So in a few weeks my Tundra will be pressed into beach driving duty, and will spend a good chunk of the summer finding good fishing spots in the Delmarva area.
So......what's the preferred setup for the 2014 Tundra for traversing the sand? Mines gone stock for now, so is it leave it as is when I start the truck? Nannies on? Nannies off? Traction control off with the LSD on?
Any help is much appreciated. My HEMI Ram was simply drop it into 4x4, air down and go, maybe 4 Lo, so the Toyota is new to me.
Air down the tires and nannies off. Once you start to spin, the engine is powered down to prevent spinning. No nannies allows to use all your power any way you want. And no running the truck in the surf. You don't want to saltwater coat the chassis.
Air down, I usually run 17-18 psi and 4HI. ATRAC is on when in either 4HI or 4LO, so I don't touch the nannies. Haven't had any problems yet, been in some soft sand at OBX.
Just air down and 4hi is all you need, 4low is way to low. Don't worry about the nannies. Mine have never kicked in on the beach. The key is to never spin your tires in the first place. Mashing the gas will do nothing but bury you to the frame rails. You will be impressed with how well these trucks do on the beach.
What size wheels do you have? 20"s will work but it doesn't give you much sidewall profile to work with. 18"s are much better and 17"s the best.
If running on super soft sand like up here on Martha's Vineyard go down to 12-15psi.
If running on hard packed sand you don't have to go that far. 15-20psi should do.
Remember that tire pressure is your friend. Adjust as you see fit. You can start with 15psi but as you drive through miles of hot sand the psi can jump up as much as 10 psi leaving you stranded. It happens in our winch truck all the time.
Don't drive over the berm if its steep and like others have said, don't put your truck in the water!
Let me know if you have any other over sand driving questions. That is my specialty. I work as a ranger on the beaches of Martha's Vineyard. All I do is drive on the beach! and pull out the people dumb enough to mess up! I have some great stories and the madness has already started again for this year...
Living close to the beach I drive all the time in sand. Air down. Honestly 2wd aired down will go way further than a 4x4. It's science. More surface area to distribute weight the easier to move forward.
Explain the science behind 2wd going further than 4wd? I would like to see some real world experience cause when @Dragos28 goes on the sand with us it's a different story. And when I switch to 2wd and get stuck I can just flip it into 4wd and off I go.
And another tip from yesterday morning. Drive slow and pay attention to where you are going. We had some guy in a 13' Tundra high-center himself yesterday morning on a pretty obvious rock pile that the two trails went around......
I drive on the beach in the Delmarva area also. All I do is air down to 24 psi or so and my Tundra never has an issue. I don't even have to bump up the RPMs going up the crossings and you know how soft they get especially at the end of summer.
I havent seen a Tundra ever stuck on the beach but if I do some across one I would help a fellow Tundra out.
12.5 wide tires and being aired down to 15psi gets me far in 2wd when I had my ranger. In the tundra I've aired down to 25psi and 4x4 hi has kept me going but it's still important on where you stop and park. Don't park facing up hill and you should be good. In Cinders OHV area when Dragos was struggling a lil climbing up a hill. I stopped and parked facing up hill to film. When I got back on and started to drive I immediately sank my tires. I was in 4x4 and aired down. Shiiiit. I see sawed the wheels and drove in reverse and then when the terrain was flatter I was able to power forward and get to an area that was firmer and continue on going through the 3ft whoops. Ha.
The heavier the vehicle the more you should air down. I run about 12 psi when im out on the beach and never worry about getting stuck nice thing about De beaches they have air stations at every beach access. I wouldnt recommend doing 90 mph and make sharp turns. But for 20 mph on the beach its great. It also helps the trans temp stay lower by staying on top of the sand and not digging in. And makes easier to pull others out who get stuck . Ive seen a ford explorer and a jeep wrangler burst into flames out on the beach probably from overheating due to stress driving on the beach causes
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