4x4 Beach Driving

Hey Guys,

I'll be visiting the Outer Banks in NC later this summer and plan to drive my 2011 Tahoe 4x4 on the beach. I have never taken it off-road anywhere but I've watched some Youtube videos on beach driving best practices and will have a tow strap, 2 compressors, shovel, jack, 2x4, and pressure gauges. I have a factory suspension, 20" wheels and newish all-season tires. I know to air down to 15 ish PSI. Do I have anything to worry about as long as I take it easy and try to avoid large ruts? I've read that it may be best to remove the lip at the bottom of the front bumper for better clearance.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated! Thank you.

Chuck_Finley said:

Hey Guys,

I'll be visiting the Outer Banks in NC later this summer and plan to drive my 2011 Tahoe 4x4 on the beach. I have never taken it off-road anywhere but I've watched some Youtube videos on beach driving best practices and will have a tow strap, 2 compressors, shovel, jack, 2x4, and pressure gauges. I have a factory suspension, 20" wheels and newish all-season tires. I know to air down to 15 ish PSI. Do I have anything to worry about as long as I take it easy and try to avoid large ruts? I've read that it may be best to remove the lip at the bottom of the front bumper for better clearance.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated! Thank you.

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We take our 2012 Yukon XL Denali down to the Outer Banks all the time. We have a beach pass. It does great, all you gotta do is air down to about 20 psi and you won’t have any trouble at all.

if you are driving on the nice packed down sand just above the tide line you are fine you don't need to do anything but cruise, keep an eye out if it looks too wet go around it.
keep a nice steady speed.
personally on these vehicles i see no need to air down the tires at all unless you are running mud tires or something I don't see any benefit and have never aired down on the beach, I used to live a block from the beach and lifeguards drive on it all day long in regular pickups, never seen one get stuck.
i have seen regular low to the ground sedans get stuck, like completely stuck and then continue to try dig themselves in a deeper hole.

Doubeleive said:

if you are driving on the nice packed down sand just above the tide line you are fine you don't need to do anything but cruise, keep an eye out if it looks too wet go around it.
keep a nice steady speed.
personally on these vehicles i see no need to air down the tires at all unless you are running mud tires or something I don't see any benefit and have never aired down on the beach, I used to live a block from the beach and lifeguards drive on it all day long in regular pickups, never seen one get stuck.
i have seen regular low to the ground sedans get stuck, like completely stuck and then continue to try dig themselves in a deeper hole.

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OBX is different because you have to drive through 100-200 yards of deep dune sand to get to the compacted sand near the water. Coming back out you have a significant uphill to battle. We watch people get stuck there all day long. I’ve been bogged down a time or two but was able to rock myself out. Just for giggles I aired down to 20 psi last time and it was a game changer. Could stop in the deep sand and walk it right out.

One more thing for the OP, turn TC and stability control OFF by holding the button down for 10 seconds. You don’t want the TC slowing you down out there. It’s counterintuitive, but TC will get you stuck in deep sand.

Well if I am not afraid to take this to the beach (and I removed the AWD system) you will be just fine. Just don't go in the really soft sand. The worst stucks I have seen at the beach are when people park too close and the tide came in. One day it took 3 trucks to pull out a suv stuck after the tide came in.

Never had any problem with either Tahoe or any Jeeps. Smoother tread tires are more suitable.
It used to be the last frontier but the last time we went, after the Park service lost a lawsuit to the Audubon Society, there were many beach closings due to bird habitat (and it changed daily) and permits were required which were only issued after taking an on site class. We'd been beach driving there for 20 years and now we needed to take a class and pay quite a bit for a week long permit. Prior to that you could just turn off the road onto an access and find a spot of solitude out there.
It's not the place that it was in the 90's. Hope you find it worth the trip.

Hope you are from frozen north rust belt, cause thats what that truck will resemble after beach trip.

Thanks guys, if a Lambo can do it I'm sure the Tahoe will be fine

Chuck_Finley said:

Hey Guys,

I'll be visiting the Outer Banks in NC later this summer and plan to drive my 2011 Tahoe 4x4 on the beach. I have never taken it off-road anywhere but I've watched some Youtube videos on beach driving best practices and will have a tow strap, 2 compressors, shovel, jack, 2x4, and pressure gauges. I have a factory suspension, 20" wheels and newish all-season tires. I know to air down to 15 ish PSI. Do I have anything to worry about as long as I take it easy and try to avoid large ruts? I've read that it may be best to remove the lip at the bottom of the front bumper for better clearance.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated! Thank you.

Click to expand...

Make sure you go to a car wash afterward and rinse the under carriage REALLY good. Ocean salt water is a little, not much, but a little worse than salty Michigan roads. The finer mist gets into everything. I think the fire department in Los Angeles has to replace the Jeeps they use on the beach every 3 or 4 years. The frames just fall apart.

1) The amount of rain the OBX gets before your arrival will also heavily influence how much effort you’ll need to exert to get through the sand. I go down to Ocracoke every summer and with normal rain patterns I rarely have to go into 4WD (I have an 05 Z71 tahoe). Last summer was tougher because we had very little rain for the few weeks leading up to my trip so I had to stay in 4WD pretty much the whole time I was on the beach. If you get through the dune sand (aka the beach access roads) just fine and down to the high tide line you’ll be cruising with no real effort. I did get stuck briefly last summer after parking but that was my own fault: I park with the tailgate facing the water and I usually go into reverse and turn when I leave for the day so I’m parallel with the water to get some speed going before turning into the softer sand. This time I was in 2WD and just went for the gas and the back of the tahoe sank. A little rocking and I was good to go but still keep an eye out. These vehicles will sink pretty fast if you don’t pay attention. Instead of a 2x4 for a jack base, I’d recommend something square with a larger surface area (at least 12”x12”, but that’s just me being overly cautious) if you’re that concerned about it. I’ve seen a 2x4 get pushed into the sand with the jack.

2) If you haven’t gotten one already, the hatteras seashore permit it’s $50 for the week. It’s been $50/week for the last 7+ years but it’s worth it to get away from everyone else that uses the regular beach access points.

3) I agree that ~ 20 psi is your best bet, though I’ve had to go down to almost 15 in my old Jeep before, just to not spin too terribly as it’s got an open diff.

4) watch out for the turtle and migratory bird nesting sections. They are always roped off and if you get somewhat close to them don’t be surprised if a ranger talks to you about it.

5) Keep an eye out for larger sections of driftwood, too. They usually don’t extend much further than what you see but I’ve seen people pop a tire by driving too closely to some larger trunks.

6) you’ll be able to tell pretty easily where most of the vehicles have been able to navigate and where people may have had trouble. I tend to follow the tracks closer to the dunes that run parallel to the water unless there is no one out near the water. Then I’ll take the harder-packed sand route every time. Expect some tire squealing from the sidewalls rubbing the ridges of the tracks in the softer sections

7) hose off everything (including underneath) when you leave the beach for the last time on your trip. If you’re there for only a couple of days (less than a week) then I wouldn’t worry about spending the time to hose off after every beach session.

8) wear sunscreen.

9) have fun!