I was driving on the beach this weekend as I have done several time this year. My tire pressure was down to 20-22 PSI. I was closer to the surf and when I tried to go a little uphill away from the water I got stuck.

After some time I was able to go back in reverse and get out. I have a stock X with stock tires.

I tried shifting from 4-hi to 4-lo, but did not notice much of a difference. Have people noticed much of a difference between 4-hi and 4-lo when driving on the beach?

Before Sunday, I had always drivven my X in 4-hi without a problem.

I find it hard to believe you wouldn't notice a difference between 4-lo and 4-hi. Are you sure you're shifting the transfer case correctly?

Or are you thinking about Lo with an automatic transmission?

The Low range in 4x4 should give you about double the torque of Hi. Pretty hard to miss.

20-22 psi is pretty high for sand.
You want a big foot print, and you'll need to drop to 10-12 to get it.

I go down to 8 PSI with my swampers and keep it in 4 lo. You have lots more power that way.

there was a story (true) about a german couple that traveled the outback (australia) in a rented 4x4.

they got stuck and no one in sight for days. thru inexperience and bad decisions, the woman died but the man was rescued.

they tried to air down the tires- BUT did not take enough out. people think taking 10-15psi out is alot, it isnt. the rescuers got the truck unstuck in 10 minutes by airing down correctly.
8-10 psi and you don't even need the 4wd (sometimes).

Thanks. I had never had a problem with 20-22 psi before. Although, this time I was going uphill and the sand seemed extra soft...

How low can I go without any risk of the tires coming off the rims? I don't have a compressor so I rely on the air provided at the beach, and depending where I come out, I may need to drive on the road before airing up.

I do believe that when I finally pulled out I was on 4-lo (perhaps enough difference to pull me out...)

at low pressure you dont have to worry about popping the bead unless you take turns hard- drive gently.

if you can't air up before hitting tarmac, than it is better for you to keep the air pressure up. but, at least you know you can go down to 10psi if you get stuck again.

neil, i saw that story- i believe i saw it on the travel channel. when the authorities found the truck and aired down the tires more, they had it unstuck in a matter of minutes!!

yes, it was tragic.
they were stuck at a "rest stop" and had a weeks worth of drinking water but decided to walk for help- in 100+ degree weather that doesnt cool down at night.
the man couldnt make it so turned back to the truck. he survived, she died walking thru the desert.

just basic ignorance- anyone could have made the same mistakes. but, underscores the validity of airing down your tires, thats for sure!

I drove a two wheel drive Ford (British) pickup for years up and down the wild beaches of zululand, south Africa for my work. I had on over size tires and always aired down to 8 psi. Never had a problem. Airing down is the secret always, even if you get stuck. We also carried old strips of carpet which would help if you got stuck by placing under the tires. This just increased the footprint a bit which helps. Easy to carry, about 18 wide and 5 feet long roled up.

Exnatalia wrote:


Not necessarily true, as it depends on HOW you get stuck.

I was with a friend in his Explorer (with other friends) on the beach in Chappy, and he had dropped his PSI to 9 or 10. We drove down to the water line, and got stuck as we werer trying to go back up the incline. We had to DIG the sand from underneath the body out, because we had beached the Explorer (the sand was loose enough that we began digging a trench, and we had sand up to the underbody.

Lowering the PSI wouldn't help in that situation, as that would cause the tires to pull away from the sand, and would have reduced or traction.

The only way to get unstuck was to dig out, or to get towed out (we just dug a lot).

Actually if your tires are spinning and digging a trench you need to ease off the gas, try using a higher gear so you don't have so much wheel spin. The reason you air down is so float on the sand instead of digging a trench.

I was put to shame and extremely embarassed during my first attempt at driving in the sand on the Outer Banks of N.C.

I was with my dad, and on a whim we decided to go "hang out" with all the other 4x's on the beach that day. I pulled my Tacoma up next to a Jeep and got out to let out some air. The guy in the Jeep lent me his tire gauge, and I brought the pressure down to about 20 psi (from 29). I thought I was set. I was very proud of my Taco, and was eager to go out and "show off".

WRONG! I could barely make it through. Jeeps, Blazers, old Broncos, you name it, it seemed like they were all out there.....blowin' my doors off. I was going that slow.

After only a few minutes of struggling through the loose hot sand, and listening to jeers about my Toyota, my dad and I looked at each other, with our tails between our legs, and said "let's get the hell outta here. We're out of our league."

We got back out on to the main road and waited in line at the free air station. It was there that we noticed just how low everybody else's tires were.

Oh well. Sometimes you learn the hard way. Next time, in my X, I'm going loooooow!

Kerensky97 wrote:


Well I know that, but my friend didn't.

I asked if he knew what he was doing, and he kepts saying, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know what I'm doing)...it was kinda like that kitchen scene in Goodfella's...
Of course, in his defense, he did try to climb the steepest part of the bank (although I still don't know why )

The point of my response, though, was that if the vehicle gets stuck and becomes beached, you can't get unstuck by lowering the airpressure (just wanted to say that before someone got beached and tried to air down to get out of trouble).

Oh I see, my bad.

Your absolutly right once your stuck in that situation airing down wouldn't help.

All the more reason to make sure you're prepared from the get-go.