Deep Water and River Crossing Questions
- Thread starter jmdjax
- Start date
expeditionist
Observer
Deep water crossings are one if the most exciting things about back country travel for me. I look forward to finding a creek(or river) that stands between me and my destination. As mentioned before, a quick survey of the current/depth will aid in your decision. A snorkel is useful but sealing the electronics and venting the axles and T-case/tranny is equally as important. This is pic of me fording a flooded creek in rural Tennessee in '99. All necessary waterproofing was done prior to this trip and no problems crossing. There was some door seepage so I did spend some time drying the carpet 
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
And grease the u-joints.
If they are hot when you hit the water (they will be), they'll cool off quick and sometimes suck in a bit of water. Hitting them with the grease gun regularly is important - goes double for fording.
Osceola National Forest. Off of i10 West of Jacksonville. It was pretty mild for the most part but there were nice trails and it was very pretty. I am sure right now after raining all month it's flooded!
rusty_tlc
Explorer
Rule #1 never go off road alone
Rule #2 Always let the other guy go through the water crossing first. :sombrero:
The first thing to do is service the knuckles on your truck if they haven't been done in your memory. You really want the wipers and hub o-rings in good shape.
If you think you MIGHT get in over the top of your differential breathers replace them with extended breather tubes, it's pretty simple to tap a 1/8 NPT thread in the hole. Then just add a short nipple*, a hose barb fitting and some plastic pipe, you can mess around with filters or whatever but I just stuck the OEM breather in the end of the hose and zip tied it up on the fire wall. Don't worry to much about getting a little metal in the diff when you tap it, it can grind up those little shaving without noticing.
(*You will need a short nipple because the hard brake lines are held in place in the breather tube.)
If you do get in over the top of the differentials change the oil as soon as possible, even at $12 a gallon for the cheap Walmart gear oil you will soon see the wisdom of extending the breather tubes.
Rule #2 Always let the other guy go through the water crossing first. :sombrero:
The first thing to do is service the knuckles on your truck if they haven't been done in your memory. You really want the wipers and hub o-rings in good shape.
If you think you MIGHT get in over the top of your differential breathers replace them with extended breather tubes, it's pretty simple to tap a 1/8 NPT thread in the hole. Then just add a short nipple*, a hose barb fitting and some plastic pipe, you can mess around with filters or whatever but I just stuck the OEM breather in the end of the hose and zip tied it up on the fire wall. Don't worry to much about getting a little metal in the diff when you tap it, it can grind up those little shaving without noticing.
(*You will need a short nipple because the hard brake lines are held in place in the breather tube.)
If you do get in over the top of the differentials change the oil as soon as possible, even at $12 a gallon for the cheap Walmart gear oil you will soon see the wisdom of extending the breather tubes.
1911
Expedition Leader
You can capture a large percentage of any shavings by putting grease on the tap. Better yet, wait and tap the holes until you are changing your diff lube anyway, and flush them with a little solvent.