Front axle is easiest to see. Coming off of the CAD unit, right on top, is the vent hose, if you follow the vent hose to its end, you will find the dealywhopper. (I just can't recall the technospeak term for it right now...) Its a vent cap of some flavor or other.

Mainly, what you want to do, is make SURE that ALL of your vent hoses, (both axles, transmission, transfer case) are routed somewhere ABOVE the deepest water you want to go thru.

If your trans pan shows signs of leakage, you need to remember, that if fluids can get OUT, they can also get IN.. same for any other seals that might end up under water.

 

alright good to no. if i am driving through sandy water, do i need to worry about wheel bearings? or should the seals hold against things like that?

 

sandy water? lol

water, mud it all gets in stuff.

crossing rivers is never a great idea however. not only are there potential risks to your rig, it is not an evnironmentally sound practice. if there is a bridge you should take it!!!!!!!!!! i don't mean to preach, but things like that help to get trails shut down (again, sorry to preach!)

that being said, if you're going through water, my rule of thumb is to never go more than 3/4 of my tire. if they become completely submerged, i get very cautious. if its no deeper, than i'll continue on.

that is because i know my rig however. i know that water level for that is below my fan (VERY BAD if it hits water, not only will it throw water all over the place, get to deep and it'll kill the fan/clutch)

now, for actually going through the water crossing, keep it steady and moving. try not to stop in the water; again, bad for the stream/fish etc, etc, and it allows water to seep into places. if you keep it going at a consistant rate, the 'wave' your truck creates will help to keep water away from SOME vents. this is the best way to minimize water from gettin into places.

once ur back home, check your fluids. remember for things like your diffs, when the truck sits, the oil will rise to the top (heavier than water) and the water will sit in the bottom of the diffs, and will rust anything metal, and erode seals;


so yea, i'd change the fluids to be safe

 

That was one of the things I like about my Blazer..... bearings I could take out and look at. Not so on the Dodge...... I might have to do some measuring, and see what I can do about switching it over.....

But anyway, with our 'sealed' bearings.... its a crap shoot. According to theory, yes, they should hold. In actual practice? Very good question. I haven't taken a good close look at them yet... so, I am not sure how they are put together, or, how well. Not like you can do much if anything DOES get in there though... it would certainly accelerate wear..... and they are not cheap.

 

Let someone try it before you do and see if they make it. That why you don't risk your rig right off the bat.

Little story here one might me and a friend went out and I went threw a DEEP water crossing slid down into a deeper part. Since I'm lifted and have m/t's I made it threw ok though I was going to flood the motor. The guy behind me did the same thing as me and he flooded the motor.

 

Well I can tell you I went through some mud puddles that were up too my drivers headlight and just under the top of the bumper on the passenger side had no problems with water getting in sh^t, this was at least 6 months ago, i went through it going about 15mph

Now I went through smaller puddles that were about 2 feet deep at the most doing 35-45mph and had problems with water getting into tranny harness and causing a misfire on cylinder 7, the truck ran like sh^t and felt like it was falling apart untill all the water dried again no problems since the next day this was during spring break so 3 months ago

But I would stick to staying somewhere around tire height at the max, let your friend go first and judge how deep it is, the key is to let them go first and f^ck up their stuff so you dont have too

 

15 mph? 30 - 45 mph? this is a pretty good example of what not to do on all fronts. man your trucks gonna fall apart next year and you'll join the 'man i hate mud' crowd. mud cakes in seals, bearings, etc. it rarely breaks stuff right away; instead it eats away at everything over time, until nothing seems to work right and everything feels sloppy.

remember this; if your friend 'fracks' up his rig, YOU'RE stuck with towing his non running truck out of the bush.


if you're afraid to do it, then don't; judging by what 'anothers rig can do' is recipe for disaster..........

 

I flooded my tranny 2 years ago after a hurricane flooded the road I I use to get to work. Drove through water abt. up to headlights, & im still having issues. I can drive around town & to work & back, but not long distances without having major issues. Needless to say I've been saving up for a rebuild!

 

does the transfer case have a vent, and if it does weres it at? and for extending the hoses, do i just cut new hoses and use the old vent? or is there something better/ different?

 

Transfer case does indeed have a vent. Up on top somewhere, if you can't see it, might have to feel around. (yeah, that sounds like fun.....) The trans and tcase probably won't have any rubber hose to them at all, it will be just a bit of a metal nipple, with maybe some flavor of cover on it. Might just be a bit of metal tubing sticking out....... In either case, you need to get hose the right inner diameter, so you get a good seal. Hose clamp isn't really a bad plan either, if you can get one on there.

If you can, pull of any existing hose, and run NEW hose to where you want the vent to be. If you are feeling really froggy, you can use various adapters (barb fittings, T's, etc) and tie the vent lines together as you work your way forward. (rear axle, t-case, trans, front axle) and then just run one hose up to here you decide to terminate it. Stick a small fuel filter or something on the end. (keeps bugs out too....... )

Main thing is, knowing where the lowest vulnerability to water is, and NOT going any deeper than that.