I hope the handling and traction systems don't give me too much trouble. We are taking the RV and camping down at North Padre island. This is one of the few beaches you can still drive on around here. They advertise 60 miles of soft sand trails the follow along the beach from end to end for your exploring desires. Some is deep and soft sand. I will bring a shovel and bucket, lol.. I will probably turn off what TCS I can by holding the button down. I know it will reengage the handling part over 35mph. I just want to be able to lock the rear diff and spin the tires if I need to get rolling. I will bring back pictures and report back next week!

If a stinkin 4 runner can do it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiRvW73KJ_o

Who can I call? Need at least three friends, lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPJruBTU2MY

 

From a different thread. The locking rear does work as usual without the fuse.

Fuse #36 Disables all ABS/TC/ESC/RSC functions including and the ability of 4 low, I even attempted shutting the truck off and selecting low with the ignition on before restarting and even this will not allow it. I would NOT recommend anyone do this mod as it may be harmfull or fatal but, My fuse for #36 will remain in the glove compartment untill spring. Nothing like 4HI drifting sideways around a snow covered 45MPH curve at 60MPH. Absolutly on a closed course.

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Where did taking out the fuse come into this thread?

Anyway, I never had any problems with my traction control while driving on the beach, even in some really soft/deep stuff. Even just pressing it once will do the trick, since the TC is the main thing that needs to be shut off, and will stay off at the speeds on the beach. (you just have to shut it off each time you turn the truck on).

I dont air down all that much but it helps ALOT on the soft sand, it will help you "float" on top of the sand versus making you dig down making deep ruts. Letting the air out also helps lessen the stress on your suspension and on the engine. You will know the soft stuff when you hit it, just keep on the throttle, its a balance of not spinning the tires and keeping the momentum and rpms up.

Here's a good video explaining why tire pressure can be a big help. Its kind of corny, but there are a few other good videos about beach driving under this profile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTnkxrEnt7A[/video]

I never really needed the locker, I only engaged it a couple times, pulling out a bronco and a cheby. Other than that i did it just to try it. And you dont want excessive wheel spin, especially when you are stopped or realy slow, it will cause you to dig in, its not like mud here. Heres a few pics of it out in the OBX, NC.





Example of too much tire spin, causing you to dig in..lol its my budy, we burried our rears on purpose in 2wd. I got out in 4wd, he couldnt.

 

just be sure to air down your tires! it helps when driving on soft sand. i go around 15psi

 

Well. I logged about 75 miles worth of beach driving. The truck did as expected and did not get stuck. There are a few things I wish I could control differently but it was not critical. I did most of it in 2wd on the wet sand. Further down the coast there were some soft spots like quick sand or suspended airy sand so I used 4wd and more speed across those sections. I saw where I jeep went slowly into a soupy section and had to be winched by a buddy. I did not like the dry poof sand. It was very slow and lots of wheel spin. I would have had to air down to drive through this for any distance. I had to go through the deep dry sand where folks were fishing and blocking the wet sand along the beach. I used the locker on these difficult sections. Simply hitting the traction button once was good enough. Although I did learn you must do this anytime you go from 2 to 4wd or back again.

Once I was rolling in 2wd and got into some dry sand. I selected 4wd on the roll and tried to back out of the gas to stop rear tire spin without coming to a stop. The 4wd made a loud bang as it engaged under light load. Everything still worked but I did not like the engagement. I will plan better in the future and only switch to 4wd while coasting etc....