First truck...need advice

[Zeal]

I just bought a 2005 Nissan Frontier and I can't wait to get it on the sand.

Problem is, I'm not sure what I will need to make it beachworthy without corroding, getting stuck, etc.

Can anyone suggest must haves and things good to have as well as a good way to keep things from rusting due to the salt?

I'm a total rookie, this is my first pickup.

[Rappin Mikey]

Wash it good everytime you get off of the sand. Go to a place that will get the undercarriage. Things you need: tow rope, shovel, tire guage (to 5 PSI) Jack plank, full size spair, jack. You also need to know of a place close by where you can air up. Or get yourself a portable compressor. I keep my tires around 10 psi while on the sand. If you do get stuck. Don't try and gun your way out. Let a few more pounds out of each tire, than ease your way out. The more you spin the deeper in trouble you get (no pun intended). Rod racks make things a bit easier as well.

Then you need some hot chicks, beer, and fishing stuff. Make sure you hose down your girls and fishing gear before and after every outing. I hope this helped.

[Saltheart]

Is it 4WD?. If yes , standard stuff are a shovel , tire guage to air down (you must airdown to go on the sand) , a tow strap , a 12 inch square piece of 3/4 inch plywood , always have a cell phone with you . a 12 volt air compressor for airing up helps , flashlight.....

[niko]

have fun zeal. some of my fondest fishing memories are orv trips. if your airing down often some tire deflators are handy

[gone fishin]

Plan on the vehicle becoming a rust bucket real quick. Rinse as soon as you can, check the brake lines now and be sure there is no rust or corrosion on them. They have a tendency to blow out at just the right time. A 05 vehicle will be showing rust from road salt already. I think the frame on that vehicle may be tubular - If so check the areas over the wheels and under the passenger compartment for early rust. If the under carridge is nice and clean, it might be wise to buy a #^&#^&#^&#^&load of undercoat paint in spray bombs and coat all surfaces with it. The road salt does plenty of damage on it's own. Salty sand will do a number on the interior also. Try and vac it clean often. This is a problem when jumping in with wet waders. Keep off wet sand and standing water. You might find yourself digging out.

For further information go to the MBBA | Massachusetts Beach Buggy Association | Leave Nothing Behind But Our Footprints web site and you will get lots of info there. If you see a vehicle with the MBBA sticker, stop and talk to the owner. You will get plenty of info from them.

[MAKAI]

Don't be afraid to drive at 10-11 psi. Easier on the rig. Low and slow no rat patrolling. After thorough rinse take it for a good spin to air dry the undercarriage.
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[ProfessorM]

Hey Don.
I was going to tell him to check the site too. I agree rust buckets so quick. Extremely hard to stem the rust and with winter and salt it seems a lost cause after a while. All good info above. Have fun

Don I think I have at least 25 years, probably more, as a MBBA member I am curious how many years you have been a member?

[gone fishin]

Hi Paul.. Go back to the early days of MBBA. Many good memories of fishing Nauset and Race Point in the 50's. With the erosion and tide height changes there is very little left of the beach as we knew it. I have gone from a "camper panel truck to a Jeep. Wifes idea of camping is now the Holiday Inn.

What's happening with the access to the Cape side of the ditch?

[RickBomba]

Yeah, likely that truck will have some undercarriage rust problems pretty quickly.

The real dinger for me (I used to drive a 96 Pathfinder on the beach), was the exhaust system. I ended up replacing stuff twice.

I gave the truck to my ex wife when we got divorced and she drove it for another 8 years with no problems with the exhaust. Go figure.

And tire deflators, they are the way to go.

[Jackbass]

Make sure to get a spare set of valve stems and a tool to replace them. Also get a tire patch kit. Deflators are awesome when set up properly.

Galvanic corrosion is your enemy. Be sure to remove lug nuts and tires and coat the portions of the wheel and the hubs that make contact with Noalox available at Home Depot. Also apply a little to the lug studs. Take it low and slow like everyone else said. Make sure you have a handful of Clevis's as well that will go onto tow hooks just in case you ever need to pull someone out or if you need to be pulled out.

Have fun
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[piemma]

I had a blast running the Back beaches for 20 years. I wouldn't do it again as it really shortens truck life. I had an old partner of mine who had his gas tank go because sand and saltwater got between the tank and the body of the truck. Rotted the tank out. I think the make the tanks out of some kind of plastic now.

[Rockfish9]

I haven't run the beach since the 70's... but something I always kept was a come along ( or electric winch that hooked on the trailer hitches front and rear) and a danforth boat anchor anchor.... a 12lb anchor burried in the sand gives you a winch point should there be none available...they dont take up alot of room but shure can save the day when things go wrong...

[Jackbass]

Originally Posted by Rockfish9

I haven't run the beach since the 70's... but something I always kept was a come along ( or electric winch that hooked on the trailer hitches front and rear) and a danforth boat anchor anchor.... a 12lb anchor burried in the sand gives you a winch point should there be none available...they dont take up alot of room but shure can save the day when things go wrong...

That is a great idea. That I have not thought of previously. So many things can go wrong particularly when you are out by yourself. I remember one time having difficulty getting off a beach due a fairly decent dune angle and ruts that would have given me peace of mind at the least.
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[Jackbass]

My only other advice is always properly air down some do not take it seriously and the trails get very bumpy due to this which is damaging to all vehicles.
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[Saltheart]

Accelerated corrosion occurs at ppm levels of salt. There is no way to wash below that level once the salt gets in the nooks and crannies. Corrosion is just a fact of life for vehicles used for ocean adventures.

[Zeal]

It's 4WD, just about all the guts are new (replaced), and the interior is in very good condition (was owned by a 70 year old gentleman who took immense care of it), and tires are brand new.

When I get it today, I'll take a look at the underside of the truck tomorrow (weather permitting, LI is constantly getting rain for the past 2 weeks, pretty sure the ocean shore is sweetwater compared to the deeper water now).

I'll take pictures in case they are needed.

Thank you all so much for the input. I need to get this truck to last so beach trips are going to have to be rare. I'll still have to wash it thoroughly after driving to the beach parking lot anyway because its flat rocks and sand mainly.

[flyvice11787]

As you're new to it, join LIBBA and take their off road driving course. The Surfcaster sells a nice kit that has all the bare essentials to allow you to get any 4 wheel drive permit, be it state, county, or national seashore.
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[justplugit]

Set up an oscillating sprinkler on a hose in your driveway. As soon as you get home run the truck center over the sprinkler and turn it on for 15 min.
As soon as you can, take it to a good car wash that has undercarriage wash.
Worth every penny.
Good luck with it.

[Swimmer]

Starting out with an "05" and expecting not to rust quickly, or not at all is going to take much work after being on the beach, for that matter on a salted road.......which is probably worse. You are going to have to be vigilant with the after care
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[chaz]

if you need more info on the truck and common issues related with it check out
www.clubfrontier.org you need parts ,lift kit, specs etc... also lots of good pics of modded frontier trucks.i have an 06 le 4x4 it is still one of the best trucks i have ever owned.

[ThrowingTimber]

a good spare tire.
a good jack and a sturdy board you can use as a jack board.
a set of spare tire valve stems, stick them in a ziplock and put them in your glove box. If you ever damage one you'll have one on hand.
A shovel, hit an army navy store and see if you can find a low priced entrenching tool (stow the etool as a backup shovel)
A good tow strap
first aid kit

If you do your own brakes, grease the brake shoe retaining pins REALLY WELL! I ran the beaches tons in my old truck and I went to do my brakes one year and the brake pad retaining pins were bonded to the calipers. I greased them real well after that and have never had that same problem.

when parking on super soft sand. drive a bit past where you want to park. and back up, so you pack the sand a bit, makes taking off much easier

grab a few tire gauges

If you cant hit a car wash on the way home, just throw a lawn sprinkler under the truck while you unpack and stow your gear, its not a car wash but its better than nothing.

Its neutral, then four low

crawl underneath it and find your grease fittings (nipples,zerks) I've gone as far as marking them at times with day glo road sign paint (flo orange) when you go in for an oil change ask the kid who did your oil and lube to get the x amount of grease fittings, they're marked flo orange. that ensures you get them all, every time.

have fun be safe, and dont panic if you hit super soft sand.

[ThrowingTimber]

We used to "por15" the living crap out of our jeeps when we wheeled them through bogs. I think I just reminded myself to por15 my Tacoma
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[Nebe]

Originally Posted by ThrowingTimber

We used to "por15" the living crap out of our jeeps when we wheeled them through bogs. I think I just reminded myself to por15 my Tacoma
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POR 15 is THE BOMB!!! I use it when i restore old volkwagens.. You have to be careful though because its so hard and strong that it is actually brittle. A road pebble can easily chip por15 and then rust can start below the chip.. What I do is Por15, then a layer of spray on truck bed liner to act as a chip guard.

[mastercaster]

I have a 01 Pathfinder which was bought as a rust rat ....always wash brakes well....also the balder the tires the better they seem to roll on the sand in my opinion....I air down to about 18lbs per tire

[Zeal]

Just as an update: Took the truck on the beach for the very first time yesterday. Got stuck once but nothing major, just needed to air down some more but since it was the entrance everybody had to use a fellow beach goer was kind enough to pull me to the more packed sand. Made it to the other side, aired down out of people's way (turns out the magic number is 10 lbs. Total sugar sand)

I remembered all of everyone's advice and it made the trip very educational and very fun.

Important lessons learned: Always have people near you in case @#% hits the fan, Tire Deflators are a gift from God (aired down old school yesterday), and different vehicles and tires require different air down pressures (the man who towed me was at 20 but had a bigger truck).

Thank you all so much for making my first trip painless

[Raven]

google high lift jack .... they run 75-100 clams
go to a few new construction sites for custom homes or buildings (dumpster dive)
to find a chunk of Micro-lam beam a 2 inch thick plywood for a lift pad
get yourself a braided mega heavy tow rope with hooks
that will link onto a chain

[BatesBCheatin]

2005-2010 Nissan Frontiers and Xterras have an issue with the original radiator being defective and will eventually leak antifreeze into your automatic tranny and kill it. If I were you I'd google "Nissan radiator bypass" and do what that tells you. 1/2 hour of labor will potentially save you 3-4 grand. If you have a manual tranny or the original radiator has been replaced you don't need to worry.

Originally Posted by Zeal

I just bought a 2005 Nissan Frontier and I can't wait to get it on the sand.

Problem is, I'm not sure what I will need to make it beachworthy without corroding, getting stuck, etc.

Can anyone suggest must haves and things good to have as well as a good way to keep things from rusting due to the salt?

I'm a total rookie, this is my first pickup.