Maximum water fording stock Tacoma.

I'm still in counseling from the abuse I took battling rust on my 1st gen, so I'm all set with submerging my frame. (I'm doing better though at least the voices are gone now).

 

My 17ish year old niece was driving at night after a heavy rain just a short distance from home. Drove into a valley where there is a bridge over a small river. She did not see the water over the bridge until it was too late. Car hits the water, the engine dies and the power windows will not roll down. The car floats over the bridge railings and goes down the river for quite a distance. She calls her mom screaming her head off. The car snags on top of a barbed wire fence. She can't get the door open. A farmer hears the commotion and spots the car. He uses a large tractor to rescue her.

My dad was a journalist and would point out various places where he had done news stories of vehicles floated down swollen creeks. Oftentimes the people drowned and their bodies were not found till some time later. There was at least one incident where the bodies were never found.

Seriously guys, "Look at me I got a 4x4!" followed by the sound of screaming and crushing metal.

 

I don’t like driving thru creeks or flood waters, but when I do, I keep calm. And I’ve done it in a TOYOTA when the only way out was thru.

They may not be invincible, but they’ve been indestructible, and unstoppable for me.

Driving thru the middle of a Tornado from the back end of a hurricane, getting caught in torrential storm in a strange city were the only way out was thru, was not on my to do list lol!

My advice as others have said, try and avoid it, but if you have to, drive slow creating that wonderful saving bow.
Try keep it no higher than the middle of the hub caps because at that point you may start drawing water into the rear diff from the axle shafts, and front diff pinion shaft as they turn.

And the highest I’ve driven thru was water slapping over the hood. And the wet stains found inside did not come from the outside lol!

Stay calm my friends

 

Sweet bumper! I have that as well, the welds were so nice I hated having it painted.

 

Not just limited to cars/suvs/light trucks. A few years back there were some deaths in the training area of ft hood, where some army personnel going out for, iirc, drivers training, drove their lmtv's (modern day freight truck, ala the old deuce-and-a-half/5-ton) through a flooded creek bed and were washed away. Water crossings are no joke.

Back on topic, if breathers for the drivetrain are extended, it's quite a bit deeper than the hubs.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/gL7OFtVM8MM?feature=share

 

depends on how moldy you want your interior

 

My rules... Top of tires in emergency. Slow and cold. I had to rescue my father in law and mother in law from flood. If it would have been deeper I would have called in a rescue boat.
Up to top of tires, going slow, is doable depending on flow of water. Fast flow = no way. Slow flow = doable up to top of tires. My rules.

 

I ran my rear diff into the gas filler neck thing. The rest I moved to the engine bay.

 

I moved my intake into the cowl and all of my breathers are up high. I’d really hesitate to go any deeper than my tires.

 

My intake is still stock location. I watched a large truck ahead of me to gauge depth. Had my wife hanging out the window to make sure.

 

Common in 4 wheeling is to get out and check water depth with a long stick. I keep a towel in my truck in case I have to wade out into water and check depth. A good pair of aqua shoes are a good thing to toss in your vehicle too.

 

i try to keep the bed floor above water so the camper doesn't get wet.
it's all comfort level, some people are comfortable getting their carpet wet, some are not.
some are comfortable with non-watertight connectors getting wet (anything interior), some are not.
maybe not the case with salt water, but with fresh water (or mud), electrical components will work for a while wet, for how long is a case by case situation.

 

I felt more comfy driving my old '86 thru deep water, these new ones with all the electronics, not so much. I've still made it with the new ones though, but still not as comfy so there's that

 

No deeper than the unmodified differential breather.

 

Ever wonder why the lowest breather on the truck is not extended

 

Up the the bottom of the door. Don't stop

 

For all of you who are worried about getting things wet driving through standing water: Do you never drive in the rain? Driving in the rain @ 70mph, water gets everywhere! Hubs/axles in water? Why do you think vehicles have sealed bearings and axle seals? It's not just to keep the oil in.

Water in the cab? As long as it's not above the door sills, you're not likely to get anything critical wet. Wet floor? While maybe not ideal, it's more of an inconvenience. Carpets dry...if you make the effort and do it right.

The only thing I get concerned about with water crossings is ingesting water into the intake. That will end catastrophically.

Oh, and mud washes off.

 

Anything above bottom of door stopped for any period of time is written off immediately where I am by insurance companies.

 

great Friday post.