 F250, and a 1970 Chevy pickup and some more that have basically lived there lives on the beach and are running like new. These trucks are pretty abused pulling the nets in and running fish but are well maintained. If you take the time to clean them off and don't push the trucks over there limits, and drive easy the beach will not have any more toll on them then pulling a trailer. So got out there and catch you some fish. Where abouts are you going?

 

Just make sure to wash the underside really well and I hope you have no fluid leaks.

My buddy took his Jeep Wrangler on the beat over the summer here in Cleveland and didn't realize he had a slight tranny fluid leak. He got sand inside the tranny and it went on him.

 

O heres some pointers.
A good pressure to run is 15 to 25 PSI to help the truck get through unless it is super soft sand.

Stay in the ruts of other people. Let them do all the hard work and if you can follow somebody do it.

Rinse the truck off afterwards.

Keep a steady speed. Try not to do any sudden stops or accelartions.

Try stay out of the wet sand that is in the tide(not wet sand from the past tide or rain). It can look hard and be hard in spots but I have seen many trucks get pulled down then pounded by the waves.

Stay out of the water!! As common since as this might seem to some I see people running through it all the time and that will kill a truck.
Thats about it. It is a lot harder to do and harder on trucks then people think. Driving out there sure beats the heck out of lugging fishing gear to the beach and back up.

 

Make sure your hubs are engaged BEFORE you get stuck!!! 12,000 miles on the truck with no 4wd makes for a looooong week vacationing in Hatteras.

 

When I was on vacation(right near a beach), I was noticing a lot of vehicals that had rust on them from the salt water mist/sand around there. First chance I had, it got a good cleaning under the truck, and it's been months, and it's fine.

OBXREDNECK had some very good advice for the actual beach driving.

Good luck

 

Ill be driving around on bogue banks and cape lookout to surf fish. i wish i had an old jeep or something to use for it but the f150 will do. I am going to make sure that I soak it well with the hose when im done. Thanks for the tips everyone.