I plan to take the wife and daughter to Carova this Saturday to do some beach driving. This is my first time off roading. I bought the XJ in April and have spent the last several months getting it sorted out. It is on 5" of lift and 33s now. I've been reading up on driving on the beach and found Steve is the resident expert on the OBX.

I plan to pack a basic toolbag, couple straps, high lift jack (with larger base), and shovel, small air compressor to reinflate. Should I pack anything else?

Etiquette - What is a good maximum speed?

Plan to drive in 4LO while on the sand, aired down to 18 PSI. Any reason to stick in 4HI?

Any advice? Spots to visit?

 

Check with the beach you intend to visit. You'll likely need a 4x4 permit for the beach and the permit will have stated requirements. In my neck of the woods some of the additional items are jack board, first aid kit, porta potty and some others I'm forgetting.

Speed is relative to the sand your on and obstacles. Anything over 15MPH by me and you looking to have your permit yanked. Want to go only fast enough to maintain speed and definitely air down. Make sure you have trans cooler (if auto) and cooling system is in good order.

Have fun but beware smokey has a sharp eye out for stupid.

 

Had a great time. Jeep performed flawlessly. Aired down to 18 PSI and kept it in 4LO. Trans temp never went over 165, coolant temp right at 200. Didn't get stuck. I kept it fairly tame, avoiding anything that looked too soupy.

Learned a valuable lesson. Don't give a 2 year old an iPad while bouncing around the sand. I thought she would put it down if she started to get car sick, nope. Yarked all over the back seat. Good thing I brought trash bags.

My dad wants to take his YJ next weekend, we'll see what the weather looks like (it was down with a bad fuel pump this week). Any good areas in Carova to wander? I ended up wandering around the northern section of the town, found some twisty tight trails.

 

Glad you had fun. This is the best time of year for wheeling the forests behind NC beaches.

 

Even in the Central US it's also the best time for off roading, most of ours took place during the week mostly had the trails to ourselves on public land in the 4 state area.


Practice using your Hi-Lift jack before it is needed both for lifting and for a winch it works excellent for either but can be dangerous if not used properly.


Another item needed is a well equipped First Aid kit and know how to use it, ours is a quite large First Responder Kit with all extra meds that I need and other misc. items included. Very important if traveling with children or anyone for that matter even yourself.


My general rule of thumb is "I would rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it" when going off road.

 

Will likely head back that way next weekend. At what mile marker should I turn in for the forest to wander through Steve?