TLC on-sand performance (1 Viewer)

[James Kelly]

How well do TLC's perform when riding on sand? I live close to Gateway National Seashore (Rockaway Point), and other than trips to the Catskills or Adirondacks the only rocks my LC will be cruising over will be finely ground Atlantic Ocean sand on fishing trips. Can a stock LC make it over such dry sand without too much difficulty?

 

[FinallyGotOne!]

Easily. Air down to about 20 - 25 pounds and you'll be fine.

 

[EL_3grab]

Easily. Air down to about 20 - 25 pounds and you'll be fine.

air down to 15 psi .. is best

on sand its all depend on your skills

 

[hoser]

The main drawback of the TLC in the sand is weight. Not much you can do about that except getting larger floatation tires.

 

[ace10]

one of the few good things about the OE Michelin LTX M&S's is sand performance. not too much digging and just enough control.

 

[macneill]

No problems. I take mine on the beach on Chappaquidick all the time with MTRs. I also second airing down to 15psi.

I didn't know there was beach access on the Rockaways?

Where do I get a permit?

 

[EL_3grab]

how dose the MT on soft sand .. say 315/75

 

[macneill]

how dose the MT on soft sand .. say 315/75

My 305s run just fine. I suppose the 315s would be ok too.

But what do I know.

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

air down to 15 psi .. is best

Ditto! I cruise the fine sandy beaches of Outer Banks and 12-15 psi is good for driving in wet sandy beaches. You should be fine driving your 100 in wet or dry sand as long as you air down.

Make sure to bring a portable air compressor or OBA to air back up for on-road driving.

 

[SamoL]

Almost every tire can be used on sand (except the tires that don't flex when aired down). I had some serious trouble with punctures when driving on bad roads, so I'm getting something like Cooper S/T-C 265/75R16 for my next trip. Anybody using these on their LC100?

Regards

Samo

 

[EL_3grab]

what i know for the sand you will need wide tire smooth tread pattern .. aired down .. i think the MT's is very aggressive for the sand you want to flow not to dig ..

 

[SamoL]

I've been driving on the sand with BFG MTs on Suzuki Jimny and had no problems (but they where bigger then stock). But I've seen people using Simex MTs that don't flex - and they didn't really have the time of their life .
On LC I was only using stock sized Revos so far. The tires are not bad for sand. I hesitate to use 33" tires, as I can only carry one spare and spare tires you cand find in Africa are all 32" (7.5-16 - which would be impossible to mount on a 8J rim - and 235/85R16). And the Siam tires you use also look like 32" (a little higher then stock, right?). Siam tires are 9" wide, which is about 235mm. So it seems that you and Africans are using quite narrow 32" tires to drive on the sand! And where Europeans dig in, Africans can drive with only rear wheel drive and narrow stock tires, so it is more like knowing how to drive and not all about tires.
What I'm looking for are AT tires that are resistant to punctures. The best you can get I guess would be BFG AT and Cooper S/T or S/T-C with a 10 ply rating.
I also wanted to have the narrower spare and bought a 6.5Jx16 rim for a LC105. But it turned out, that it could be used in emergencies, but not for real offroading as the offset of the rim is verry different and the effect is as you would use a 2" spacer . With this rim I would also be able to use 7.5-16 tires, and with 235/85R16 mounted on the spare I would have a better ground clearance. As far as I know Toyota also have 6.5" rims for a LC100 - maybe I'll try to find one.
Another reason why to buy such tires is reliability - with bigger tires the chance to break something increases. With smaller tires only the chance of using a shovel increases . And 265/75R16 should perform about the same as stock - they are a little narrower and and just a little bit higher.
I see a lot of people with LC60s and Prados using 235/85R16 (and of course also the natives with LC105 full of tourists) and having no problems. But as fully loaded LC100 is much heavier I don't think this would a wise decision.

Regards

Samo

 

[SamoL]

This was a duplicate of previous message - therefore I've removed it. Sorry.

 

[SamoL]

Another thing: I've tried to find Siam tires and it is impossible to get them in Europe.
Another question: why wouldn't you recommend them for travelling? They shake only when they are cold . I guess the problem is the low load index as this tire can't be used with a high tire pressure which makes it unsuitable for gravel and fully loaded car.

Regards

Samo

 

[EL_3grab]

Another thing: I've tried to find Siam tires and it is impossible to get them in Europe.
Another question: why wouldn't you recommend them for travelling? They shake only when they are cold . I guess the problem is the low load index as this tire can't be used with a high tire pressure which makes it unsuitable for gravel and fully loaded car.

Regards

Samo

yes .. siam is a a little higher then stock ..

idont recommend them because they change the feeling of the steering a lot (much heavier) .. and they so bad in wet road .. its really a sand tire .. not anything else

see this pic .. siam with 10 wide rims 5 inch offset .. it work amazingly in the sand ..

 

[tabraha]

Almost every tire can be used on sand (except the tires that don't flex when aired down). I had some serious trouble with punctures when driving on bad roads, so I'm getting something like Cooper S/T-C 265/75R16 for my next trip. Anybody using these on their LC100?

Regards

Samo

Samo I've got these on my Tacoma and I've enjoyed them so far. I've only had them for 1000 miles but they have seen a ton of mud and creek crossings. THey performed well on both. I haven't gotten on any sand with them other than some black sandy loam at my house site. They did well on that at low speed and it was raining heavy at that time.

Tad

 

[SamoL]

Do you have S/T-C or S/T? I'm interested in the version with load index 123. The only thing that I don't know is how a 10 ply tire performs when aired down. Simex for instance remains the same even when empty! The tire should became flat and have a large footprint when using low pressure. This is important for me as I intend to use it also on sand. Can you please check that for me?

Regards
Samo

 

[r3run33]

my .02 with the stock tires is great i do a lot of sand stuff also recommend going down to 15 but be prepared to get air back in when done going down below that you have a higher chance of getting separated from the rim but hey my biggest point and others may not agree but i have seen lots of people do this mistake stay reg press and then air down if you have trouble especially if going from soft to wet and then soft etc airing down will give you an escape but if you are already down you may have to dig but use your mats also those things are great especially the long back seat one.

 

[SWUtah]

Almost every tire can be used on sand (except the tires that don't flex when aired down). I had some serious trouble with punctures when driving on bad roads, so I'm getting something like Cooper S/T-C 265/75R16 for my next trip. Anybody using these on their LC100?

Regards

Samo

I'm running 265/75/16 LT American Prospectors. They look just like BFG AT/KO's and are made for American by BFG. I generally have sharp rocks and hard packed dirt where I live and not much sand. I doubt these tires that are skinner then the 275/70/16's would do very well even aired down on a beach or in my area the "Pink corral sand" state park. I think you need to buy the tires that work best for where you live a drive.

 

[EL_3grab]

siam in 10 wide (another angel)