I was at silver lake this past weekend for a wedding. In the down time me and the GF hit the dunes. Had a blast, but I did have some trouble on a couple hills (didnt even attempt the big **** lol). My questin is there was a guy running around there in a 99-ish explore that appeared to be stock and he was going up and down the hills no problem and even went up the big one. I was baffled, is there reasoning behind this or what? Thanks

 

tires and tire pressure is a big one... and lockers... and keeping momentum..

 

x2
Couldn't agree more, with all of those things.

 

X2 also choosing the correct gear to climb in. RPM's are your friend when climbing otherwise you will lose it right at the top of the hill. i like to use 4 low in second gear and just give her hell.

 

My truck is stock except for a B/L and 33 by 12.5 mall crawlers. I could probably use a re-gear and a locker. I was just amazed because he was stock height, wheels, not sure of the tires though. But he was going up and down frontwards and backwards. Im not gonna lie I was a bit jelous lol.

 

what psi were you running in your tires?

 

33x12.50s will work awesome. And while it is debatable, all terrains generally work better in the sand because they will not dig as much as some mud terrains.
But you should be airing down a lot. I never had much trouble getting around at 10-15psi in low range, but a lot of people run 5-10psi or even lower.
My 98 had 3.73 gears and 33s with a manual trans, and could barely keep moving in deep sand in 4 high. Like Patrick, I used 4 low and second gear most of the time.

My Sport Trac did a lot better due to lockers front and rear and low gearing. I remember watching a couple of Jeeps try over and over again to get up a hill while me and three friends were sitting in my sport trac. Once they both moved out of the way I put it in 4 low and drove straight up it like nothing! lol

 

Hard to say exactly because I didnt air down untill after the tires were in the sun. The gauge read 40 and I took about 8-9 psi out of all 4. So probably about 25psi give or take. So I guess I should have been a little lower. I still thought it handled it pretty good for being almost stock.

 

yeah youre truck shouldnt have any issues at all getting around up there. 25 PSI is way too much air, thats def why you might have struggled a bit. there is a actually a sign in the parking lot before you get on the dunes stating a 15 psi max tire pressure. i usually run 10 in front and around 8 in the rear.

 

Dang, must have missed that one, lol but it was an awsome experiece non the less and I can't wait to go back. Thanks for all the advice guys. would you suggest running 4 hi or lo with a auto tranny?

 

On stock gearing I would probably use 4 low, I would imagine 4 high lugs down a lot with stock gearing and 33s. Plus the torque converter in the tranny will slip and heat a lot more in high range.

 

40 minus 8 or 9 is 32 or 31 not 25. Learn to math!

 

Marie's 3.73'd and 33'd 4.0 was ballin' on the dunes in 1st and high range and she was down to 13 f&r on her mild MT's.

 

i like to run 4 low and put the trans in 2nd gear. keeps the rpm's up a bit and keeps the trans temps down becuase the trans isnt shifting alot.

 

But after sitting in the sun half the day, 40 wasnt the actuall psi. Plus if it was, then im never going back to discount tire, thats who put the tires on about 2 weeks ago and I have touch them.