I am in the market for a 4WD that is the best for driving on the beach, not dunes, but possibly some deep sand situations. I was considering a RAV4 but have been told they are not too good in these conditions. can anyone give me some sound advice?? Thank you in advance.
On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 16:24:17 -0400, "sugaree" found these unused words floating about:
Wide, partly deflated tires ...
as the other posted has stated, it not the "vehicle", it the tire you ride on. 12psi on some larger than oem tires will work fine.
Taller tires run at low pressure are actually better than wider tires. The length of the tire footprint is more important than the width. Look at a farm tractor and you'll see what I mean. The rear tires are very tall, but not overly wide.
Tractor tires are narrow and tall to fit between crop rows and provide ground clearance. It makes no difference how you get there, the idea is to have as large a contact patch as possible to reduce ground pressure so you won't sink in. Lighter weight vehicles are better but almost anything will do if you know how. We used to use a '68 impala with 50 series tires. The nature of the sand is the real problem but most beach sand tends to pack well. Loose very dry sand is a trap. Stay off the windswept dunes if you can. The flats are firmer and easier for the most part.
thanks guys! any recommendations on the model??
I used that as an example. A bigger footprint is what you want, but if you can fit the tire in, a longer footprint is preferable to a wider footprint. Dunebuggies use taller rear tires for this reason. For your first few times out, stay above the high water mark. If you get stuck below the high water mark, the salt water will ruin the vehicle. Also bring along some planks and a good jack. If you get stuck, you can put the jack on a plank to lift the vehicle, then slip another plank under the tires. Years ago we ran a 55 2 wheel drive chevy panel for a beach buggy. Had the rims split and widened and put on barely legal (almost bald) tallest tires that would fit. With 12-15 lbs of air in them it would go along the sand, hard or soft, just fine. This was before the days of chrome and fancy paint on beach buggies. One guy had an old bread van that was the hot setup. It was tall enough to stand up in. Made a great camper.
On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 11:28:11 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net found these unused words floating about:
Planks are OK, but one desert trick (yes the sands can be very soft!) is to carry 4 10 foot or 12 foot plastic carpet runners ... the ones with teeth on one side. (Wallymart cheapies - ~$7)
Simply slip the runner under the leading edge of the tires (ALL OF THEM!) and roll very easily and gently out at minimum speed to firm ground (sand).
Not always ... [:^o} see other reply - had to ONCE use them on the Long Beach Peninsula 28 mile beach.
On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 03:57:06 GMT, TacomaDude found these unused words floating about:
We hit a spot right at the edge of the packed sand and the soft dune edge that dropped the wheels into about 9". It wasn't coming out! Just unrolled the mats and eased right out, shook 'em off and went on down the beach.
Later found out it had trapped many vehicles - seems to be a near surface water flow, draining the area behind the dunes.
On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 11:55:55 GMT, TacomaDude found these unused words floating about:
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