Does sand or dirt wear down tread much faster than road driving?

[JCruse]

Hi folks, this is my first off road vehicle (FZJ80) and I put on new tires back in April. I go off roading, on sand only, about three times a week. I just checked my tread depth and I've got 14/32 out of the original 17/32. It only takes about 15 minutes on the sand each way to get from the main road to the fishing spot and back out again. Besides that I put less than 1k miles on them. Normally I would be alarmed at that much wear on a regular street tire but I have nothing to compare this type of situation to. I don't do burnouts in the sand but it does take a lot of wheelspin to climb the rather steep dunes, and in the really loose stuff. Is sand THAT abrasive to a tire?

The tires are Firestone Destination A/T's which seem to get good reviews for treadwear, but at this rate...

 

[KWalkerM]

do you air down your tires? that will reduce wheel spin and yes sand is really erosive to things like glass and rocks so it will also eat your tires.

 

[JCruse]

Yeah I air down to 18psi.

I didn't think sand, especially such soft sand (very fine grain) would wear down rubber that much. I figured it would just get thrown out the back as opposed to scraping off rubber. I get great traction and have never even come remotely close to getting stuck (And I've tried!)

 

[80t0ylc]

If you're spinning your tires and getting any traction (resistance to tire rotation), you're wearing rubber off the tires. Basic physics. Sand is very abrasive - you know, like sandpaper. And generally, offroad surfaces are at least as abrasive as pavement to tires. A good fresh snowfall can help to ease that, as long as it doesn't cause wheelspin.

 

[DrivingMissRosey]

X2 on the abrasive qualities of sand. Sand paper? We all know what that is right?

The sand can feel soft in your hand but each little silica crystal is very tough. Even highly angular, read sharp, sand can feel soft if the crystals are small enough. Silica is an extremely tough compound and remember its the same as running over glass powder. The soft rubber of your tires doesn't stand a chance against a silica crystal on a micro scale.

You might think about airing down more. 18 sounds pretty high if you still have spin the tires to get of the beach.

 

[JCruse]

Well check this out. I've been running with the CDL on all the time. As soon as I aired down and got under way again I'd hit the switch to help me get over all the soft stuff and to my destination on the ocean side to fish for striped bass, blues and fluke. Last time out there I switched it off for the heck of it when I headed back to the road and the LC just flew over that sand with hardly any wheelspin! It felt like a different truck! It walked right up some really steep dunes with much less effort and very little spin. I couldn't believe the difference and I don't really understand it but from now on it's CDL OFF for me.

 

[george_tlc]

Sand changes a lot. What works in one area doesn't work in another. Sand can change from day to day just based on moisture content.

Airing down your tyres will make a HUGE difference on sand. 18psi or lower will make the vehicle a different animal.

As written before, more traction (lockers etc) can cause tyres to dig and get you stuck faster. Floatation is king when it comes to sand. You have lots of options in a locked^3 80 with the CDL switch. Choose what works for you on any particular day.

I've been on damp beach sand where low range is imperative and tyres down around 12psi. Whatever can help with floatation is where you need to focus and airing down is a big step in the right direction.

cheers,
george.

 

[JCruse]

Thanks George. Based on my beach/dune excursions thus far I can't imagine actually getting "stuck" in this truck, and I only have the CDL, no locked F or R. Maybe sopping wet sand, but not the drier stuff. The 80 pulls so well through it that I've actually tried to get stuck several times. No such luck. Except at the top of a very steep tall dune where it bottomed out going over the top. I just put it in reverse and backed down the way I came. No sweat.

 

[duke01]

I have a friend who loves to play on sand with his rig. Never heard any complaint about the tread wear of his tires. In fact, it seems that he gets decent tread life out of them.

 

[Cfbrenton1]

I drive where the sand is not and very soft. I will air down to around twelve. Then, after being in the sand, the tires heat up and the air pressure rises and I have to lower the pressure again. I can clearly tell the difference between 12psi and 16psi