Tire PSI for sand driving

[woodmaster58]

Will be driving Cape Cod National Seashore soon, lotsa sand
What tire pressure should I set
Thanks

 

[RMETeeJay]

12-15 has worked well for me. Recommend a thorough power wash afterwards to get that salt off ASAP.

 

[Dr. Internet]

Will be driving Cape Cod National Seashore soon, lotsa sand
What tire pressure should I set
Thanks

I drove all over Padre Island, TX for many years. Wet sand, dry sand, hard sand, and soft sand. I never aired down and never had any problems. I only had to use 4WD once, when I was pulling out a stuck F-150. Dittos on the power wash comment. Don't wait to drive it home before washing. The salt is in the sand and gets everywhere. Try to find a wash place that has a dedicated underbody wash unit and run it through a couple of times. Also, look for the threads on here about drilling some drain holes in your frame. Have fun!!

 

[GregBelleville]

I've always run 8 to 10 psi in the sand

 

[MountaineerTom]

When we go to Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks or NC, I air down to 15 when we get there. It’s a tiny island with not a lot of places to go, so I leave them at 15 until we get on the ferry to head back home.

I stay out of the wet sand and water but sometimes I’ve hosed hosed off what I could on the island if a hose is available. Once I get home, I hose out the frame a few times. I also have drain holes I drilled into the bottom as has been mentioned here. 3/8” hole I believe. I also run an old school fan sprinkler under the Jeep for maybe 1-1/2 hours, moving it around every 10-15 minutes.

 

[KennethS]

I drove all over Padre Island, TX for many years. Wet sand, dry sand, hard sand, and soft sand. I never aired down and never had any problems.

I agree that you can drive on sand with street pressure, but I discovered when pulling into a sandy wash to air down that the drive in was very bumpy with full tire pressure, and the drive out after airing down was extremely smooth, so much so that the difference in ride quality really made an impression on me.

 

[DaveC]

Not many beaches in these parts, but plenty of sand. 12psi has always worked very well for me in it.

 

[steelhd]

There isn't an ideal PSI. Wet or damp sand is very different from very dry sugar sand. Start where you want and go down from there. On load range C 35x12.5-15s with no beadlocks I start at 8 and go down from there. There are times when you cant get anywhere at 6 or 7 and dropping to 5 makes all the difference.

 

[GregBelleville]

Not many beaches in these parts, but plenty of sand. 12psi has always worked very well for me in it.

You ever make it over to Glamis?

 

[DaveC]

You ever make it over to Glamis?

Have driven through but never been to wheel.

 

[Link]

I ran 20psi in some pretty deep sand in Utah earlier this year. Worked well but I’d probably drop to 15psi if I was to drive the same trail again.

 

[GregBelleville]

Have driven through but never been to wheel.

I would love to get a meet up with so cal and Arizona guys out there, it's one of my favorite places to wheel.

 

[DaveC]

I would love to get a meet up with so cal and Arizona guys out there, it's one of my favorite places to wheel.

View attachment 641209

Funny thing is, I grew up in So Cal, had buddies who did the Glamis thing every year and never did myself. Now I've got coworkers here in AZ who do as well. I've always thought of it as more of a go fast dune buggy/ bike/atv vibe/environment.

 

[MikekiM]

11 psi - 15 psi depending on how much I am carrying and which beach I am cruising. The north LI beaches are more rocky than the south beaches which are deeper softer sand.

Definitely power wash EVERYTHING once you're back.

 

[KennethS]

Funny thing is, I grew up in So Cal, had buddies who did the Glamis thing every year and never did myself. Now I've got coworkers here in AZ who do as well. I've always thought of it as more of a go fast dune buggy/ bike/atv vibe/environment.

Same here. One co-worker has a 400+ hp Bronco and talks about uphill dune racing when they’re not on the quads.

 

[MikeE024]

It really depends on the sand.

You'll mainly air down for comfort in the hard packed stuff.

Get yourself into some fine soft stuff and you'll learn pretty quickly that you want to be aired down to about 8-10 psi. You can still get stuck at those pressures, so think ahead before you stop in a bad situation (low part of a dune climb where you can't gain momentum).

 

[KennethS]

Your comment about soft sand reminded me of a friend back on the Gulf Coast who kept a couple short lengths of chain link fence rolled up in back just for those situations.

 

[GregBelleville]

Funny thing is, I grew up in So Cal, had buddies who did the Glamis thing every year and never did myself. Now I've got coworkers here in AZ who do as well. I've always thought of it as more of a go fast dune buggy/ bike/atv vibe/environment.

It's definitely mostly sxs and rails out there, but I've driven my street rigs out there for years. It's fun caravanning through the dunes in a large group.

 

[Willys LJ]

Years ago I used to run the Red River sandbars in my old CJ5. It depended a lot on what kind of tires I had on it. When new it had radial all terrains and I never needed to air down Later I put a set of bias ply “gumbo mudder” tires on it and if I didn’t air way down the Jeep would dig itself down to the axle in a couple of seconds. My mom lived on a sand hill and I stuck it in her yard trying to turn around

Depends on your tires

 

[steelhd]

Everyone on here recommending a specific PSI sounds silly. Sand isn't one thing and one consistency. Vehicles aren't one weight with one tire size, tread pattern, and construction. <facepalm>