Those of you that drive the truck beaches...what vehicles do you like the best? I see how people try to drive SUVs and sports cars and even a semi truck onto the beach. I just think of all the damage they cause. I know about airing down and the ruts and the water filled holes. Once I sell one of my houses I may buy a second vehicle to go off the road. I used to go off roading when it wasnt even popular.

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I have been surf fishing for over 25 yrs both in Delaware and OBX and have owned several SUVs for this purpose , I owned 2 Isuzu Troopers ,a Isuzu Ascender (a Chevy knockoff), a Montero Sport and now 05 4 runner V8 . The best of them all is the 4runner hands down .Perfect for the beach , great everyday driver a and reliable in so many ways . The best vehicle needs to have good ground clearance , a real 4 wd drive system as opposed to AWD and space for equipment ! I know a lot of people swear by Jeeps for the beach but I like a vehicle that is functional , rides well , quiet , well made and reliable for year round driving and a Jeep doesnt fit that for me ! I would research whats available !!

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Those of you that drive the truck beaches...what vehicles do you like the best?

To put the question in perspective a bit, . .

In the 1930s, taxicabs ran up from Hatteras to the ferry at Oregon Inlet. They were standard 1930s cars with three-on-the-tree manuals and rear wheel drive. There's a story around of one of the drivers doing it in a major hurricane, though he did get stuck once during the trip and had the passengers get out to push.

So the real answer is that it's mostly the skill of the driver, not so much the vehicle.

Get whatever you like, but remember the saying about boats applies to your off-road vehicle. The two happiest days of your life are when you buy it and when you get rid of it.

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Get whatever you like, but remember the saying about boats applies to your off-road vehicle. The two happiest days of your life are when you buy it and when you get rid of it.

Reminds me of when my sister and her family bought a used popup travel trailer (not the modern kind), her first adventure was a total wash out. A storm with heavy rains soaked her and all their belongings. My sister really isnt the camping type except for well built cabins. Well she never went again. Her husband and boys did for awhile and then they sold it.

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4runner hands down .Perfect for the beach , great everyday driver a and reliable in so many ways .

Why not combine the attributes, as posted above? Sometimes you're going to have to drive a ways to get to wherever you are going to 4WD, right? Are you going to trailer your 4WD?

You are Ohio, I think? 4Runner is great in snow. Just good luck finding a "no stories" example.

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After 20 plus years of beach driving, skill/understanding is huge…any real 4x4 will work, how much are you really driving on the beach? A few times a year…every week? …..BUT now that I have a locking rear diff and limited slip diff in the front, the vehicle can make a huge difference in what I can do before pushing the limit to get stuck.

I prefer full size pickups, it’s nice to keep all the gear…and most of the sand in the back

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Take a look at the Fishing Page on here. There’s a great pinned threat about this topic. Ground clearance is key, then some sort of transmission that lets you “lock” in the four tires. Pure AWD isn’t as good as 4WD. Air down. Experience and skill matters, no 4X4 can overcome gross stupidity. We witnessed a Jeep Wrangler try to do a donut near the point. Idiot buried it to the frame requiring a sane person in a truck to yank him out.

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Sorry , I let him call for a tow !!

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4runner hands down .Perfect for the beach , great everyday driver a and reliable in so many ways .

Why not combine the attributes, as posted above? Sometimes you're going to have to drive a ways to get to wherever you are going to 4WD, right? Are you going to trailer your 4WD?

You are Ohio, I think? 4Runner is great in snow. Just good luck finding a "no stories" example.

4Runners are great, however we've never owned one. We have friends that swear by them and they are so nice looking too. Aren't they on the same frame as a Tacoma? Our Tacoma did well on the sand...much better than our Tundra we have now. I'm guessing because it is lighter than the Tundra.

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4runner hands down .Perfect for the beach , great everyday driver a and reliable in so many ways .

Why not combine the attributes, as posted above? Sometimes you're going to have to drive a ways to get to wherever you are going to 4WD, right? Are you going to trailer your 4WD?

You are Ohio, I think? 4Runner is great in snow. Just good luck finding a "no stories" example.

4Runners are great, however we've never owned one. We have friends that swear by them and they are so nice looking too. Aren't they on the same frame as a Tacoma? Our Tacoma did well on the sand...much better than our Tundra we have now. I'm guessing because it is lighter than the Tundra.

I've had two 4runners , a Tundra and a Land Cruiser. The Tundra and the 4 Runners are lifted with custom ball joints , control arms , etc. They run great on anything, especially the 4runner but the frames are highly susceptible to rust. The land Cruiser is a 1994 and has a 5 inch lift kit and the frame is still rock solid. Nothing can match the suspension and massive ball joints on that 80 series land cruiser. The Tundra is about shot. The 4runner has lots of surface rust and I'm constantly rinsing the undercarriage and greasing it but it's a losing battle out here in Carova. One highly underrated gem is the old 90s era Nissan 4x4 Hardbody SE pick-ups, virtually indestructible. .

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4Runners are great, however we've never owned one. We have friends that swear by them and they are so nice looking too. Aren't they on the same frame as a Tacoma? Our Tacoma did well on the sand...much better than our Tundra we have now. I'm guessing because it is lighter than the Tundra.

As I recall, FJ is based on Prado…Prado is sorta/kinda GX/4Runner. So FJ and 4Runner are very close cousins. And, yes, Tacoma is 4Runner w a bed.

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Of course the Model A is always an option....

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Of course the Model A is always an option....

Perfect! Check out that clearance!!! Hahaha

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I got a good deal on one of these and have never been stuck

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I got a good deal on one of these and have never been stuck

Hahaha! There ya go!!

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I got a good deal on one of these and have never been stuck

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I got a good deal on one of these and have never been stuck

Don't you know! Hahaha!

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We drive a Cheve Tahoe 4x4......no problems......(except the one time we forgot to put it in 4x4 & got stuck!!!! How embarassing. Got help from others who probably thought we were crazy.!!! That was awhile ago.............

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I only have experience with 4x4 GM trucks, never been stuck. I have started experimenting with letting the tires down to 15 and driving in 4 high., so far so good

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Those of you that drive the truck beaches...what vehicles do you like the best?

To put the question in perspective a bit, . .

In the 1930s, taxicabs ran up from Hatteras to the ferry at Oregon Inlet. They were standard 1930s cars with three-on-the-tree manuals and rear wheel drive. There's a story around of one of the drivers doing it in a major hurricane, though he did get stuck once during the trip and had the passengers get out to push.

So the real answer is that it's mostly the skill of the driver, not so much the vehicle.

Get whatever you like, but remember the saying about boats applies to your off-road vehicle. The two happiest days of your life are when you buy it and when you get rid of it.

I've realized over the past few years and vehicle purchases that cars used to have so much more ground clearance which helps in sand, snow, etc. Sedans nowadays sit as low as sports cars used to. You have to get to a "Crossover" to be at about the height of old cars. I agree with you about skill. If you've had experience and enough ground clearance you can drive a RWD on the beach easily. I don't fall into that category

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I got a good deal on one of these and have never been stuck

They're very hard to stick in sand, that's true. The sand has to be very loose and very deep. And if you break or throw a track in the right place, that can contribute to sticking it.

But the Army sticks tanks all the time to train tankers and recovery personnel. Having an M-88 or two gets them out pretty fast.

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