Wheel hop in deep sand solutions

[wheelhop2stuck]

Ladies and gents,

Truck:
2018 Ram 2500 cummins "tradesmen" 4x4
stock everything

I had a great time at the beach getting my truck stuck in the sand. I've had this truck at this beach before but this time the sand was drier and deeper. By the time the wheel hop kicked in (teeth rattling hopping) i was already to far onto the beach to stop. But the hopping got bad enough that the ABS errored out disabled my 4x4... I thought maybe the ESP/ESC wasn't disabling correctly. I had to get pulled out by a deuce and a half. After driving for a few minutes in 2wd once freed the ABS error went away and 4x4 was allowed to work again. (i'm guess the disabling was to protect the truck, annoying but better than something breaking). The next day I pulled the F06 fuse to disable the ABS and took it to a small sand pit and still had the hopping issue (not as bad but the sand was only half as deep).

edit: a quick addition of something that felt off. while I still had 4x4 while i was stuck at times the wheels refused to spin. the tires were straight and when i tried to go forward the wheels wouldn't spin, even if the gas was to the floor. if i rocked it back then forward it would start to spin, then as i got to moving a little it would hop like a demon on ****. after a bit of this is when the abs errored out and the 4x4 was disabled.

I dropped air pressure to 60 from 85, maybe I should have went more. I attached a pic of my tires, just stock from the dealer.

I told that story to ask for advice on solving the wheel hop issue. If the truck wasn't hopping (rattling like that) I wouldn't have gotten stuck, i could have gotten on top of the sand more and spun through it. To me the obvious solutions are tires with a wider foot print and probably a bit more of ground clearance. But I'm wondering if there's something I can do to upgrade the suspension as well, or really any other suggestions anyone might have. I've seen some videos of people installing beefyer control arms on their 1500s but I dont' know if that'd be a solution for the 2500. I don't have much experience with off road upgrades so really any suggestions are great and also an recommendations of shops that do off road work in the Ft Bragg, NC area would be highly appreciated

 

[tjfdesmo]

You've got to air down way, way more in the sand. Even still, axle *****/wheel hop seems inherently bad with the rear coil setup. I pulled my buddy(Chevy)out, and my truck got hopping so bad I thought it would surely break something.

 

[wheelhop2stuck]

You've got to air down way, way more in the sand. Even still, axle *****/wheel hop seems inherently bad with the rear coil setup. I pulled my buddy(Chevy)out, and my truck got hopping so bad I thought it would surely break something.

thanks for the reply tj. good to know i'm not the only one. i'd have thought coil springs would cure hopping, but i'm not experienced enough to know the physics of it. how low can you go with the psi? 30? 20?

 

[VF_Mike]

As said above you need to air down. I run mine at around 18-20 psi at the beach.

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[wheelhop2stuck]

As said above you need to air down. I run mine at around 18-20 psi at the beach.

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you running hp tires that recommend 80 psi? 20 just seems so low, but it does make sense. if lowering the tirepressure to get a wider foot print then getting tires that have a wider foot print should do the same. correct?

 

[HemiPower36]

Who knows if this would work but....maybe you can try hAuLiNg AsS!!

The added weight with positive cheering might help.



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[tjfdesmo]

Who knows if this would work but....maybe you can try hAuLiNg AsS!!

The added weight with positive cheering might help.



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Nicest "ballast bags" I've seen.

 

[17Delmonico]

80 psi is the *Maximum* tire pressure those tires can handle (according to TireRack). It looks like 85 psi is above the maximum the tires are rated for. You should be running what is on the door placard, not the tire maximum. You should be around 40psi day-to-day, and dropping much lower on sand. No wonder you're hopping so much!

 

[TC323i]

you running hp tires that recommend 80 psi? 20 just seems so low, but it does make sense. if lowering the tirepressure to get a wider foot print then getting tires that have a wider foot print should do the same. correct?

Yes wider tires will help as will lowering the pressure. I’ve found that the heavy front end of the Cummins never does good at slow speeds in the sand ever. Have to keep your speed up.

 

[wheelhop2stuck]

Who knows if this would work but....maybe you can try hAuLiNg AsS!!

The added weight with positive cheering might help.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Where's this sold at?!? I'll take two!

 

[wheelhop2stuck]

80 psi is the *Maximum* tire pressure those tires can handle (according to TireRack). It looks like 85 psi is above the maximum the tires are rated for. You should be running what is on the door placard, not the tire maximum. You should be around 40psi day-to-day, and dropping much lower on sand. No wonder you're hopping so much!

if it goes under 75 the dash ******* at me about it. thanks for the info though i'll read more on it and drop the pressure.

 

[wheelhop2stuck]

Yes wider tires will help as will lowering the pressure. I’ve found that the heavy front end of the Cummins never does good at slow speeds in the sand ever. Have to keep your speed up.

that's what i did my first few times to this beach. i guess the conditions just it a pivot point for the truck to start acting up. seems like everyone points to tire pressure, so that's probably it, but i'm still hunting for some new tires and maybe a little lift to keep my diff out of the sand

 

[rwhjr]

Isn’t the only thing you can do to a solid axle vehicle to raise the diff is bigger tires?

And then when you air down you’ll be losing some portion of the tire height gain...

 

[IRSmart]

Wider tires will help. You need to air down to 20 psi. Regardless of what tires you’re running. I have a ton of beach driving experience, both in my Power Wagon and my jeep. You want the widest footprint possible. Airing down also allows the tires to bend and contort a bit to the sand, as opposed to your fully inflated tires that just cut through. Always air down. By the time you realized you should have, it’s too late.

 

[JohnnyMac]

80 psi is the *Maximum* tire pressure those tires can handle (according to TireRack). It looks like 85 psi is above the maximum the tires are rated for. You should be running what is on the door placard, not the tire maximum. You should be around 40psi day-to-day, and dropping much lower on sand. No wonder you're hopping so much!

Granted 40 psi would be a much better ride, but the 2500 door placard shows 80 psi. Those tires are like rocks, but anything lower and the TPMS light goes off. I put new mud terrains on mine and although it rode 100 times better, they were only rated at 65psi so my TPMS light was on all the time. You can buy or rent a little device to lower the settings yourself, but the dealer won't do it anymore because for the truck to be rated as a 3/4 ton, you have to run the stock tires that high of pressure.

 

[17Delmonico]

Granted 40 psi would be a much better ride, but the 2500 door placard shows 80 psi. Those tires are like rocks, but anything lower and the TPMS light goes off. I put new mud terrains on mine and although it rode 100 times better, they were only rated at 65psi so my TPMS light was on all the time. You can buy or rent a little device to lower the settings yourself, but the dealer won't do it anymore because for the truck to be rated as a 3/4 ton, you have to run the stock tires that high of pressure.

I overlooked the "2500" part of the post... I was going by my 1500...
I guess it helps to read everything....

 

[JohnnyMac]

I guess it helps to read everything....

Hah! I wouldn't know! My wife says I don't listen to everything before I open my mouth so reading it all?.....probably not that either.

 

[wheelhop2stuck]

Wider tires will help. You need to air down to 20 psi. Regardless of what tires you’re running. I have a ton of beach driving experience, both in my Power Wagon and my jeep. You want the widest footprint possible. Airing down also allows the tires to bend and contort a bit to the sand, as opposed to your fully inflated tires that just cut through. Always air down. By the time you realized you should have, it’s too late.

thanks for the advice. i would have gone down lower on the psi, but i wasn't sure about the HP tires and how they'd react. going to need to get a little compressor to get the tires back up to normal pressure.

 

[wheelhop2stuck]

Isn’t the only thing you can do to a solid axle vehicle to raise the diff is bigger tires?

And then when you air down you’ll be losing some portion of the tire height gain...

yeah, but a lift will allow for bigger tires. i'll ask the guys at the 4wd shop what they recommend. if i can get away without a lift that'd be best. i still mostly tow my car around with the truck and if i go any higher i'll need a larger drop hitch for my trailer.

 

[BWL]

Who knows if this would work but....maybe you can try hAuLiNg AsS!!

The added weight with positive cheering might help.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just be aware that if you go this route to drive carefully. If they bounce out you'll never hear the end of it. Wider tires and lower air pressure are the easiest improvements. Then rear locker since they don't require wheel spin to engage so you have both rear wheels driven to get you going right away. The cummins is heavy so it likes to sink.