Limited on the beach with 245s?

dbjasper

dbjasper

New member
Has anyone had their 4Runner on the beach yet with the stock 245/60R20 tires? I believe mine are Bridgestone Dueler HTs...

I was at the beach this weekend with mine and was sooo wanting to try it, but I didn't have anyone else to go along with me in the event I needed a tow. :)

I was wondering what people thought about the stock 245s aired down and how they would do on the beaches of NC. I know people have suggested going to the 275s and airing down, but I do not have the money right now to upgrade and will have to wait until I have to replace them.
 
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dbjasper said:
Has anyone had their 4Runner on the beach yet with the stock 245/60R20 tires? I believe mine are Bridgestone Dueler HTs...

I was at the beach this weekend with mine and was sooo wanting to try it, but I didn't have anyone else to go along with me in the event I needed a tow. :)

I was wondering what people thought about the stock 245s aired down and how they would do on the beaches of NC. I know people have suggested going to the 275s and airing down, but I do not have the money right now to upgrade and will have to wait until I have to replace them.
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Not sure if this helps but I drove on the beach through some deep, soft sand recently with the stock 17" 265s with no problem. Aired down the first day to be safe and had zero problems, so I decided to skip it the next few days for more of a challenge (and because I'm lazy). It wasn't bad at all although it was a bit tougher going uphill through the deep stuff. Kept it in 4lo and used atrac where needed.
 
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dbjasper said:
Has anyone had their 4Runner on the beach yet with the stock 245/60R20 tires? I believe mine are Bridgestone Dueler HTs...

I was at the beach this weekend with mine and was sooo wanting to try it, but I didn't have anyone else to go along with me in the event I needed a tow. :)

I was wondering what people thought about the stock 245s aired down and how they would do on the beaches of NC. I know people have suggested going to the 275s and airing down, but I do not have the money right now to upgrade and will have to wait until I have to replace them.
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I know they are Duellers. That is the only tire you can get in that size... anywhere.
I would think it would be OK in the sand but not sure if I would try it. What beach did you go to that you can drive on it in NC? I am going to Sunset Beach today and didn't know of any beaches in NC that allowed vehicle traffic.

I went up to 285s and got new wheels, but the tires are more for street. If I had a more aggressive tread pattern I would try it.
 
wifesrunner said:
I know they are Duellers. That is the only tire you can get in that size... anywhere.
I would think it would be OK in the sand but not sure if I would try it. What beach did you go to that you can drive on it in NC? I am going to Sunset Beach today and didn't know of any beaches in NC that allowed vehicle traffic.

I went up to 285s and got new wheels, but the tires are more for street. If I had a more aggressive tread pattern I would try it.
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No, that's not the only tire you can get in that size. My Limited came with the Yokohama Geolanders, as did several other people's...
 
Carolina Beach, NC allows vehicles on the north end, by the pier. It's pretty nice to be able to drive out there with a cooler of beer and fishing supplies. I just didn't want to get stuck and have to bother with digging, towing, etc.

You can also drive on the beach at the outer banks. Both have pretty deep sand, but Carolina Beach is really rutted up in places where the monster trucks have been driving so some places are exceptionally deep.

I had a '96 Tacoma w/ 31x10.50 BFG ATs and it did a great job. It was so light that I didn't have to air down at all.
 
RyanE said:
No, that's not the only tire you can get in that size. My Limited came with the Yokohama Geolanders, as did several other people's...
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Oh, ok, I have heard of dealerships in the north using Geolanders. I'm sorry. I guess we can just get Duellers in the Southeast.

Carolina Beach huh.... I might need to give that a try sometime soon.
 
wifesrunner said:
Oh, ok, I have heard of dealerships in the north using Geolanders. I'm sorry. I guess we can just get Duellers in the Southeast.

Carolina Beach huh.... I might need to give that a try sometime soon.
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Been discussed a bunch before. I don't think it's a regional thing thing either to which tires you get. Maybe a region can put in a request but it all comes down to what they have to put on when it comes down the assembly line in Japan. The dealers here have a mix of Duelers, Yokos and Dunflops now as I was just at 2 of them. My 06 Sport came stock with Michelins but most were Dunflops.

Back on Topic..... My 4Runner ran great on the beach last December!! Can't wait to go back.
 
harper7 said:
Been discussed a bunch before. I don't think it's a regional thing thing either to which tires you get. Maybe a region can put in a request but it all comes down to what they have to put on when it comes down the assembly line in Japan. The dealers here have a mix of Duelers, Yokos and Dunflops now as I was just at 2 of them. My 06 Sport came stock with Michelins but most were Dunflops.

Back on Topic..... My 4Runner ran great on the beach last December!! Can't wait to go back.
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OK, i will shut up now...
 
Most of the folks I knew in Qatar went to the dunes in the desert, and to the beach, with stock tires aired down to 15 psi. It was generally not a problem to use stock tires in the sand. The majority of the vehicles were Prados with a few FJ's and Jeep Wranglers thrown in for good measure. The Qataris mostly drive Land Cruisers with stock tires, a few with balloon desert tires.
 
WRM1 said:
Most of the folks I knew in Qatar went to the dunes in the desert, and to the beach, with stock tires aired down to 15 psi. It was generally not a problem to use stock tires in the sand. The majority of the vehicles were Prados with a few FJ's and Jeep Wranglers thrown in for good measure. The Qataris mostly drive Land Cruisers with stock tires, a few with balloon desert tires.
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I would air down to around 18, 15 is getting close to too low, not so much with those low profiles, but at the same time, better safe than sorry.(you would never be able to change a spare with the factory bottle jack in sand) And also, its not so much the tire, but knowing how to drive in sand is worth its weight in gold. Keep momentum, never floor it, park on hard packed stuff and you will be perfectly fine. :bigok:
 
I’ve gotten fairly serious into surf fishing over the last 5 years and have spent many hours driving on the beaches for NJ and NC OBX in my 1998 Jeep GC. One of the few books out there on surf fishing actually addresses the question of tire choice for beach driving. Interestingly, it’s somewhat counterintuitive. Tires with big lugs and aggressive patterns that would be great trails and rock crawling are actually a disadvantage on the beach, as the dig in and get you stuck. On the sand, you really want to “float” over, so the book recommends a relatively smooth highway radial as the best beach tire. So I would have to believe the Limited’s tires would be just fine.

As someone else stated, airing down and driving technique are going to be way more important than tire selection when it comes to not getting stuck. That said almost everyone eventually gets stuck on the beach so here is a recommended list of items to bring, courtesy of the NJ Beach Buggy Association:

The NJBBA recommends that the following equipment be kept in your beach buggy.
• Tire pressure gauge
• First Aid Kit
• Shovel
• Snatch Rope or Tow Chain
• Jack and Large Support Board
• Flash Light
• Spare Tire or Equivalent
• Self-Contained Toilet (where applicable)
• A Coast Guard or I.C.C. Approved Fire Extinguisher
• Road Flares
• Trash bags
• Tide Chart

I would add to the list, a portable compressor and add self-contained jump starter. Having a dead battery at night with an incoming tide and no one around is not something you want to experience.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I've driven on the sand quite a bit before, but never with a vehicle so heavy. Its always been an older, lighter vehicle so I wasn't super careful with them. I'm just worried that the 6000 lbs of the 4Runner and load will make the 245s seem like wagon wheels in the sand.

In fact, they sort-of look a bit like wagon wheels too. :)
 
Hawkdog21 said:
I would air down to around 18, 15 is getting close to too low, not so much with those low profiles, but at the same time, better safe than sorry.(you would never be able to change a spare with the factory bottle jack in sand) And also, its not so much the tire, but knowing how to drive in sand is worth its weight in gold. Keep momentum, never floor it, park on hard packed stuff and you will be perfectly fine. :bigok:
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I'll second the notion that learning how to drive in sand is important. If you have to park on the soft stuff, try to do it on a slope, and take off down the slope.

I saw Qataris in Land Cruisers climb the slip face of 100 foot tall dunes. They hit the dune going 60 or 70, and generally had to turn across the face before getting to the top as they lost momentum. All a matter of learning the techniques.
 
dbjasper said:
Thanks for all the replies. I've driven on the sand quite a bit before, but never with a vehicle so heavy. Its always been an older, lighter vehicle so I wasn't super careful with them. I'm just worried that the 6000 lbs of the 4Runner and load will make the 245s seem like wagon wheels in the sand.

In fact, they sort-of look a bit like wagon wheels too. :)
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Ventured out on the beach over the weekend, aired down the tires to 20psi each and had zero troubles in the sand. The 4runner performed perfectly! Now have to give it a bath in this 98 degree weather...it is filthy, but well worth it!!!

Here are a few pictures:
 

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timothy9988 said:
Ventured out on the beach over the weekend, aired down the tires to 20psi each and had zero troubles in the sand. The 4runner performed perfectly! Now have to give it a bath in this 98 degree weather...it is filthy, but well worth it!!!

Here are a few pictures:
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Very cool. What beach were you on? The sand looks fairly deep, but maybe not as deep as others... What kind of tires do you have and are they they stock 245s? Also, did you have an air compressor to reinflate the tires or just drive somewhere to inflate them...?

Nice pics too, BTW.
 
dbjasper said:
Very cool. What beach were you on? The sand looks fairly deep, but maybe not as deep as others... What kind of tires do you have and are they they stock 245s? Also, did you have an air compressor to reinflate the tires or just drive somewhere to inflate them...?

Nice pics too, BTW.
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They are the stock tires, I believe they are Bridgestone. The beach was located at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. I usually visit this beach due to the convenience of access points to drive on and when you drive off they have air compressors (avg 2 per access point). Really convenient.
 
timothy9988 said:
They are the stock tires, I believe they are Bridgestone. The beach was located at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. I usually visit this beach due to the convenience of access points to drive on and when you drive off they have air compressors (avg 2 per access point). Really convenient.
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I have always wanted to go there when I drive by. Do they charge you to go out?
 
dbjasper said:
Carolina Beach, NC allows vehicles on the north end, by the pier. It's pretty nice to be able to drive out there with a cooler of beer and fishing supplies. I just didn't want to get stuck and have to bother with digging, towing, etc.

You can also drive on the beach at the outer banks. Both have pretty deep sand, but Carolina Beach is really rutted up in places where the monster trucks have been driving so some places are exceptionally deep.
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Thread from the dead... But it's what came up every time I search for limited + beach or sand.

Took the 4R to Carolina Beach yesterday. I aired down to 18psi, bone stock LE down to the tires. It was a breeze, 4H with center locked. I would have been fine with normal pressure, I think, but I got my F350 stuck on same beach last year so I was gun shy.

Ton of 4r down there, including some limiteds on the beach
 
This thread on another forum might help you out. I'm on my 3rd 4Runner and have been driving on the beach and sound side of Bodie, Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands for decades.

BTW stock tires on my 2016 SR5 aired down to 18-20 psi, 4H with ATRAC and VSC OFF works just fine. Operated my 4th Gen similarly.

Agree on very low pressure. You can easily loose the bead seal on a tire with a sharp turn or having the tire grab in the sand and the rim turn in the tire. Seen it happen.

Also aggressive tread is actually a detriment in the sand; they tend to dig in rather than role over the sand.

Picture is at the infamous Cape Point. the very tip of Cape Hatteras, Graveyard of the Atlantic.

Driving in the Sand Info | OBX Connection Message Board
 

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