I need some tips, do's and don'ts for driving onto the beach. First time wrangler owner looking to have a beach day. Do I have to let air out of my tires?

Do - take your top off

Don't - keep your doors on

Do - relax and enjoy the day

Don't - go home too soon

Do - stop and sit on your roll bar

Don't - ignore people waving

And Do - use sunscreen

:)

Your forgot Do take your fishing rod

When I lived in Houston I would go to the beach with the family quite often. I have never had issues or had to air down, same thing when visiting the Sand Dunes National Monument. The traction control works well.

Yes. Air down your tires. Makes a huge difference.

Do bring a cooler full of beer

Air down your tires, get in 4 hi before you hit the sand, wash down well after you leave (undercarriage)

Did you go to Go Topless Day 2016 in Galveston per chance?

My experience with sand has been you don't necessarily have to air down but it does help.
You could always give it a try and see how it goes, your tires will make a huge difference.
I just got 315/70/17 cooper MTP's and my last trip to the sand I did not have to air down, I had no issues getting around but I will also mention that these cooper MTP's are great Offroad so the tires make a big difference.
Also go slow and steady, if you start to dig in, stop and back up, then go forward again.
Trying to power out of sand will likely just get you dug in deeper, so take it slow.

2015 Hydro Blue JKU

I live on the beach in the Baja the most important thing is to air down. Start at 15 pounds i do 8 pounds but have bead locks.Also i run 2 wheel drive at faster speeds it keep you from following the groove if the beach is tore up.

I wish we had, didn't realize we missed it until this morning. I did go topless all weekend however, even put my jeep to work!
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If the sand is soft I would air down. 15psi is safe. With your tires aired down you can stop and takeoff when ever you want to. If they are not aired down starting off in soft stuff especially on an incline can be tough.
Do: keep momentum
Do: keep momentum in ruts when switching ruts "lanes"
Dont: drive in the salt water, it will destroy your jeep.
If you keep your doors on DONT roll the windows up and down. the sand will scratch the glass horribly!
Don't: keep the doors on.
Stay in 4hi, put the jeep in 4hi before you get on the sand.
Stay away from wild horse's "if there are wild horse's "
Pull out stuck trucks for beer money.
Wash the jeep as soon as possible.
Sorry I was writing this in a hurry , have fun!

Seems to be a lot of conflicting information and opinions about 4L vs. 4H.
Here is my 2 cents on the topic. This really depends on the type of sand. In my experience, in loose sand it is best to stay in 4L. If you are on hard pack, no problem with 4H. Loose sand creates a lot of resistance and increases workload. I am preparing for a week vacation in a house on the beach 8 miles away from any paved road. Since we will have 8 miles of mostly soft sand to travel, I plan on staying in 4L to keep workload and heat generated to a minimum. What do you guys think?

I agree. There seems to be a lot of opinions on either side here so like above here is just my 2 cents.

Please let us know where you are going as it might help people familiar with the area give you better specific recommendations. You say you are a first time owner so I will come at you from that perspective. First go where there are others. If you get in a situation help should be close by. Most likely you should air down. Follow the ruts. If others drove there already, you're probably going to be ok too. Plus it follows the tread lightly thought. I have just about always driven sand in 4hi. IMO as a novice, if you don't have good light throttle control, 4lo might get you to spin the tires quicker. Then a natural panic reaction might cause you to throw in reverse and dig you deeper figuratively and literally. Keep a light steady throttle.

And lastly as it wasn't mentioned, know where your closest air station is if you don't have onboard air. Most popular places have them near entrances/exits. Also have some recovery gear just in case. A Google search can help you with some basic recommendations.

Have fun.

In soft sand you really need to float on top. You NEED speed. So 4hi is what you want. If your jeep is not geared correctly for you tires or modification's then you may have a problem with overheating on the beach. And if that's the case going faster and staying on top of this and is even more important. Speed also helps with airflow and cooling.
I would drive about as fast as you can legally drive on a beach with soft sand.
My experience with sand: I grew up driving on the beaches of Outer Banks North Carolina. There is every type of sand imaginable on the Outer Banks. And lots of super soft fluffy sand that is very very difficult to drive in.
Oregon Inlet OBX is one of the most dangerous places I've ever seen to drive on the sand. When the tide goes out many tourist find themselves in a very dangerous position stuck in sand with a rising tide. I can't tell you how many hours and days I've spent rescuing stuck vehicles from the rising tide. I've probably seen 20+ vehicles lost to the ocean. Rescuing vehicles is what we did for fun and I really enjoyed helping the people out as well.
So for what it's worth 4hi if possible
Have fun and stay away from sand that is uasaly under water at high tide, it is very unstable.

Headed to Corolla next week!!

I'll be there! I'll have to post a pic of my jeep so you can look for me. You could drive a Buick on the beaches of Corolla. Lol

Lol and I'm sure someone has pics of an idiot who tried to prove it! Corolla is beautiful and the beaches were great. I watched a lot of dangerous moves, choices from people on my last trip down there but only saw one truck completely buried (F250). Air down and have fun!

OK I have no idea how to post a picture of my jeep. But I'll be staying in Corolla all next week from Sunday to Sunday.
Look at the description of my Jeep in my signature, I have a Terraflex Nebo roof rack with Yakima racks on top of them. Not easy to miss and I've never seen anyone else with this setup so I should be easy to spot. I can help you out with your first run on the beach if you like. Just hit me up on here when your down there.

No pictures but I have pulled cars off that beach before. Lol
A Google search will show you plenty of stuck cars in Corolla.
Google search stuck trucks in Oregon Inlet and you will see some scary stuff. I've seen a truck with a camper lost to the ocean as well there.

The beaches in North Carolina aren't as scary as the internet would lead you to believe. Common sense goes a long way.

Honestly with a JK 4H or 4L will both work if you have a 4 to 1 T case I suggest 4H. Airing down to at least 15psi is going to help more. I'v seen a Rubi at Carolina Beach Lock all 4 and Bury itself. But that was Puffy loose sand it had not rained in 3 weeks lots of people were getting stuck. Key is to Keep moving but don't throttle too much.