Make this truck better off road?

Anyone have any tips for making my truck do a little better off road-particularly sand?

2014 DC 6.5' bed 2WD. Has 275/65R18 Pathfinder AT tires. Seems to do ok on hard pack but the second I hit a even just a little soft sand it loses it. Not looking to go off hardcore offroad-just be able to not get stuck on sandier jeep roads. Do I need to air down tires even less than 25psi? Add weight to bed?

 

Wider tires, rear locker, remove 1500lbs from the front

 

Yup. Tires will probably be your best bang for the buck.

you could probably get away with down to 15psi without headlocks but you still run the risk of popping a bead off.

 

Air down on sand to 18=20lbs, use 4wd. Larger tires help with offroad. Even stock, you can fit 275/70-18 or 285/70-18 on a stock truck with stock wheels, no issues.

 

Exactly. It's like a sand plow-just nose dives down with no traction to do anything about it.

 

You need to air down WAY more than 25psi. I start at about 12psi, and if shit gets hairy drop it lower. Sand is all about tire pressure, and being in the high teens or 20s I would not even consider being aired down at all. 4wd would obviously help a lot too, but regardless you need to drop pressure a lot more.

 

I think op says it's a 2WD truck?

Seems to me a 2WD truck is going to have a hard time in sand.

 

Weight in the back, low low tire pressure. Avoid loose sand at all cost, never go heavy on the gas. Slow and steady, can’t tell you how many 2wds I’ve pulled out of the beaches here.

 

Sell it and get a 4wd

 

Having plenty of actual sand/dune driving in a 2wd truck myself, I completely agree with Snivilous. I had a long travel 1st gen tundra (2wd) on 35s with a detroit true-trac, 12-10 psi in the front, 10-8 psi in the rear, and that got me all over the place in the dunes. I never blew a bead either, as long as you don't make sharp cuts/turns you'll be fine.

Having a larger tire does help to increase your footprint when you air down. A limited slip rear end helps a lot too. My 07 tundra (2wd) has 35s on 17-inch wheels, a mechanical limited slip, and 3-inch lift. Some extra weight in the bed would help, but I do just fine without anything extra besides the spare tire. I have little fear of sand in the truck.

For sand: air down to 12 or less psi, turn off all your nannies, when you do stop only do it on level ground or pointed downhill, momentum is your friend, look ahead to visualize the best lines to take, take off slowly from a standstill.

 

Thank you. I will have to try airing down quite a bit more. Does the traction control on my 14' make things worse in sand? From what I read it just adds breaking to the tire losing traction.

 

Thanks. The desert I frequent often has decent jeep roads but these intersect sandy washes often-that can be 40 yards long or 1 mile long. Just looking for best strategy to get through these when encounter them. Never had a problem in my old 2wd Expedition on these roads with street tires-good weight distribution.

 

Thank you. Still learning.

 

Does a 2WD trucks have the ALS button like the 4WD?
You would think it should since its not really a mechanical feature or upgrade since its just computer brake control ...

 

I think their traction control system on this year is "Brake Actuated Limited Slip Differential" for whatever that is worth.

 

Tie on about 125,000 helium filled mylar balloons.

 

As for those "sandier jeep roads," cheat by trying to stay in hard sand rather than soft sand. Beyond that, you're obviously limited by the lack of 4wd. Really wide tires would help, but I have no advice on that. To be honest, I'd just avoid soft sand, and keep a winch & traction pads handy.