[01 Tundra]

I was talking with a couple buddies last night and they want to take me to a trail that crosses a local creek a few times.

Am I safe to cross water up to the airbox?

What is the maximum height of water that a stock truck can cross with relatively no worries (other than being pushed downstream or getting water in the cabin)?

On a similar note, has anyone rhino-lined their interior?

I finally 'almost' got my truck stuck. AT tires and a Tundra are not good in bottomless mud! I got out under my own power, so I still have yet to get her stuck.

 

[Jetes03tundra]

well i wouldnt go any farther than the tires, however Im pretty sure the alternator on the tundra is mounted very very low and you might want to look at mounting it higher. also important to do the rear diff breather.

 

[cleanb13]

I was talking with a couple buddies last night and they want to take me to a trail that crosses a local creek a few times.

Am I safe to cross water up to the airbox?

What is the maximum height of water that a stock truck can cross with relatively no worries (other than being pushed downstream or getting water in the cabin)?

On a similar note, has anyone rhino-lined their interior?

I finally 'almost' got my truck stuck. AT tires and a Tundra are not good in bottomless mud! I got out under my own power, so I still have yet to get her stuck.

Are you serious? You want to take a stock truck thru water and mud that is 3-4' deep? I would think twice before doing anything remotely close to that.

 

[DevinSixtySeven]

Am I safe to cross water up to the airbox?

Extend your rear diff breather and keep your speed. Don't sit in the water. As for the alternator, I've been over the bumper in dirty water with 2.5 lift and 33s, stopped and backed out, still works great. Just be aware that the fan will throw dirty water all over the compartment when it comes on, the belt will be soaked in dubious water, and your exhaust manifolds may be in the water as well. Personally I wouldn't go diving over about 3/4 tire height...I guess that's about two feet, two and a half feet...also there is a very large resistor in your driver's side wheel well. It gets extremely hot, and it sits outside the engine compartment. Don't get it wet. I forget exactly what it is, but IIRC from what the tech told me it's part of your fuel system electronics, and it is possible to crack it with very cold water if it's very hot, then your engine dies. Maybe somebody can chime in...it's not a big deal for you, since you have a wheel well liner, personally I moved mine. Just don't sit in water over your front bumper.

What is the maximum height of water that a stock truck can cross with relatively no worries (other than being pushed downstream or getting water in the cabin)?

Until something shorts out, or you suck water, whichever comes first. Look in my main gallery for shots of the passenger side, look for a big round hole at the front of the inner fender. That's where your stock air tube takes air from the wheel well. Any higher and you're sucking water.

On a similar note, has anyone rhino-lined their interior?

I used Herculiner. It's less of a pain in the a5s than spray-in liner, because you don't need to mask everything...but prep is similar, and you can do Herculiner in the garage, vs having to strip and mask the interior and then somehow get it to the spray-in shop, if they'll even do it. Most wont. I did three coats. Overall I like it...put Husky liners back in, front and rear, put the base/storage under the rear bench back in, all the plastic went back in fine, but I'm not done...going to ditch the vents at the back for something lower profile, and need to seal a small hole I made while removing the OEM jack tiedown from the driver's side rear box. Couple other small things as well that need to be addressed, all minor.

It's louder with the vents open...they're stuffed them with closed cell foam now, it's much better. It's warmer too, no insulation over the driveline tunnel anymore and a belly skid means more heat in the cabin. Maybe not so good in 100* heat, but I plan to do the Sequoia auxiliary A/C fan mod this summer.

I've just uploaded three pics of the mostly finished product to my main gallery.

-Sean

 

[dyogim]

IN case you were wondering about the tranny and x-fer case. The breather for the transfer case is at the top of the case. The tranny breather extends to the top of the bell housing.

 

[Joe]

Water and mud are no fun at all for some of us. I've put a picture in my photo area that shows the tundra in 3 to 4 foot water and that was only because there was no way around it. Didn't do anyone any good and a couple 4Runners got the interior soaked and it wasn't pretty. My winch didn't work for several hours after that little forage. You can ford deep water if your luck holds out but you must push that bow wave out there at just the right speed and that's the trick - experience helps but a deep mud bottom or a steep bank will ruin your entire day. If you don't have a vehicle in front of you as a guide to the water depth always get out and either walk it or use a long stick to probe before you enter, as it could save you one big headache that you really don't need.

 

[01 Tundra]

Ok, so basically, I shouldn't go past the bottom of the doors then. Perhaps I will forego this trip and save the aforementioned headaches. I was wondering about the alternator. I may relocate it just for the chance that I might not have a choice one day about crossing deep water.

Thanks for the input. This site is awesome.

I will do the herculiner/rhinoliner when I eventually soak my interior... I know it's going to happen.

 

[Hugemoose]

Ok, so basically, I shouldn't go past the bottom of the doors then. Perhaps I will forego this trip and save the aforementioned headaches. I was wondering about the alternator. I may relocate it just for the chance that I might not have a choice one day about crossing deep water.

Thanks for the input. This site is awesome.

I will do the herculiner/rhinoliner when I eventually soak my interior... I know it's going to happen.

I'd think you'd be suprised how deep you can go, just do a search for the rear diff breather extension. I cost me less than 15 bucks and is really easy. I think it was about 7 feet of fuel line and a small hose clamp. Thanks it! I went through a lot of water that way.

Just go to my gallery and look at the first picture. That's me under that wall of muddy water. I made it through fine. With a locker of course

 

[Jetes03tundra]

Ok, so basically, I shouldn't go past the bottom of the doors then. Perhaps I will forego this trip and save the aforementioned headaches. I was wondering about the alternator. I may relocate it just for the chance that I might not have a choice one day about crossing deep water.

Thanks for the input. This site is awesome.

I will do the herculiner/rhinoliner when I eventually soak my interior... I know it's going to happen.

have you looked at putting a mild lift on to get some height?

 

[Jetes03tundra]

have you looked at putting a mild lift on to get some height?

WATTORA Tech - Diff Breather

thats a good link on how to do the rear diff breather.

 

[Joe]

I'd think you'd be suprised how deep you can go, just do a search for the rear diff breather extension. I cost me less than 15 bucks and is really easy. I think it was about 7 feet of fuel line and a small hose clamp. Thanks it! I went through a lot of water that way.

Just go to my gallery and look at the first picture. That's me under that wall of muddy water. I made it through fine. With a locker of course

You hit that puddle with a little speed but I wouldn't recommend hitting a 3 to 4 foot water hole at that speed in a stock tonka unless you like the taste of steering wheels. Find that right speed and pushing a nice bow wave will keep the front of your engine out of the water and your engine rpms will assure exhaust flow, so you can usually go a good distance. The problem comes in when the river bed starts to slope downward, you strike an unseen rock or two or you lose your confidence in your driving abilities that little things suddenly turn into big problems and you still have that river bank to negotiate. If you encounter fast current and find a deep hole in the creek bed all at the same time, things will turn to kimchi in a hurry. In my picture you can see my bow wave in front of that massive ARB bumper and I'm lifted 6", on 35's and locked on all four corners and the distance wasn't much at all but 2 locked 4Runners on the corners and 33's couldn't make the climb out and took a strap at the bank. They took on water waiting for the strap. Places like that I think contribute to washed out wheel bearings, a little water seepage into the diffs and a little corrosion in the starter and winch motors. In the northwoods we carry a chainsaw for these type trails and cord the damn road making passage easier going in and coming back out. My picture was taken on the Rubicon and I think they hang people there caught driving over shrubs let alone cutting down trees, so we sacrificed our vehicles a little.

 

[Hugemoose]

That hole you were in is insane, and at that point it's not fun. The place we were at was a sand bottom which in it self could be a problem if you slowed down. I did get stuck once, on the last hole. The was a very small current running through it...very small, but it was enough to was away the bottom on the right side of the hole. So when I drove into it my right side sack. I was kicking myself later and still am because I let off the gas (I have NO idea what I was thinking) That was it. I was stuck and not very happy with myself.

I'm lucky to not have broken anything.

Nearly every other hole we approached we took at a slower speed with constant throttle and pushed the water out of our way. By the tail end of our gang, the trucks had less water to go though because we kept pushing it down the trial.

 

[01 Tundra]

Moose,

Have you had any issues with your anti-sway bar hanging up on things? I was thinking about getting one, but didn't know if it would cause more headache than good.

 

[Hugemoose]

Moose,

Have you had any issues with your anti-sway bar hanging up on things? I was thinking about getting one, but didn't know if it would cause more headache than good.

For the trip I simply disconnected the end links. So the bar was still on but it wasn't actually functioning. As far as my trip, it didn't hang me up. That's not to say it won't at some point though. If I go on another trip I may just take the whole thing off if I know I'll be on a lot of rocks and things of that sort. But for basic mud/water trails without many real obstacles I think I'll just keep taking off the end links. I believe Herbicidal has, or had, a sway bar on his truck and he's got a 6" RCD lift and has gone on dozens of trips (look at his pics)

So I think you can get it and be safe off road. Just don't try to rock crawl with it. Then you might catch it on something.

 

[TMS2U]

With just a "few" mods you can make it across just about any depth!!

See HERE :tu:

 

[dyogim]

With just a "few" mods you can make it across just about any depth!!

See HERE :tu:

That video amazed me the first time I watched it and it still does. Badarse :tu:

 

[01 Tundra]

With just a "few" mods you can make it across just about any depth!!

See HERE :tu:

Okay, you got me on that one. What an awesome machine!
I am only 600 horses shy, 4000 lbs too heavy and I will need some bad a$$ tires...

 

[RBLTOY]

Yea the water trails in themselves are fun...but you have to know when you are going to fast and too slow. I had someone on the coney flats trail in CO in a explorer flood his engine and he had to sit in the water for about 15 mins until it would start back up. Needless to say he tried to just plow through it and the water just shut him out. The same trail i took 4-5 times and never had problems...Just check out the pics in my gallery its the same ones devin and Big green did i believe.

 

[Jwitz]

I would agree with everyone here, I used to do a lot of creek driving with friends. I've had the bow "wave" come barely above my hood, but the rest of the water was much lower. The price for me though is really too high. The a/c pulley that I toasted wasn't much to replace, but brakes and seals are a pain. The worst was when I found a quicksand bottom, and in trying to get out, I sank the passenger side into the water. Half of my JL amp no longer works and I really dont think my airbag sensors still work, even though the light no longer comes on (it came on for a year after the dunking).

 

[lance h]

i have gone past my bumper in water for the last month or so and i was just informed that i should change my diff. fluide. the truck drives perfect and i just bought everything to build a rear differtial extender. Is there a possiblity that my rear differtial is screwed up from water going over the axle for say 1-2seconds with out stopping? Oh ya im extending the differtial breather all the way up to the top of the bed of my truck. thats the way to go. no more worries about water getting in there!