Oversand/Beach driving

Hey guys,

About two months ago my sister bought a new Toyota Tacoma double cab truck. Shortly after she got it, she purchased an oversand/beach sticker to a local beach. She spends a lot of time out there during the winter photographing snowy owls, and planned on going out there during the summer as well. Since she got the permit she has been pushing me to get a permit for my Delica. Finally I broke down, and got the permit on Friday.

Before I bought the permit she had taken us out to the beach to see what it was like. Before we left my house to go out there I asked her if she had all the required equipment with her. These included a tire pressure gauge that goes down to zero, full sized spare tire, tow strap or chain, a block of wood, or 3/4" plywood of a certain size for the jack, a jack of course(stock is fine), shovel, and maybe a few other things. The website say you need all of these things, so I'm thinking they will check. She says she didn't have most of the stuff. I quickly cut up a piece of marine grade 3/4" plywood I had for her, and collected a shovel, and tire pressure gauge. We head out, and wouldn't you know it, nobody checked for the "required" equipment. We spent a few hours out there, and had no issues with the sand.

A few weeks later on Mothers day my sister went out there again with our sister-in-law, and her sister in two other vehicles. One of them in a Highlander got stuck in the soft sand, as well as a few other people. I guess it wasn't a fun time as they were digging out and asking for help from others to tow them out. I would rather be prepared, and only ask for help in a dire situation.

I decided now that I had a sticker that I would go out there this morning with my wife, and 8 year old son, and one of his friends. I made sure I had my stuff with me, but again nobody checked. I asked at the guard shack about a compressor to re-inflate the tires after dropping the pressure to their recommended level (13-15 psi). Of course they looked at me like I had 3 heads. I figured I wouldn't air down even though I knew it was the right thing to do, and mandatory according to their regulations. We didn't have any issues with the sand, but it was a lot softer than it looked, and I was worried that I would get stuck. Is there anything I could do to make sure I have air for re-inflation after getting off the beach short of buying some fancy pants on-board air system? Is there tips you guys can give me for beach driving? I was acting like Clarkson, and yelling "Power!!" while my wife was laughing in the passengers seat(she loves TG), but I'm not sure that is the best route on soft sand.

Also if anyone knows of some sort of cool beach shelter I could get for my van or otherwise that would be great. As much as I liked being there today, I am so white I'm almost clear, and some shade would be great.

Thanks,

Chris

I use a $40 12 volt air compressor I picked up at HF, on the Samurai. It gets the job done nicely. It even worked well on the 33" mud grips I had. Any of them will work fine as long as you aren't in a hurry.

Make a screw-in hose threaded like one of your spark plugs. Make it long enough to reach the furthest tire.

Run your engine and watch the piston fill up your tire!

What beach is this? If you're not airing down too far, maybe there's a Mobil or whatever nearby.

That's what I'd do with my Sammy. There was a gas station with air about a half-mile away.

You can build a tubular rear bumper that doubles as an air tank.

In reply to Woody:

Or convert a SCUBA tank and store it on-board.

Those hold plenty of air.

I would get one of these:

Portable air compressor

All the advise I can give you, based on me driving a FWD many times on the beach, is dont stop on loose/soft/dry sand.

ebonyandivory wrote: Make a screw-in hose threaded like one of your spark plugs. Make it long enough to reach the furthest tire. Run your engine and watch the piston fill up your tire! What beach is this? If you're not airing down too far, maybe there's a Mobil or whatever nearby. That's what I'd do with my Sammy. There was a gas station with air about a half-mile away.

I met a guy years ago who did this with his BMW R100GS motorcycle. He would shut down one of the fuel petcocks(two of them, one for each cylinder), and would run the engine on one cylinder to re-inflate his tires after beach riding. Oh yeah I don't have spark plugs though.

hope that is a freshwater beach.. and sand gets into everything. Be sure to go to a carwash directly after driving on the beach to get all that crunchy grinding material off of the bottom of your Delica

ebonyandivory wrote: Make a screw-in hose threaded like one of your spark plugs. Make it long enough to reach the furthest tire. Run your engine and watch the piston fill up your tire! What beach is this? If you're not airing down too far, maybe there's a Mobil or whatever nearby. That's what I'd do with my Sammy. There was a gas station with air about a half-mile away.

Duxbury beach. I didn't see any gas stations near by.

mad_machine wrote: hope that is a freshwater beach.. and sand gets into everything. Be sure to go to a carwash directly after driving on the beach to get all that crunchy grinding material off of the bottom of your Delica

Salt water. I washed it as soon as I got home. Even underneath.

I never had a problem (aside from not being FAST) with using a Walmart 12v compressor. I kept mine in a plastic toolbox until I ran it over with my 5,000 truck.

(No sparkplugs? Oooops, I obviously missed the Diesel part!)

I also recommend getting a 12V air compressor. Airing down is a good idea. I never go below 20 psi, mainly so that if I do have to drive on the pavement a short distance I'm not completely destroying my tires. I also think you're smart for carrying the gear you need.

Another great piece of equipment to carry is an empty 5 gallon bucket or two. If you feel yourself getting stuck, carrying water back up to the sand down can sometimes get you out without digging yourself in too deep. They also double as improvised stools and beach toys for the kids.

Check on Expedition Portal for any ideas about a hatch tent. The easiest idea would be a 4 post easy-up sun canopy staked into the ground and tied to the open rear hatch. There are tons of other options, though.

http://www.tentcraft.com/tents/hitch-tailgate-tents

I just noticed while getting ready to shower that I got a pretty good sun burn on the tops of my feet. I put sunblock on before we left, but didn't think about the tops of my feet. I wasn't thinking about taking my shoes off. I guess I have to remember them in the future.

I had a bad experience with someone else's broken 4WD Jeep, after midnight, with a fast-encroaching tide. My Tacoma plus a 4Runner were not enough to pull it out. Water came within a foot of my tires before I cut loose and pulled up the beach. It took about ten guys three hours to move it maybe 500 feet down the beach to a safe spot.

I'm no expert, but 1) KNOW your 4WD system works, and 2) maybe stay above the high tide point. If it ends up under saltwater it's all over. Unless it's a Toyota diesel. ;-)

Initially I didn't air down and my Tacoma got stuck fifty feet from pavement. Aired down to I think 18 PSI and was good to go. I've heard 8 PSI is good on the beach but obviously don't try it on pavement. There were places to air up nearby as you left the beach.

David

On Long Island occasionally the park ranger would check for equipment before you entered the beach. I carried a small compressor and never had an issue. We had a suburban and for a shade we used a tarp tied to the luggage rack on one end and held up with two poles at the other.

I forgot to add stay away from Expedition Portal. After losing countless hours there I'm almost convinced driving around the world in an old Jeep is a viable vacation idea.

Wally wrote: I forgot to add stay away from Expedition Portal. After losing countless hours there I'm almost convinced driving around the world in an old Jeep is a viable vacation idea.

Too late, I'm already on that site.

I use a cheapie compressor, but if you're building an offroad vehicle, onboard air isn't a bad idea. It can also actuate air lockers and run air tools.

Driving on sand is Expert Mode stuff, I'd recommend installing selectable lockers.

The little 12v compressors work fine, except they're slow. It wouldn't hurt to get one or two of those portable air tanks and fill them up at the gas station before you go.

Onboard air can be done on the cheap(ish) look for a Viar compressor used on Ebay and get a tank. I'm actually adding it on the 66 right now, mostly for the horn but having a small tank and an air line for tires handy won't hurt.

GameboyRMH wrote: I use a cheapie compressor, but if you're building an offroad vehicle, onboard air isn't a bad idea. It can also actuate air lockers and run air tools. Driving on sand is Expert Mode stuff, I'd recommend installing selectable lockers.

Driving on the sand, does seem like some expert level E36 M3, and I'm sure I wasn't doing it right, with my Clarkson method, but I didn't get stuck... Yet. The funny thing was almost everyone out there were in luxo barges, and probably were ill equipped for it. I wasn't much better, but I wasn't oblivious to the conditions. We weren't below the tidal line much if at all. I was worried about the tide coming back in, so I stayed high from the water line.

Free yourself from the bonds of electricity! Bonus... it's faster to use than the little 12v pumps. They make nicer ones with gauges and more volume - but Walmart has these for less than $20.

The three main rules of driving on sand are:

1. Don't let any wheelspin happen when moving off, or you'll just dig straight down instead of moving forward. Move off very gently.

2. Avoid stopping. When you come to a stop, the vehicle will sink down into the sand a bit, giving you a prime opportunity to mess up #1 again.

3. Be careful and conservative with your braking. If your wheels lock up, a berm will form in front of them which will amplify your deceleration greatly. The deceleration could be as sharp as crashing into something (this also applies to gravel).

One more tip:

• If you're driving on a beach, the semi-wet sand is the most solid, right on the edge of where the water washes up.

I know this isn't cheap, but solves two or maybe three problems:

http://www.amazon.com/Jump-N-Carry-JNCAIR-1700-Amp-12-Volt-Compressor/dp/B000KPU8F2/ref=sr_1_1/177-3895713-1954436?ie=UTF8&qid=1433773107&sr=8-1&keywords=clore+jncair

Air compressor, jump start, and DC power ports for the kids in case god forbid a smart phone or game system goes flat. No games allowed when we are on the beach of course, but it could be used for other times/situations.

In reply to Mazdax605: That's a pretty neat looking toy! And I wouldn't mind having one for the reasons you mentioned. However this old guy still likes to have a portable charged up air tank with him! "In case." Most dependable generally is also simplest.