Well I decided to take a little drive to the river beach yesterday around 4:45 well I found a new trail and took it and discovered a new beach I had never been to. So im cruising along and out of nowhere SUNK... I had a shovel and an axe with me so I dug a little and cut a few trees to build a ramp. [NEVER WORKS] But by then I was too stuck, if I would have just started digging earlier I would have gotten out. But towards the end I was in sand up to my doors [couldn't open them all the way.. Plus i have a 2.5" lift.

Called a buddy with a z71 [hate these things but hey the hardest part would be getting him down the trail.] Well he finally got there and it was WELL past dark. Needless to say he got stuck in the 3" of dirt/sand as usual. So we call our friend with a lifted rubicon. He had to drive even further to get to us. We passed time by making a little fire with some gasoline from my fuel rail.

When he got there he had no problem cruising circles around us. I was pretty pissed granted he had both differentials locked and seemed like 35" WIDE tires..

He yanks me out and it takes me and him to yank out the Z71.
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Well I dont mind getting stuck is usually is pretty fun.. And If I was desperate enough I could have dug myself out EVENTUALLY...... maybe..

So Instead of getting 33" tires though they are a little wider im going to be investing in some other STUFF... But I need your help.

Highlift Jack
This would have definatly came in handy. It can be used for winching [slowly] and lifting the truck/tires.

Tire Deflators
May have helped me never get stuck to begin with.

Shovel [Any Recommendations?] [mine was POS I left it]

And Considering Winch. But I have a few questions.
I really dont want to spend more than 400$. I checked out super winch and smittybilt. I need 8000-1000LBS.. I found these..

Smitty Bilt 291$


Super Winch 402$

Should I go with something better? And can you mount a tray to the stock bumper?

 

I always air down before 4 wheeling. helps alot with the sink factor. And makes the ride more comfortable. Not sure I would have remembered before going on to a beach tho. Def recommend a 3-4 foot spade shovel. Survival shovel or what I refer to it as a s**t shovel is good for digging a small hole to, well, you know in.

Winch, I feel the Warn is the best but smittybilt are good too. My fab guy told me he could easily mount a universal winch plate between the frame rails behind the bumper. Not only does this keep it out of the weather but it also protects it from rocks.

DEF get a high lift jack. Get the wide base to go with it.

 

yea I airdowned afterwards and it helped a bit..

 

Get one of these and keep it in the truck at all times.
http://www.rei.com/product/753114
Its small but moves alot of dirt, I got mine at the Army Surplus store.
Def get a Hi-Lift, if you dont have a roof rack you can mount it to the bars on a Yak Rack using u-bolts.
I can post a pic later of what I mean it you want.
As for the winch, unless you are going to be winching everyday up a vertical wall dont spend the money on a Warn, get the Smitty Bilt or the like, if you get a 10-12k winch that would be better.
The more wraps on the drum the less pulling power you have, so a 8,000lbs winch will only have 7,000lbs once one wrap is on the drum and it keeps dropping from there.
You do not need 2 batteries, only one good one.
If you use synthetic rope you will cut your total winch weight almost in half.
My boss has a Smitty Bilt 10k with a Warn receiver mount and synthetic rope and it weighs under 100lbs.

 

What you really need is some of these!

 

I agree better tires would have helped alot.

 

WELL... Thats what I am getting 255/85/16, but mud tires never help on a beach. wider tires do, but they suck in other aspects

 

Does your Diff Lock work? I have also used an old redneck trick of jacking the tires up and placing a 2 by 10 under the tire to get a running start getting out of deep sand. I had a 67 Chevy window van with a 283 in it that I used to take on the beaches in Florida. A good 2 by 10 got it out a few times.

 

MT's would def help. Aired down plus the lugs are designed to clear the mud as they turn.

 

Yes it works.. But seriously I need a rear locker..

The beach looked fine, the top was dry but right underneith was mud/clay..