How deep can I go

When the snow finally dies i will be once again be mudding/offroading a lot. I have to often cross a fairly large creek to get to a friends camp and driving thru water is just plain fun, but how deep is too deep. I have had water up above the rockers without a problem. I am however concerned that the air intake (before the air box) sort of goes into the inner fender wall. I may be paranoid but if i drive into deep water, say close to the top of the wheel well, is it possible for the engine to suck the water up the fender then into the intake?. What could i do to prevent water ingestion short of a snorkel. Im planning on lifting it this spring already, but i am just wondering. The truck is a 2002 sr5 by the way.
Thanks

 

as deep as she can take it, i usually go until she says "it feels like ur hitting who knows what in there"

 

The title is kind of a personal question and depends on her

All joking aside not only do you have to worry about ingesting water into the engine but you could also get some in the axles because of the location of the breather. I certainly wouldn't want to go above the rockers because the door seals most likely aren't going to hold the water back.

 

yup knew someone was gonna have to make that joke.

as far as the original question goes, the intake that goes into the fender goes up the the vents in front of the windsheild. or at least it does on a first gen

 

BWAhahahaha... that's when I usually ease up a notch ^^^
But seriously I wouldn't go much higher than the top of your tires. At that point you better have good door seals and whatnot. I believe the air intake sucks out of the cowl area rather than down low near the wheel well. Either way don't get your feet wet


EDIT: Exactly what they said, beat me to it haha

 

Coming from someone who's replaced an engine block. If you think you might have to worry about hydrolocking don't even attempt it. There's plenty of stuff below your intake that can you break regardless. Axle seals, fan blades, radiator, alternator, starter, door seals failing, etc. It's not a boat, don't treat it like one.

 

My cv boots are fine is deep water a rear axle dilema or can water have a rubber ripping quality? Also on the manual shift tacoma is there a separate oil drain for the transfer case? I think the automatic used the same oil as the tranny. Im not sure on any of this though. Thanks for the info though

Also: i guess women are like driving trucks thru water, you never know how deep you can go. I didnt even intend the sexual nature of the title haha.

 

Thats what i was thinking or the point when hole in the top of the leather shifter boot is squirting water like a fountain

 

i found this out the hard way. i have an 09, without the inner fender spalsh guards. the CAI sucks air directly from the passenger fender. I've gone through this same water hole many times before.
But this time was different. the water came up over the hood from the wake, and my truck suddenly lost 90% of my power. and the check engine light came on. took a lil longer to go through as well.
When i got out i inspected everything i could think of but didnt see anything wrong. i tried driving back up the hill i came down to get to the water hole... truck barely went up it.
I then put in neutral and it wouldnt rev above 3500. gas pedal on the floor. so i limped it home, let it run for a lil bit the killed it. it started right up like the problem never happened.
I inspected the filter and it was wet. along with the inside of the CAI box.

so moral is i need a snorkel and i went through to deep. lol

 

get out and check it before you go through.. shove a stick in the water.. the air box will still get water in it.. and like stated earlier your door seals might not hold and then youll be replacing carpet and your rear diff. will suck in water if it is warm. im puttin a snorkel on mine so i wont have to worry about it..

 

Unless you do the diff breather mod.

 

yeah today i went through some deep water. Enough to make my diff breather hiss. So tomorrow i am draining it and changing out the fluid. Oops!

 

till she says when

 

Also your talkin about a creek and not standing water. You need to be real careful around moving water the higher that creek is the faster the water may be moving you can lose traction and get pushed around or pushed deeper than you wanna be.