RE: Beach/Dunes
Here are some pictures my wife took when we went to Ocracoke a couple years ago...at this point, my truck was about 9 months old with a fresh Picco MAX and about half my current upgrades.
And yes, my wife can handle a camera quite well...
Some recommendations:
ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, WITHOUT QUESTION NEVER, EVER, EVER GET YOUR TRUCK ANYWHERE NEAR SALTWATER. Waterproofed or not, it will destroy everything. Saltwater is HATEFUL on copper, steel, and bearings. Not to mention that, unless it is DEAD STILL, any water you encounter will probably have sand agitated in it which will kill any moving parts it encounters.
As you can see from the pictures, sand gets packed everywhere inside the truck. I didn't have a center diff and was going through spur gears like bubble gum, and this day was no different. I ran for about 3/4 of a tank and the truck started slowing significantly. Kept driving and it eventually stopped. Melted the spur down to mush. I figure sand got in all the driveshafts and put so much resistance into the drivetrain that it eventually just crapped itself. Sand was packed EVERYWHERE.
When you get the truck home DO NOT take the air filter off. Guaranteed, a grain of sand will get into the intake trumpet. Then it'll get into the engine. Then it'll score your cylinder. Then your engine is wrecked. Be very, very careful about how you handle your car/engine until you get all the sand off. Best thing is probably to not touch anything until it cools, then just remove the engine, air filter and all. That way you can control where the sand falls.
Even though I ran my truck on dry sand WELL away from any type of moisture or water, the MIP steel driveshafts still rusted. As did all the stock pushrods. It was because of this single trip to the beach that I bought the TRX hollow pushrods...hated rust on my truck.
It was fun for about 5 minutes, but I doubt I'll ever take my truck to the beach again. It was a real pain in the butt, fraught with real danger of ruining my engine and screwing up my car.
I go to the Outer Banks at least 3 times a year and regularly drive my 1:1 truck on the beach. Every time, I see some yahoo in a Jeep driving in the surf, splashing in the saltwater. Idiots. Saltwater kills stuff...that's just how it is.
Just thought I'd share my experience. But hey, out of these 5 minutes of fun and 5 hours of hell and ~$200 fixing it (all new shafts, all new pushrods, new gears, new clutch, new slipper, and 2 cans of cleaner spray), I got these GREAT pictures!!!
Have fun! And yes...drink beer.