Whats up forum?
I'm planning on taking my 2002 Discovery on a trip this weekend and will be driving on the beach. Any tips for driving in sand will be helpful. Also the trip is about 7 hours, any idea on what type of gas mileage i'll be looking at? Thanks

 

hard packed ??? wet ??? or normal loose sand ???

 

Close to the water will be harder sand, but watch for standing water.

Don't spin you tires in the loose stuff, and watch out for poachers: Guys with big lifted 4WD trucks will make traps:

They find a spot that is hard to drive around.
Guy 1 puts his truck in 2WD and burys the back end - spinning his tires (loosening the sand)while guy 2 pulls him with a tow strap.
They have now made a very loose sand trap which they will sit within site of to charge $20 - $40 for pulling people out - all day.

 

I spend a great deal of time in the sand. I tow a 35FT toy hauler out into the dunes several times a month with no problems. It is all about air pressure in the tires. On my F350 one ton I drop my tires down to 15 pounds and the same for the six trailer tires. On a Disco you could probably drop them down to 20 or 25 pounds and go anywhere in the soft stuff. Bottom line is the moment you start to dig in you must stop! Back up and move ahead slowly again. If you continue to dig you will get stuck. I also take wooden sand panels and shovels just in the case I get buried. To fill back up I have very compact 10lb CO2 setup that airs me back up in no time. Good luck and have a blast. The sand is a great place to venture.

One last thing...if this is your first trip trying out the sand it would be wise to go with a buddy just in case things go wrong.