Hi NuggetHoarder, and welcome from one 4WD'er to another.

Sounds like you have a JK, as I do. So let me start by making a few suggestions for your rig if you haven't already done so:

1. Add an auxiliary cooler to keep the transmission from overheating.
2. Add an auxiliary cooler to keep your power steering fluid from overheating
3. Replace the stock radiator fan/shroud for better general cooling (~$300, jkowners.com write-up).
4. Cut/Remove the front inner-fender liners and/or add vents to the hood to improve low-speed cooling performance.
5. Add the three critical gauges Jeep omitted from the JK:
   • Engine Oil Pressure (requires spin-on oil-filter adapter and gauge/sender combo)
   • Transmission Oil Temperature (install the sensor in the transmission oil pan)
   • Battery Voltage
6. Skid plates: add an engine/oil-pan skid; consider replacing the weak OEM skids for transmission, transfer-case and fuel tank.
7. Extend your axle, transfer-case and transmission breather hoses to clear deep water
8. Consider a dual-battery setup using high-capacity deep-cycle/starting batteries and an automatic isolation circuit that will disconnect your starting battery before it discharges too low to start the engine (about 11.2V for the JK).
9. If you are crossing water deep enough to be concerned of getting washed-away, you should consider a snorkel (if you don't already have one) or know the procedure for dealing with a hydrolocked engine (look for two posts from BumpInTheRoad in this thread)