Padre Island

LandCruisers4Life · 10-30-06, 02:28 PM

Man I and the wife went to Padre Island yesterday the 29th of October and had a good time cruising through the deep sand. We found what appeared to be a duned over Ranger road at the 15 mile mark (4x4 only area) and did some wheeling up through there. The sand was DEEP, and my wife was busy taking pictures. Unfortunately our son took the digital camera with him to Houston, so she was using the 35mm. I am going to see if I can get digital pictures done as well as regular shots when we go to develop.

Saw 2 other land cruisers down there - 1 burgundy like mine, and a voodoo blue model. Looked like they were having as much fun as I was with their new Toys

Well, if I can get the shots digitized I will try to get them up here. The new Cruiser didn't skip a beat, didn't even need any traction control, just locked the center diff and went crawlin.

Cuerno Largo · 10-30-06, 02:32 PM

Can't wait to see the pics.

Is the 4WD only beach as bad as it used to be in regards to trash? I was last down there in 1989 and there were syringes and all kinds of other medical waste that had washed up on the beach. The shells were nice though.

LandCruisers4Life · 10-30-06, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burling

Can't wait to see the pics.

Is the 4WD only beach as bad as it used to be in regards to trash? I was last down there in 1989 and there were syringes and all kinds of other medical waste that had washed up on the beach. The shells were nice though.

It was weird - thousands of dead fish all over the beach. Looked like a storm threw them out of the ocean or something. We finally got down far enough to where there weren't as many and the air was cleaner to breath.

The 4wd only area will always have trash, and I don't know why they cannot clean it up. They are all into 'let us know if you spot a sea turtle', but when it comes to cleaning up, I never see anyone there doing anything. Don't our tax dollars go for that?

Mostly I stay in the vehicle, or if we find a clean area we will park and set out some chairs and relax. The new Cruiser is fantastic - I stayed in 4H lock most of the time, with an occasional need to stop and put into 4LO lock for deep sand.

SATXChelus · 10-31-06, 10:30 PM

I went down there in July. It was a good intro for off roading in the FJ. It went great! There is a nice trail at Yarbourogh Pass, its around the 15 mile point. You have to cross a small dune. It was really my first time offroading on sand and I still have stock tires so I was a bit nervous but the FJ went over with no problem. In fact, there was a Dodge Ram truck behind me that tried to get over the dune three times and couldn't make it.

Here's a picture of my FJ on the beach there

Beowulf · 11-02-06, 11:11 AM

The most important thing to remember when wheeling in sand is to air down. If you get stuck, air down some more. 10psi or lower if you need to.

-B-

LandCruisers4Life · 11-04-06, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATXChelus

I went down there in July. It was a good intro for off roading in the FJ. It went great! There is a nice trail at Yarbourogh Pass, its around the 15 mile point. You have to cross a small dune. It was really my first time offroading on sand and I still have stock tires so I was a bit nervous but the FJ went over with no problem. In fact, there was a Dodge Ram truck behind me that tried to get over the dune three times and couldn't make it.

Here's a picture of my FJ on the beach there

Yeah that must be the same place. The trail was heavily duned over - very deep ruts and soft sand. My FJ went right on through with no wheel spin at all. Not even using ATRAC or the Locker. I even stopped several places where I know a normal 4wd may have been stuck so my wife could get pics. I gotta get those developed this week. Your truck looks like mine, just a different color, but same shade of sand lol

Hey I noticed sand collects inside the engine area all over, and all around the gas cap area. I was kind of suprised as it doesn't do that in my older Cruiser. I just spray it all down good with a hose when the engine is cold (morning before starting).

Anyone know if ARB has come out with any new products for the FJ? I heard they shipped one across the pond to take measurements and design some new gear for it.

Bear80 · 11-05-06, 06:02 PM

So red tide is still kicking down there eh? It was in full swing when I went on the 13th. That is some wicked algal, did you notice when you got out of the car that it felt like you were choking on pepper spray??

My 80 smelt like I had a fish fry from all the guts splashed on the exhaust. Other than the dead fish the beach was really clean. When I went a year ago there was all kinds of debre from Katrina and the beach was really tore up with soft sand, I pulled enough people out. This years was typical other than the dead fish. The tides are the highest from September-December, or somthing like that, so now is the time if you want some what of a "challenge" (if you can even call it that). If you go in the summer the beach is really clean and open = boring.

The medical waste was big issues in the late 80's. I've never seen any since the first time I went in '95.

Bear80 · 11-05-06, 06:13 PM

The weather is about the best in mid October, nice and cool. The only issue like I said is the tides come up the highest, which means running high on the beach next to the dunes. But even last year there was still sections of nice beach to be found:

Last December we took my dad's 4Runner down during xmas and it was by far the cleanest, most open I ever remember the beach. I'm hoping for another warm december!

LandCruisers4Life · 11-06-06, 03:30 AM

Cool pics and information Bear80. Hope to see ya down there