Sugar sand
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,142
Likes: 2
From: Denver, CO
What exactly is sugar sand?
Not knowing what sugar sand is I have plenty of experience in regular California beach sand. And pretty much any tire is good in the sand. Just air them down and go for it. Some of my best sand dune driving was with a set of bald BFG all terrains on my 86 F250, just aired them down to 8psi and had a ball.
My 2000 F250 had 315/70/16 Mickey Thompson Baja Claws on it and those were great too.
Not knowing what sugar sand is I have plenty of experience in regular California beach sand. And pretty much any tire is good in the sand. Just air them down and go for it. Some of my best sand dune driving was with a set of bald BFG all terrains on my 86 F250, just aired them down to 8psi and had a ball.
My 2000 F250 had 315/70/16 Mickey Thompson Baja Claws on it and those were great too.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,181
Likes: 3
From: Eastern CT.
I have no experience with driving on sand,,,but I think a wider AT type tire thats aired down to 15 psi or so will work pretty good from what I have heard, someone will chime in here.
I think a traction type tire just digs a hole in the sand,,,either way,,I would not forget how to use that winch ! Good Luck.
I think a traction type tire just digs a hole in the sand,,,either way,,I would not forget how to use that winch ! Good Luck.
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 13,011
Likes: 742
From: Here in No. Calif
Been to Pismo many times and many times got stuck. Pita when towing trailers in sand and I don`t think any of my pals also were fortunate not to dig out. Air down to about 15 psi and go for it,extra handy to carry a compressor with you. I think wider tires are better as you kinda try to float on top of the sand rather than like in snow where a narrow tire digs right through
Hanklin
Hanklin
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 366
Likes: 0
From: Rhode Island
I have experience driving in soft sand and the key is air pressure. Even a 2psi difference can make the difference between getting stuck or not. I usually start a 12psi and adjust as needed. Agressive tread is not needed and may even hinder performance.
The point of airing down is to increase the tires footprint. But more importanly it creates the nice belly on the sidewall to prevent the tire from cutting into the sand which breaks the surface tension of the sand causing you to sink in.
The point of airing down is to increase the tires footprint. But more importanly it creates the nice belly on the sidewall to prevent the tire from cutting into the sand which breaks the surface tension of the sand causing you to sink in.
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Tuned
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
From: Havana Fla
bald and almost flat wide footprint seem to work the best on the Forida sand I have driven on. best set was a worn out set of discover STTs could back my boat trailer down to the water on St George Island, and even at low tide never stuck the truck. That was before I got a diesel, had a Z71 3 door.
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Freshman User
Joined: Sep 2008
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i got 36x14.50x16.5r truxus sts and can go anywhere on corrova beach. i only aired down one time at the bottom of a big hill. and i've drug people that thought they could drive their all wheel drive cars on the beach on a busy day. but i sink like a rock in mud.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,142
Likes: 2
From: Denver, CO
Been to Pismo many times and many times got stuck. Pita when towing trailers in sand and I don`t think any of my pals also were fortunate not to dig out. Air down to about 15 psi and go for it,extra handy to carry a compressor with you. I think wider tires are better as you kinda try to float on top of the sand rather than like in snow where a narrow tire digs right through
Hanklin
Hanklin
Air pressure is the biggest thing in the sand. A soft fat tire works the best. At Pismo with aired down tires I could drive anywhere in 2wheel. Only the big hills required 4x4.
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,949
Likes: 0
From: Near DC
The beach sand I drive in is small grain. So small, that when you pour the dry stuff from your hand, dust flies off. When fortunate, I drive in other's tracks. The two-track is about 5-6 inches deep. Loaded at about 8000# on BFG AT 285 I air down to 25# and don't have a problem. You sure as heck do NOT want mud tires.... You want to float, not paddle through. Just be careful not to air down too much, consider your load. You don't want to pop a bead, bad news... Talk to folks running the same tires and at the same weight.
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 316
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio, Texas
I think most of the posts are dead on already--wide tires with little air. The idea is to float on top of the sand. Like someone said, don't use mud tires--they are designed to dig in. Also, tall skinny tires are better for mud and sometimes snow. Of course you can also float on snow.
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,007
Likes: 4
From: Central Florida
I had pretty good luck with my 31x13.5" mickey thompson Baja Belteds. I had them all the way around and only needed to have 4wd in the mud. They were great sand tires, but sucked terribly on everything else. The max pressure was 20psi and If I ran more than 17psi on the street, something as tall as a reflector would shoot me off in the ditch. Not a fun street tire and probably too low of a weight handling for the superduty, however they make a few more varieties of them now.
BuhBye F450, I'm relaxin'
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,288
Likes: 19
From: Plainville, MA
Air down...
I ran Procomp Xtreme Mud Terrains on my Ford Ranger and was worried about the beach. Wife and I go almost every weekend to Cape Cod National Seashore. Aired them down to 12 lbs (State requirement for the Cape) and they float fine even with the aggressive mud tread. It's funny, the Super Duty owner's manual says "Not to air down" - liability, I think. They say it makes the vehicle less stable and easy to flip - they're right and just making a case for CYA! I'm planning on putting the same tires on the SD- great all around offroad tire.