I'm not sure if the sand you folks out west have differs significantly from our NC beach sand or if you're just better drivers in the soft stuff but airing down is a must around here.
My TJ is locked front and rear with 32x12.50 BFG KMs but I still need to drop the pressure to 12-15 psi or risk a tow when playing on the Outer Banks. Same with the TRD Tacoma which has the electric rear locker with 265x75 BFG KO2s. I haven't found Toyota's factory traction control feature to be all that useful in sand but it does work well in ice and snow. The old Montero has only a limited slip rear and CDL with 245x75 Discoverer AT's but it does OK as long as I lower the air pressure.
The jeep is our main beach vehicle and it also sees duty around the farm so I added a York engine driven compressor and 3 gallon tank several years ago. Air up time is less than ten minutes and I can also run my air tools. More info
here A Q-Industries MV-90 12V compressor stays in the Tacoma. We just got back from a camping trip in southern Utah where it was used to air up my tires along with those on another Tacoma and a full size Dodge pickup after a run on the Peek-a-Boo trail. Twelve tires from 15 psi to 50 in around twenty minutes.
The cigarette plug unit (Truck Air, I think) in the Montero died earlier this Spring after several years of occasional use and I need to replace it; probably with a similar unit.
Three different solutions for three different needs.
