Airing down on beach sand

[BobsTrail]

Are the stock 20" geolanders OK for beach sand? I would think it would not be. But I have not tried it.

I ran my stock geolanders on many beach trips until I finally got ATs. I aired down to 15 and went everywhere the JKs did. I had stock OEM 265/70/17. I do have a Trail and used the Multi-Terrain set to sand mode. Not sure how much that helped.

 

[JordanX24]

I know this is a relatively old thread, but I'm heading to the outer banks next week and wanted to get some opinions.

I recently ran the stock tires bald on my '18 LTD and decided to go with a more aggressive looking tire. After reading on the forum a bit, I decided to bite the bullet and go with tires recommended for 7.5" wide rim (Nitto A/T's 275/55/20) while repping the OEM rims (7.0").

They aren't super aggressive and many on here recommended them. I've had no trouble and love the way they look, too. Rubbing was eliminated with the heat gun mod to the front bumper, but I'm worried about lowering the tire pressure and what might happen with the tire beads on sand. Any thoughts?
(I'm got recovery tracks, jack, airpump, etc and have managed in sand before. Just worried about the tire on the rim.)

 

[Pedro367]

I know this is a relatively old thread, but I'm heading to the outer banks next week and wanted to get some opinions.

I recently ran the stock tires bald on my '18 LTD and decided to go with a more aggressive looking tire. After reading on the forum a bit, I decided to bite the bullet and go with tires recommended for 7.5" wide rim (Nitto A/T's 275/55/20) while repping the OEM rims (7.0").

They aren't super aggressive and many on here recommended them. I've had no trouble and love the way they look, too. Rubbing was eliminated with the heat gun mod to the front bumper, but I'm worried about lowering the tire pressure and what might happen with the tire beads on sand. Any thoughts?
(I'm got recovery tracks, jack, airpump, etc and have managed in sand before. Just worried about the tire on the rim.)

You'll be fine. It takes a very low pressure to pull a bead from a rim. Air them down to 18-20, don't even think about it, and have yourself a nice day on the beach. ATs are perfect for the beach. Aggressive is not always good in sand as it digs you deeper faster. I've run Terra Grapplers on my previous Wrangler JKU on the beach and they worked well.

 

[MtnRover]

I know this is a relatively old thread, but I'm heading to the outer banks next week and wanted to get some opinions.

I recently ran the stock tires bald on my '18 LTD and decided to go with a more aggressive looking tire. After reading on the forum a bit, I decided to bite the bullet and go with tires recommended for 7.5" wide rim (Nitto A/T's 275/55/20) while repping the OEM rims (7.0").

They aren't super aggressive and many on here recommended them. I've had no trouble and love the way they look, too. Rubbing was eliminated with the heat gun mod to the front bumper, but I'm worried about lowering the tire pressure and what might happen with the tire beads on sand. Any thoughts?
(I'm got recovery tracks, jack, airpump, etc and have managed in sand before. Just worried about the tire on the rim.)

Just to chime in, that's great tire for the beach. I run KO2's on Padre in TX and do have them digging in when on the really soft stuff. If beaches were all I did I would make a change. Have fun playing in the sand!!

 

[jetmechG550]

I know this is a relatively old thread, but I'm heading to the outer banks next week and wanted to get some opinions.

I recently ran the stock tires bald on my '18 LTD and decided to go with a more aggressive looking tire. After reading on the forum a bit, I decided to bite the bullet and go with tires recommended for 7.5" wide rim (Nitto A/T's 275/55/20) while repping the OEM rims (7.0").

They aren't super aggressive and many on here recommended them. I've had no trouble and love the way they look, too. Rubbing was eliminated with the heat gun mod to the front bumper, but I'm worried about lowering the tire pressure and what might happen with the tire beads on sand. Any thoughts?
(I'm got recovery tracks, jack, airpump, etc and have managed in sand before. Just worried about the tire on the rim.)

We've been going to Carova, Swan, North Swan for about 10 years or so. Definitely air down, you won't hurt anything even if you have to run to Corolla. Going to Duck I would air back up. The ones you see stuck are the ones that don't air down. And the ones that say you don't have to air down I do it all the time are the morons you can thank for the washboard affect. Sand in the 4x4 area is really different than a lot of places you can drive on th beaches including the south end of OBX by Hatteras.

 

[Jeremy556]

On soft highway tires in stockish size, on sand, you will be fine to well under 10psi. It takes a large amount of force in a small area to dislodge a bead, even at 0psi. Give it a try in your garage with the stock jack, and try it at 10psi or even 3psi - you won't get it off.

 

[JLTD]

Done some driving on the beach there myself. As stated earlier, sand varies a lot - from large granular almost as large as BBs to a fine version that's like talcum powder.

No issues in the large, but the smaller and drier you get the more you'll need to air down. It's extremely variable so take the advice above and here's a list of vids, the Twiddy ones I thought were pretty helpful.

https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=Sand+driving+outer+banks

 

[mmike87]

We're at Corolla now. Took the 21 Pro on the beach yesterday. Aired down to about 18, and that seemed to do great. I was a little nervous to do more, but next time I'll air down a bit more.

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[JLTD]

We're at Corolla now. Took the 21 Pro on the beach yesterday. Aired down to about 18, and that seemed to do great. I was a little nervous to do more, but next time I'll air down a bit more.

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You should be great at 18 in 4 Lo.

 

[Matt831]

I always go to 18 on the Outer Banks and leave it there all week. 4HI all day and have never had any issues.

Don't end up here.

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[jetmechG550]

Done some driving on the beach there myself. As stated earlier, sand varies a lot - from large granular almost as large as BBs to a fine version that's like talcum powder.

No issues in the large, but the smaller and drier you get the more you'll need to air down. It's extremely variable so take the advice above and here's a list of vids, the Twiddy ones I thought were pretty helpful.

https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=Sand+driving+outer+banks

Edward (in the video) actually lives and grew up in the 4x4 area. He's very active on a few of the pages and boards I follow

 

[Captain Planet]

We're at Corolla now. Took the 21 Pro on the beach yesterday. Aired down to about 18, and that seemed to do great. I was a little nervous to do more, but next time I'll air down a bit more.

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The rule of thumb for the beach is air down until the truck coasts when not on the throttle.

If it immediately digs in and sinks when you get off the gas, air down further.