the jeep and water fording

the jeeps are able to cross water up to a certain point. Then a snorkel is added for deeper water. I want to make mine be able to handle in the middle of those two. I dont wanna go too deep(snorkel) which would cause water in the cab. I just wanna be able to cross some decent creeks with no engine issues or anything.
ive heard of extended breather tubes but not sure what that does.

Thanks,

The breather tubes are on the diffs, transmission, and transfer case. They're just rubber tubes. ThunderbirdJunkie bought some transmission cooler line from his local parts joint because it was the least expensive thing they had for these kinds of shenanigans. ITBJRC 20' should do. Stuff was like a dollar a foot.

okay, what exactly is their purpose?

While you're driving, the vents allow air to expand without blowing out seals and such.
The vent tube is so if you do something stupid, you don't get water inside them.

Just FYI
I am not 100% on the KJ but on most TJ's with the axle breathers are at a point that
water would be on the seat before it would be in the diff's
'02 and older auto's are a royal pain to extend the breathers because the vent is at the top inside the bell housing
but in a situation with "surge" or a quick dunking this will not be an issue
but sitting in it will
I have crossed near 3 feet of water and had no issues ,slow and steady
'09 or 2010 4 door Rubi lifted on 35's with a CAI gave it just a little to much juice
and with 2600 miles on the clock he hydro-locked the engine

stock air box and slow and steady will get you through
note that slow and steady is 1 MPH ,4wd low range and the least amount of gas that will keep you moving forward

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6iwEfUWRaI

Wonder if they ever heard of extended breathers?

jumping on that spare cant be good

I just want to throw in the engine cooling fans as well, I don't know what happens to them personally when they hit water, but have read some good stories.

I don't know why anybody bothers to move their breather lines, not all that much water could really get into the lines.

Water is more likely to enter the axles via the axial seals and the engine & transmission via the dipsticks and down the airfilter.

If you check your fluids often enough you should be able to tell if you've contaminated them with water.

I've found the door seals on the Liberty to be poor in keeping the water out. That fellow in the video must have had water seeping in all the doors. Can you say "wet carpets".

valvestem said:

I just want to throw in the engine cooling fans as well, I don't know what happens to them personally when they hit water, but have read some good stories.

Click to expand...

Electric fans NEED to have a kill switch
mechanical fans will either blow the water up ,mine does
or just stop spinning

Extending your breathers is not enough to go in deeper water then 20" in a KJ and most newer vehicles.All the external electrical connectors are only "weather proof" and not "water proof" and have seen a few KJ's with fried electronics from going through deep water to many times.A snorkel does nothing unless you do the rest of the deep water fording items.

tjkj2002 said:

Extending your breathers is not enough to go in deeper water then 20" in a KJ and most newer vehicles.All the external electrical connectors are only "weather proof" and not "water proof" and have seen a few KJ's with fried electronics from going through deep water to many times.A snorkel does nothing unless you do the rest of the deep water fording items.

Click to expand...

very true!

It's called "Pose factor"

Sorry for the length of this post.
You may have noticed some of those "how to" replacements of cv joints and that horrid emulsions that have formed in them. It takes the relatively tiniest hole to allow heaps of water in when the very hot air contracts suddenly to form an emulsion and wreck you lubricating properties.

Fla-seals (like the ones on the end of shafts or even universal joint boots) are basically one-way valves that facilitate water flow when plunged into cool muddy muck, with it they take in abrasives.

This is why we should allow a cool-down period as quite a deal of water can be drawn in through these litlle apertures.

I am not so much referring to the breathers but they do help prevent this bulk draw-in of crud by providing a line of least resistance).
It is standard practice for an experienced 4wder here, to have a cuppa/cool drink before fording a significant body of water, walk it if there are no crocs in it and look for rocks, deep holes etc. I'm sure you guys do the same.

Remembering, that here we are running hot except on rare occasions in the high country and failure means your life due to the distances involved. If you chaps are running in winter that may be different, but I would like to hedge the bet in my favour.

Cheers
Auberon

I have been in deep water MANY times(and been stuck for 10-15 minutes at a time) and have not had any electrical issues, I did kill my rear diff though (and likely only because the breather hose was disconnected from the axle tube, got ripped off previously). Everyone else may not have the same luck, but this is the risk you take when wheeling. Don't try to scare people into not wheeling their rigs though, because electrical and other issues do not happen to everybody.
I would certainly suggest making sure all of your electrical connections are tight and all of your vent hoses are secured, if not extended, though. I would also recommend always changing your fluids after deep water excursions, or at least checking them.

Waterproofing the electrical system is not that difficult.
Done it to many rally cars.
Not rocket science after all!

Definitely not difficult, just time consuming, but worth the benefit and peace of mind. I would recommend it as well, just to be safe, but I have not had any issues myself without doing it, and as I said I have been in plenty of deep water for long periods of time.