Pismo Beach 1st Timer Experience

So you want to go to Pismo Beach in your brand new 5th Wheel Toy Hauler eh?  All the stories are true.  Plan on getting stuck.  Maybe if you read this you won't get stuck but even if you do it's no big deal.... probably.  Don't panic or be afraid, just be prepared.  Like anything in life it's not so bad once you have done it once.  Just make sure you do it right and you will have a great time.  If you are reading this post prior to your 1st trip then you are heading in the right direction.

My cousin, an avid Pismo Beach goer told me about how he burned up his brakes, blew up his clutch and how dually's don't do so well in the sand.  Kinda puts the fear in you right?  Other friends told me I would have to air down.  I am towing around 15,000lbs of 5th wheel behind a Dodge Ram 3500 4X4 Dually with a Cummins HO 6 speed MT.  I took the advice, made some modifications to my Truck, bought a tow strap, brought a shovel and a tool for removing air from my tires and off to the beach we go.

I had hoped to avoid airing down as it's a pain to air back up so I head out on to the beach without airing down. It was low tide so the sand was hard packed near the surf so I had no trouble driving to mile marker 7 to meet up with some friends.  They already had a site picked out for me.  I end up passing them a bit and start up the hill to turn around and I didn't make it 20 feet before I was knee deep in the sand.  My wife panics and jumps out.  I am calm, cool secretly a little concerned as this is my 1st time.  I immediately begin to air down the front.  A friend works on the trailer tires.  He has these things that you screw on and it takes the tires down to 18lbs automatically.  My wife digs out behind the tires with our shovel in preparation for backing out of the hole.  In less that 5 minutes I am backing out no problem which is good cause if the tide came in my 5th wheel would become a houseboat.  :)

But I am not out of the woods yet.  I still have to turn up and around into loose sand and drive to the spot.  I make a run and turn up and surprisingly traction is solid and I am moving along just fine in the soft stuff.  Airing down really does make a world of difference.  I still can't quite make it up the hill into the spot that was picked out for me.  I would get most of the way and start to dig in.  I am able to back out though since it is down hill.  I make few runs and gun it, throw some sand and finally come to rest next to three other RV's.  We were all circled up like they did with wagons in the old westerns.  Now it's time for a beer.

Backing out when it was time to leave was no problem.  Granny geared it out no sweat.  Left at high tide in the soft stuff and still no trouble.  Drove to the garbage cans with a mile left to go and felt it was ok to air back up.  Friends followed me there with their air compressors and I was backup in no time.  It helps to go with a group of friends that have done it before.  Now that I have done it, it will be much more relaxing drive next time.  The pre-trip anxiety will be gone.  Since I am still a newbie at towing a 5th wheel I have enough anxiety as it is.  After making the trip without any major issues I feel 100% more confident now.

Here is a summary of what I did to prepare and what I would do next time.

1. Added a PacBrake brand Exhaust Brake.  It comes with a tank which I used to air up the front tires.  This offers peace of mind coming down the hill.  Awesome!
2. Next time I will bring a small compressor as the small PacBrake compressor will take too long.  There is a service that will air you up for $1 per tire as a backup plan.
3. Added Smarty Jr programmer and 5" exhaust system to add and additional 100hp.
4. I purchased a Tire Valve remover to speed up the air down process but if you loose the valve you are screwed unless you have some spares.
5. Before the next trip I will buy set of Tire Deflators.  I think 18lbs was too low for my trailer so I will look for something to take them down to 25 or so and experiment from there.  I will also try to only air down the Trailer instead of the truck as I have heard that works for some.
6. Before the next trip I will pick up a small 6 gallon or similar portable compressor.
7. I used a full tank of diesel so I had nothing left by the time I got on the beach and had to make a special trip in to town for diesel.  Next time I will be looking to fill up part way there.
8. I brought some 4X6's to put under the jacks for stability.
9. Some folks bring boards and tarps that wrap around the RV keep the wind and sand out.  It wasn't too windy on this trip so they weren't needed but I gather it could be nasty on a windy day.

Other optional tips and info off the top of my head.  Bring firewood.  Nothing like a nice fire and Smores.  I learned that double riding is not allowed and helmets, flags are required on all vehicles on the dunes.  There is a 15mph speed limit on the beach which is patrolled regularly by authorities.  It's only $10 bucks a night and reservations are recommended on popular weekends.