How deep of water can I get my taco in?

I didn't read the entire thread. We do have breathers on the top of the transmission (auto) and I believe on top of the transfer case.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ny-transfer-case-and-e-locker-breather.15093/

 

Experience will always be your teacher,...hopefully. Crossing deep water is bad news for any truck. If your truck is well prepped and you have been TRAINED in water crossing, then brief crossings can be done. It is ALWAYS risky. Bear these things in mind:

1. You never know what hazard lurks under all that murk. You could easily fall into a hole or get barbed wired wrapped around your drivetrain, or cut a tire on the bumper that got yanked off the last guy who tried to cross. If you are not willing to walk it first, you shouldn't be willing to drive it.

2. The seals in greased items are not meant to take high water pressures. The front wheel bearings are probably most vulnerable. The deeper you go, the higher the pressure exerted on the seals.

3. As soon as you drive into water, the temperature in your gear boxes plummets. That creates a vacuum that will suck water into the box unless the breather is way above the water,...not just the standing water, but the churning water. Route breathers high, and put inline fuel filters in each one to at least catch dirt if it goes under.

4, whenever I do service on my truck, every single bolt and nut gets either loctite or anti-seize depending on what it is. Factory bolts are not sealed, and regularly submerging them will cause them to seize, making service a real problem. The lower alignment adjusters on the LCAs come to mind.

5. The alternator on the Tacoma is at the bottom of the engine. Alternators do not like to be submerged.

6. Your radiator will get clogged with crap, and compromise your cooling unless you check and clean it after deep water.

7. You can damage your fan, your fan clutch, or at the very least drown your engine in spray. Most guys who cross water regularly have a way to disconnect or stop the fan from turning.

8. If you get stuck in deep water, it will enter cab. No way to stop it. If you don't gut the truck and replace all that padding and carpet it will mildew and stink forever. Again, most guys who cross water regularly gut the interior and put in bed liner.

9. You can expect lots of mysterious problems if you like water, sometimes months down the road. Bad grounds, shorts, rust, failed bearings, funky smells, you name it. Count on hours of cleaning and maintenance if you expect the truck to be relatively OK. In any case, you will never be one of those 300,000 mile Tacoma guys.

10. If things go wrong just once, and you hydro-lock your engine, it will never be the same.

Bottom line is this. Guys who have been around and done this stuff know to stay the hell out of deep water unless there is no other way, or you fully understand what you are doing. It's mostly a young guy thing, and yea, I was one of them. I've been through water that was up to my knees inside the cab in a big Ford. Over 5 feet of water. That was back when it seemed cool, and I didn't mind spending all my time fixing broken stuff. I've been doing this for 42 years. These days, I turn around unless I have a pretty damn good reason to go ahead.

My advice is to prep the truck for the worst, if you spend time offroad, and avoid water above your rocker panel like the plague.

 

Amateurs... wish I had the pics from the tax day flood. Had a week of commuting to work through high water.

 

This. And having a walking stick that is marked in 1' increments is useful. An old wooden survey rod is the perfect tool.

@badger is spot on with his whole post.

Former cross country surveyor here. Including fording rivers, swamps, bogs, creeks, etc. all over Florida.

 

If your feet start getting wet inside the cab, your gonna have to change yer socks......

 

Doesn't look like the actual water depth is over the hubs. Any idea how deep it was?

 

At some points it was as high as the bottom of the fender.

 

Though not optimal, you folks didn't have a lot of choice. And that's what modded Tacos do - what they're told.

 

Exactly. My toyboata did just fine

 

Not tight at all. FYI, I've ruined an alternator, hydrolocked an engine, and saturated my carpet, all on separate trips. Keeping the water below the hubs is good advice, but water depth is usually not constant at most crossing. Most have some sort of ruts, dips, or soft bottoms. It's very easy to go from hub level to over your door sills in a second or two. In most cases once you're at that point there's no backing out without getting stuck.