Thread: Sand driving on road tyres

Originally Posted by irondoc

Hi guys

I recently swapped back to my Wrangler HPs after my all terrains wore out. I have been invited to Moreton Island, but have never tried to drive with them on sand, only on dirt trails where they go ok. 2011 D4 2.7.

Any thoughts? To make matters worse, I will have to tow my small offroad camper trailer (<750kg).

Cheers
Lucas

Driven on sand on my 20" tyres with Pirelli scorpion tyres plenty of times, no dramas at all.. Obviously get the pressures right. If I remember correctly Cooper tires has sand and road in the same category in their catalogue and warns against aggressive patterns on sand. If you have genuine rims, you can do down as low as you want without issue

Road tyres will be fine. They don't provide as much drive as an open or complex tread pattern but they also don't dig down as quickly. You cant drop the pressures as much as an AT or MT tyre as the carcass is more compliant, but you will end up with the same footprint.

For the trailer, loads of people tow on sand, and they all get bogged. I see it all the time. A mate with a big tyred V8 Patrol has just come back from Morton with his camper trailer, and even that got bogged. He is very experienced and knows what he is doing, so I doubt very much that he got it wrong with the vehicle or his driving.

What Slunnie said. While I prefer AT or MT on sand, they all have strengths and weaknesses.

The important thing is getting the pressures right and, as with all things off-road (and on), a judicious use of the right foot.