Thread: Standard 18" wheels and tyres on the sand

I took my Td5 auto on the Stockton Beach last month, running 16" with AT's at 16psi I got the auto temp up very high (125) after the approx. 20klm run down the beach - it was very soft fluffy sand, and a hot day. Gave it a rest & dropped the tyres to 13psi when the temp was back under 100 went and played in the dunes where the transmission didn't get so hot (sitting around 105-110)
My advice, play with the tyre pressures depending on the sand conditions and give it a cool down break if it gets really hot.

Have had no issues with the temps the last two years.
But ran my offroad set of tyres which are 265/75r16. Which have a good sidewall height. And slightly larger diameter.
Just concerned with only running the little 29" tyres on 18" rims.

With only 29" dia and 55 profile you don't have much in reserve. The three most important things when running on sand are pressures, diameter and load. You can't do anything about the diameter of your Std 255/55R18 tyres but you can play with the pressures and load a little.
It is doable on the Std 255/55R18's but a lot will depend on the sand conditions on the day. I'm assuming that your Std 18's are a reasonably non aggressive tread pattern, which would be an advantage over the "offroad tyres" that you have as the 'smoother' tyre won't tend to dig as much. Decades ago, the most popular 'sand tyres' were old aircraft tyres which had virtually no tread and very rounded shoulders - trouble is that they were not really legal for road use.

I Have 60 profile tyres on my 18s and the Pirelli Atr work well on the beach. I think pressure is the key. I run 16 psi on north sure in port Macquarie no drama. Do you have a watchdog to keep an eye on the tranny temp? I probably know but don't run on the beach in Drive. 3 or 2 and my tranny temp goes down running. low range even when high range does the job. Would love to see Robe. Cheers

Robes good fun. It's the only beach sand I have driven on.
I might just stop being a slacker and put the off road set on.
They are just AT. And well worn at that.
I've never actually found much difference between road based A/T's and muddies. That was on my shorty GQ.

It can be quite soft. And I generally just put my tyre pressures straight to 10psi on the disco.

Well I ended up buying some reasonable priced hancocks. For the front.

Glad I did it. Ran 10psi. And the only issue I had was when I attached the 200series landwhale to the back.