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Is Driving on the beach harmful to the undercarriage?
- Thread starter RidgeRunner
- Start date
Probably not. I'd be more worried about getting it stuck. Despite the size this is a pretty heavy vehicle, along the range of most full size trucks.
+1. Especially when the wheels' total contact area is smaller than trucks.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
You should get a CT !!!
Which beach are you allowed to ride on with a car? I believed there is only location in California.
Note: Some people would ask "Is Driving on the beach harmful to the environment?" see below articles:
Which beach are you allowed to ride on with a car? I believed there is only location in California.
Note: Some people would ask "Is Driving on the beach harmful to the environment?" see below articles:
His location says Houston. Not everyone here is from California.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
@Arkbird, thank you for your reply, as you pointed out I should had split my posting in two separate paragraphs to make it more clear.
(BTW the Arkbird Maneuverable Orbiting Spacecraft is an interesting concept.)
I noticed that in Texas, driving on the beaches is not restricted like in California...,
In Texas, you are safe to drive on most beaches.
I have seen cars on the beach in Florida too.
Using a 4 wheel drive would be strongly recommended... I saw Ford Mustang completely stuck in the sand.
Some people tried to help pushing the car but finally a tow truck was needed to rescue the vehicle.
In the case of the Model Y, you cannot lock the axials so I wonder if using the Tesla slip start mode
should be used when you might be stuck in the sand. See some good presentation of its usage:
Note: Beside using the Tesla slip start mode, I noticed that when using the navigationto reach a supercharger, the front motor is used to provide additional heat to warm the battery.
In this case you can hear the front motor when driving, so I wonder if this could be a way
to have the front motor already engaged instead to have the front motor only activated
when the rear wheels are spinning?
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Johnny Vector
Member
That's why you always lower the tire pressure before driving onto the beach. I don't know the rules in Texas, but on Nantucket for example you have to reduce tire pressure to 12-15 psi to drive on the beach. They have a pull-off area for you to do that, with hoses to air them back up when you leave. There are a bunch of other regulations too, including getting and displaying a permit.
I'll give you my opinion, worth $.02 on the common market. Yes to your concerns. No to taking it on the beach.
I did this once when a young man. In my case a CB450 Honda Scrambler, on the beaches at Emerald Isle, NC. Just a short ride, and staying on the hard pack. I was slow to flush it after the ride. My laced wheels, swing arm and steel accessory panels were cosmetically ruined. Lesson learned.
I was under my car (MY LR AWD) recently while my tires were being rotated. The underbody of our cars is an amazing sight. If anything, it is more aerodynamic than the upper sheet metal. The underside of the battery pack is slick and shiny. Not painted, probably galvanized, but not coated that I could tell. The rest of the car is fully faired in, including the suspension. There are cutouts for the suspension swing arms to articulate, but knuckles, axles, shocks and bearings are pretty well enclosed. If sand were to be impacted in those cavities it would be difficult to flush out.
If you must drive on the beach, perform an underbody flush as soon as you can. But again, my advice is not to subject any car that you value to this kind of exposure. A dune buggy would be perfect. They are designed for that, and all parts are fully accessible for hosing down afterwards. Maybe you can rent one - and make a day of it. Good luck, and enjoy your car.
Thanks JPfive, this is the kind of info I'm looking for. We have been driving on the beach for decades with no consequence and we keep our cars for 10 years. I have been preferential however to not drive our newer nicer cars on beach however. concern is not getting stuck, never have. Mainly it is the corrosion or anything else that can be damaged. We are only a mile away from the beach for immediately hosing off the underside. I remain reluctant to take on beach.
Never would have thought of lowering pressure. I'll probably have lower pressure any way in order to have a less bumpy ride on streets.
CT has been on order for over a year and a half. Not wanting to wait for another year and a half or who knows when. there are over a million preorders. And how will it be determined who gets theirs? It could be even longer.
ChrgdTeCHick
Member
FL here and I feel driving on the beach is the equivalent to driving in salty snow up north.
I took my model S to the beach a few times (which was heavier than my Y) without a single issue. Here was have some beaches where they keep the sand compacted for driving and some that are 4x4 only. I would also drive through a car wash with undercarriage spray on my way home.
As others have posted, sand/salt on your car itself won't be the issue it's the potential of getting stuck due to weight if you don't drive on a beach that is kept compacted.
I won't be taking my newer Y on the beach anytime soon though... Too new that every tiny ding or scratch visible by magnifying glass is still too painful to see
I took my model S to the beach a few times (which was heavier than my Y) without a single issue. Here was have some beaches where they keep the sand compacted for driving and some that are 4x4 only. I would also drive through a car wash with undercarriage spray on my way home.
As others have posted, sand/salt on your car itself won't be the issue it's the potential of getting stuck due to weight if you don't drive on a beach that is kept compacted.
I won't be taking my newer Y on the beach anytime soon though... Too new that every tiny ding or scratch visible by magnifying glass is still too painful to see
I’ve only ever driven on a beach in a Land Rover, which, as expected, did quite well.
Remember that tire pressure impacts range. And tire wear. Tesla's tend to be hard on tires to begin with as well. I'd recommend keeping them pretty close to the recommended pressure outside of situations that specifically call for different pressure, like driving off-road
Johnny Vector
Member
Yes, important point here, thanks! Obvious to me so I forgot to mention it, but not necessarily obvious to people who don't have beach driving experience. If you forget to refill your tires when you're done driving on the beach, and head out to do 70 mph on the freeway with 12 psi in your tires, they'll heat up so fast that you will probably have also destroyed the other three by the time the first one blows out entirely. But I don't imagine it would take more than 10 or 20 miles to do that, so at least it'll be over quickly.Remember that tire pressure impacts range. And tire wear. Tesla's tend to be hard on tires to begin with as well. I'd recommend keeping them pretty close to the recommended pressure outside of situations that specifically call for different pressure, like driving off-road
Note: I have no actual idea how long they would last, but it would certainly be dangerous and would damage the tires. Slightly reducing pressure for a softer ride, like RidgeRunner is considering, is less of a concern, but still not optimal for the tires. I agree with wraithfive that you really should keep them close to the recommended pressure for normal driving.
We can drive on our beaches here in WA State. I would be too afraid to get sand in my car, not the interior but in other places. (wheels, brakes, other systems) The sand is so fine and seems to get everywhere! I wouldn’t take the chance!
The Y does great on the beach, assuming you use common sense. Air down your tires to 18 PSI if you have 19s, more if you have 20s, probably more like 25 with 21s. Engage Off Road mode; this is a critical step. DO NOT use "Slip Start!!" Off road mode runs the AWD more like 4WD. AWD biases the rear wheels in a Tesla, the fronts engage after the wheels start to spin. This just digs you down and buries you in the sand. Slip start is even worse. Off Road mode engages both front and rear wheels equally and prevents almost all wheel spin. IMPORTANT NOTE: Off Road mode disengages every time you put it in Park, so remember to put it back in Off Road every time you start driving.
Stay out of the really soft sand, we don't have the ground clearance for it. I have the MPP lift, so I can go into softer sand, but I still avoid the worst stuff. Tire surface area isn't really a problem. If you have two equal weight vehicles with equal air pressure, both will have identical area in their tire's contact patches. Of course, 15 PSI would give you an even larger contact patch, but 18 psi is already pushing it with 19s. If you have 19s with 29" tall tires you can probably safely go to 15 psi. I have tire deflators that I can screw on to each stem that automatically air the tire down to whatever I preset. I use CO2 to air back up when I get back on pavement. You WILL damage your rims or tires if you try and drive at those pressures on road. Drive slow so you don't throw a lot of sand up into the undercarriage, 25 mph max.
Flush your undercarriage with fresh water as soon as you can. A sprinkler works great for this. BTW, driving on freshly damp roads near the ocean is going to deposit more salt on your undercarriage than driving on the sand while using common sense.
Please notice that I have a hitch installed with no ball. I have a clevis that goes nicely in place of the ball along with a 20 foot tow strap. I so wish I had been able to get a video of the time I pulled a 4WD F150 out, or at least pictures. LOL. He went into soft sand with tires that weren't aired down and dug himself in. That just made my day! The hitch is great if you need someone to pull you out too. If you push things often enough, you are eventually going to get stuck. That's just a fact of life; be prepared for it.
In these pictures I was still running 21s, so yes you can run the 21s in the sand. I run 19s now, and 19s are definitely better though since you can air them down more.
Stay out of the really soft sand, we don't have the ground clearance for it. I have the MPP lift, so I can go into softer sand, but I still avoid the worst stuff. Tire surface area isn't really a problem. If you have two equal weight vehicles with equal air pressure, both will have identical area in their tire's contact patches. Of course, 15 PSI would give you an even larger contact patch, but 18 psi is already pushing it with 19s. If you have 19s with 29" tall tires you can probably safely go to 15 psi. I have tire deflators that I can screw on to each stem that automatically air the tire down to whatever I preset. I use CO2 to air back up when I get back on pavement. You WILL damage your rims or tires if you try and drive at those pressures on road. Drive slow so you don't throw a lot of sand up into the undercarriage, 25 mph max.
Flush your undercarriage with fresh water as soon as you can. A sprinkler works great for this. BTW, driving on freshly damp roads near the ocean is going to deposit more salt on your undercarriage than driving on the sand while using common sense.
Please notice that I have a hitch installed with no ball. I have a clevis that goes nicely in place of the ball along with a 20 foot tow strap. I so wish I had been able to get a video of the time I pulled a 4WD F150 out, or at least pictures. LOL. He went into soft sand with tires that weren't aired down and dug himself in. That just made my day! The hitch is great if you need someone to pull you out too. If you push things often enough, you are eventually going to get stuck. That's just a fact of life; be prepared for it.
In these pictures I was still running 21s, so yes you can run the 21s in the sand. I run 19s now, and 19s are definitely better though since you can air them down more.
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