Is there a cure for wheel hop?

[JBallou]

Well like the guy in Coos Bay, I was there last week with my 11k toyhauler in tow. If I have any farther than 10' to travel in the sand I air down all of the tires including the trailer. I go way lower than you are thinking, try 12-15 PSI! that is what allows me to travel to the remote camp sites with our trailer. Never have popped a bead off.

I just make sure that I am lined up in the paved parking lot right next to the edge of the sand, pull the valve cores and listen for the air to rush out to the point that the noise changes pitch, good to go.

I will say I got stuck several times doing this and it was all related to not going low enough on all tires, just one at 20psi will leave you digging a hole.

Mind you I travel a mile or so at up to 25mph fully loaded with no ill effects. I did have a moment of insanity and hit the dunes in the diesel truck at 60mph, quite fun, and didn't blow a bead, with lots of donuts etc.

And to add insult to the people that think you have to have big expensive tires to do it, I do it every time on the OEM size and BFG tires that the truck comes with off the factory line. Got to have a excellent air compressor or you will be waiting all day for the air-up.

Can you give us an idea of how far you have to go out on the sand? how fast? how much weight?

 

[SRadke]

I go as low as 28 at the sledpulls and that's putting way more weight and torque to the tires than you'll ever think about in the sand. 17's will be no problem down to 20.

 

[WRStrong]

Can you give us an idea of how far you have to go out on the sand? how fast? how much weight?

I actually don't travel too far in the deep sand because it's just too loose, and pulling a trailer really through it is very difficult. My 5th wheel is 10K lbs. I try to stay on the harder surfaces, or drive along the shoreline where the water firms up the sand. I avoid the best camping spots on the beach to avoid the deep sand. The driving surface is usually too rough to drive more than 10 to 15 mph. That's part of the problem too. No momentum!



I haven't experienced driving in sand in geographical areas other than the southwestern US. It's dry and bottomless! Some of the extreme guys at our desert lake have gone to towing all their toys to the water with surplus military 6X6s. Some are equipped with huge Michelins, some on stock military treads. Anyway these guys get where they want to go but in the process they chew up the sand to the point that anything less than a 6X6 or light 4X4 vehicles can't navigate it.



It would be cool to motor by their camps in a meer 3/4 ton 4X4 pulling a 5th wheel. Maybe 18 to 20 #s in the tires would allow this.



I'm going to try it without the trailer on and I'll report back on the results



Thanks

 

[JBallou]

The more weight that you have to pull and carry the lower you will find that you have to go. If you get stuck just let more air out. Carry a good accurate low pressure gauge and a way to air up the tires if you let to much out or once back on the pavement.



18-20 is probably ok for just the truck but less will be required with something in tow.



Let us know how good it goes.

 

[Wingate]

If you are wanting to ditch the factory tires anyway. I'd probably do that first. Maybe go to a wider footprint tire with a different tread configuration that would give you move flotation ontop of the sand. My factory BFG's are decent for East Texas mud as long as it has a bottom in it, but I can see where they really wouldn't perform as well as other tires in deep dry sand. It would seem that they would sink quicker, causing me to want to "put to wood" to the truck, and that would cause wheelhop. Maybe a wider footprint/low air pressure combination.

Be careful about excessive wheelhop, not sure how these trucks would react to sand, but I've seen EVERY manufacturers trucks break wheelstuds, twist/break axles, eject drivelines from wheelhop happening in some of the mud around here.

 

[JJPage]

WRStrong,



Any experience with empty or light load vs. fully loaded and the resulting wheel hop?



I drive my '05 on sand roads once in a while and I have had wheel hop also. I am thinking it might (underscore might) be due to the truck sitting on the light load section of the springs and when you roll, the spring wraps. Repeat with heavy load and you are well into the main load springs, not the easy ride section. When you are well into the springs, the system stiffens up, the springs contact the perches and it is less prone to wrapping.



What say you?

I believe you are on the right track in your train of thought.

Traction bars will stop the hop. Airbags, if anything, will make it worse. They take load off the springs which as mentioned earlier loosens them up allowing the axle to twist or "wrap" them easier. If you want to understand these things on a severe scale go to a sledpull.



-Scott

I should have mentioned, that in addition to the airbags, I also used some 2" square tubing to place between the rub pads and the factory bracket, so the overloads would engage earlier.



Between the airbags and the 2" square tubing blocks, on sandy surfaces, especially while turning, I have no more axle wrap.



I will post pictures below.