Hey folks, I've been lurking here for a while but this is my first post. I'm a newbie to offroading/overlanding and am considering an LC 100 as my first 4wd vehicle. I live in Hawaii (island of Kauai) and this will be my daily driver but the primary offroad use would be weekend camping trips to remote camping spots in the mountains as well as a long beach called Polihale with super soft and usually very dry sand. I'm concerned the weight of the 100 series will make driving at Polihale difficult and maybe I should go with a 4runner or GX 470. I've seen videos on Youtube of guys in Australia driving 100's on the beach and in sand dunes so I should have confidence it can handle the beach here but just looking for your opinions.
100 series performance in soft sand (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Kekoa12
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Zero troubles at all—I use mine to pull my Landy friends out of the sand. Of course we don't have beaches here, but we do have Little Sahara and Sand Hollow—miles and miles of soft sand. The A-Trac (03'+) seems to cope just fine, along with airing down to somewhere in the low 20s.
Of course the 4Runner and GX should do fine as well. Test drive them all and see which you prefer. (But for beach days: tailgates always win).
Of course the 4Runner and GX should do fine as well. Test drive them all and see which you prefer. (But for beach days: tailgates always win).
.
Last edited:
Don’t use wider tires number 1. Tall skinny tires, when aired down create a contact patch that doesn’t create rolling resistance and has a larger contact area. In short it’s more efficient.
Sand performance is a combination of correct tire pressure and driving technique. First air down to 20-ish. Don’t be afraid to air down more based on how the truck behaves. Note, as the sun rises into the afternoon it will heat the sand and reduce traction. 20psi (arbitrary number) may get you where you want to go in the morning but you may find you get bogged or stuck on the way down. Air down to 15psi (arbitrary number) to get out at 3pm.
For frequent sand, 255/85r16 -or similar profile based on rim size- would be ideal for stock suspension or small lift.
Highly recommend buying three things in this order: at least 1 pair of maxtrax, tire deflators, and on-board compressor.
Sand performance is a combination of correct tire pressure and driving technique. First air down to 20-ish. Don’t be afraid to air down more based on how the truck behaves. Note, as the sun rises into the afternoon it will heat the sand and reduce traction. 20psi (arbitrary number) may get you where you want to go in the morning but you may find you get bogged or stuck on the way down. Air down to 15psi (arbitrary number) to get out at 3pm.
For frequent sand, 255/85r16 -or similar profile based on rim size- would be ideal for stock suspension or small lift.
Highly recommend buying three things in this order: at least 1 pair of maxtrax, tire deflators, and on-board compressor.
Last edited:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Mine are 305/65R18 (BFG A/T, Load E), kind of wide at 12". They've been amazing in sand so far, but I'm far from an expert.
But I do echo the maxtraxx/compressor comment. Get that no matter what you end up with.
Mine are 305/65R18 (BFG A/T, Load E), kind of wide at 12". They've been amazing in sand so far, but I'm far from an expert.
But I do echo the maxtraxx/compressor comment. Get that no matter what you end up with.
I don’t mean to come off as an expert, far from one. Just my experiences pair with a bit of reading.
305/65r18 is roughly a 33x12
305/75r16 is roughly 32x12
I run 295/75r16 KO2 on my 100 roughly 33x11 on my 100 and 255/85r16 on my 77. They have similar weight and build specs. The 77 is better set-up for general wheeling. It’s exceeds the 100 in all areas but “rock crawling”. but each driver should set up their truck according to driving style and expected terrain.
full disclosure, a 255/85r16 Toyo MT should go on my 100 based on what I use the truck for. However the look of a 295/75r16 KO2 is more fitting to the fat-girl 100. I’m comfortable with that form>function.
Watch some "Matt's Off Road Recovery" on Youtube. He pulls all sorts of vehicles, all shapes and sizes, out of the sand in Southern Utah, especially Sand Hollow, with an old Jeep XJ. He's in the sand so often he keeps his tires at 9 psi.
Here in south florida trails are full of sand.
275/70/18 and we do just fine aired down to 15-18psi. no issues.
Sandy and wet night ride with 2 100 cruisers.
275/70/18 and we do just fine aired down to 15-18psi. no issues.
Sandy and wet night ride with 2 100 cruisers.
Here is my truck on the beach. I ran my truck at 40 psi on the tires, and the truck works in all but the softest sand. At 15psi, the truck would be unstoppable. The key is to air down, and if you start to get stuck, stop before you dig yourself to the frame.
The only thing I could add to all the previous good advice is to be prepared and know what to do and how to recover safely if you do become stuck – or if you discover someone else who is stuck -- especially on the beach if the tide is rising towards the vehicle! This means installing some good recovery points on the front and rear of the vehicle (not to be confused with the dangerous tie-down points used for shipping and the even more dangerous tow-balls used for trailers), and, carrying useful recovery equipment and knowledge for use in sand or on your mountain trails, especially if travelling alone. Continue the search for “sand driving” and “vehicle recovery” on youtube for good information on safe 4WD driving and recovery. My LC100 with standard BFG 275/65R17 tyres works well in soft sand and has become stuck only when I was too lazy to reduce tyre pressures to 15 to 20 psi -- but the experience was 'character-building' as I was alone at the time!
The handle it piece of cake. Usually my general steps would be as follows;
- Air down to ~18 PSI
- Remove ABS fuse (engine bay fuse box). This should make the vsc, atrac and of course abs light illuminate on the dash (i.e. inactive)
I know others will tell you ATRAC is good, but I hate driving with it. The less electronic intrusions to my driving the better. I've done comparisons on big dunes and it's chalk and cheese what can be climbed between having it ON v OFF. Slow rock crawls I can see it being useful, but there's not a lot of that in WA. Sand, sand and more sand. Sand needs a heavy right boot and low tyre pressure IMO.
- Air down to ~18 PSI
- Remove ABS fuse (engine bay fuse box). This should make the vsc, atrac and of course abs light illuminate on the dash (i.e. inactive)
I know others will tell you ATRAC is good, but I hate driving with it. The less electronic intrusions to my driving the better. I've done comparisons on big dunes and it's chalk and cheese what can be climbed between having it ON v OFF. Slow rock crawls I can see it being useful, but there's not a lot of that in WA. Sand, sand and more sand. Sand needs a heavy right boot and low tyre pressure IMO.
I ran mine with 285/75/17 ATs at street pressure. In the picture it's hard packed but I pulled 3 trucks out that day from the soft stuff. 2 being pulled simultaneously. In reverse.
Never aired down, but it would have only helped.
The 100 will do fine in sand.
Wanted to say, use caution and it is preferred to pull people out in Drive. I know sometimes this isnt an option but pulling another rig in reverse has been known to grenade the early (98-02) front diffs.
Right there with you. While pulling, I wasn't passing a grain of rice, so to speak.
Story time. I was told by the locals in Hawaii when I went to drive on Polihale beach (the one referenced by OP) that "it isn't like driving in other sand." I had a rented JKU and figured "how hard can it be? I'll just air down?"
Well, I ended up driving my pregnant wife onto the part of the beach owned by the DoD (Pacific Missile Range is right there) and getting stuck. Guys with machine guns came out and threatened to arrest us and told us we'd have to come back to court in Honolulu, etc. I spent 5 hours digging the stupid thing out. Dropped down to about 3 PSI and ended up having to get one of those farm 6x6s to pull us out. Absolutely awful.
The sand is composed of little animal shells or something weird and sticky. It's very soft and very different. IMO, a significantly heavier cruiser on stock tires would have a really hard time. I disagree to get tall pizza cutter tires. For sand you'd want wide and floaty tires for max contact patch.
Ultimately, I ended up not getting arrested and they were lenient. But pay attention to those signs, too.
Well, I ended up driving my pregnant wife onto the part of the beach owned by the DoD (Pacific Missile Range is right there) and getting stuck. Guys with machine guns came out and threatened to arrest us and told us we'd have to come back to court in Honolulu, etc. I spent 5 hours digging the stupid thing out. Dropped down to about 3 PSI and ended up having to get one of those farm 6x6s to pull us out. Absolutely awful.
The sand is composed of little animal shells or something weird and sticky. It's very soft and very different. IMO, a significantly heavier cruiser on stock tires would have a really hard time. I disagree to get tall pizza cutter tires. For sand you'd want wide and floaty tires for max contact patch.
Ultimately, I ended up not getting arrested and they were lenient. But pay attention to those signs, too.
Gotta be more careful. If you're in the slammer Night View is going to just fade into oblivion.
I do a good bit of driving in sand, mostly dunes and washes. Like many others have said the cruisers do great, especially airing down to 12-15 lbs.
