2024 SR5 Incoming... First Time Buyer...Long Time Listener

Carry a portable pump that is powered by battery or 12v outlet in the vehicle but airing up immediately is really not necessary. ( See later in post). Below is based on about 60 years of sand driving.

Some folks think airing down (lowering tire pressure) is not really necessary and while that is true for some vehicles, there are reasons why you may want to air down regardless of your thinking on this, even if you have nitrogen in your tires.
A vehicle aired down properly to a nice flat optimum tread footprint rolls more easily mostly over the sand rather than mostly pushing down into and thru the sand with hard tires. Thus less torque is required to move the vehicle and less strain on the engine and drive train.
Additionally hard tires tend to give short way less than a full revolution spins as they push thru the sand. This kicks back a little sand forming a washboard / speedbump affect in the sand. The ride is thus more uncomfortable for you from the spins and very uncomfortable for those following.
Now some don’t want to air down because they worry about tire damage / wear on pavement and many carry portable pumps to air up immediately after coming off the sand or at least as soon as they can get to an air station. This really is not necessary if you are at the optimum flat footprint. I air down upon arrival and sometimes stay that way for weeks, only airing up if say I’m going to go from Salvo to Nags Head area. Over the years and many sets of tires I’ve seen no appreciable difference in tire wear than what I would expect at full street pressure.
Now that said there are things to consider when aired down. More sidewall heat is generated as the sidewalls flex more, but if speed is kept reasonable (even 55 mph or less) for the short distances you would travel around the beach area on pavement, it would not be a problem. Also handling, especially in sharp cornering, is affected as the tire tends to “roll” more to the side of the rim in a turn. But again, reasonable speed and avoiding sharp cornering should give no problems. Gas mileage is slightly affected as it takes a little more effort to move the vehicle.
Now you can air down “too much”. When you go below the optimum flat footprint the center of the tread tends to concave in toward the rim and even in the sand you tend to ride more on the tread edges and the hump of sand in the middle adds to the torque required to move the vehicle. While not as bad as hard tires in the sand, it will tend to result in more “digging” from just the edges and pushing thru the sand. And it will cause excessive tread wear on the tread edges on pavement, plus way more heat in the sidewalls.
In addition sharp turns at very low pressure, as in trying to move over out of ruts, can result in breaking a tire to rim seal. Plus if torque is applied when you start to bog down the low pressure can result in the rim spinning inside the tire if the edges “grab” the sand again breaking a seal. I’ve seen this happen on a couple of occasions, one having two seals broken, thus no help from the spare.
Years ago I learned from some desert rats the optimum footprint for sand. It is not a one size fits all so you will have to experiment a little to find what fits your setup. Your vehicle should roll rather easily “over” the sand and not require a lot of extra power (torque). And remember street pressure is not necessarily exactly what is on the door placard. The placard is nominal for a nominal load (usually indicated on the placard). Both street and sand pressures are load dependent (including passengers, gas, etc) and may vary front to back, depending on how you are loaded.


General rule is with vehicle loaded like it will be on the sand and vehicle on level pavement and tire pressure at recommended street pressure, measure the height from pavement to edge of rim. Then lower pressure until the height is ¾ of street pressure height.


When driving in the sand, slow steady progress is best. If you start to bog down, stop. Back up a few vehicle lengths in your tracks and then go forward again with slow and steady. Try to avoid spinning / gunning it as this will generally dig you in.



As far as tires go aggressive tread tends to dig in more in sand so the less aggressive the tread the better.

 

Super helpful!

I did not want to go too thin of a tire for beach driving....assumed more width, more surface. BMC is not an option and trying to avoid fender trimming... if I needed to, trimming plastic is doable

 

Nifty formula... and great post. Got me thinking!

 

i have a lot more on ground clearance, tire types, drive trains, gear you might want to have with you, etc. Too long to post or PM but if you would like it, PM me an email and I will send it

 

Ooof - that definitely stinks.

As for airing-down, depending on the sand...I'll bet in some cases you can get away without doing it, but the texture and floatation properties of sand differs from location to location. The sand on Hatteras Island (NC) is known as being some of the deepest, most difficult to drive on, however, about ~35 miles up the coast on Corolla and Corova Beaches (also NC), the sand is completely different and more like that of Daytona Beach (FL) which resembles concrete and can be driven on even with a 2WD car with no drama whatsoever.

On Hatteras, one of our fav pass times was getting a cooler full of beer (and remembering NEVER to let Will buy it, because he always comes back with nothing but IPAs which totally suck on a 90+ degree day....stupid Will....umm...sorry...I digress!)...and watching the tourists...mostly from inland NC and other nearby states with their big-ass pickups and jeeps who decided not to air down get hopelessly stuck in the sand. When they seem to be decent guys/girls, after a while of enjoying the spectacle we would help 'em dig out AND air down. And when they turn out to be d-bags....we let them figure it out themselves

TimG

 

PM sent... absolutely glad to have it and super thankful for the offer... thanks!!!!

 

Hatteras?? Do I detect a fellow Striped Bass fisherman? In any case... 'YES' IPAs stink... I am a Belgium Wheat guy all day long.. or a Sam Adams here and there

 

that is great sport. Native Tar Heel here with a house in Salvo over 50 years, been doing that for decades. LOL

 

on its way