What fording depth are TJs okay for?

Jerry Bransford said:
No its not because, again, four of the early TJ transmissions have vent openings that are lower than that.
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Everybody should do what they are comfortable with. In my experience transmissions don't suck water like axles because they have much less air and much more hot metal inside. A bit like the transfer case which also isn't a big deal.

22" or 30" or just over the hood I think checking all your fluids after you play in the water is a good idea, especially diffs, transfer case and transmission.
 
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pagrey said:
Everybody should do what they are comfortable with. In my experience transmissions don't suck water like axles because they have much less air and much more hot metal inside. A bit like the transfer case which also isn't a big deal.
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Blanket statements like that could prove costly to someone. If water got into an automatic it could ruin it in short order. Automatics don't do well with water inside and it's easy for water to get inside a 30RH or 32RH through its big vent hole located in front just above its input shaft.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Blanket statements like that could prove costly to someone. If water got into an automatic it could ruin it in short order. Automatics don't do well with water inside and it's easy for water to get inside a 30RH or 32RH through its big vent hole located in front just above its input shaft.
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How many times will you have to repeat the info before the clown posts stop?
 
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One important thing about water height when fording, is that when you're moving through water, you create a wake. The water in front of you is higher than the normal water line, and the water behind your leading edge is a little lower. So if you have a vent 20" above the ground, you could ford water a bit deeper than 20" as long as you kept moving. Just don't stop. Ask me how I know.
 
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I am not as dump as I once was, this is my old YJ with 3-1/2" of lift and 33's. Now my TJ has not seen water this deep :)

Sometimes it just does not look as deep as it is

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The shuggs said:
Just don't stop. Ask me how I know.
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This reminds me; if one does have to stop and shut down, a new set of problems develops...namely, the OTHER entry point for water into the engine: exhaust valves. As long as the engine is turning, there's no way for water to run all the way up the exhaust piping, through the muffler and cats, up the manifold, into the head and then into the cylinder...but once the flow of the exhaust ceases that corridor becomes just as dangerous as the air intake, if not more so. The potential for steam-filling a cylinder also exists: even if the exhaust manifold is above the water level, the pressure of steam being generated from water rushing through the hot exhaust could cause a great deal of water to find its way into a cylinder, which could end in a bent rod on restart. It's unlikely, but possible; an exhaust flap will prevent it.
 
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The water would have to displace the exhaust gas already in the pipes, so you'd get water probably past your cats, but maybe not into the cylinders themselves. The depth of the water would have to be high enough that the pressure of the water column could push air past seals. The amount of gas in the system would also need to compress the right amount too to give up the real estate.

Almost makes me want to push a Jeep into deep water and let it sit to see how quickly that can happen.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
I agreed with Steelhd. Too many in this thread are ignoring the very real possibility of a ruined automatic transmission.
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Tox suggested over the hood was okay, I said without respect to the breathers you should consider hydrolocking.

I've watched a line of Jeeps cross the river on the Old Mojave Road in water deeper than you say is safe. I assume all their transmissions failed shortly after. Reality is what it is and if in your reality all those rigs, every year, fail then that's fine.
 
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