Water fording mods

[virginia-john]

So, what mods are needed to improve our 250s' water fording abilities, and how much does each mod buy you? Where to start first? I'm thinking...

• snorkel / higher air intake
• diff breather
• lift kit / bigger tires
• better interior weatherstripping / sealing
• anything else
• I'll also note the fuel line recall since several initial incidents (prior to the recall) involved hitting deep puddles at speed

Appreciate thoughts from anybody who knows about this or has made adjustments specifically for water fording

 

[RideWithYanu]

It’s not very feasible on our version of the truck (TJH250), because of the hybrid components, and the location of vents. The snorkel will do next to zero to keep water out of the engine either. Lots of threads on it here for further reading!

 

[LCOceans]

Would it not all come down to the hybrid battery in the back, its height, and how water-tight it is, along with air intake, or is there more to this?

 

[DubDub]

I’ve done many many water crossings in my TJs and 4Rs. In my honest opinion, there’s nothing you can practically do with the LC. I’m sure it’s possible, but not without serious, custom, expensive modification. Suspension and larger tires is the only obvious answer from a depth perspective, but even then you would need a constant spotter or non-LC250 companion rig because the risk far outweighs any reward from winging it. The diff breather extension is a practical and inexpensive mod, but it doesn’t address the battery ingress issue. Not even sure where you’d source better weather stripping, or what level/kind of testing you could do to feel confident it would prevent any ingress under real-world conditions. The “snorkels” are just raised, non-waterproof intakes.

I hate to say it, but for legitimate fording get a different truck. Everything on your list is either not going to contribute much to your goal, or be of zero value all.

 

[EOD Guy]

Height is your only solution. As mentioned above the weak link is the Hybrid battery and It would be very, very expensive to fix if it got submerged.

 

[Falconry]

This LC250 did incredibly well in this Australian flood nightmare crossing. It’s a long video but worth a watch.

 

[virginia-john]

I've seen that vid and came away suitably impressed. But I have also heard it may have been a diesel not the hybrid variant?

 

[Bad1975]

Agreed, wrong platform to be fording in.

If only Toyota left the rear vents up at the rear windows like the 70 and 80 series had and have to this day in the 70 it would be allot easier.

Even portals with biggest lift and 37s only get those vents up another 7.88” all for a mere $30k. Probably cheaper to move the vents professionally.

Door seals won’t leak if kept in good and clean condition on a new vehicle.

I’ve been submerged to my windows for 30 minutes in a 99 Dakota that was less than a year old, no water got inside and no water got in the factory intake or axle, diff and transfer case mounted breathers either. What did get water in it was the transmission as the vent was underwater near the top of the firewall (non-sealing type). No damage occurred after driving it 20 miles to the dealership afterwards for a flush.

My intake tube was almost certainly half under water but the filter remained dry throughout.

 

[LCOceans]

True the video above from 4WD 24/7 is great and insane, and the LC is the hero in the video, but that is Australia and something is different from the US version. Cannot recall specifically -pretty sure it's a diesel and also may not have the hybrid battery.
Yeah deep water scares me with mine. Although my neighbor owns hunting land in WV and says he purchased the LC so he could access the land as he has to go through deep water crossings each time. I need to press him on exact depth. I need photos and measuring going on. Need details

 

[wpage]

Sadly the hybrid models are not compatible with high water crossings. So if your trail endeavors have a water feature. Best to know the depth of your adventure.

The risks involved not only that oil and water dont mix. There is still much to learn about the impact to drowning the hybrid elements. From what we are learning about dealer services. They are still learning as well about hybrid systems, and how forces effect the operations.

 

[sweet5ltr]

None, don't do it in this rig unless it's absolutely necessary. Extend the rear diff breather and walk every crossing. This isn't the 1980's where the most advanced on-board electronic device was an HEI distributor. I'm not against any of the modifications above, but the long-term electronic gremlins from trying to turn this into a submarine are far too high of a risk. It's not exactly the problem with crossing, but the issue if it gets bogged in the 'deep end' which will seep in the rear vent area and fry our 48V system. It would be LESS EXPENSIVE to just buy an 80-series or older LC that isn't a daily driver to build out for this sort of wheeling.

 

[Bad1975]

We have 288VDC, the mild hybrids (48V) are sold in Oz and Europe.

DC shocks are far deadlier than A/C and we have at least 75 Amps available to the Hybrid drive, only takes 30mA of DC current to electrocute a person.

Also 200 Amps AC current available at the invertor should it be on during a fording event.

Would be neat to see a test done by a professional lab of the worst-case scenario to see what can happen and how fast with both systems shorting out from water intrusion. Even if it wouldn't kill someone the vehicle would be a total loss from just the electronics, wiring harnesses and fusible links that would let go.

 

[DubDub]

DC shocks are far deadlier than A/C and we have at least 75 Amps available to the Hybrid drive, only takes 30mA of DC current to electrocute a person.

Good point. I can’t believe this didn’t even occur to me.

Much less if the path to ground crosses the heart. And yes, DC is much more dangerous in pure form, but rectified AC is essentially DC in terms of shock pattern. When I was going through advanced test equipment labs we had an idiot stick the micro probes of an old tabletop Fluke 8700 into his finger tips and declare he “was checking his resistance.” Unfortunately for him the body is a pretty good conductor. At around ~1000ohm hand to hand, and 12V standard circuit test voltage, he took 12mA or less right through the heart. He was brought back, but was deader than a doornail for well over 5 minutes.

 

[Bad1975]

Crazy! Seen some pretty crazy stuff with the old school crank meggars set to 10KV and 3 people in a chain, only the guy at the end of the chain not the source can feel the shock! Of course, everyone has the current passing through but only the last guy feels it. Pales in comparison to what my Dad witnessed at the Government power company he worked for.

I've had 200 Amps across my chest from a welder, lucky to have nothing happen other than not being able to let go.

 

[Mopper]

Glad you made it!

When I was a kid, there was an old disconnected crank wall phone hung on the wall of my granddad's spooky as hell cellar. The siblings/cousins who dared would form a circle with the phone as the start and end. First kid would grab one of two wires hanging from the bottom of the phone and the next kid's earlobe, that kid would grab the next kid's earlobe and so on until you got to the last kid who would grab the other wire and start cranking. Eventually somebody breaks the circuit.

Maybe this explains some things....

 

[DubDub]

Glad you made it!

When I was a kid, there was an old disconnected crank wall phone hung on the wall of my granddad's spooky as hell cellar. The siblings/cousins who dared would form a circle with the phone as the start and end. First kid would grab one of two wires hanging from the bottom of the phone and the next kid's earlobe, that kid would grab the next kid's earlobe and so on until you got to the last kid who would grab the other wire and start cranking. Eventually somebody breaks the circuit.

Maybe this explains some things....

Crazy! Seen some pretty crazy stuff with the old school crank meggars set to 10KV and 3 people in a chain, only the guy at the end of the chain not the source can feel the shock! Of course, everyone has the current passing through but only the last guy feels it. Pales in comparison to what my Dad witnessed at the Government power company he worked for.

I've had 200 Amps across my chest from a welder, lucky to have nothing happen other than not being able to let go.

Oh yeah, the meggar game. If you can create a closed circuit with a routinely used surface you can have some fun. Think steel handrails on a floating ground structure. Sit back, crank steadily and enjoy the results. @Mopper, indeed, same thing as the old growlers we used to use for boredom cure on the ships. Good memories all around.

I took a 440 arc hit 2.5 decades ago. Was cleaning the ventilation inlet of a major recirc vent about 12 feet in the air. Someone didn’t lockout/tagout properly and I got hit hard. Anyone who know anything about trons also knows that HV is typically not equivalent to high amperes, but even on arc it was enough to immediately knock me out cold. Woke up with a concussion and a hell of a burn point-to-point on my left index finger. Always check your tags…

 

[Mopper]

Oh yeah, the meggar game. If you can create a closed circuit with a routinely used surface you can have some fun. Think steel handrails on a floating ground structure. Sit back, crank steadily and enjoy the results. @Mopper, indeed, same thing as the old growlers we used to use for boredom cure on the ships. Good memories all around.

I took a 440 arc hit 2.5 decades ago. Was cleaning the ventilation inlet of a major recirc vent about 12 feet in the air. Someone didn’t lockout/tagout properly and I got hit hard. Anyone who know anything about trons also knows that HV is typically not equivalent to high amperes, but even on arc it was enough to immediately knock me out cold. Woke up with a concussion and a hell of a burn point-to-point on my left index finger. Always check your tags…

Well a good laugh thinking about the first paragraph anyway. As much fun as taking a 2200 uF capacitor and charging it up some with a 9V to play catch...

On the second, yikes! Glad you're still here too.

For me the biggest electrical hazard was flashing a 1.2MW service from about 3 feet out. 2 things counted- positioned to the side, NOT directly in front of the disconnect gear and flame retardant clothing. Absolutely amazing how long it takes a breaker to trip even in the face of a massive overload while you're thinking 'just don't move, you're not dead yet'

 

[GR8Santini]

Sadly, one of our purchase considerations is dealing w/ potential high water. Small lift, 33” tires & diff vent relo buys a small allowance in a bad situation. Living in Southwest Texas flash flooding has become a ridiculous reality making the natl news too often. Crazy weather & sprawling concrete doesn’t mix real well with a landmass a couple of feet above sea level in a super-growth metro. It’s not all tropical storms & hurricanes, local storms & even too much north Texas rain floods rivers that eventually show up @ the coast. Add a little more rain & things happen super fast.

Take a look at this Prius vid - warning colorful language. Reminds me of all the kids that stole cars in Katrina & drove them like in a video game.