New here and was reading old threads - but new to me. Currently towing with a GMC gasser, but dreaming of a 4x4 2500/3500 Dodge diesel to pull my 27' Toyhauler with. But I have TONS of off-road experience and don't mind shareing.
Thing I haven't seen mentioned is the WDH - Weight Distribution Hitches - used on Travel Trailers (TT aka, bumper pull trailers), NOT 5th wheels or 5vers. Diesels are already front heavy - WDH are designed to redistribute weight BACK to the front axle to aleeviate a possible highyway speed handling problem. They also increase the trailers axle weight, and lighten the rear axle of the truck - which is the BEST way to allow the truck to spin all of it's traction away, which makes it harder to pull off-road. Low speed off-road travel is safe without the WDH. When off-roading, DISCONNECT the WDH and store the bars out of harms way. By doing this, any bumper pull trailer properly loaded with 10-12% tounge weight, and the hitch being 3-4 FEET behind the axle (a lot of leverage) - adds weight to the lightest axle of the truck - the rear, and slightly lightens the front axle - a desireable off-road combination - especially towing. 2WD trucks will notice more traction in light off-road conditions. 4x4s may not need to lock in as often. Ground clearance is gained from removing the bars, and trailer axles also become lighter - because they are no longer supporting the rear end weight of the truck (as proven by 3 axle CAT scales by weighing rig with bars connected vs disconnected). Towing a lighter non propelled vehicle vs a heavier one is more desirable off-road.

Varying angles of terrain are NOT good for WDH and if an extreme enough angle is achieved, in a turn, the hitch head can blow out the trunion mount - $135 to replace the head platform! I did it in a driveway turning around!

5th wheel trailers put most of their weight over the rear axle of the truck BUT do not lighten the front axle. I haven't noticed them having much trouble off-road, as compared to bumper pull trailers.

 

Great information and very good tip, thanks!

 

We would run a good grabby tire and just air them down when we got out there. I had a small air compressor mounted under the bed side on my old F-100 that we would use to air up after the weekend...

 

You could always throw away the WDH and install a class 5 rear hitch capable of carrying the tongue weight of a TT. Even a rear hitch ball mount can be snapped off by exceeding the hitches angular limits. If operating in uneven terrain the best solution by far is a gooseneck and for more traction there is always tire chains just don't spin the wheels.

 

Lots of info here. The OP (and long ago) mentioned sand as his nemesis. The thing with sand is the need to float... hence airing tires down. Too aggressive of tread like MT's will dig in and get you stuck just as fast.

The mention on lockers applies to this as well-- spreads out the torque load on the tires. Should be common sense.

Just thought I'd add that to the rest of the advice here.

 

A tip for airing down - park on flat and level pavement to air down to the point the sidewall starts to flex - then go a little more - but not till you are afraid to be able to drive your rig at about 45 MPH. Do it with trailer hooked up and ready to go. Front and rear pressures WILL be different. Bigger tires can be lowered more than thinner, tall tires. Lowering the pressure on the trailer tires will help in sand, but remember the flexing they must endure in a turn, and don't go too low! By doing this BEFORE going off-road, you will know how low you can air down and still be able to drive at about 45 MPH incase your air compressor fails or you can't air back up for some other reason (emergency evacuation of an injured person - or whatever). Do both front and rear with WDH unhooked. Record those numbers psi wise so you can duplicate off-road. Sand requires you to keep momentum and steer with the smallest input necessary. Turning wheel makes the front wheels a plow!

CAUTION! Airing down too much can cause the tire to jump off the bead (rim) and ruin your tires. By adjusting air pressure that is right for your trucks weight, you will be amazed at how traction improves. The lower you go, the better traction, but again, not too low. Don't forget the FRONT tires either, otherwise they plow through the sand instead of rolling over the sand. Slightly lowering all tires - front and rear, will yield better traction and floatation than just lowering the rear really low and risking jumping the tire off the rim. I used to pull 4x4s out of the beachs here in Florida with a Ford Falcon! Really upset some of them! Pulled a tractor cab off the beach with a Jeep CJ7, with a broken front axle (2wheel drive), after a dually 4x4 dug some nice holes with full tire pressures. 2wd properly adjusted pulls better than 4x4 with full or nearly full pressure.

Try not to spin at all or as little as possible. Spinning fast only throws sand away from the hole and gets you farther stuck. Barely stuck is easier to get help in getting your rig out. BURIED rigs may need a professional and EXPENSIVE recovery unit to get you out. If you are spinning and have momentum but are staying in a rut, feather off the throttle, and get back on the throttle before losing any momentum, and let the tires lift out of the ruts. Spinning tires loosen up the sand for whatever you are towing and create resistance. Stop only on hard packed surface or while aimed down hill. DO NOT slam on the brakes or stop hard in sand. It is harder to get going again after a hard stop. You may need to start out by reversing travel direction to overcome a hard stop. If IN a rut, and you can move forward or back at all without spinning, do so back and forth to PACK the sand. Each pass should lengthen the packed rut untill you can get momentum to keep going to get out. If at the end of a rut has a big difference in height than the surrounding sand, stop at the back end and create a tapered ramp to get out of the rut.

 

This was my first thought also. Depending how far you’re going off road chains will get you in and out when any tire will leave you stuck.
When feeding stock in the east Texas gumbo used to go weeks before taking the chains off

 

I agree with soulzoo and NFICamper when dealing with sand and dry conditions...

By "Grabby" I mean a tire with an AT or Hiway rib that has a lot more surface area than mudders, which are meant to act like growzers on tracked equipment...

 

This was taken on the beach in Oregon 200.00 a pull to get un stuck out of the sand .... Ha
5 cats working pulling people in and out .
We watched for a while great entertainment , three axel fifths heel trailers with no air in there tires being pulled buy trucks out of the sand onto the pavement!