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18" or 20" wheels for sand driving?

6K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Mendo 
#1 · (Edited)
I am taking delivery of a Laredo with QL and QTII soon and my dealer has offered to swap my OEM 18" polished alloy wheels for a 20" set at no charge. He has a number of sets because everyone buys a limited or overland but wants the 18" wheels. My jeep will be 95% Tarmac 4% gravel/light trail 1% sand so the offer is tempting. I am buying this vehicle specifically for when I go onto sand and I want no hassles. My question is how do the 20" wheels go in sand driving? Can the tyres be sufficiently aired down?
 
#3 · (Edited)
I just got back from a trip to the Outer Banks. I had my 18" wheel QTII Laredo on the sand a few times with no issue. I went on all of the little back roads, and some that weren't even roads all without airing down the tires at all, I left them at 40psi. I heard the traction control a few times but it just went everywhere without caring.

I did hit a puddle that was a little deeper than expected though. It started out fine but kinda dropped off into a 2.5 ft. swimming pool of water. I was going about 15-20mph and water was over the window and roof. It was pretty cool, the wipers did a good job of getting the sand off so I could see again. :) And no hydrolock, even with a constant flow of water over the hood and grill for 2-3 seconds, the filter wasn't even wet. There was a lot of sand and debris in the airbox but it did take it like a champ.

I really doubt you will have any issues with the 20" rims in the sand. Especially if you air them down a little.
 
#4 ·
Sounds like a fun trip! Glad to hear they can handle some rougher stuff. Being from down under I'm not sure exactly where you were. The sand I intend to drive on is can be deep and soft is that what you drove on?
 
#5 ·
Some of it was pretty soft and deep. I think it would be pretty hard to stick one of these unless you are messing around or trying to get stuck. :)

Even with the crappy stock tires some people say we have, this thing just won't get stuck for me. It likes mud, snow, and sand and has never let me down or even thought about getting stuck.
 
#6 ·
20" are fine in the sand. Air down to about 18psi. No problems. Have a look at my posts and photos. 18" would be better, but 20" works well enough for the odd sand trip.
 
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