i need advice... what can i do be able to ride in the sand? .. i have a 98 f250 2wd 5.4 motor...

 

Yes with the right tires and a buddy with a 4 wheel drive too follow you.Been there and got stuck on road with my old 74 Ford years ago that had sand blowed across it, didn't have to be in the heavy stuff to lose it. Got a 4 wheel blazer after that and now have 4x4 Supercrew. 2 wheel drive just will not cut it in sand, time to change if you want to play in the out doors.

 

If you're wanting to cruise in the dunes, there are a few mods that I would suggest you make to your truck to make it work good. If you're not wanting to do any mods right now, start by airing down your tires. This helps you get a wider footprint on the sand which helps you stay on top. It also reduces wheel hop as well. If you are willing to do mods to your truck, I would start with tires/wheels. A wide all terrain, such as an interco sts works great in the sand. Remember you want a wide tire for sand so you will have good flotation. You will also want a suspension lift for your truck, This will give you better suspension travel and give your tires more wheel travel when you go overs jumps and whoops. Another element that is needed in sand is power. Having the 5.4 motor is a great start, as you have plenty of power to begin with. Since most dune running is done with the motor at higher rpms, I would suggest adding power mods that increase power higher in your truck's powerband, such as header's/ dual exhaust. You may also want to regear to get better responsewhen you get on the gas as well as adding a locker, so you don't have just 1 wheel spinning in the sand. It sounds to me like you've got a great starting platform to make a dune truck, and with a few mods like the one's I've mentioned you will be able to have a lot of fun in the sand. Oh yeah, a rollcage and helmet is almost essential equipment in the sand, as accidents do happen and if they do, we want you to be able to come back and tell us about it.

 

locker in the rear, make sure you got some tow straps just in case other then that what he ^^^^^ said

 

thanks for the info now ,what kind of lock do u guys recomend?? and about how much are we talking?? i don't plan to do any jumping,, i just to cruise do some little off roading in the dunes

 

what rearend you got in it?

 

well my truck light duty F250 so i'm tolld my axle is different than the regular f150.. i know i gvrw is 6800lbs.. is that any help?? i'm also riding on BF Goodrich a/t 285 70 16

 

You need some bigger rubber on that F250 man. To me thats always a good place to start...

 

check the axle code on the door

 

Do you think since he has the 5.4 that he would have a 9.75 rearend? I know some came with the 8.8, but didn't most 5.4's get the bigger rearend? Anyway, I would probably go with something basic like a detroit ezlocker, or if you wanted to select locked/unlocked modes yourself, I would use an arb air locker or a detroit elocker, if they make it for your rearend. May as well throw some new gears in there while your'e at it as mentioned before.

 

If you have a LD F-250 then you have the 10.25 axle. Check out these guys for gears and lockers.

http://www.drivetrain.com/Ford10.25.html

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

thanks for the info.. now i heard someone saying that i need to lower the tire presure..how low??

 

I run 12 lbs in the sand. Take it easy on the sharp turns or you will pop a bead off the rim at that pressure.

JMC

 

Lowering the pressure will increase your footprint and help "float" more on the sand, think of snowshoes...but not as effective.
Like JMC said, carefule when you air down. Too much and you will lose the bead.

 

You don't need anything fancy or special. Just air down your tires to around 13psi and you'll conquer the sand. Check out an article I wrote for driving on the sand down here in South Padre Island, Texas:

http://www.spireviews.com/articles/f...uth_padre.html

Good luck!