Towing 28'-32' ft Airstream on Beach??

[Rebee]

Make sure the 4x4 has positraction on both axles. A diesel engine weighs about 1200 lbs, a gas engine weighs around 600 lbs. A heavy nose could be a problem on a soft surface.

[Gringo]

taking large complex objects composed of different metals in contact with each other to a beach environment for any length of time (i.e. a couple overnights) will definitely affect the lifetime of some metal components. Where there are different metals in contact with the aluminum, the aluminum will lose out. The corrosion itself will take a while, in most cases. The fastest I have seen it was in the case of our aluminum screens with brass grommets around the openings in them for louver window cranks. roughly 3 months after our brand new screens were installed in our brand new house under construction, the brass grommets started falling off onto the floor. The aluminum screen corroded away in a circle around them. they were all gone within six months. We've been here six years now. Gone through a Ford Expedition, a Suzuki Samurai, and are getting close to the end of life for two 2005 Land Rovers. One of them only has about 25k miles on it. They are falling apart faster than I can fix them. And once the vehicles have been exposed to the salt, you can't really stop all the corrosion. You can't even see most of it.

It's in little places where two metals meet in the dark.

Sounds like a seedy novel, doesn't it?

I'm NOT saying not to go camp on the beach. If that's what you like to do, then why not?

But you're kidding yourself if you think a vehicle that's been driving on a beach will last as long as one that has not been driven on a beach. With a car you are going to only going to keep a few years it probably won't even show up while you own it. With a trailer you plan to keep ten or twenty years....well...I am pretty sure AS doesn't put the engineering effort into corrosion prevention that the car manufacturers do. It's not going to last as long as a car would. Aluminum is the second stuff to go. Right after zinc, if you have any.

[r carl]

Originally Posted by JohnnyQ

Hello All,
Would a used F250 with a 5.4 be able to tow an airstream on soft sand? I only need to go about 1/8 to 1/2 mile in the sand.
Thanks
JohnnyQ

Only if you have paddle tires and put it in low lock and floor it.

[Gringo]

or a really good running start.

maybe with a ramp. Let me get my camera.

[Gringo]

hey, check this out:

Mattracks | Worldwide Track Technology

They have a version for towed trailers, too:
http://www.mattracks.com/models/trail-r-mates/hd/

But I thought this one looked cooler.

[w7ts]

People drive and camp on salt water beaches all the time. It is a matter of knowing how and where to drive. If you are knowledgeable about both the types of areas to avoid and the specific beach you are going to, getting stuck should not be a problem.

The problems with doing this occur after you have done it. First of all, the wheels on both TT and TV are going to throw up a mixture of sand and salt that will work like but not quite as well as a sand blaster on the undersides of both vehicles. If the wind blows significantly while you are there, it will perform the same service on the sides of your trailer.

The aftermath is worse. Especially with an aluminum vehicle. The salt will have gotten into every little crevice. Depending on how thoroughly you hosed the the vehicle off, there will be corrosion of various degrees in every nook and cranny where the salt can stick. If you do this once and wash off the trailer extremely well. you probably won't notice the deterioration. However if you do it repeatedly, each time you do the result will be worse.

If you visit a area where people routinely drive on the beach, take a look around at the local vehicles. Keep in mind most of those are steel and iron. Aluminum corrodes much more rapidly.

In short, I would have no problem at with all towing your trailer on the beach. However, I sure wouldn't do it with mine.

Ken

[Gringo]

When I was growing up in the Houston area, we spent every moment we could get away at the beach. I remember one summer, probably 69 or 70, at a surfing/bonfire spot called Quintana near Freeport someone had drug several pieces of automotive junk down to a spot at a dead end road and abandoned them against a dune. There was a Ford and a Toyota truck ( HiLux?) that had been in a head on accident. We watched those crumpled up vehicles rust completely to pieces over the next few years. The Toyota won by a landslide.

If they had sat in a field in Southern Wyoming for those same fifty years, they would still be sitting there today with salveagable parts.

I've stopped bringing up neat things we find in the ocean made of iron. The last one was a 300 lb. Admiralty anchor from sometimes around 1800. ( http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2007/12/old-anchor.html ) It made it intact for over 200 years on the bottom of the ocean. I put it next to a driveway, washed it down with phosphoric acid, got it rust free, and encapsulated it with another rust compound, and it won't make ten years in the air. Now, if we find something interesting on an old shipwreck site, we just mark it with a GPS and leave it in place.

The effects of adding sodium chloride to a vehicle are pretty well demonstrated in any beach community if you pay attention to the rusted out fenderwells and bumpers.

[boatdoc]

test

[Boondocker]

Always keep your Airstream in a hermetically sealed- climate controlled environment. Exposing it to the elements: sun, sea salt, pine tar, ect shorten its lifetime which should be everyone's goal to avoid.

Why damage the clear coat and other component for the fleeting opportunity for recreation on a beach, mountain, or desert. Keep your ship tied to the dock where nothing bad can happen to it.

[w7ts]

Originally Posted by Boondocker

Always keep your Airstream in a hermetically sealed- climate controlled environment. Exposing it to the elements: sun, sea salt, pine tar, ect shorten its lifetime which should be everyone's goal to avoid.

Why damage the clear coat and other component for the fleeting opportunity for recreation on a beach, mountain, or desert. Keep your ship tied to the dock where nothing bad can happen to it.

I'm glad to see you're finally starting to come around, Rodney
We'll have you straightened out in no time.

Ken

[Hodum]

Play on the beach. Camp on solid ground. Save a tow bill. Enjoy life. Why complicate things?