My OBX at OBX

[Pete_Green_Machine]

I'm almost done with a week at Corolla NC with the family and the new Bronco OBX. Wow, it's been an adventure!

My grand plan was to cruise topless all week. Unfortunately, the weather this week has been nuts, hot and sunny one minute then stormy the next. I've been caught twice in sudden rainstorms, one on the road and the other while driving on the beach 4x4 area near the Virginia state line. Our house doesn't have covered parking, so I bought a cheap car cover to use when I'm not driving. But driving around topless has been a blast! The car is great for throwing beach gear in the back and shuttling kids to the beach.

Driving on the beach was fun, but I have lots of newbie questions... I aired down to around 20 psi and used Sand mode, and had no problems getting around, even in the thick soft OBX sand. I tried to stay in the ruts from other vehicles, but I felt like I was really getting tossed around, lots of vibrations and shaking. Why is that? Is it better to make your own tracks instead of follow in someone else's?

I also had a little trouble with the gearing in Sand mode. Sometimes just leaving it in Drive selected a gear too low, so I felt I was revving a little. Would I have been better off manually selecting the gear, or getting out of Sand mode and just switching to 4H? What do you all prefer for driving in thick sand?

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[Saltwater Junkie]

After airing down to 18-20 lbs., I usually just put it in 4 HI. I've tried the sand mode and didn't like the shift points. Been driving on the OBX from Carova to Ocacroke since the early 80's and 4 HI with 18-20 lbs has always worked.

 

[OBXBRONCO]

Spend as much time as possible on the obx beaches. I've been driving on them since I started driving 46 yrs ago. 18lbs and 4h in sand mode on my wildtrak. Hit the plus button and upshift if I feel the revs are high.

 

[wanderingjim]

Sand mode keeps the revs higher so if you bog down in a softer spot you have power on tap, if you're at 1500 rpm and you bog you'll have to wait for a downshift to apply any power. Sand mode in 4-hi at 20psi has been fine on the soft Delaware beaches.

Sand mode seems to shift around 3000 rpm on the Bronco, but it hasn't been annoying enough to pay too much attention. On our previous Jeep Cherokee sand mode wouldn't shift until about 4000 rpm which was annoying. I feel like it's best to keep it between 2K-3K rpm, plenty of instant power if you need it but not revving so much it's annoying.

I've tried 4-Lo a couple times just because and it also works fine but on the Bronco it's not necessary.

 

[Pete_Green_Machine]

Wow, what a great beach setup, @OBXBRONCO! If I came down here more often I'd definitely invest in some of your gear. I booked this trip too late to get the new beach parking passes required for Currituck County (they were sold out), so I was jealous passing all the parked 4x4s enjoying the beach with their families.

I haven't driven on OBX beaches in about 15-20 years, back when my kids were little tikes, in my old 2000 Ford Expedition XLT (affectionately known as "Big Red"). That thing was a beast. But ultimately I think the salt water and sand was one of the things that led to its demise. (It had a lot of rust issues late in its life.) I'll be more careful this time.

 

[adam1991]

I'm envious. We had plans to be there this year, taking our new OBX, but life happened.

Maybe next year. In the meantime, more pictures!

 

[SmallCrawler]

For sand, I prefer putting the Bronco in 4 high, then manually selecting and holding it in 2nd or 3rd gear. Sand is like snow so your wheels will want to spin a little... and that's (mostly) a good thing. Momentum is your friend in the sand and snow.

Just remember to turn off traction control and advancetrac by holding down the traction control button for a few seconds. Doing this will allow your wheels to spin without the driving nannies trying to stop them (heating up brakes, giving you error messages, and shutting things down).

In most cases you won't need a locker or lockers, but they can help if you get stuck. Of course, having some basic recovery gear on hand (shovel, traction boards, recovery rope etc.) is essential to getting yourself unstuck.

 

[Sandy56]

Anybody been down to the point lately? Wondering how it is. I always stayed in Buxton growing up. Me the wife, and my brothers are headed back there for the first time in years next May. OBX feels like home

 

[SeaVee]

18lbs, 2H up there, 4H down on the island. Hate the sand mode, wish you could use Sport mode in 4H. As far as The Point, it’s closed for a few pairs of Piping Clovers. The beach and trails down at the Ferry Dock are open, and that point has really grown in the last few years

 

[Pete_Green_Machine]

For sand, I prefer putting the Bronco in 4 high, then manually selecting and holding it in 2nd or 3rd gear. Sand is like snow so your wheels will want to spin a little... and that's (mostly) a good thing. Momentum is your friend in the sand and snow.

Just remember to turn off traction control and advancetrac by holding down the traction control button for a few seconds. Doing this will allow your wheels to spin without the driving nannies trying to stop them (heating up brakes, giving you error messages, and shutting things down).

In most cases you won't need a locker or lockers, but they can help if you get stuck. Of course, having some basic recovery gear on hand (shovel, traction boards, recovery rope etc.) is essential to getting yourself unstuck.

Will Sand GOAT mode turn off traction control automatically? Given what it does, it seems like it really should.

 

[RedTailHawk]

Just got back from OBX yesterday. We stayed 8 miles up Carova. It was a blast driving with the roof and doors off. However...that sand turns into concrete if it gets even slightly wet (we got caught in a light drizzle which felt amazing). Anyone tried vacuuming out thickly coated sand?

 

[SmallCrawler]

Will Sand GOAT mode turn off traction control automatically? Given what it does, it seems like it really should.

Traction control (TC) only turns off automatically in 4 low. The following Vaughn Gittin Jr. video does a better job of explaining the hero switches than I can. He covers TC and AdvanceTrac at around the 5:30 mark.

Note -- you obviously wouldn't want to drive your bronco like this at Corolla, but the video shows the benefits of unimpeded wheel spin in the sand. Just don't spin the wheels and dig down if you get stuck. This is when you would turn on the locker(s).

 

[TheShark]

Just got back from OBX yesterday. We stayed 8 miles up Carova. It was a blast driving with the roof and doors off. However...that sand turns into concrete if it gets even slightly wet (we got caught in a light drizzle which felt amazing). Anyone tried vacuuming out thickly coated sand?

It's amazing, every time we come back from the OBX I keep finding sand in the Bronco for months afterwords. I was mounting some fridge rails in the back and when I pulled up the flooring I found a nice clump of sand hiding there. Riding on the beach is some of the most fun we have in the Bronco and I'll gladly trade it for some sand mess.

 

[adam1991]

18lbs, 2H up there, 4H down on the island. Hate the sand mode, wish you could use Sport mode in 4H. As far as The Point, it’s closed for a few pairs of Piping Clovers. The beach and trails down at the Ferry Dock are open, and that point has really grown in the last few years

Ferry? Ferry?

FERRY?

 

[Pete_Green_Machine]

Ferry? Ferry?

FERRY?

Ferries are more fun than tunnels. I haven't been to Ocracoke in years, but the fact you have to take a ferry to get out there is one of things that makes it feel special, IMHO. And you can drive pretty much anywhere. I once went so far out on the southern tip by the inlet at low tide, I could barely see the rest of the island. It felt like another world.

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