How Well Can a Tall 4WD Ford Transit Van Drive Thru Deep Soft Beach Sand?

[magentawave]

I will be buying a tall Ford Transit (medium to extended) van that will be convert to 4WD. I would like to spend a few weeks camping and surfing and fishing on remote beaches in Baja. I have done this with a little old 82 4WD Toyota pickup truck but not sure if a big heavy van can do this. Compared to my super light 4WD Toyota pickup that had fairly large tires and kind of floated on top of the sand, this van will be a much much heavier beast.

QUESTION: Is it realistic that a huge heavy (medium or extended bed) 4WD tall van can drive over super deep soft beach sand without getting stuck? Again, although the interior build will be as light as possible, this van will be loaded down with all the food, water, etc. required to stay out there for two to three weeks.

Thanks!????‍♂️

 

[sg1]

I have driven a 8,000 lbs. Transit in soft sand both on the Baja and the Kalahari desert in Africa. Compared to your previous setup it will struggle. On sand there are two important factors : pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure on the ground and torque of your engine. The psi will determine how deep you sink into the sand and the torque will determine whether you overcome the resistance of the sand which of course is higher if you are deep in the sand. Your Transit will have a lot more torque than your Toyota but it is a lot heavier and will have smaller tires than your Toyota. I managed to get through very sandy tracks and even over some fairly substantial dunes but a van is no dune buggy. Air down and carry Matrax or sand ladders and you will get further than you think. But expect to do some digging especially when starting after having stopped. This is because due to the design of the 4wd system the front wheels of the Transit (and most other AWD vehicles) only engage if the system detects spin on the rear wheels. If possible avoid the extended Transit. It has a lot more weight on the rear axle where you definitely do not want it in a low traction condition.

 

[rruff]

QUESTION: Is it realistic that a huge heavy (medium or extended bed) 4WD tall van can drive over super deep soft beach sand without getting stuck?

Yep, just air way down when needed. Carry a couple of good pumps

Based on lots of experience with a 2wd open diff pickup in sand, airing down never failed to work.

 

[jhosborn]

I have a 2017 Med Roof, 148 WB, Ford Transit that I had converted to a QuadVan 4x4. We went down to BAJA winter 2022 for 7 weeks. However, we never tried to go on "soft" sand. My rig is near 8000 lbs and I am too old to sweat out a sandy dig out, so never tried. I would worry, as you suggested, that a heavy rig with fairly narrow tires would get stuck. Appreciate the opportunity to discuss.

 

[86scotty]

I would love to see some more video of Transit 4wd/AWD capability in sand, mud, etc. I haven't looked very hard in awhile but for a long time there was essentially no info about this or video anywhere on how capable the Transit system is. What I'd be even more interested in is how durable it is.

 

[T town]

I have driven a 8,000 lbs. Transit in soft sand both on the Baja and the Kalahari desert in Africa. Compared to your previous setup it will struggle. On sand there are two important factors : pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure on the ground and torque of your engine. The psi will determine how deep you sink into the sand and the torque will determine whether you overcome the resistance of the sand which of course is higher if you are deep in the sand. Your Transit will have a lot more torque than your Toyota but it is a lot heavier and will have smaller tires than your Toyota. I managed to get through very sandy tracks and even over some fairly substantial dunes but a van is no dune buggy. Air down and carry Matrax or sand ladders and you will get further than you think. But expect to do some digging especially when starting after having stopped. This is because due to the design of the 4wd system the front wheels of the Transit (and most other AWD vehicles) only engage if the system detects spin on the rear wheels. If possible avoid the extended Transit. It has a lot more weight on the rear axle where you definitely do not want it in a low traction condition.

The AWD Transit has a setting called “mud and ruts” that splits torque 50:50 front and back and disables traction control. It also holds gears longer. The AWD also has a rear LSD.
Something to think about.

 

[Joe917]

Height is only an issue off camber, this is all about floatation and tire choice.

 

[rruff]

...this is all about floatation and tire choice.

PSI

 

[Scotty D]

PSI

Correct.
I would also add that a skinny tire with lots of sidewall and the smallest rim your van will accept
You want the footprint of your tire to be long and thin when you air down.

 

[SDDiver5]

Yes PSI... Don't forget about speed! Have a shovel and 2-4 traction boards just in case.

Possible to test it in your area before heading south?

 

[SDDiver5]

Also, check youtube. There's a few videos on there.

I used to get very nervous driving in sand because I didnt want to get stuck. After getting stuck in sand on a few occasions you learn it's not that bad. A little work and you're free. Much better than mud or rocks

 

[rruff]

Correct.
I would also add that a skinny tire with lots of sidewall and the smallest rim your van will accept
You want the footprint of your tire to be long and thin when you air down.

For the sake of comparison, let's say the tire and rim diameters are the same, only width is different. PSI will largely determine the size of the contact patch. Wider tires run at lower PSI than skinny ones on the road, but is this true in sand also? For instance at 10psi will the tire be less likely to come off on one vs another? Seems like the wider tire could be safely run at lower PSI and would therefore sink less.

 

[simple]

Matching wheel width to tire width is important. Too wide of a wheel will lose the bead more easily at low pressure. This thread might be a little stale. Doesn't look like the OP has followed up. It was mentioned that the van would be a 4x4 conversion so maybe it wouldn't be AWD and would do better in sand especially with lockers.

 

[Scotty D]

For the sake of comparison, let's say the tire and rim diameters are the same, only width is different. PSI will largely determine the size of the contact patch. Wider tires run at lower PSI than skinny ones on the road, but is this true in sand also? For instance at 10psi will the tire be less likely to come off on one vs another? Seems like the wider tire could be safely run at lower PSI and would therefore sink less.

The other factor is the width of the sand ridge that gets formed in front of the tire
The wider this is in proportion to the total square area of the footprint , the harder it is for the tire to roll forward