Beach Driving Tips - Please Help

[sudermatt]

I'm goin to Pismo Beach this weekend and want to know what tips anybody can give about driving on the beach. Last time I drove on the beach I got stuck.

Rig Setup? (tire pressure?, ?)
What to Do when driving?
What NOT to do when driving?
What to do when stopped?
What NOT to do when stopped?

Thanks,
Matt

[kb5xg]

First off, I have never driven on the beach. Now with that said I have driven on the Arkansas River Bed. (mostly sand) and at Little Sahara St. Park (in Oklahoma)





1) Try not to spin your tires. If they have lugs on them they will dig down into the sand.
2) No jackrabbit starts or stops, try not to disturb the sand. If you like you can air down the tires for sand driving. I would go to about 12-15 lbs of pressure. But air them right back up when you get off the beach.
3) No hard turns as they kill your momentum and pile up the sand.
4) Stay out of the water. (on the river it will wash out under you and you sink like a rock.) I guess the wave action would do the same thing at the beach.
5) I would make sure you have a tow strap if you get into trouble.

Be carefull. (I did not air down on last trip to Little Sahara. Big Sand dunes with lots of blow sand. I am running Mickey Thompson MTZ 33X 12.5X 15. I ran about 40 miles in the dune area and only had to back up a couple of times to reroute around areas I couldn't get through. Last 15 minutes I buried my Jeep and had to be pulled out. I broke rules 1, 2, and 3. I was digging myself out when another Jeeper stopped and pulled me out. Go and have fun on the beach. I was in 4 hi all the time I was in the sand. By the way, wind was blowing about 30 mph and I put over an inch of sand in the cup holders on the center console when I got stuck. I was disturbing the sand big time. (really stupid of me) took 2 hours of vacuuming to get most of the sand out.

I followed a new JK unlimited around for a while and he was going everywhere and with the brake traction control and 4 hi he did not have any problems. He really liked the way it handled the dunes.

[tex]

I'm going to Padre Island in June. 60 miles of secluded 4wd only beaches. We will tent camp for 3 days with up to 100 other Jeeps. Several DFW, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio clubs will be there. Thanks for the driving tips, as I have never had my Jeep on the beach before.