Summer is coming and we are willing to bet that you are planning on at least 1 solid beach trip away before the end of the year!

If you are going to go and smash some dunes like your last trip away, or if you are a complete newcomer to hitting the beach in your families 4WD, then our top tricks and tips will get you out having a lot more fun for far less outlay than might have initially expected.

Despite what many people might suggest, a stock standard 4WD fitted with standard tread tyres is more than capable of having fun in on basically every possible obstacle you might encounter on a typical beach. As long as your vehicle has high and low range, there is very little in the way of modifications you need to make to put smiles all round.

What do you need to pack?

If you are heading out for the first time then creating yourself a checklist of essential gear is a great idea. Even if you head out into the bush all the time, it will give you a starting point of “must haves” along with making sure that you didn’t forget to pack that 1x critical item that you end up needing when you are a spot of bother off the tarmac.

Our list of essential gear starts with but is not limited to the following;

Drinking water + food
Whilst you may not be thinking that your trip to the beach will be a long one, if you haven’t got another vehicle in your convoy, then bringing some snacks and plenty of drinking water is a great idea. Because you can never predict the unpredictable.

One way to keep your food and drinks fresh is with a compressor operated car fridge, like the range of Fridge/freezers, by setting the perfect temperature, it will automatically maintain itself providing refreshments at optimal temperatures.

The Kings Fridge Freezer range is very low draw but the addition of a 12v solar panel easily extends your range off the beaten path!

Recovery Kit
This isn’t as simple as it sounds, there are many brands out there that produce “Recovery Kits” but do you know what you really need to get your 4WD free?

A lot of recovery kits include generic items which are suitable for a whole range of different scenarios, from winching, to towing, to basic snatch strap recoveries, if you are just starting out, and you don’t have a winch fitted to your vehicle then something a little more basic like a “Snatch strap Kit” might be more to your taste, particularly when driving on the beach.

A winch is a powerful motor that has a spool of rope or cable on it, designed to pull a vehicle free from trouble, they are certainly a useful tool when 4WD in the bush, but on the beach a winch recovery has the potential for pulling the recovery vehicle into the sand creating the issue of 2x stuck vehicles.

A snatch strap is like a huge elastic band, and when used correctly can snap a 4WD out of deep sand by amplifying the momentum of a towing vehicle.

When selecting a recovery kit always check for safety load ratings and purchase yours from a reputable supplier like 4WD Supacentre to avoid inferior quality gear from getting you into trouble when you need it most.

A long-handled shovel

We already mentioned recovery kits, but on the beach, a long handled shovel is worth its weight in gold, it should be the first and last tool you use on the beach from digging out your stuck 4WD to filling in holes in the track, to a portable toilet, a long handled shovel is one of the most used tools when you are spending any considerable amount of time on the sand and if you leave yours at home you’d be a fool to head out on the sand!

Portable Air compressor + Tyre gauge

Tyre pressure on the sand is what can make or break a trip, too many new 4WDers end up dropping 2-5 psi from their tyres and calling it done, but when you are driving over incredibly soft terrain dropping around 40-50% of your standard driving pressures is the ticket to trouble free sand driving.

Dropping pressures, despite ‘common knowledge’ doesn’t balloon your tyres out at the sidewall, it actually elongates your tyres tread contact patch, resulting in up to 200% more grip on the soft surfaces, but also gaining less downward pressure on the track surface causing your vehicle to float above the soft stuff.

So our best tip for selecting a tyre gauge, is to get one that includes a tyre deflation valve tool integrated inside, like the Adventure Kings Kwiky Tyre Deflator which allows you to drop your tyre pressures with an accuracy of around 1psi, extremely quickly and in a heartbeat you can have the perfect amount of grip offroad.

The task isn’t done when you dump out the air, because at some point you are probably wanting to get back home. This is why a portable car air compressor is essential. The Adventure Kings range offers both a standard single piston design, which is capable of pumping out up to 160L of air per minute. To re-inflate your tyres, this is adequate and competes with many of the leading brands on the market, but if you are after one of the quickest methods of tyre inflation on the market then a Thumper MAX twin piston air compressor is unbeatably fast, boasting  a huge 300L per minute of airflow. You can pump up your four tyres to highway pressure in around 5 to 10 minutes from as low as 10psi starting pressures.


This is by no means an exhaustive list of gear to bring to the beach for your next 4WD trip, but it certainly is a great starting point. To see the full range of beach essentials in person head to your nearest 4WD Supacentre store location or head to our website at www.4WDSupacentre.com.au for all the latest prices and technical specifications.