well i have the 20's also and my ride isn't bumpy or rough when the roads are good.

 

I wouldn't head out onto that beach with a 2WD. That just sounds like asking to get stuck. I was down in Hatteras this past October with my 4x4 QC and I was just driving along not doing anything weird. And somehow I managed to find a random spot of the softest sand I have ever seen. My truck just dropped right into it and bottomed out. I was on highway tires and I had dropped my pressure down a little, but probably not enough. I hopped out of the truck to take a look and my bare feet immediately sunk down to more than ankle deep in this freakin quick sand. I tried to dig them out a bit and I barely managed to work my way back out by hanging out the window and watching my wheels grip and dig and grip again. A Nissan Titan stopped and was ready to pull me out, which would have been really embarassing. I actually had some wood in the back I could have tossed under there to get some traction but it was still embarassing. And with the Flowmaster on there the whole ordeal was loud as hell so everybody on the beach noticed. If I had been in a 2WD I'd have been completely screwed. Actually, I doubt I would have ever even gotten that far. Some of the softest sand is the stuff you drive through right as you pull onto the beach. And if you get stuck there you'll be blocking the entrance, you'll never hear the end of that.

If you do decide to risk it, make sure you're driving on something with some decent sidewall and drop the pressure down to like 20. And bring a tow strap. Go with a friend and another truck if you can so you can pull each other out. Or get each other stuck... who knows. :-)

And Hammer is totally right about the aggressive tires. I have Dayton Timberline M/T's on the back and Bridgestone Dueller A/T's on the front (I know it's weird, long story). And in mud the Daytons are beasts. In sand, it's almost like the mud tread is made of little shovels that just dig right in. It's not a huge problem, but something I have to think about when I'm in sand.

 

well I think it will depend on how wide your tire's are. I think if you have a pretty wide tire and air it down as well as taking it slow you should be ok. If you start spining watch out. But atleast there is one advantage to 2wd, if you do start digging in atleast only your back will sink lol. Makes it alot easier to get pulled out or even dig yourself out when only the back half of you is barried.

 

Is the sand super soft or pretty hard-packed? I just deflate my tires a bit when going out to Glamis or Pismo Beach. Solves the problem.

 

If it's hard packed sand, you may be ok. If it sinks at all, you will not get out. Besides the drive wheel/wheels have to dig in to get foward motion, they also have to push the front wheels through the sand. Additionally, hills with wet grass may be problematic.

For your purpose, it sounds like you made the right choice going 2WD. In addition to the reduced gas mileage, there is the additional cost of purchase and maintenance. Better tires will help. Watch out in the rain until then.

Good luck with your new ride

 

I just took my truck out to the inlet. The sand at the entrance was really soft and that's where I had to speed up and slide through the sand since I got close to no traction. Everywhere else was pretty hard and easy to drive on. There were some mud and water puddles that I didn't have much trouble getting through. I'm thinking of getting some better tires maybe for the back. I see some people with 2WD trucks getting some good MT or AT tires on the back only and they seem to do just fine. Pretty much what a lot of people have told me is all 4WD means is you get stuck twice as bad and there have been very few occasions where it has helped them out. Others tell me 4WD is only as good as the winch on the front.

 

Anyone who says 4WD gets you stuck twice as bad probably thought 4WD makes you invincible and did something dumb. 4WD can get you into some trouble by letting you get farther into a bad spot before getting stuck, which can make it harder to get back out. But that is the driver's fault, not the truck. To say 4WD is not a help is just ridiculous. That is claiming it would be better to make the engine shove the front end through the sand rather than have it pop up above the sand and roll right on down the beach.

 

the 2wd handle just fine offroad. i was actually out today offroading. the only spot i had to stop and turn around at was on a downhill climb on a STEEP hill that was muddy and had some snow spots. we realised it was a bad idea and as i started to turn around it was just burning out in the mud, so i turned off into a grassier spot out of the trail and slowly climbed back up in the grass. as long as you dont come to a stop your alright, or burn it out (if your not intentionally trying to). but yea the stock tires are not great for offroading, but dont bother getting new tires until you really need to.

 

Sounds good to me. I don't plan on taking it offroad much. Just to the beach and to watch a few mud bogs. The entrance to the mud bog is a pretty big mud/water puddle. I've seen some trucks make it through with 2WD no problem and others get stuck and have to put it into 4WD.

What I really want is to make sure it will at least be able to make it through mud and water without much trouble. Not deep stuff or anything but I see trucks as being more of an all terrain/all purpose vehicle. If you need to get to some place offroad you wouldn't take a car would you? I had a 2001 F-150 RC 4.2L V6 2WD with some nice tires (can't remember what kind). It did great offroad. I just hope this truck does too.

I've read reviews on the tires and people have said they had to replace them as low as 12000 miles, they are prone to random blowouts, and unanimously think it's a terrible tire. I'm just wondering what Dodge was thinking putting such a ****ty tire on such a beautiful truck.

 

http://www.mattracks.com/

haha...maybe these would help out (4x4 only i'm pretty sure)