Off Roading in sand

ZA-Val

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Hi everyone! I am pending the delivery of my Badlands I was wondering if anyone has experience with or knows a lot more than me about off roading in sand. Mainly I want to know if its still advised to air down with this mode available on our cars plus the fact that I will have the optional off-road tires. I purchased a 4 hose inflate/deflate device which should make It much easier to do this but if its not needed I would rather not mess with the tires if I don’t have to.

For what it’s worth, I am not planning on driving into desolate deserts or beaches, I would only really be driving onto approved beaches in NY where 4x4’s are allowed with a special permit so there will always be people around just in case I did get stuck. That being said, I don’t want to look like the jerk that was overconfident and thought that a drive mode could defy the laws of physics and wind up burying my tires in the sand. I have never driven up onto any beach or done any off roading at all because none of the SUV’s I have owned prior to this one was made for off roading at all, I am a total newbie.

On a side note: This device I bought obviously requires an air compressor to inflate, can anyone recommend one that isn’t super expensive and won’t suck the life out of my car battery OR work well with some other power source?

Thanks in advance for any help.
https://adventure-imports.com/product/indeflate-four-hose-unit/
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magicbus

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Living on an island I drive in a lot of sand. When going onto our soft beaches we deflate to 15#. Even my Wrangler requires this to keep from embarrassing me. :sunglasses: My big Expedition needed the same and my BS (if it ever freaking shows up!!!) will get the same treatment.

I used to leave my Wrangler at 15# but I’m being nicer to it, so when we are behind the dunes and not actually on the beach I keep it at around 22 for the summer so I can get to the parking spots in the “almost soft sand” where others don’t go.

As for a compressor, I keep one at home along with a 5 gal air tank. I only air up to 22# after a day on the actual soft sand beach. That said, the max speed limit on the island is 45, so staying at 22 is no big deal!
 

tRex

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Living on an island I drive in a lot of sand. When going onto our soft beaches we deflate to 15#. Even my Wrangler requires this to keep from embarrassing me. :sunglasses: My big Expedition needed the same and my BS (if it ever freaking shows up!!!) will get the same treatment.

I used to leave my Wrangler at 15# but I’m being nicer to it, so when we are behind the dunes and not actually on the beach I keep it at around 22 for the summer so I can get to the parking spots in the “almost soft sand” where others don’t go.

As for a compressor, I keep one at home along with a 5 gal air tank. I only air up to 22# after a day on the actual soft sand beach. That said, the max speed limit on the island is 45, so staying at 22 is no big deal!
With that compressor, why not air back up to the appropriate 33 psi on the road?
 

magicbus

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With that compressor, why not air back up to the appropriate 33 psi on the road?
Because then I just need to air down to drive the semi-soft sand behind the dunes where we often park to go to the beach.

We used to mostly drive and park on the beach, but Covid brought out a lot of new beach drivers and those areas got crowded. Now we go to out-of-the-way areas down rock and sand trails behind the dunes and then walk over to the beach. I keep my air-down valves set to 15# and could get another set for 22 but I find it easier to just leave them down for the summer. I can't turn the TP monitor off in my Wrangler which is kind of annoying, I understand I will be able to turn it off in the BS for when I am intentionally running low.
 

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Hi everyone! I am pending the delivery of my Badlands I was wondering if anyone has experience with or knows a lot more than me about off roading in sand. Mainly I want to know if its still advised to air down with this mode available on our cars plus the fact that I will have the optional off-road tires. I purchased a 4 hose inflate/deflate device which should make It much easier to do this but if its not needed I would rather not mess with the tires if I don’t have to.

For what it’s worth, I am not planning on driving into desolate deserts or beaches, I would only really be driving onto approved beaches in NY where 4x4’s are allowed with a special permit so there will always be people around just in case I did get stuck. That being said, I don’t want to look like the jerk that was overconfident and thought that a drive mode could defy the laws of physics and wind up burying my tires in the sand. I have never driven up onto any beach or done any off roading at all because none of the SUV’s I have owned prior to this one was made for off roading at all, I am a total newbie.

On a side note: This device I bought obviously requires an air compressor to inflate, can anyone recommend one that isn’t super expensive and won’t suck the life out of my car battery OR work well with some other power source?

Thanks in advance for any help.
https://adventure-imports.com/product/indeflate-four-hose-unit/
I don't drive on sand so I don't air down as far, usually low 20's so I just use these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QBPBLWY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

By the time I've installed the fourth one the first is ready to come off.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/air-compressors-and-tools/air-compressors/8015345?store=01316&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0caCBhCIARIsAGAfuMyJziSF6RorRPyAiQEsN7XfGHwT30MrzN59zqokYJ6_hsWkcssnJCIaAqckEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I use this as well, it takes 15-20 minutes to put 10PSI into four 245/65/17 tires. I liked this compressor because of how easy to stow it is.
 


BagOJuice

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Hi everyone! I am pending the delivery of my Badlands I was wondering if anyone has experience with or knows a lot more than me about off roading in sand. Mainly I want to know if its still advised to air down with this mode available on our cars plus the fact that I will have the optional off-road tires. I purchased a 4 hose inflate/deflate device which should make It much easier to do this but if its not needed I would rather not mess with the tires if I don’t have to.

For what it’s worth, I am not planning on driving into desolate deserts or beaches, I would only really be driving onto approved beaches in NY where 4x4’s are allowed with a special permit so there will always be people around just in case I did get stuck. That being said, I don’t want to look like the jerk that was overconfident and thought that a drive mode could defy the laws of physics and wind up burying my tires in the sand. I have never driven up onto any beach or done any off roading at all because none of the SUV’s I have owned prior to this one was made for off roading at all, I am a total newbie.

On a side note: This device I bought obviously requires an air compressor to inflate, can anyone recommend one that isn’t super expensive and won’t suck the life out of my car battery OR work well with some other power source?

Thanks in advance for any help.
https://adventure-imports.com/product/indeflate-four-hose-unit/
Took my Badlands onto the Long Island beaches yesterday for the first time (democrats point at Robert Moses). If you have the 4x4 fishing pass just make sure you have all the mandatory supplies, and a pair of recovery boards, one of my buddies got stuck this weekend and had to use these to get him out. i wasn't checked but have seen people get checked before for supplies. As far as compressors this is what I use:

https://www.amazon.com/Viair-00088-88P-Portable-Compressor/dp/B005ASY23I?pd_rd_w=mFLV3&pf_rd_p=4b669301-73fb-4bbc-9a24-97512428ca05&pf_rd_r=QYMEPJAMSC4PPACDK0MX&pd_rd_r=9e80c606-f5df-4bb7-9e68-f4a9c4254bfb&pd_rd_wg=12ulH&pd_rd_i=B005ASY23I&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_8_t

I aired down to about 18, threw the bronco in sand mode and cruised, no issues at all. Just keep an even pressure on the throttle, dont turn too quickly and keep your momentum up!

Ford Bronco Sport Off Roading in sand Bronco on the Beach
 

Fossil

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That 120vac outlet will come in handy ;)
 

magicbus

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Thanks for the report! :like: Just yesterday my wife said “So are you going to take the Bronco on the beach or are we keeping the Wrangler”. I told her we were indeed taking the BS on the beach and losing the Wrangler. I was hoping for some reports such as this as a confidence builder :sunglasses: . And yes, always carry a board and shovel!
 

fourthgear

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I drove the BS OB in loose sand the first week or so after purchase , I was bottoming out most of the time & at the time it had 41# air pressure from the factory in the Michelin A/S tires ( now at 33# ) & had no issues in the 4x4 only beach area . I was in Sand Mode , low . I haven't been there since with the BS , because you need a pass now & my Super Duty already has one , so I'm not about to pay another $50 for another pass for the BS .

Now if I was Dune running I would definitely air down & install different tires on the BS . My SD has Cooper Discovery LTX AT 3's on it & walks through anything .
 

Bird

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Hi everyone! I am pending the delivery of my Badlands I was wondering if anyone has experience with or knows a lot more than me about off roading in sand. Mainly I want to know if its still advised to air down with this mode available on our cars plus the fact that I will have the optional off-road tires. I purchased a 4 hose inflate/deflate device which should make It much easier to do this but if its not needed I would rather not mess with the tires if I don’t have to.

For what it’s worth, I am not planning on driving into desolate deserts or beaches, I would only really be driving onto approved beaches in NY where 4x4’s are allowed with a special permit so there will always be people around just in case I did get stuck. That being said, I don’t want to look like the jerk that was overconfident and thought that a drive mode could defy the laws of physics and wind up burying my tires in the sand. I have never driven up onto any beach or done any off roading at all because none of the SUV’s I have owned prior to this one was made for off roading at all, I am a total newbie.

On a side note: This device I bought obviously requires an air compressor to inflate, can anyone recommend one that isn’t super expensive and won’t suck the life out of my car battery OR work well with some other power source?

Thanks in advance for any help.
https://adventure-imports.com/product/indeflate-four-hose-unit/
I recommend deflating. We deflate to drive on the beach in Massachusetts. Here it is required (by the regulations that you agree to in order to get a permit) to deflate your tires to a specific pressure when driving on the beaches. We use individual auto-deflators. The required tire pressure varies from beach to beach here, but often in the range of 15 -18 psi. Some beaches have their own air stations (very convenient), but you should still have your own compressor.
 


sullivan.mary0228

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Hi everyone! I am pending the delivery of my Badlands I was wondering if anyone has experience with or knows a lot more than me about off roading in sand. Mainly I want to know if its still advised to air down with this mode available on our cars plus the fact that I will have the optional off-road tires. I purchased a 4 hose inflate/deflate device which should make It much easier to do this but if its not needed I would rather not mess with the tires if I don’t have to.

For what it’s worth, I am not planning on driving into desolate deserts or beaches, I would only really be driving onto approved beaches in NY where 4x4’s are allowed with a special permit so there will always be people around just in case I did get stuck. That being said, I don’t want to look like the jerk that was overconfident and thought that a drive mode could defy the laws of physics and wind up burying my tires in the sand. I have never driven up onto any beach or done any off roading at all because none of the SUV’s I have owned prior to this one was made for off roading at all, I am a total newbie.

On a side note: This device I bought obviously requires an air compressor to inflate, can anyone recommend one that isn’t super expensive and won’t suck the life out of my car battery OR work well with some other power source?

Thanks in advance for any help.
https://adventure-imports.com/product/indeflate-four-hose-unit/
You're gonna want to air down, my last trip I went down to 20 for the weekend. Sand Mode is great if you aren't mobbing through the sand, but we go between 20 and 40 depending, so I just turned off traction control and the 4x4 for the faster areas because the engine wasn't happy with my acceleration lol

In regards to compressors, my buddies all run one similar to this https://www.offroadwarehouse.com/product/arb-ckmp12-single-portable-compressor but that breaks my bank lol So I got this one from Harbor Frieght and it worked just fine for my last excursion! https://www.harborfreight.com/12v-150-psi-compact-air-compressor-63184.html
 

ChefDank

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You're gonna want to air down, my last trip I went down to 20 for the weekend. Sand Mode is great if you aren't mobbing through the sand, but we go between 20 and 40 depending, so I just turned off traction control and the 4x4 for the faster areas because the engine wasn't happy with my acceleration lol

In regards to compressors, my buddies all run one similar to this https://www.offroadwarehouse.com/product/arb-ckmp12-single-portable-compressor but that breaks my bank lol So I got this one from Harbor Frieght and it worked just fine for my last excursion! https://www.harborfreight.com/12v-150-psi-compact-air-compressor-63184.html
Thank you; exactly what I was looking for ?
 

Rinzler

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This is all good info. Total off-road novice here. I’m getting a rare opportunity to stay in Southampton LI and was all giddy to do beach driving and Sand mode in my Badlands. I just discovered 1) I need a permit, 2) I need to pressure down, 3) I have no gear to make this feasible.
the more you know?
 

ChefDank

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This is all good info. Total off-road novice here. I’m getting a rare opportunity to stay in Southampton LI and was all giddy to do beach driving and Sand mode in my Badlands. I just discovered 1) I need a permit, 2) I need to pressure down, 3) I have no gear to make this feasible.
the more you know?
You can go to your local autoparts store for your "air down" and "air up" needs. The permits are cheap for the day not sure on the whole process of obtaining my buddy does that. There are air stations as well but they are usually filled up.
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