Riding the dunes....."Grey mod"????

Hey guys,
So the family and I are planning to attend this year's Pismo Jamboree event at the end of Sept. (19 - 21) and I was wondering if my truck would benefit from doing the grey mod? My truck is a '02 TRD v6 4x4 5sp. Can anyone of your desert driving 4x4 guys/gals give me your input??
Thanks in advance.

 

You'll be fine without it. Just air down!

 

Your both right. Having both wheels turning at all times will help alot on the dunes. But run 12psi in the rear and 15-18 in the front and you won't have any problems without it.

IMO i would do it, but not lose any sleep if it doesn't get done.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I should have time to do this over the weekend. I'll be installing a cb into the truck anyway.

 

Go on down to 15lbs of air, I've gone down to 10 with no problems. If your rear axle start hopping, when you have your foot in it, you need to lower the tire pressure. Kevin.

 

If you are 4WD, then use it (H4 in sand)... If the sand is soft, then deflate the tires before they spin. If they spin, you are moving down and not ahead.

The amount of pressure that works best in sand depends on the type of tire (Street, AT, Mud terrain), sidewalls (2 ply vs. 3 ply), weight of load in truck bed, type of sand, and humidity.

Without going into the various pressure details, a overall good place to start is 15 psi (front and rear). If you have mud tires or 3 ply sidewall tires, then 10 psi is the place to start. As you find the best flotation points, you may find that 20 psi works where you are. The main thing is to not spin the tires and get stuck. As soon as forward motion becomes a struggle, stop and let more air out. If you got stuck, then clear away built up sand from the tires, specially in front of all 4 tires, deflate and roll ahead. If on the beach head downhill instead of uphill to get moving. Wet sand below the high tide line is easier to drive on!

This photos shows the difference between 32 psi and 15 psi:

 

Once again David, perfect answer.

 

Thank you for the info!

 

El gusto es mio (The pleasure is mine).

The beach photos were taken about 20 miles south of San Felipe, Baja California. It is more difficult to drive on because it is both steep and made up of a lot of crushed shells.

 

Ive aired down to basically flat, drove 10 feet and aired up to safe psi and moved on to get unstuck. My buddy drives so hard he can't air down below 20 or he pops the bead. Its all really what you need. My first bug I had to air up because it wouldn't/couldn't turn the traction of the aired down tires.

Hey Mario-If no one in your group has onboard/portable air it might be worth chipping in on a cheap little portable 12v.

 

Good idea, my buddy has a portable 12v Viair. I'll be sure borrow it for the trip.

 

IMO: All 4WDs should have a decent air pump and good dial air gauge that reads below 10 psi.

Spend the $50-$75 for a fast air pump that clips onto the battery... Only a few minutes per tire to air back up. The cheap cig lighter air pumps will take 3 times longer to fill. Do you want to be done filling them in 12 minutes or 36 minutes?