Does anyone know what you have to do to make a Jeep/ waterproof - if the water is halfway up the door what can you do so that it can still drive through this level of water
I live in MBeach and the hurricane season isnt over till November -I found myself in this situation several years back and the car died in the street/stream

thanks

I'm surprised that no one has responded to your post. I don't feel qualified to answer your question, but I've pushed out more than one drowned vehicle while hunting in the Florida Everglades. I do not believe you are going to be able to set up a Jeep or any other vehicle to swim long distances in deep water. However, there are some things that you can do to avoid getting stuck if you misjudge the depth of a stretch of water.

!. Lift kits - yes, the ones the rednecks use on their Ford F150s. I believe that this is the only legitimate use of these things. You can really destroy the handling and increase the roll-over potential of the vehicle this way, but it will get through deeper water.

2. Snorkel the intake - most vehicles die in deep water when they suck water in the intake and become hydrolocked. If you run a hose to the intake and make it higher (just look at some of the big rigs), you decrease the chances of getting water in the intake.

3. Snorkel the exhaust - the other engine killer is back pressure. When water covers the exhaust pipe, back pressure from the water can prevent the engine from running.

If you get in deep enough and long enough, you are eventually going to short the ignition system regardless. The measures I've listed here might get you through some deep puddles, but not much more than that. The scenes from the movie Dante's Peak where Brosnan's character fully-submerges a Suburban in a river and drives it out the other side is nothing but fantasy.

Now, the GIs in WWII, would wrap their Willy's Jeeps in canvas so that the would float and row them across a stream, then crank em up and keep going. There might be an idea there.

Stay dry.

Craig.

1. a properly designed quality lift kit will raise the COG a bit but will not cause any more changes in the handeling, the ones that mess up the handeling are the real 'redneck' lift kits which are simply blocks between the springs and axles or body lift blocks Usually a proper lift kit only raises the COG about 1/2 the height of the lift (lift the truck 4" the COG only goes up 2"). You will sometimes see them labeled more like "supension lift systems" to show that they were a propery designed system rather than just some simple lift blocks.
There are quite a few 4x4 forums which give a lot of good tips for waterproofing.
2. Besides the snorkels you want to extend the vent lines for the axels and transmission/transfer case to prevent water from entering them but you should still change the fluids after fording deep water because some will still enter through the axel and drive shaft seals. So if this is your "bug out vehilce" you want carry enough spare fluids with you.
3. Keep the electrical systems dry. Relocate any electrical components you can as high as you can. Anything low apply plenty of tune-up/dielectric grease to seal the connections. I saw one site where they had a plasitc bag to cover the distributer.
4. if your fording real deep water you can get in a situation where the engine fan catches enough water to flex the blades and hit the radiator. You can swap to electric fans and wire an off switch in the cab to shut off the fan for a short time to get through the water.
5. the other problem you will run into is the carpets and insulation under them will get saturated with water and rot and mold and eventually rust out the floor if you leave them in there for a few years. I've seen the 4x4 guys with no carpet or ones that use truck bed liner in the inside of their vehicle.

OK, here goes. I unfortunately have a lot of experinece with this.

Get a diesel. No ignition. The electronic modulesare generally mounted up high and phenolic resin encapsulated. Then all you have to worry about is the starter, and there is really nothing to be done about that.

Check where the air intake is mounted. I 'put the fire out' in a new Chevy 6.2 once when I bailed off into a crossing and pushed water into the intake. Luckily, not enough to bend the valves. I moved the intake from in front of the radiator to the top of the inside of the engine compartment. Problem solved.

If a gas motor, there ae only limited things things you can do to waterproof the ignition. Make sure that your plug wires are new. Thsi sounds extreme, but I change mine out once a year. Make sure the plug boots and the distributor boot are tight. The usual weak spot in conventional systems is the distributor cap. You can run a bead of silicon around the bottom of the cap, but be very, very careful not to muck up the inards.

If you da have to ford some water that is up over the hubs, you are going to have to later drain your diffferentials and gearboxes and replace with new lube. If you get corrosion set up in those units, just junk the vehicle. A transfer case costs more than many new cars.

I have driven Range Rovers since 1987. They are built for extreme conditions, and really can take a lot. My 87 went through water that was washing through the floor when both back doors were opened. My 92 has had 3 inches under my feet. The great thing about these guys is that all the carpert in installed with twist locks so you can take it out and dry it. Whatever you do, don't get aftermarket floor lining material that is screwed down under the sill plates. Been there, done that -- water gets under it and stays there.

My best advice is simply don't. Unless you really know your vehicle and it is the right vehicle, you have no idea how little fast water it takes to move a car. Once you have water pushing on the sheetmetal, you can kiss your ass goodbye with all cars and most trucks. The only reason I have gotten away with as much as I have is we drove 3/4 4x4s with lots of really heavy stuff bolted on, like 1/2" steel plate goosneck trailer hitches in beds, and 50 to 100 gallon fuel tanks. 6,000 pounds or so, as rigged.

I have now litigated 16 low water crossing cases. 24 dead, two survivors. One got to watch his freind die when the motorized shoulder belt would not operate when the electrics went. The other survivor was also in a Ford, also with a motorized shoulder belt but was able to wiggle out from under the belt and get out the window. In both cases sun load had welded shut the emergency upper anchor release point. The first was a Fiesta, the second a Probe. the Fiesta ultimately floated and flipped. NOT survivalble. The Probe just went sideways off the road and into a stream channel. That woman was rescued when she washed into a chain link fence 3 miles downstream. She has a hell of a story to tell about having to duck under water to avoid 'low steel' -- the bottoms of the bridges she was swept under. Thank goodness there are few of these cars left on the road.

I have a jeep and have had water up to my feet a number of times without doing anything. When driving in water make a wave in front of your vehicle don't splash or stop once the wave starts. A high intake is great, pre-make one that connects to the TB and goes to your rollcage or someplace high away from splashes, and then when you need it stick it on. Spraying WD40 on parts to prevent water leakage works to some degree as this is what it's made for. I wouldn't worry about raising your exhaust unless you plan to stay submerged for a very long period of time at an idle.

Now once you are done driving through deep water you will want to/need to change all your fluids. Espcialy your diff. fluid. I wuld change them ALL to be safe. You will also need to re-pack your bearings but it's up to you when, but remember water will pull the greese away from the bearings once they heat up and you could fry them. (I`ve had to fix this on the side of the road after my brothers front wheel bearing went out and the rim started scraping on the caliper.)

Many good points have been raised here.

Radiator fan blades do not go well in water, but if you remember to enter the water slowly (very slowly) you should not need to modify the vehicle with a cut-off switch. Imagine switching it off inadvertantly - or forgetting to switch it back on !!!

Drain the differential oils after water crossings –very important! You can install extension tubes on the differential vents (transfercase breather tubes) to help prevent water from entering the diffs but regularly changing the oils is still a good habit.

Be wary of currents, if the water is moving, don’t enter, the force is unimaginable and will sweep away your vehicle with surprising ease.