Last Saturday, I drove out on the 4 miles stretch of beach at Ft. Fisher. It hadn't rained in a few days and the beach sand was fluffy. A half dozen jacked up trucks with large mud tires were stuck in the sand as I drove by them. My truck has the stock 265/70x17 tires that are Michelin P metric and also have about 43k miles on them with 2/3 of the tread worn off. My tires are much better in the sand than the large aggressive tread tires. You want to float on top of the sand, not dig in. I didn't even have to deflate my tires.

 

They were no doubt spinning their tires to show off...digging a hole you can't get out of!! Floating on top like you said is the trick. I've been using the AWD mode in my truck and just go slow in the fluffy or deeper sand.

 

Yeah, one of the trucks having problems was a Raptor. But the driver thought stomping the gas and letting up intermittently was the way to drive on the sand. He was digging down big time but he didn't completely get stuck the way some others did.

 

I live about an hour from Daytona Beach and you wouldn't believe the number of trucks and cars that I've seen get stuck in the sand and then the tide come in and completely flood them! Either an idiot owner gets it hopelessly stuck or they park too close to the shore and leave the area only to return and discover that there is such a thing as High tide!

Personally I don't take vehicles on the beach any more if I can avoid it. I'm found the hard way that it causes them to rust like mad and there's little you can do to stop it after they're exposed to salt water or spray.

 

I have driven on Carolina Beach there in Wilmington without issue before. I have 275/70 R18 BFG AT KO's. I aired them down a little bit as a precaution. I am not sure it made a huge difference. Like it has been said before, I imagine a lot has to do with driving style. Slow and steady... just keep moving and no quick starts to dig yourself in a hole.

 

Some days the sand has just the right amount of moisture to allow driving on it with minimum difficulty. Some days it is so bad that deflating is necessary. One time while on the beach close to the water where the sand was moist, I got stuck and had to go down to 15 psig. When I did that it hopped up on top of the sand and didn't spin at all.

The softest, easiest place to get stuck is at the entrance to the beach after driving about a half mile on the sand. Knowing that I built up some speed to help me get through the entrance. A little knowledge helps a lot sometimes.

 

I'm sure the tires help, but it also helps that you have a brain. I'm about an hour from Daytona, but I'll drive the extra distance to go to either St. Augustine or Clearwater. Daytona is full of dumbasses

My last truck was 2WD, and the lady in the guard shack at Daytona wouldn't let me in the beach because that section was restricted to 4x4s only. I said, "Listen, ma'am, I could go out there and drive circles around these people with my puny two wheel drive." She was a good sport and joked back with me, but even after my biggest smile she wouldn't let me in

 

2wds would have zero chance of moving on Ft Fisher beach. This is what you would have to call.

 

Maybe it's my ocd but I wouldn't take mine on the beach. All that sand in the carpet? Yuck

 

That's why trucks should have rubber floors instead of carpet. I had a 94 F150 XLT SWB 4x4 5.0 that had rubber floor mats and I thought that was just perfect.

 

Agree! Actually just read that all the 2017 Super Dutys will be available with the rubber floors. Doesn't matter what trim level you get.