have a ques about 4wd and sand

[vcap]

hey..I live on long island ny and the sand is very soft here...this is my first ford truck after having all chevys..I have a 2011 f250 6.7 with 285/65 18's nitto trail grapplers... i went on the sand with them yesterday and the seemed to do ok airing them down to 30 pounds...my ques does anyone else run these tires ? how do they do in your oppinion in sand?...should i lock the front hubs or leave them in auto?

[Karls03]

Originally Posted by vcap

hey..I live on long island ny and the sand is very soft here...this is my first ford truck after having all chevys..I have a 2011 f250 6.7 with 285/65 18's nitto trail grapplers... i went on the sand with them yesterday and the seemed to do ok airing them down to 30 pounds...my ques does anyone else run these tires ? how do they do in your oppinion in sand?...should i lock the front hubs or leave them in auto?

The sand here is pretty soft too. I've run 285/75-16s, 365/65-16s and currently on 315/75-16s. The absolute best were the 365s! They were wide enough that I didn't need the front axle much. The other two, 4HI most of the time. Never bothered with airing down, seldom bothered with manual hob locking.

When these BFGs wear down, I'm going back to the 365s! I don't drive in the sand often, but when I do, I prefer to float across.

....sorry

[Roc87]

I pull a 9k# toy hauler to the lake, and airdown once we get to the pay station. Up until the last time we went I had 285/75/16 Hercules Terra Tracs, airing the tires down to around 30psi hot, meant the next day, they would be down to around 26#. I always thought that it did pretty good on the sand. Only gotten it stuck twice, and each time, I'd unhitch the trailer, move truck, rehook trailer and was able to move it. I've even pulled a 2wd 2004 F250 CCSB with a 26' camping trailer behind it through the sand. This last time there I had 275/65/18 Goodyear ATZ tires (I think these were stock from the 2004 KR that they came from, Only bought for rims anyways) Aired them down the same way, and they seemed to do alright as well, but back at the gas station filling them back up, i noticed abunch of sidewall "cracks"(Old dried up tires!) They didn't have the same size sidewall as the 16's, and they looked pretty flat at 26psi with the trailer hooked up.. Got back to town and put on a new set of 295/70/18 Terra Grapplers (was torn between the Terras and the Trails), but won't get to try them out at the lake until next year. Don't know what to tell ya about the auto hubs as mine doesn't have the option, but IMO, I'd just leave them locked while in the sand.

[vcap]

thx for your help

[xjeeper]

I am running the trail grapplers in 35"/17s, they work great, remember the taller the sidewall the better they work aired down. 4wd in sand with proper air pressure is easier on the truck because you do not build up a wall of sand in front of the rear tires for them to continuously climb.

[JasonY]

I usually aired down to 15-18psi for the beach with my old truck. New truck wont see sand with 20" wheels and tires rated to hold 3900lbs tons each..lol

Also very soft sand here on the beach entires due to years of noobs getting stuck, and then getting themselves REALLY stuck trying to get out.

Jason

[GregsSD]

Originally Posted by vcap

should i lock the front hubs or leave them in auto?

If your ESOF system is working good and you are leaving the truck in 4wd most of the time then you can just leave the hubs in "Auto".

If you are going to be shifting between 2wd and 4wd very often then I would switch the hubs to "Lock" so that you don't have to wait for them to engage with the vacuum each time you shift into 4wd. And if you happen to get stuck while in 2wd, the hubs won't always lock in if they are in "Auto" when you shift to 4wd.