Off Road Vehicles

[augk]

Any Scuba Boarder do any Off Roading I'm Trying to get info as to buy a second set of wheels and tires for my 99 F250 specifically geared toward beach and sand use. We have a nice beach that you can drive right out on to, when i went out the other day it felt like my tires were digging in a little too deep.
my stock tires and wheels seem too narrow,which is good for the snow in the winter but i dont think so great for the sand. My thought is to pick up something wider with the same overall height. as not to alter my gear ratios.

any thoughts or sugestions ?

 

[mike_s]

Any Scuba Boarder do any Off Roading I'm Trying to get info as to buy a second set of wheels and tires for my 99 F250 specifically geared toward beach and sand use. We have a nice beach that you can drive right out on to, when i went out the other day it felt like my tires were digging in a little too deep.
my stock tires and wheels seem too narrow,which is good for the snow in the winter but i dont think so great for the sand. My thought is to pick up something wider with the same overall height. as not to alter my gear ratios.

any thoughts or sugestions ?

With reference to the "bold" areas above, what type of tires do you have now? (width? tread pattern? depth of tread?)

for sand driving, you want wide and tread that won't "dig" in. lower your psi down to about 12-15psi (or lower if you dare) and that will widen out the "footprint" of your tires in the sand and make a HUGE difference. you'd better have a decent way of airing them back up for when you go back to pavement and a compression strap in case you break the bead loose on one. airing your tires down is much cheaper than a gear swap.

If you buy more tires, get some with a tread pattern that is not deep and agressive. You dont want them digging. digging in sand will only cause you to sink. even consider buying used tires with less tread on them.


I'd consider adding a transmission cooler also if your F250 is automatic. Driving in sand puts tons of extra stress on the drivetrain. Chances are that if you've never smelled "burnt transmission fluid" you will soon. If you think that the transmission cooler is expensive, ask how much to rebuild that transmission and that'll cure that.

Pack yourself a good shovel and something for traction under the tires. I've seen everything from boards used, to sections of chainlength fence. The ideal thing to have is "traction ramps" (also known as sand ramps or sand ladders). theya re metal ramps that you put under your tires to get unstuck in sand. see OKoffroad.com 4x4 Recovery - Sand Ladders or search google for other options.

Does our truck have lockers on the rear? if not, that'll help alot with total performance. less work on the traintrain because less slip-age, especially as your vehicle might rock side to side in ruts. I'd do this before I changed any gears. Remember that if you change the rear gears you have to change the front also.

however the best thing I can tell you about sand driving is that your momentum is key to staying unstuck. don't loose forward momentum. Also, if you can follow in someone elses tracks in soft sand, it's already packed some by them. better than plowing it yourself with your tires.

If you brake and come to a stop and it's soft sand, then get out and knock the mound of sand down in front of your tires before starting.... because you've got to restart your momentum and then also overcome the little pile of sand in front of your tires. this is a likely time to get yourself stuck if the sand is soft. coasting to a stop reduces sand from piling up.


hope all that helps... have fun.

mike

 

[Beachlover]

With reference to the "bold" areas above, what type of tires do you have now? (width? tread pattern? depth of tread?)

for sand driving, you want wide and tread that won't "dig" in. lower your psi down to about 12-15psi (or lower if you dare) and that will widen out the "footprint" of your tires in the sand and make a HUGE difference. you'd better have a decent way of airing them back up for when you go back to pavement and a compression strap in case you break the bead loose on one. airing your tires down is much cheaper than a gear swap.

If you buy more tires, get some with a tread pattern that is not deep and agressive. You dont want them digging. digging in sand will only cause you to sink. even consider buying used tires with less tread on them.


I'd consider adding a transmission cooler also if your F250 is automatic. Driving in sand puts tons of extra stress on the drivetrain. Chances are that if you've never smelled "burnt transmission fluid" you will soon. If you think that the transmission cooler is expensive, ask how much to rebuild that transmission and that'll cure that.

Pack yourself a good shovel and something for traction under the tires. I've seen everything from boards used, to sections of chainlength fence. The ideal thing to have is "traction ramps" (also known as sand ramps or sand ladders). theya re metal ramps that you put under your tires to get unstuck in sand. see OKoffroad.com 4x4 Recovery - Sand Ladders or search google for other options.

Does our truck have lockers on the rear? if not, that'll help alot with total performance. less work on the traintrain because less slip-age, especially as your vehicle might rock side to side in ruts. I'd do this before I changed any gears. Remember that if you change the rear gears you have to change the front also.

however the best thing I can tell you about sand driving is that your momentum is key to staying unstuck. don't loose forward momentum. Also, if you can follow in someone elses tracks in soft sand, it's already packed some by them. better than plowing it yourself with your tires.

If you brake and come to a stop and it's soft sand, then get out and knock the mound of sand down in front of your tires before starting.... because you've got to restart your momentum and then also overcome the little pile of sand in front of your tires. this is a likely time to get yourself stuck if the sand is soft. coasting to a stop reduces sand from piling up.


hope all that helps... have fun.

mike

Great advice!

 

[Dark Eternal]

I own several 4x4s, worked at a 4x4 shop for several years and do custom 4x4 fabrication. Ive owned and wheeled on just about every tire out there, and for the sand the super swamper radial STS work well as do the procomp X-terrains. You can put a bit bigger of a tire on without needing a gear change, you will feel it some, but its all relative to how big you go. If your truck is a diesel, that will help. Lowering tire pressure is also essential as noted. If your on factory wheels (narrow) and have an oversized tire (33" or bigger) I would not hesitate to go down as low as 10 psi as long as you have a way to air them back up before much road driving. I run 8psi on my jeep regularly with no beadlock wheels and have yet to blow a bead, granted it is a much lighter vehicle.

 

[D_B]

good points above

I don't like to brake to stop if I don't have to, if you roll to a stop, much better for starting out.

... do not turn tightly, especially at slow speed
... start off going straight ahead, don't start off with wheel turned
... pick your parking .. a slight downhill or even short downhill spot in front of your tires will make your starting off easier
... only spin your tires as little as possible, while still keeping your forward momentum ... gassing it just digs a bigger hole to climb out of
... if you have your tires at 45+ psi, just airing them down to 30psi will make a noticeable difference

 

[micklock]

The fastest way to air your tires back up is a scuba tank, no more waiting in line for the air hose at Silver Lake sand dunes in Michigan.

 

[mike_s]

The fastest way to air your tires back up is a scuba tank, no more waiting in line for the air hose at Silver Lake sand dunes in Michigan.

A scuba tank works great, just make sure you secure it good in your vehicle when boucing around on the beach. I'd suggest a secondary regulator on the power inflator though as it will put out 135psi air. That way you can step it down to 30-50psi. You can buy these are harbor freight for under $10 bucks.

I'd also invest in a small compressor. You never know when your scuba tank valve might get knocked open and leave you with no air and tires with 10psi in them. Don't buy a cheap $10 cigarette lighter at Walmart. Buy one that will move some air. The cheap one will work, but expect it to take an hour or more to air up 4 truck tires.


Also D_B comments above about starting out, tire turning, etc are right on.

 

[augk]

WOW This is great I think I can safely say I know why I got that feeling. to access the the direct shore line you have to travel along a a beach road of sorts mostly stones with sand I think the town grades it every so often no problems their just a rough ride no big deal, but then there is a point that is called the cross over where you go over a dune of sorts down onto the beach area. As I came over the dune you had a choice of going immmediately right or left. Once in that area you are limited to driving in a designated lane until you reach the parking area mind you this is just to go to the beach to swim or fish not for serious off roading like baja or something I wish it was but its not, its limited due to the little piping plover birds that are endangered. Any way the sand was lose and at the bottom of the dune there was i think a porsh cyan or some type of infinity stuck at the bottom to the right, so I went left wrong no where to park so I stopped and put the truck in reverse the other vehicle was still stuck so not wanting to try and sneak by I got as close as I could and decided to bail out on that area and just get out but I had to make a three point turn of sorts to line up with the exit that's when i felt like I was getting stuck stopping and starting and turning all from what you have all said ain't good. Taking all of your advice into consideration I will implement these points into my next excursion. thanks much. As for my truck its pretty stock with some OEM type replacement parts. I don't think I have a locking rear axle i don't want to change much now I just want a second set of wheels and tires more suited for driving on sand I have 235-85/16s on there now.

the only other thing I want to do is ditch my rusty util body looking for a take off not easy as it is a 6 3/4 short bed debating building a wooden flat bed? any thoughts or ideas?

 

[parrothead725]

what kind of trucks are you guys running for your off-road adventures?

i sold her a few years ago, but i used to play around with my 88' Jeep Cherokee Chief. the fire-engine red paint looked as good the day i sold her as it did they day i got her.

 

[D_B]

235/85/16 is a very narrow, tall tire
.. I bet you could just switch to 265/75/16 (what came stock on mine) and probably 285/75/16 (what I have now, and on the stock wheels)

I started out offroading with 2 wheel drive (open diff, so more like 1 1/2 lol) small chevy truck, 78 LUV with 4.56 gears and 10.50x15 radial tires .. tire pressure in sand - 11 psi front, 6 psi rear ... I could get that thing so far out in the sand dunes here that often people would think I must have four wheel drive and look confused when they looked under the front end had 140,000 tough miles on it before I got my new truck .. a 89 Chevy 4x4 5.7 with a 5 speed manual .. love my truck, and my stick shift .. put 194,000 equally tough miles on it