I'll be heading to the Outer Banks, NC, for a week later in the summer. Last time I was out there I was in a Wrangler and I was 16 - a long time ago.

Now I have a 2003 Liberty Sport V-6, 16 inch steel wheels, 215 Goodyear Wranger ST tires - which by the way suck as far as traction goes.

Can anyone give me some tips for driving the KJ on the beach. I remember you are suppose to decrease your air pressure - but to what? 15 -20 psi?

Will the KJ handle as well as a Cheerokee or as my old Wrangler did? Do I need to invest into some new parts? Lockers? etc

Thanks

Tip #1 - when your KJ starts getting wet, turn towards the dry stuff.
Tip #2 - don't park your KJ in the wet stuff at low tide.

I hope these help. Just kidding. At the very least, invest in some new tires.

_________________
Pete
L.O.S.T. #PC050458
'04 Timberland Green Sport w/stuff...
'08 105th Anniversary H-D Dyna Low Rider
OH-58D Kiowa Warrior

Deflate to 20 psi, stay in 4hi, and stay in the ruts. Other than staying out of the water and cleaning the skids and belly after use, your set to go. Keep an eye out for the 2nd Annual OBX October Beach Run.

_________________
Richard~Mid Atlantic VA Rep.
NCBBA/Mid Atlantic Jeepers/UFWDA Member
Mid-Atlantic & Carolina LOST #236236
2006 TJ Solar Yellow Rubicon
Lockers, Springs, Skids, Headers, Snorkel,
Exhaust Work, 4.5 Long Arm, Warn M8000
315/75/16 Nitto Terra Grapplers Moab's/SpiderTrax, 6000k HID, IPF H4

The liberty does great in the sand, Been on the beach a lot with it. I don't even air down the tires. Only got stuck once, But the sand was deep I didn't have a lift and i was running in the ruts of fullsize trucks I only got stuck when I had to stop. and I was pushing sand with the front skid the whole time.

_________________
THANKS, BILL
02 Sport, factory skids, tow package, front tow hooks
Cooper STT 245/75/16
offroad package, pioneer head unit.
Rockfather I, LOST decal
LOST #040306

I've had my 2wd with an open diff on the beach and it did very well. I've been stuck in sand before with my old truck and it's not fun at all.

I live in MA and regularly drive on the Cape Cod National Seashore to surf and fish. I haven't had my new KJ out there yet, but have driven my stock ZJ and XJ out there hundreds of times so it should be the same. Wider tires would definitely help but aren't needed. I use BFG AT's and they work great-- the side lugs seem to act like paddles when aired down. All terrain's seem to float better than mud tires.

Air down to about 14 PSI. Makes a huge difference as far as flotation and saves a lot of wear and tear on the drive train. If the sand is really deep or soft go down to 12psi. I've never lost a bead. Carrying a compressor is a good idea. Whenever you see someone really stuck, they always have neglected to air down.

Carry a good tire preassure gauge.

Carry a small shovel, like an army surplus entrenching tool.

Make sure you have tow points and a good strap.

Carry a full size spare.

Carry a 12x12" or bigger board to put your jack on so it doesn't sink in the sand.

Stay in high range and use momentum. Crawling in low range sinks you fast.

I also carry 2 large "traction mats", actually rubber rectangular non-skid floor mats used on restaurant and bar floors. These fit nicely in the back of your Jeep and help protect the carpet. I have used these in sand, mud, and snow to self rescue. Same idea as the sand ladders you see on expedition Land Rovers.

Wash you Jeep really well when you get home!

Floor mats:
http://www.floormatworld.com/pagea3.html

Oversand vehicle equipment and driving tips from the National Park Service:
http://www.nps.gov/caco/activities/over ... ories.html

http://www.nps.gov/caco/activities/oversand/tips.html

Great suggestions guys. Is there another vehicle going with you? If there are dunes, put a flag on so other can see you better and definately look over the edge first. And take pictures!

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I am going to have some fun, but wanted to know what to look out for.

ALso, thanks for the links, they were great.

dparis:

I second what Richard (uvalax236) said. Air down to 20 psi and keep it in 4Hi. I also liked what kayadog recommended for you to bring in case you get stuck and hose the Liberty down really good ASAP to keep the salt from eating it. However, DO NOT drive on the dunes. It is illegal and will cost you dearly if you get caught by the NPS, not to mention, the possibility of environmental damage from driving on them. If you have the Mopar skid plates, make sure the front suspension skid plate is clean of any mud or debris because it traps ALOT of sand on top of it and any mud already there will make it worse. It may even cause the transmission to begin to overheat. Or you could just remove it altogether. Since the front end is kind of low, there will be alot of sand trapped on top of the A arms and the crossmember in front of the transmission. Other than that, the Liberty does just fine. I used to have a Cherokee with cheap store brand tires that were the same size as what you have on your Liberty and I had no problems. I also have driven a Wrangler on the beach and it seemed to struggle more than either the Cherokee or Liberty, probably because of the more aggressive tires. Have fun and see if you can try and make it to the OBX run later in the year if we can get that together.

James

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2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Thanks Hatteras,

I was looking earlier and noticed the low front end and a arms - that will have to been cleaned ASAP. I'll be staying up in Avon, and if I remember the BP there has a car wash. No dune driving for me, last time I was there I seem to remember it being marked off in some places.

Mainly I want to go sound side - probably near the Canadian hole in order to Kayak - and I will probably try to get out on the Cape.

Give me more info about the LOST beach trip.

http://4xforum.co.za/tguide/driving.html

Goto the Sand section

dparis:

You'll be more than ok on the soundside trails. I haven't gone on the soundside trails with the Liberty yet but the ones I have done are very short and usually don't require 4wd. I didn't take last year's OBX run group on the soundside last year because the trails are not very well marked and there might not have been enough room even for the five Libertys we had. The BP near the Food Lion in Avon does have a car wash, so keeping the salt off shouldn't be hard. Last year when we went around the Point and near the light, the sand was very soft and deep, but we had no problems. You should be fine.

Last year's OBX run was the first. It was over Columbus Day weekend. Hopefully we can get a 2nd Annual run together over the same weekend this year. We had folks from NJ, VA, DC, and NC. We invited everyone from the East Coast chapters existing last year at the time. The initial response was great but we only had five Libertys in total actually show up. If we can get it together this year, maybe we'll have more people show up and if so, we could try to go some different places. We ran from Frisco around the point in the morning and hit Oregon Inlet in the afternoon, followed by dinner at Bad Barracuda's in Nags Head.





James

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2016 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

i have family down in hatteras as i am typing this, as of july 12 @ 8:00pm th point at cape hatteras national seashore
is closed till 7:00 am daily. closure starts a halfmile from the point. as well the inlet area has been closed for almost a month. All because of a couple of birds.
You can keep track of the happenings down there on www.redrumtackle.com , check out the forums and the the current issuses.


Other than that the wife has my kj down there right now with the rest of them, air down to 20 and go.

you are saying its closed from 8 pm until 7 am daily for "a couple of birds." So no early morning fishing?

I dont get it.

they now have closed the point area 24/7 until further notice for a couple of birds
as of three o'clock this afternoon

that might explain the window sticker I saw on a radically lifted cj two weeks ago...

"piping plover... the other white meat"

I hope Assateague is open next week while I'm there on vacation!

Sharon

_________________
'03 Bright Silver Freedom Edition
#SS052667
Modified Rusty's 3" suspension lift, Al's Arms, 245/70-17 Duratracs , Full Skids,
A bunch of stickers and some stuff from my husband's old CRD

Get me to the beach!!!

Can someone update on the bird fiasco?