I'm planning a big family trip to the outter banks.. I will be getting my jeep tomorrow (!!!!!!!!!) and for this trip in a few months (going in early fall) I plan to do some fishing and from what I hear you have to air down the tires and drive across the beach if you wanna get to a good spot. So, let's say I'm out driving on the beach, and I get stuck and no one's around to help.... When you guys have to wheel alone, how do you get out when you're stuck?

 

1st - do you have a winch? If so one way is by having an emergency shovel, burying your spare tire about 3', covering it back up, packing it best you can (soft dry sand would be tough), and winching out...edit: forgot to state the winch hooks to the tire...

2nd - PullPal, really nice Jeep additive at the cost of about 40 lbs and some storage room. hxxp://www.pullpal.com/

3rd - Found this interesting, pretty good basics, some if not most of it is common sense stuff: hxxp://chevy.off-road.com/chevy/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=275104

4th - If you don't have a winch at least invest in a Hi-Lift it's an 8000 lb hand winch along with being a big jack. So you could do step-1 by hand worse came to worst. I've done it years ago with my 2000 TJ, it took me 4 hrs no exaggerating, it was slow but it got me out eventually.

 

sounds like fun Can't you just leave a piece of plywood in your trunk, then try to lodge it under the back tires for some traction? Or would the tires just end up shooting it out the back and beheading someone?

I plan to try and do some beginner offroad stuff over the summer so I can learn the ropes. I don't expect to get any kind of mods for my jeep at first, because I just won't know what I'll need till I start learning. And I don't wanna waste money on stuff I may not use. I don't expect to do any rock climbing or anything, I will probably be using my 4WD for the snow more than anything else...

But anyway if I'm in the middle of the beach, what can I hook my winch onto if I do have one?

 

I've been driving the dunes of Cape Cod for 22 years and never been stuck once. Just air down appropriately (I go to 10lbs.) and drive conservatively. Use 4 high unless you do get stuck. Don't drive below the tide line unless you want to stay there. Odds are you'd be fine but if you;re not, it gets expensive. Carry a good jack - not saying high lift but at least better than the crappy scisors jack. Carry a jack board and a shovel. And that's it.

Oh, and a tow rope, to help the stuck Hummers...

 

DO NOT DIG YOURSELF A HOLE. Momentum is your friend and giving it a rock without spinning/digging in is good. You can pack stuff (driftwood, dead washed up seagrasses, etc) under the tires for traction. The best bet is not to get stuck. Stick to the harder packed stuff and stay off the upper beach soft sand. Once stuck usually you need a little help getting one out in the form of a winch as mentioned or a helpful friend (old or new). I would think this time of year someone else will be on the beach and as long as one of you have the means to hook up to the other you chould be okay. Carry extra beer and a little $ to offer in case they don't just help out. It's always nice to offer a reward for the help even if some people (my case included) will not take it.

 

He just mentioned burrying athe spare tire or get a pull pal for a hook up point. I have also talked to guys who use a heavy boat anchor and burry it in for a hook point but I for one am not 100% sure I would trust that given the chance something would break. The spare tire trick works well and I hear the pull pals do as well.

EDIT carry a bucket and wet the sand around the tire to pack it in. We sand is denser and packed dry sand is fluffy and what gets you in trouble in the first place. Just a suggestion that seems sound I have never done this but the theory is sound. Anyone got thoughts on this?

 

You'll actually be fine without airing down, but if you want to you'll be fine at 20 or so. The Gas station isn't very close and so it will be a ways before you can air back up. (What kind of tires are you running?) If you stay on the beach area and don't wonder off the sand isn't too bad and you shouldn't get stuck. OBX has nothing that you can hook a winch to within 120 feet of your Jeep so if you have no one around then you would need some sort of anchor. Take some chicken wire, carpet, wood or something like that so you can put it under your tires if you get stuck, if your spinning you'll just dig deeper. I think early fall you'll have plenty of people around, there is also a number of people (some guy with a heavily modded Toyota) that will pull you out for a few bucks. Hey, I go there once in a while to pull people out too, I made about a Hundred bucks last time. Do you have recovery points? I don't take money from Jeeps but I do from Mini Vans, FJ's, H2's and H3, and any car, oh and Super Big Lifted Dodges, Chevy's, and Fords. Lifted so high they don't even have front drive lines.

Oh, do not go off and run up and down the big dunes' you may see to your left (when driving in) they are protected dunes' and the police will come, ask zero questions, and put you in jail.

 

forgot to mention the winch hooks to the tire... How are you going to lug a piece of plywood in a Jeep?.....lol

 

wow the wet sand makes sense....or cup your hands and run like hell back and forth if you have to

 

Oh, another question.. for sand driving (and snow which will be another thing i may be driving in a lot), is it the kind of thing where I will want a limited slip, or full locking rear diff? or just "standard" 4 wheel drive?

Thanks for the tip with the dunes, I'll have to remember that

I don't have my jeep yet so I don't know what tires I have! But, it will be pretty much just stock. I'm trying to decide between a nice X ($28K msrp) and a Rubicon with all the options ($35k). I'm guessing the latter will be to far out of my price range, but we'll see tomorrow At one point I was considering an Explorer that was around $36k so maybe I can swing it... that sync radio was fun but I'll get so much more out of a jeep........