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What would you do to prevent water incursion into the starter and alternator?
Don't take it swimming ;-)

There are sealed watercooled alternators available, but the alt in the FJ is up pretty high anyway. I'd be mostly concerned with the starter, and I don't know how that copes with repeated or extended submersion.
 
Baz: Legitimate question. The short answer is yes.

The longer answer: I live in Houston, a city that has flooded, catastrophically, four times in the last seven years. I live in a world where, due to increasing atmospheric heat and water vapor content, such events are increasingly likely. I'm married to an amazing woman whose job (senior emergency physician at the big hospital) means we can't evacuate if there's a tropical cyclone, because people expect her to be doing that job. I'm one of those people.

I really appreciate the prior link to Bluecuss and the story from Harvey. He's describing driving through water up to mid-windshield height to get MDs to/from hospitals. I believe him/her with 100% certainty because I know other people, personally, who did the same thing. In particular, one of my partners in a Mercedes G Wagon got in to relieve a particularly hard-hit hospital. Her story about that is ridiculous; I looked it up and indeed, that vehicle has 40 inches of water clearance.

Note: Harvey was just two years ago.

And then there's me, who's another emergency-type doc with a less-but-still-important portfolio at another hospital that is, crucially, on the wrong side of all the bayous from home. Hence my wild ride through the waters of Imelda as described above.

Plus I'm sure you noted my join date. I didn't just parachute into this place. I have been reading, for years. To paraphrase Vin Diesel from the first movie when he sees Paul Walker's car for the first time, "Not a bad way to spend six thousand dollars." Or is it?

And double plus, we just bought my wife a new ride so she is totally amenable to the notion of me spending some money on my FJ!

So from my point of view it's not over the top.
g'Day Raven,
hahahha, short answer - buy a boat :rofl:

Ok... all the above is valid, but probably not the complete picture.... to build Raven's Ark ... might require a few other bits to do it right....but you are on the right track
but the lift plan is solid as a concept, to get as high as practical and protect the J and occupants in times of emergency... and get through to the otherside....

there is no definitive ..must do ...every J is different, but the following would be in my plan
high air intake
lifted - suspension / UCA / lower links / upper links
larger tyres
2nd battery
bull bar / winch / syn line
under vehicle armour / protection and sliders
diff and gearbox breathers
ALt/Starter sealing ... this is sometimes done DU... LC's particularly and kits are available for LC's ...not seen any for a J tho'
Sealing cabin
Larger brakes and SS brake lines
Gearing...456 or 488 ?
transmission cooler
emergency lighting and beacons
CB
Raptor tune
recovery points and gear
car bra / waterproofing the nose ...common DU ...don't know if you guys do this when water fording

how much of this is a wish list v a need is always debate able .some of it you may already have... it is what makes you safe and confident to tackle the situation.
Its not exclusive or exhaustive... and along the way you will find other things to add or subtract .... and I hope you never really need it...for its intended purpose

Cheers
Baz
:blueblob:
 
This is a great point. Will have to ponder the right way to use it. A very thin application is all that is needed to repel water.
If it gets wet, drown it in WD40 The WD stands for Water Displacement...
I'd not add fluid film to the alt...
Your battery will cope with water just fine and will power the electrical systems until you can get to higher ground to hose the alternator down with WD40.
 
Here's a cheap simple "mod" I do as well if going into high water areas....

I put closed toe sandals in my FJ.

You WILL go in over the tops of whatever boots you try to put on so I don't even try to stay dry.
I put these on and go right in and deal with whatever recovery I need to deal with.... then change back into dry footwear.
And the closed toe prevents accidentally ripping open a toe or toenail on something unknown in the water.
 

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Discussion starter · #65 ·
g'Day Raven,

car bra / waterproofing the nose ...common DU ...don't know if you guys do this when water fording
Intriguing. Not very expensive, easily stored and deployed. I'm ordering that one for sure.

 
Discussion starter · #66 ·
Here's a cheap simple "mod" I do as well if going into high water areas....

I bring keep closed toe sandals in my FJ.

You WILL go in over the tops of whatever boots you try to put on so I don't even try to stay dry.
I put these on and go right in and deal with whatever recovery I need to deal with.... then change back into dry footwear.
And the closed toe prevents accidentally ripping open a toe or toenail on something unknown in the water.
This is a genius idea. I have a similar pair and will move them to the FJ.
 
Here's a cheap simple "mod" I do as well if going into high water areas....

I bring keep closed toe sandals in my FJ.

You WILL go in over the tops of whatever boots you try to put on so I don't even try to stay dry.
I put these on and go right in and deal with whatever recovery I need to deal with.... then change back into dry footwear.
And the closed toe prevents accidentally ripping open a toe or toenail on something unknown in the water.
Do you wear them with white socks and shorts? :browsmiley::browsmiley:
 
i recall reading a story on here about a guy who had to drive under a rail road bridge on a narrow road that had a good dip to it. One day he drove up to it and marked the wall so when it flooded he knew how deep the water was. One day it rained, under the bridge the road flooded and cops had the road semi-blocked off/road closed. (annual pumpkin snorkel head season) He told the story that he drove through the deep water and when he came out on the other side he made eye contact with the cop, the cop smiled and he kept on driving.. I don't think i can even find that story if i tried. I also remember seeing a picture of a guy who labeled his snorkel with inch markers similar to what you see on the bow of a ship. I've thought about doing it for giggles but never got around to it.
 
Discussion starter · #71 ·
Discussion starter · #72 · (Edited)
i recall reading a story on here about a guy who had to drive under a rail road bridge on a narrow road that had a good dip to it.
There's a huge number of these traps in the Houston area. Some of the crazy highway interchanges in this town have parts that are below grade, and flood every time we get one of these '500 year' storms. Quite a few of the railroad bridges (as you point out) are like this also. People have driven into these and died, and your story tells the reason why: the road dips dramatically below grade, so that when flooded it looks like you're driving into a pretty shallow puddle, because the mind projects a flat road when it isn't.
 
Discussion starter · #73 · (Edited)
g'Day Raven,
hahahha, short answer - buy a boat :rofl:

Ok... all the above is valid, but probably not the complete picture.... to build Raven's Ark ... might require a few other bits to do it right....but you are on the right track

high air intake
lifted - suspension / UCA / lower links / upper links
larger tyres
2nd battery
bull bar / winch / syn line
under vehicle armour / protection and sliders
diff and gearbox breathers
ALt/Starter sealing ... this is sometimes done DU... LC's particularly and kits are available for LC's ...not seen any for a J tho'
Sealing cabin
Larger brakes and SS brake lines
Gearing...456 or 488 ?
transmission cooler
emergency lighting and beacons
CB
Raptor tune
recovery points and gear
car bra / waterproofing the nose ...common DU ...don't know if you guys do this when water fording

how much of this is a wish list v a need is always debate able .some of it you may already have... it is what makes you safe and confident to tackle the situation.
Its not exclusive or exhaustive... and along the way you will find other things to add or subtract .... and I hope you never really need it...for its intended purpose
Thanks- this is pretty comprehensive and there's stuff I've never even heard of on it, so I have a lot of research to do. I'd like to know this though- if you put all this stuff on your FJ, would you go with 4.56 or 4.88 in the diffs? I'm leaning towards 4.88 because all that stuff is heavy, and I drive less than 5000 miles/year so mileage isn't the big concern.

I ask because I'm about to do the diffs first, so that someone can look in there and make sure I didn't pick up water.
 
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Discussion starter · #74 ·
g'Day Raven,
hahahha, short answer - buy a boat :rofl:

Ok... all the above is valid, but probably not the complete picture.... to build Raven's Ark ... might require a few other bits to do it right....but you are on the right track

Cheers
Baz
:blueblob:
I hereby consider my FJ dubbed with a worthy name.
Raven's Ark.
Many thanks.
 
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Thanks- this is pretty comprehensive and there's stuff I've never even heard of on it, so I have a lot of research to do. I'd like to know this though- if you put all this stuff on your FJ, would you go with 4.56 or 4.88 in the diffs? I'm leaning towards 4.88 because all that stuff is heavy, and I drive less than 5000 miles/year so mileage isn't the big concern.

I ask because I'm about to do the diffs first, so that someone can look in there and make sure I didn't pick up water.
G'Day Raven,
yes lots of research to do....
In your boat - pun intended - I'd probably go 488 ... given the nature of your build .... personally I think 456 is enough for all, with the exception of a specific need....
to do a diff swap, there is only one place I would recommend, ECGS - East Coast Gear Supply.... they supply pre-assembled thirds and front diffs ..so its an easy swap - with a 5 year g'tee.
But before you jump in the deep end .... do a gear oil swap, front n back and transfer case .... this will tell you if water got in ... the sooner the better ....

Cheers
Baz
:blueblob:
 
Discussion starter · #76 ·
Discussion starter · #77 ·
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Discussion starter · #78 · (Edited)
G'Day Raven,

But before you jump in the deep end .... do a gear oil swap, front n back and transfer case .... this will tell you if water got in ... the sooner the better ....

Cheers
Baz
:blueblob:
Yessir. Will report back on the results, and will look up ECGS.
 
Discussion starter · #79 ·
But before you jump in the deep end .... do a gear oil swap, front n back and transfer case .... this will tell you if water got in ... the sooner the better ....
OK, got that done. No water ingress. I'm sure I went through enough shallow water to cool off the underside before getting into the deeper stuff, so no temperature differential to drive water into the differential. Ha!
 
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Discussion starter · #80 ·
In practice, the raised air intake will give you a deeper wading depth than the stock intake for very short periods, providing that everything is extremely well sealed (they aren't by default) for a couple of seconds.
Could you kindly elaborate on why you think a sealed, raised intake would only gain me a couple of seconds?
 
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