Best SUV for the beach and large dog

[Happy Panther]

What is a big SUV that is also decent at offroading?

 

My wife drives an MDX but it is not as good as other vehicles on sand. And our dog will be 85 pounds soon and will take up the entire back when we go to the beach.

 

I know Yukon/Suburban/Escalade are huge but are they good on sand?

 

I know a jeep 4 door is great on sand but it isn't big enough...

[thefuzz]

Yukon is OK with big tires.  I think that most GMC products come with transmission coolers standard while the Chevy products do not.  I could be wrong and it's only the Denali's that have that but I can't recall.

 

Reason I bring that up, sand, 4X4, and summer heat are not friendly to transmissions.

 

I would look at a Yukon, Z71 Tahoe, or a Jeep Grand Cherokee.  And get some good tires for sand.

 

I never had an issue with my Denali's on sand BTW.

[Darth Biscuit]

4Runner or an old Jeep Cherokee.

The Cherokee is nice bc it's easy to work on/upgrade/lift.

I had a '99 with 31's and you couldn't get it stuck in the sand.

Brakes suck on Jeeps though, so be warned.

I have a '95 Grand that my son now drives... it's on smaller tires, and it does OK on the sand, but the radiator on those is not really up to the task and it tends to get really hot.

[Happy Panther]

Thanks. I actually thought of renting a hummer for vacation but I can't find any around...

[Darth Biscuit]

Where you going?

[Kurb]

a Hummer will be as heavy or heavier than those SUV's

It will , however, have the clearance you will need.

 

 

but you will still be the douchbag guy in the hummer... :)

[Happy Panther]

Where you going?

 

Avon...

[Happy Panther]

a Hummer will be as heavy or heavier than those SUV's

It will , however, have the clearance you will need.

 

 

but you will still be the douchbag guy in the hummer... :)

 

Yeah at the end of it I doubt I could have pulled the trigger. Would have been fun as  have never driven one.

[Darth Biscuit]

I know you want a big truck... but those are generally the ones (Suburbans, etc) I've seen struggle in the sand. Just be careful if you get a bigger rig and make sure you let the air pressure down in all four tires to about 20PSI.

Unless it's got over size tires... if it does... roll on.

[YOLO!]

Thanks. I actually thought of renting a hummer for vacation but I can't find any around...

You just went full retard man, never go full retard.

 

Who the fug still drives hummers? I haven't seen a hummer in 5yrs why? Because nobody is paying 100$ to fill up a big ass truck just to drive around with a big ass dog in a truck.

 

Get a Jeep Wrangler and put your big dirty dog in the back and enjoy the cheap way of traveling.

 

 

Good luck!

[Happy Panther]

You just went full retard man, never go full retard.

 

Who the fug still drives hummers? I haven't seen a hummer in 5yrs why? Because nobody is paying 100$ to fill up a big ass truck just to drive around with a big ass dog in a truck.

 

Get a Jeep Wrangler and put your big dirty dog in the back and enjoy the cheap way of traveling.

 

 

Good luck!

 

I see them all the time up here.

 

Issue is I have two boys. We fill the Acura MDX to the brim to go to the beach for 2-3 weeks without a pet. Adding a dog crate for a massive dog is going to be impossible.

[Happy Panther]

I know you want a big truck... but those are generally the ones (Suburbans, etc) I've seen struggle in the sand. Just be careful if you get a bigger rig and make sure you let the air pressure down in all four tires to about 20PSI.

Unless it's got over size tires... if it does... roll on.

 

Yeah. The MDX struggles at 20psi. Had to get pushed the first time. I go down to 12PSI now and it does better but still no clearance.

[Darth Biscuit]

You got one of these?

I have one and it fits on my Jeep and Explorer and works GREAT! I can put 3 or 4 bags of clothes and a cooler on it. Saves a ton of room inside.

[Darth Biscuit]

Yeah. The MDX struggles at 20psi. Had to get pushed the first time. I go down to 12PSI now and it does better but still no clearance.

Yeah, what size tires has an MDX got? I wouldn't want to try one of those on the sand for very far... I don't think that vehicle is really designed for that is it?