Full Size Jeep Network

Southern Gorilla wrote:

Blake wrote:

fulsizjeep wrote:I would carry a pair of dive fins with me in the jeep before messing around with a snorkel but that is just me.

X2

I simply don't see the point. If you are really going to go through water that deep, then build a bigger truck

It doesn't have to be deep water to cause problems. I hit puddles all the time in the Peterbilt at work and have water splash all over the windshield. The bottom of the windshield is over six feet off the ground and it gets flooded by an ordinary puddle. With as much flooding as we get around here I'm definitely running my intake as high as I can.

jsinajeep wrote:Well if it get up to the windshield on the big truck you would look good with a 10' snorkel on your jeep

ghcoe wrote:A long time ago, '80's, I remember reading about traveling through deep water. The article, if I remember correctly, even sported a Jeep pickup with a cab over camper. It talked about how to approach crossing deep water. The idea was to hit the water at a nice slow speed, in low range if available, about 4-6 mph. When the vehicle starts into the deep water it will begin to make a wake in front of it. You maintain your speed with the same speed as the wake you are generating. This will keep the engine bay fairly free of water and you can push through pretty deep water. The pictures were pretty amazing. This guy traveled a lot in swampy areas and new how to do it well.

Many years later, when I first got my Cherokee I was hunting with some friends. One friend was traveling with me and the other two were in a new Toyota Tacoma. We came upon a bridge we did not like the looks of so we decided to ford the river. We had crossed a similar river many times before and the water got just to the tops of the wheels and this looked no worse so we decided to go for it. Just by chance I decided to lock into low range and started across. Well I got about 5 feet in when the front of the Jeep dropped into a hole and water started to climb up the hood. I knew then that if I stopped I would be sunk (no pun intended). By time I would have stopped and got into reverse the engine bay would have swamped. That article flashed into mind and I just keep going. My friend was yelling, "This is deeper than Three Forks!" It was surreal, I was slowly moving forward and I had a small wake in front of me. I was looking out the side window and I was nearly looking at the surface of the water at eye level. I kept thinking the engine was going to stall at any moment and then I felt the jeep start to become buoyant. I got to thinking OH **** if I loose traction now I am in deep trouble because there was a deep hole not too much farther down river. We managed to keep enough traction to make it to the other side. When we pulled up onto the bank the CB crackled to life and my other two friends said "That was ******* cool! But we are not going to try it." Steam was blowing off the engine and exhaust so much I could hardly see around the truck. We got out and saw the water line was half way up the spare tire on the carrier which is as high as the decal on the sides. I have a picture, someday I'll have to scan it and post it. I posted a picture of the tire on the carrier so you can get a idea of just how deep the water was. Of course you would also have to realize that the suspension was also reaching maximum droop too.