I have done that with friends in his tacoma... it wasn't as easy as it looked, but it did work eventually. I'm a big fan of the make the passengers get out and dig approach myself.

By the way, get the V6 for sure. Another big thing you need for sand is power. Without it you slow down too much in the real loose stuff and thats when problems start.

As far as suspensions go, I would think an Old Man Emu setup (with tokico trekmasters) to be about perfect. Soft enough to not rattle your brain, firm enough to not bottom out, pretty decent travel, 2-3" of lift and a very nice on road ride to boot. I run this setup.

 

How about a nice set of paddles?

 

Now thats a nice rig.

Evan

 

Yea..its running 33" tires too...pretty cool formula racer

 

Thanks again. Jake, how's the hi lift work in getting unstuck? For some reason I was thinking people used them to winch or to change a tire when out wheeling. Sorry for the dumb question, I'm new to this stuff. As a kids when we got our p/u's stuck, we'd go get a friend's father's backhoe to get us out. . . I've never used recovery gear.

BTW, the Silver 2000 Limited is GO! Just struck a deal with the owner. Here's the specs: 127k miles, full documenation, silver. Body is straight and accident free, has expected dings. Interior a bit rough, but hey, it's a beach truck. It's got an e-locker. Shocks/struts/Tbelt/Waterpump and a bunch of other stuff were done in November of 06.

The 4WD system is engaged by a pushbutton on the L-H lever. Does that indicate a center diff lock, or is this the standard 4WD system?

 

can't really recommend a lift for your IFS but some Sway Away (SAW) Racerunner front coils mind work out for you. Depending on how much you want to spend, these guys build some sweet stuff: http://chaosfab.com/

With your comment about not having to see the Chiropractor after a run on the beach I would recommend a set of Hydraulic Bump stops. They act as kind of an extra shock make the impact a bit more comfortable.
This link came to mind: http://www.lightracing.com/v1b/light...ounceIntro.cfm they are a bit expensive, there are more choices out there but it came up first when I googled it.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f31/...-trucks-91133/
t

edit:
the high lift can lift the truck up to allow you to put your sand matts or plywood under the tires. I would suggest putting on a set of quality sliders on the side to use as high lift jacking points. With the winch you are thinking about the bumper you choose should be a strong enough lift point for the front.

 

You can use your HiLift as a come-a-long with one of these>>

http://www.pullpal.com/aboutPP.html

 

Yeah, that pull pal is cool. I'll be getting one if I end up with a winch. . . otherwise there's nothing to winch to on the beach.

Will 275/70's fit w/o a lift? Was thinking they are slightly wider and taller for a bit more floatation over the stock 265/70. I talked with the guys at Sonoran. I like the approach they take with full kits. Problem is, I can't get too high or my wife will complain so I may be stuck with factory height, at least for now.

Great point on the sliders. The factory running boards look dorky anyway.

 

They will fit

 

yea the button shifts it from awd to 4wd aka engages the center diff lock for 50/50 torque distribution.
since your truck is gonna be seeing so much sand and water i would definitely invest in some custom fitted floor mats and seat covers

 

Hey fellas, just wanted to say thanks. I did purchase the 00 silver limited with elocker. Mods/maintenance so far:

airfilter
oil
brakes
BFG AT 31's (275/70)
full detail
weathertech mats
Sonoran's 'best of factory' suspension (new 99 suspension)
Fluid Film undercoating for sand/salt

Next up: roof basket and recovery gear. Will bring rig down to Corpus after the imminent hurricane Ike. Pictures after basket and gear installed.

Gotta love Toyota quality. Friggen rig drives like it has 20k on the clock.

 

to be honest if the sand is really that soft and deep a tire bigger than 10.5's would help out a lot to float over the sand. air down. carry carpets like the man said above, also pieces of plywood help, basically anything with traction. i used a cutting board we used to cut bait for fishing to get a rig unstuck when 6 guys couldn't budge it out. basic 4wheelin techniques will help like working the wheels back and forth for traction, keep momentum, feather throttle (don't dig). also don't brake hard on soft sand you'll berm up the sand in front of your tires making it that harder to get out from a dead stop. Hope the sand isn't as bad as i think you make it out to be. have fun, don't be scared to get stuck all the more fun to get out!!!! everythings a learning experience.