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sand driving

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Old 05-15-2008, 03:08 PM
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Default sand driving

I took my new JK 2d on the beach today without airing down. I had about 30psiwith ESP off and almost got stuck. The beach is in East Hampton NY with very thick sand and my question is do you always need to air down in thick sand? I have an 85 cj7 and never really had to air down.

Tim
Old 05-15-2008, 03:12 PM
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Depends on how wide your tires are, the skinnier the tire the more it will dig in.

You should run at least 15psi for best traction on the sand. Ive run on some beaches out east but on the north shore and did fine without airing down with a 10.50 inch AT tire.
Old 05-16-2008, 05:28 PM
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I ride Pismo dunes in California and normally at 12psi...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLwwJpDj_0g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJf2qmIs8u8

I read somewhere you gett 200%+ contact patch.. all I know is as pressure goes down, traction goes up. The limit is where the probability of breaking the bead gets too high...
Old 05-17-2008, 05:06 AM
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When I got my Jk I went to smiths point, same sand type as the hampton beaches without airing down, and almost got stuck too. Since then, i have aired down to 15 psi and let me tell you, its a major change, I drove on the beach for hours, not eve close to getting stuck, not even once!
Old 05-17-2008, 05:59 AM
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Definitely air down, ran some sand last summer and 15PSI worked well with the stock POS Goodyears.
Old 05-17-2008, 08:33 AM
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Originally Posted by TT193
I took my new JK 2d on the beach today without airing down. I had about 30psiwith ESP off and almost got stuck. The beach is in East Hampton NY with very thick sand and my question is do you always need to air down in thick sand? I have an 85 cj7 and never really had to air down.

Tim
I agree with the others, 30 psi is too much for sand. Go down to at least 20 or lower. 12-15 is probably best, but it depends on the tire. I run about 18-20 now with stock BFGs in deep sand and it works well for me.
Old 05-18-2008, 06:39 AM
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You need to air down. Even if your tires float you ok without. Your still digging deep ruts. Tread Lightly or you'll see the beaches close. Our beach, the fish cops will toss you for not airing down.
Old 05-18-2008, 01:37 PM
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Default pics?

anyone have pics from these beaches in particular (smiths point and/or hamptons)... I know there's beach thread w/ lots from the obx and others but I'd like to see these locations if anyone has pics
Old 05-18-2008, 07:55 PM
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Thanks for all the info. i will give it a ran on my one day off this week.

Tim
Old 05-19-2008, 07:58 AM
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Originally Posted by RuBob
Ya, I got lazy on Martha's Vineyard South Beach this weekend and almost lost the JK to the surf. I left in street pressure (~35psi). There was one section that was really thick dry sand between the dune and the wet sand (right next to the water). I decided to try the wet sand as it looked "hard" enough. I dug right it in. I didn't sit there and dig in deeper which saved me, but I had to do the back-and-forth about 50 times for a very tense 10 minutes or so. My wife was not too happy about it either. The water was just about creaping up to the tires when I got out of there.

One thing I did notice is my RPM's were around 3000 the entire time driving on the beach (4Hi, ESP OFF, ~10-15mph). It was like it didn't want to come out of first. The one time it did shift, the engine just bogged out for a few seconds then downshifted again. Is this normal? I never really do any sand driving so this is all new to me.

I'm used to 4Lo crawling through dirt, roots, mud, and rocks.
yup thats what mine was doing. could not realy get of of first gear, but after reading this post and some other i do belive it was do to the tire pressure.


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