Deep Watercrossings in 70s

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canucksafari said:
I don't get it. Perhaps it is the results of Cabin Fever or too much Vodka. Actually, my money is or both. That water had to be bloody cold and the water dunking seemed to have no reason behind it. I wonder how many relays he fried. :meh:
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On the other side of that water, there was a number plate. In those comps you get points by touching the number plate with other hand and car with other and take pic of it. Harder to get the car near by the plate -> more points. Only major problem after swimming was empty batteries because of the winching. Jump start and comp continued.

No vodka allowed during competition. ;)
 
IironSika said:
On the other side of that water, there was a number plate. In those comps you get points by touching the number plate with other hand and car with other and take pic of it. Harder to get the car near by the plate -> more points. Only major problem after swimming was empty batteries because of the winching. Jump start and comp continued.

No vodka allowed during competition. ;)
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Thanks for taking the time to explain the objective of the dunking. I presume substancial quanties of vodka were consumed afterward - just to heat the batteries of course. :D

I would like to know how you keep the relays from water/mud damage. The tarp trick for keeping the engine bay dry only works if you got a bow wave and of course are going forward at the right speed.
 
Most of the OEM connections and relays and electronics can be sealed pretty easily with a bit of silicon or a larger amount of silicon grease. We do it on the gassers all the time, so I would presume it is no more difficult for the oil burners.


Mark...
 
Well, if we are gonna be posting up vids...

This is a classic from Knik valley. These guys never did realize that their misfortune was due to their own mistakes... picking a poor crossing point... turning downstream for some unknown reason... undertaking the crossing in a rig that was at best marginal for the task. Tackling the Knik river during the summer in the first place...

It is kinda long.... worth fast forwarding through to catch the high points though. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlqy5ZYJAI4


Mark...
 
hummm, drive downstream a long ways till you hit deeper water then float like a boat till you ground out and then turn your Jeep into an anchor for others to use their winch on ... seems like a good use for a Jeep.
that water didn't seem deep at all where they started to cross and it seemed shallow for quite a ways down stream. makes you wonder if they were playing around and ended up ... ooops, s***, stuck, toast.

the current was strong enough though, there would be some pucker factor happening.
 
They were low experience... had crossed earlier in the day to retrieve another rig that was stuck in silt beds. The water level came up during the day... as it always does... and the way I understand it, they were daunted by the slightly deeper water right ahead of them and decided that turning downstream was a better choice. I do not and did not know them personally, and I was not there, but it seems to have been a very obviously bad decision. Very seldom is it a good choice to turn down stream toward obviously deeper water. Like I said.. low experience, and they were all pretty young too.

We have crossed that river a few times when it is that high and higher... but you have to be careful and know what you are doing. The river keeps a rig every year or two on average.

That should have been a fairly easy crossing... but short rigs and lack of knowledge/understanding bit them in the butt.

The dodge shown later in the vid is where the camera was... they were towing the nissan that was the reason they were there. They abandoned it on the river bar and charged across... they got the doge stuck on a loose soft gravel bank.

They wound up hiking out a bit... that spot is abpout 20 miles from the road, but within cell phone coverage. In the end the dodge was winched out a day or two later, the nissan was never seen again and .... well, you saw the jeep.


Mark...
 
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i have heard that Alaska is where you go if you want to disappear.
"the Nissan was never seen again"
 
based on where it was lost, the fact that it has not reappeared as the river changes course and rises and falls, it is almost certainly buried under the muck beneath the iceberg lake that Charla's rig was sitting in front of for the cover shot in the trails issue with the Trek Story. (Same one she used for that Toyota contest.)

There are a few that have wound up there, and a few more than are buried out of sight in the gravel before they got pushed that far. Every once in a while the river will uncover one enough so that you can see the corner of a bumper or a few inches of a roof... then it will bury it deep again.


It is impressive just how completely that river and the gravel it pushes can destroy a vehicle and turn it into an unrecognizable ball of rusted metal. I can only imagine what the rigs that get crushed into the river bed by the icebergs must look like.

That jeep was an exception in that it was in such good condition when they dug it out s couple of months later.


Mark...
 
Yep, when/if a rig gets stuck in soft gravel/silt out in the current, it is common to have them sinking in deeper as you are working to get it free and moving again.


Mark...
 
I am doing a crossing for the fishing spot I go to frequently. I form a pretty good bow wave but the water is deep and is known to kill a truck or so a year (either water height error, bad line choosing or sucking up water)
Anyways the felt seals on my airbox always let a little bit of water seep through.

My friend brought up the suggestion of waxing the seals with some surf wax or toilet seal wax.
Has anyone else tried this or have any other suggestions?
 
Capitalguy said:
Those buses looked packed, the weight probably kept the bus from going over.
Probably a normal working day for the driver, it's amazing what goes on in other parts of the world
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Sorry for bumping an old thread but I had to mention this book. A journalist travels the world taking the statistically most dangerous modes of transportation. It's a great read and eye opening to how some people have to get around. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0767929810/?tag=ihco-20.
 
lshobie said:
If you have them breathers high you should be ok, but make sure you run small breather lines off the locker mechanism - everyone forgets that and water gets in there and buggers your locker mechanism. Water can still seep in though - maybe through the pinion seal or diff gasket.
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Never seen this old thread before, and learned a couple things. Namely the need to extend breathers to the Toyota e-lockers. I've extended breather tubes to my differentials, but had assumed the factory rear e-locker was sealed.

I did a minor water crossing a month ago. Should I be pulling my e-locker apart to get water out of it? Was super clean water we went through.

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