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Best setup for beach driving

7250 Views 11 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  2gtacoma
I've been doing as much research as I could regarding lift options. Here is my setup: 2006 Dbl Cab long bed, SR5. It has the 245 tires that came stock.

My off-roading consists mainly of driving on soft sand when I go surf fishing. The truck sees an occasional fire road, but nothing that really beats up the suspension.

I wanted to add a slight lift to give the truck a more aggressive look and stance. The double cab with the 245's looks a little weak to me. I will replace the stock 245's with 265's, as I believe they will fit the stock wheels.

After doing the research on this forum, it looks like a good option for me would be to put bilstein 5100's on each wheel, and use an add-a-leaf to raise the rear. I am not handy at all, and would have to have the work done professionally.

I am looking for opinions on whether this is a good setup for my situation. If there would be a better solution, I would be glad to hear that as well. If there is anything else I need other than the shocks and AAL, please let me know. I don't want to mess around with the ride and handling too much. Thank you for all your help.
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general grabber A/T's are a cheap enough tire with similar results and thread similar to BFG all terrains, 265/75/16 if you have a 16 inch wheel. You don't need new shocks. Try taking off your mud flaps first and seeing what that looks like.
5100's and the ALL will do fine for you.
Toyo Open Country's, General Grabbers, or Ntto Grapplers will do for tires.

Get some buddies a ice chest and cold beer and make a day of the install of the Billies and AAL.

Good luck!
BFG A/Ts work great in the soft sand when aired down. If your gonna spend a lot of time in the sand invest in an air compressor.
BFG A/Ts work great in the soft sand when aired down. If your gonna spend a lot of time in the sand invest in an air compressor.
Bingo. Airing down is the best thing you can do in sand.
how low PSI would you have your tires on?
some guys go as low as 8 PSI on 33*12.5*15" rim.
The lower it is, the better but how much is too low.
8 is really low, just remember that the lower you go the higher the change of losing a bead. I've only gone to 15psi and that worked great when i had my 285/75/16 BFG a/t's, also remember to air down in the front. I've done 40+ mph at 15psi in the sand.
Mouth

If you really want that hardcore aggressive lift you must go with 285's. Hands down!
BFG AT's do work great in soft sand and are more durable than some of the other cheaper AT's mentioned IMO. They don't do to good in the wet though, they hydroplane very easily in heavy rain from my experience. I use my truck exactly for what you do. I surf fish for sharks on a 4x4 only beach. Where the tide can come up quick, and you're stuck in the middle of nowhere in the deep ruts and soft sand. For the soft sand, the wider the tire and footprint the better, that's why airing down is recomended. They say the best highway-sand-city tire is the Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ and very durable.

That's another thing. On the beach below the sand, there can be many booby traps that can destroy cheaper tires without 3ply or better reinforcement, at least here on the Texas beaches where all the trash washes up. From debree and trash with nails to harheads with spines that can puncture a tire and leave you stranded without the proper equipment. I say be a baller and get the MT's ATZ, I would have if Costco sold them(I got the BFG's). Here's where I fish and camp,
http://www.nps.gov/pais/
Here's an entire thread on tires for surf fishing and the beach on a surf fishing site,
http://www.extremecoast.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7808&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=mickey
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Here's some great tips for sand driving:
http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-corner/reading/sand_dri.htm

And I like the KM2's for all around performance!:thumbsup:

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Here's some great tips for sand driving:
http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-corner/reading/sand_dri.htm

And I like the KM2's for all around performance!:thumbsup:
x2
installing new shocks in the rear in super easy took me like 15 min each in the rear changing mine out. anthe front took me 45 min each side. onlything that you will need is a spring compressor thats about it and some tools.
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