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Flood Pics.. So how do I make my Sub a Submarine?

R

rx7gslse

1/2 ton status
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Posts
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Location
DFW, TX/Mexico
Ok, here's what happens a few times a year on my way home in Mexico.. This is all from last Friday night. What do I need to worry about (truckwise) for water crossings?

Left about 6pm on Friday with the intention of meeting my wife at the bridge and going to a Bar for a friend's birthday party...

Right as I walk out the door the sky just literally opens up.. Which of course causes a traffic jam. After I get out of the office park I get to the main road, which is starting to fill up with water by this time... Take note of the cars sitting next to me as the ditch in the middle is starting to overflow onto the road.

http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood01.jpg
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood02.jpg

Drive thru that, and get to the main road thru town... This is 3 lanes each way with a ditch in the middle.. here you can see across the 'ditch' to the far lane on the other side.. yeah, the water there is the road.
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood03.jpg

As I get past that low section, I get to the next one.. Traffic on the main road is backed up pretty bad.. I take the 'feeder' lane on the side. It usually has more water than the main road, but yikes! Notice the wall of water pouring OVER the hood of the Civic next to me. The bus and the pickup behind it are on the main road on the other side of a mini-retaining wall that's about a foot high here.
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood04.jpg

Here's where the fun starts.. At the bottom of the next hill, I ran into.
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood13.jpg
Yeah, just behind that Durango with it's bumper in the air is my lane. The durango apparently tried to make a u-turn and nosed off the submerged 6' drop to the road below. Oh take note.. the Big brick building with all the cars flooded out in front of it is where we planned to go... yeah, that's out. If you look just in front of the Durango you can see the red sign that is a no left turn sign. Yeah, it's underwater.
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood14.jpg

So I go ahead and decide to park and wander around.. No one is going anywhere.. no one can cross, and there's miles of traffic behind us. Some random Pictures.
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood15.jpg
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood12.jpg (the white thing on the right side is the roof of a car)

After waiting for awhile I decide to see if I can go around the back of the shopping center I'm parked in to get out... Nope!
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood05.jpg note the water here looks like the Colorado river.. I was expecting a white water raft any moment...
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood06.jpg
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood07.jpg
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood08.jpg
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood11.jpg

So I go back to the road and wait with everyone else...
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood15.jpg
Here is a picture looking just to the left where I am standing
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood12.jpg that sucks.

and as I waited about another hr to the water to subside.. I got one more picture before battery died.. this is them pushing that same car out of the water.
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/flood16.jpg

I ended up following a school bus thru a little while later. still had about 3' of water, but the suburban made it.. Then there was another high water crossing on the way home where I had to drive thru a park to get around, but by then it was getting dark and I just wanted to get home as the next storm was starting to roll in, so no pictures...
Click to expand...


Other than air intake height.. tranny vents? differential vents? electrical issues to seal? How do I make sure that I can get my azz back to the US when this happens?

Here's what I'm drivin thru this mess..
http://www.rx7gslse.com/PICS/sub.jpg

(sorry for the big pics, don't have decent resizing software on this locked down corporate laptop)
 
Thats easy to fix... get about a foot of lift and some fo-dee foes. And then you can say "What water?" :haha:
 
yeah you're on the right track with getting the axle vents and air intake up as high as possible...I agree if you plan on doing this often more lift might be nice but then again it looks like you tow with it and its only once a year so I don't know if thats practical...

What about brakes? I know last winter we had a HUGE storm come through and flooded all the streets over the medians...most people sat still but I just plowed through it except the only problem is when my brakes got that wet it made it a little hairy to stop...I have discs up front and drums out back...will discs all around do better? Maybe that would be a nice upgrade...
 
Avery4jc said:
I have discs up front and drums out back...will discs all around do better? Maybe that would be a nice upgrade...
Click to expand...

Yes, but in general dry brakes don't do well under water.
 
Avery4jc said:
yeah you're on the right track with getting the axle vents and air intake up as high as possible...I agree if you plan on doing this often more lift might be nice but then again it looks like you tow with it and its only once a year so I don't know if thats practical...

What about brakes? I know last winter we had a HUGE storm come through and flooded all the streets over the medians...most people sat still but I just plowed through it except the only problem is when my brakes got that wet it made it a little hairy to stop...I have discs up front and drums out back...will discs all around do better? Maybe that would be a nice upgrade...
Click to expand...

I can't say I ever really *plan* on doing this.. Friday was the worst by far.. but this is the 3rd or 4th time over the past year and a half that I've had to 'ford' at least a couple of feet of water to get home..

Brakes? Brakes are nice to have, but any brakes that are wet suck for stopping.. I'm more worried about *not* stopping in a bad spot. I'm never really haulin azz thru this stuff, and brakes are pretty easy to dry out. All stock 1/2 ton gear for now...

I'm thinkin my next set of tires will be 35s over 33s.. And yes, in 'flotation' sizes ;)

So what's the best way to seal up and waterproof the intake? Probably more worried about splashing water in than submerging it..
 
If you think you'll be going through water deep enough to hit the grill, consider swapping the mechanical fan for an electric fan you can turn off
 
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