Thundercracker

So I have a 96 XJ Sport with a I6. This past October I took it on the beach of Corolla, NC and she did great however in the deep soft sand she did start to warm up some on the temp gauge. Lets say that running normal on the temp gauge is 50%....she was running 65-75%. Mine you the outside temp was 60 degrees.

I have done alot of research about what I can do for cooling system upgrades and it looks like most people say keep the OEM water pump, make sure your thermostat and fan clutch are in working order, etc. I dont want to cut vents into the hood right now mostly due to time but also at beach driving speeds I am not sure vents will really do anything worthwhile. So assuming I keep everything else stock I am thinking a better radiator. Is one radiator better than the other for the kind of driving I will be doing? This will be my "surf" Jeep so I will be on the sand up and down OBX. Alot of the sand on the beach is packed with some soft stuff, but Corolla is a few miles of long streches of soft powdery deep sand so she will be pushing hard at times even with the tire PSI lowered. So any help/suggestions anyone has I am looking for direction.

Speaking on this being my Surf Jeep, I also have a question about the OEM roof rack. Is the original roof rack strong enough to carry a surf board and 11'0 SUP? I am hoping not to spent alot of money on a roof rack if I can help it instead hoping to use the OEM rack in conjuction with some rachet straps and board pads.

So those are my questions, any help is appriciated. See you guys at the S-Turns.

SeaVee

I have about 5 XJ's thru the years, all of them have been from one end to the other down there. What size tire are you running? Stock tires suck, and any type of aggressive tread will act like a saw blade. I have never had overheat issues, but keep in mind most every rig will heat up some in that environment.
My best setup was a 98 Sport with 5speed and 9x15 Wranglers with a non-aggressive tread. Beast on the beach. Kept my tires at about 20PSI. The roof rack should be ok, but I'd upgrade it to Yakima or something similar.
I just bought an 01 XJ for my kid, and we are setting it up for down there. 2inch OME lift, 10x15 tires ( probably Wrangler ATS or similar), and maybe a rear locker. Hopefully the new rules down there will open up more beach than the last few years, see you down there.

Thundercracker

Yeah I have stock all terrian Firestone's on the XJ right now. I plan to upgrade a size or two up and a bit wider, but trying to keep her stock so no lift is planned. I lowered them down to 18-20 psi when I was down there and that helped but I know I need something that floats over the sand better.

SteveMongr

I am on Hatteras Island year round, hit me up..
For long drives in the deep stuff there are a number of tricks to aid a properly functioning cooling system with 2 row radiator.

ZJ V8 Grand Cherokee fan clutch, moves more air. Also helps a lot with the AC in summer heat.

Large auxiliary transmission cooler, recommended for driving in deep sand (option of bypassing heat exchanger in radiator).

Switch for manual override of electric fan.

Shim hood hinges to create gap across rear of hood.

Lower tires to 15 psi for traveling distance in sugar sand like at high tide. The low-tide hard pack, 18 is good.

Winter is the best time for wheeling in Carova, there are some great jeep/ATV trails, just have to know how to find them.

Thundercracker

Thanks for the advice Steve, 2 questions.

I assume your telling me about the hood shim trick cause you have done it...do you have any concerns with the edge of the hood being lifted that in a front end collision that the shimmed edge of the hood has nothing to stop it from being pushed into the windsheild/cabin?

2nd question is that since I have a 96 XJ, do I need to look for the fan clutch on a simular 96 ZJ V8 GC?

I like the idea of a switch to run the electic fan....I was "tricking" it to stay on by running the ac with the heat on but that became old after a while cause it was a pretty warm day.

Love the pics btw, yeah I have been to Carova many times over the years but always stayed on the beach side....never trusted my F150 making it over the hills. The XJ did amazing getting over the dune hills and I lost a whole day exploring the Jeep trails back there. I stayed out of most of the deep water puddles cause I am stock, but a few of my buddies had a blast in them. We ended up with one guy getting his Bronco's distributor wet and we ended up parked at this random boat dock we found back there for about 3 hours just sitting back and chilling as random deer and horses walked by. It was a really cool trip and I cant wait to go back.

SeaVee

Go up there on a Saturday afternoon and watch the morons drive their X5's and such thru those holes, very entertaining. Or better yet, the following Sunday morning after they had a few beers the night before, usually quite a few vehicles in and around those holes waiting for a wrecker ride back down the beach to town. Saw a brand new Range Rover burn to a crispy mound of Aluminun a few years back n Ocean Pearl. Good stuff.

Thundercracker

Yeah I got worried when my buddy's Bronco stalled till we saw that it was the distributor was wet.
One day we were just parked on a random trail and some guy came through driving a Mitsubishi truck that they had out a few years back...forget the name of the model. We were parked off on the side and there was a huge water hole in front of us that after we checked we knew none of trucks/Jeeps would make it through....just too deep. Anyway these two guys roll up on us and after talking to us we told them we checked and the water was way to deep for us so in a stock truck that they were in, they would be best to turn around. They (who were in their 20's and I suspect in Daddy's truck) told us that we were just ***** for not going through. They backed up and hit the water at easily 30 mph, ripped off the front air dam, swamped the front end and I suspect based off the noise I heard hydro-locked their truck. We attempted to help them but they didnt want our help...no idea what their problem was. It was entertaining to watch but also sad cause people doing stupid stuff like that is usually what causes people to lose access to places like that.

SeaVee

I hear you. I was referring to the summer rental crowd that comes up the beach to check in each Sat in the summer. Used to be you'd never see the Sheriff on the back roads, but you do now.

SteveMongr

Yes I have done the hood-hinge shim and have discussed the issue of a collision many times. General consensus is, the hood will fold and crease much easier than shearing off 4 hinge bolts or breaking the hinges.

Fan clutch from all production years of the V8 ZJ.
NAPA #272310
Advance #215149

There is a very easy way to trigger the e-fan. It involves grounding one of its wires with a switch in the cab. Computer still has full control of fan when switch is off.

There are some fun trails around the outskirts of Carova. Slalom type trails with banked turns, hill climbing, 180 degree banked turns, canopy trails. I stay out of the section of deep holes, they can be up to four feet deep.

During the summer I avoid those northern beaches, the beaches and forest on Hatteras is so much nicer, and offers 'terrain' like ledges and endless jumping opportunities.

extrashaky

Hood vents and the hood spacers mentioned above basically do the same thing. In stock form, heat wells up under the hood and has nowhere to go. The problem becomes worse at slow speeds or in a stop-and-go situation, because there's less air being passed through the front grill to provide cooler air to push out and replace the heat radiating off the engine and exhaust manifold.

The vents and the gap formed by hood spacers provide a solution to that problem by creating a chimney for the heat. Once the heat has a place to go, it will rise right up out of there, lowering engine compartment temps rather than holding it all in there against the engine. Some people see a pretty big improvement in running temp when the cooling system isn't fighting that heat trapped around the engine.

Personally, I prefer the hood vents rather than the hood spacers because in highway driving air normally backs up off the windshield against the cowl to be pulled into the cabin air ducts, and I wouldn't want the raised hood to interfere with that. But if you don't want to cut into your hood, the spacers may help.

SteveMongr

Carova beach carnage.
Fires are usually due to overheated automatic transmissions.

SteveMongr

Watch out for those holes, some of them are 30 miles across lol.

SteveMongr

I live 1.5 miles south of S-turns. For the last few years there are better breaks than there..
Just hit me up.

Thundercracker

Will do.

After seeing some of those pictures above I will for sure be adding a transmission cooler to my automatic.