When is a water crossing a water crossing

[Lester did that]

Proper water crossing. You and your mates are so close and you don't care anymore about anything. The rig, the contents nothing. I wonder if RR had the same great warranty they have today? Imagine the dealership bringing that mess in for "warranty" issues. heh

It's kinda funny seeing the water logged vehicles in the Pine Barron's NJ. It's notorious for this. You can be driving along for 30 min on a simple road splashing thru puddles 6"-12" deep having a fun nice easy drive and BAM! The 43rd water puddle you cross is 4.5' deep and your buried in loose mud and water.

 

[Fisher23]

during the rainy season this area is can get deep.

 

[Fisher23]

Wow. There must be a serious mud hole beneath the water. From here that doesn’t look like that bad of a hole.

It brings up a question I’ve thought about. Usually when I approach a hole like that, the middle may be a quagmire while either side might be a little more solid. So the question is, if you have to go deeper on one side, which is best? Seems like the air intake is on the passenger but all the electrical is on the drivers side.

on that road .. don't go where the normal tires would go.. as someone with some 40's may have gone in there before you .. then lite them up digging and spraying mud... like a mill..

 

[1world1love]

on that road .. don't go where the normal tires would go.. as someone with some 40's may have gone in there before you .. then lite them up digging and spraying mud... like a mill..

yeah, exactly. It’s the same all over the south. I carry a hiking pole and use it to gauge depth as much as possible. I like it because I can see the mud/water line on it and hold it up to my truck and see where things fall.

Inevitably there seems to be solid surface until you get to the most prominent tracks leading in or out. There it usually becomes a bottomless pit of doom. Sometimes there is no option but to go through and I always assume that as long as two tires are on good surface, then I can get through.

I do worry about the spraying mud part of that though.

 

[weaselox]

Went down to South Carolina for some hog hunting and we needed to drive through a flooded area along the Pee Dee River. It was absolutely bananas. There were at least two or three situations where The water hit about 36-38” of depth.

 

[Lester did that]

on that road .. don't go where the normal tires would go.. as someone with some 40's may have gone in there before you .. then lite them up digging and spraying mud... like a mill..

Yep. The Jeep fellows that adore mud tear it up down there. They enjoy it. Sad thing is they want to put more restrictions in the Pine Barrons because it's getting so destroyed. Tread lightly is not a phrase in dirty jersey.

 

[Bunga]

The Pee Dee picture is classic. Low, slow flooding and then the holes will drown you. I did a work project in a similar situation with muddy water and one of our pickups died the day after because the transmission cooler is on the bottom of the rad and it was completely packed with mud.

 

[Fisher23]

We see that same water in the south, it's quite normal around here.
This is us. The jeep in front of us is on 40's.

 

[RT Cruiser]

It’s smart to change out the diff cases and transfer case fluids annually if you do a lot of water crossings.

 

[marketShark]

This came up a lot during the days of hurricane Harvey. IIRC @RS6tofj80 mentioned needing to flush fluids after heave water fording and prolonged submersion. Maybe E has some old pics?

I believe the failure point in these trucks in water is the low positioning of the alternator

I've done some river crossings myself in the 200

 

[marketShark]

And for fun... here’s the time I went out in my 45 with @aljollano and we pulled a swamped wrangler out of a mud pit

things I learned:
1) try to have an idea of how deep the water is before you go in
2) don’t get your jeep stuck in a mud pit with a pregnant wife and make her walk up to the LC guys asking for a tow
3) LC > jeep all day!
4) old cruisers are still incredibly capable (jeep guy and pregnant wife rode in the back of the 45 while I navigated back to their rig)

 

[RumDoodle]

You can see the alternator clearly from the right front wheel well. I get anxious when using car wash wands around it.

I wonder if adding shielding to the wheel well would matter much for protection of the alternator in the edge cases... ie when the water is lower than top of wheel, but is getting thrown by the wheel rotation.

 

[Lester did that]

You can see the alternator clearly from the right front wheel well. I get anxious when using car wash wands around it.

I wonder if adding shielding to the wheel well would matter much for protection of the alternator in the edge cases... ie when the water is lower than top of wheel, but is getting thrown by the wheel rotation.

Nope the shielding will not help. Just don't get it soaked or covered in mud. Options are but one if you are doing this often. A sealed water cooled alternator. Going to run ya $2100-$2800 for the alternator. Another $150-$200 for other parts and plumbing needed. And a neurotic top notch mechanic to install it. Which might end up costing the same or more for the proper install as the parts.

Mining companies spring for this upgrade all the time. Some vehicles used for high security also do it. But you never have to worry about the alternator ever. They do not break.

 

[RS6tofj80]

This came up a lot during the days of hurricane Harvey. IIRC @RS6tofj80 mentioned needing to flush fluids after heave water fording and prolonged submersion. Maybe E has some old pics?

I believe the failure point in these trucks in water is the low positioning of the alternator

I've done some river crossings myself in the 200View attachment 2672351

Yup - the alt is the weak point along with Distributor.......the 200 did well however during harvey - did a rescue of a Z3 and dropped off what turned out to be a loading dock driving around a building and had water go over the windshield but she didn't falter...... while I changed all fluids nothing showed signs of milkiness or penetration..... I did change plugs as she ran a bit rough on cold starts for a day or three.....

my 80 hasn't done more then tire deep water .....