I am about to purchase a 2012 F150 SC XLT 4x4 and the stickers says 3.55 regular axle. I am planning on using this truck for surf fishing, which will mean driving in soft sand. Will the regular axle be OK? I know to air down the tires and drive with a steady throttle, blah blah. There are no trucks with the locking feature on any lots around here. thanks

 

Yes you will be just fine. Like you said, air down and you will be ok.

 

Every 2011 and up (open diff) has One Wheel Spin Control. Its electric limited slip. Works very well, only stops working when the brakes heat up too much. And if it's that bad just put it in 4 wheel

 

invest in a decent set of tires for the sand...you will be fine.

 

You could always check other surrounding cities ect. and find one with the 3.73 Elec Locker...or a Lariat 4x4 with the 4A feature and 3.73 EL

 

I fish the surf all the time. I am part of an effort to tag sharks, and grew up on the coast. I put over 20k miles on my last vehicle on the sand.

I was very hesitant about running open axles in deep soft powder.

I was very impressed with Ford's new electronic limited slip.

I ran through pretty soft stuff and really felt no need to even air down or engage 4lo. The Michelin AT2s performed very well. If I was driving through really bad conditions, I would air down to 20lbs.

Just make sure you turn off the traction control before hitting the sand, and again when you are leaving. This will shut down the trucks ability to cut the throttle. If you don't, you will get stuck as soon as the engine slows your momentum.

With traction control shut off, only the two wheel slip that used the ABS system to route torque works, effectively making both the front and rear axles limited slip.

I tried the peel out test on some smooth sand in both 2wd and 4hi, and it left equal distant lines for all drive wheels.

This works do well, I think a locker is no longer even necessary, except for really deep mudding.

Ford knows what they are doing.

 

I covet your job more than you can imagine.

 

Unfortunately, that is not my full time job, it's a good friend of mine's job, and he recruited me to help out, as a volunteer effort. Gives me a good excuse to go fishing though!

 

I just bought a 2012 FX4 Supercrew with the Ecoboost. It has 3.73 gears and a locking differential. The tires are Goodyear Wrangler SR-A 275 65/R18. I plan on using it for surf fishing as well and I would like to know what mods I need to do to make sure I don't get stuck. Do I need wider tires and a 2" lift or can I keep everything stock? The beaches I plan on going to are Assateague Island in Maryland and the Outer Banks.

 

I recently started taking my truck out on the beach fishing and camping with my fiance. Her family has been going out there ( Race Point, Cape Cod) for 40+ years. All of their beach trucks were stock 4x4s and we run 12-14 PSI all the time on the sand. Sometimes if its raining and the sand packs nicely, we will only go 20. We always creep up hills in 1st gear, very slowly and dont have any issues, even towing a boat behind the truck. Ive got the stock size 18" wheels.
I say if you found a truck with an axel you can select to lock, great but its not needed. If you have one with an automatic locking axel, I think it would be too late by the time that spinning wheel locks in. As soon as you spin, you start sinking.