xtreme244

You're right mate.. Especially when it comes to short distances and flat surfaces or slight slopes.. But when it comes to tall dunes with sharp angles, you need speed that exceeds that recommended for 4LO.. That might damage the transfer case.. Cheers

Yankee

If I had that kind of "cargo" in the right seat, I would stick to crawling trails. The dunes can be dangerous, at least the more popular crowded ones. Not to mention hard on your Jeep. But then again I do not think the JK is a very good dune buggy.

Although with a hemi Wrangler sand is way fun, I got an old beat up sand rail and trailer because in the long run it was cheaper and safer. And easier to get home a couple hours away if I broke something.

Christarp

This is exactly how I ran in the dunes for hours on end when I last went in my stock jk (Lifted now!)

It's all about momentum, you never want to lose your momentum. As a result, 4lo is simply too slow for most actual sand dune riding. Keep the RPMs up, keep your tire psi in the low teens, and have at it.

You won't be able to get up dunes starting from the bottom with no momentum, the 3.8 and even the 3.6 just don't have the power to do that in a 2 ton vehicle. A raptor 700r makes probably 40+ horsepower a the rear wheels, but weighs about a tenth of a jeep

jk.bushwacker

and you my friend are correct as well sometimes you just gotta do whatever to get outta a bad situation, but I just didn't want anyone thinking you should run that hard all the time.

slangheld

Agree, air down at least 15 psi, 4L, o/d off, if necessary a/c on will force the cooling fan on. If you overheat, consider an early transmission service.

Thebucksters

I'm in Dubai, so we get some good dunes too, and our sand can be like talcum powder or hard pack and nice and tall. I run 8-12 psi on 33s in an 07 with auto trans. You do have to carry a bit of speed to make it up the faces, so i use 4hi with esc off. Tranny gets hot doing that, but i keep an eye on the temp with my s/c trail dash. If it gets too hot, we take a water break. To me, 4 low revs way too high for my comfort. But i use it whenever i get bogged down. I used to be nervous about breaking the bead, but its happened a few Times now. Just get level, chock the wheels, jack it, wipe out the rim, put alittle water on the rim for lube and air it up - just keep away fingers! When you hear the pop, you are good to go. I take mine to the local garage later on to get the tire remounted and clean out any sand.
Have fun Jeepin'

rsbmg

4 LO, 12-15 PSI and momentum.

harley97

I had the same issue in the dunes. I found out that pushing the ESC off button does not completely disable the ESC. There is an override switch that can be installed that will completely disable all traction control systems and will greatly help out in the dunes. It is an easy install and was the best thing I could have done for the dunes.

Paul Woodcock

Hi guys

Living in Dubai, dune driving is all we do.....

If you want any chance of climbing a big dune:

8psi
5000 - 6000 rpm
30 - 40 mph
ESP Wire cut - OFF

Yes, high rpm is hard on the Jeep. BUT, you are not climbing high dunes continuously.
Most of the time we are at 2000 to 4000 rpm somewhere between 20 to 40 mph.

Regards
Paul

nmjeepster

I might be wrong but aren't mud tires crap for sand because they dig in the sand, the big lugs used to clean mud dig in sand like a shove.