Front hubs and creek crossing woes

[blue_goose]

So I went to check out the swimming hole today where i had to ford a relativley shallow creek where the water came up to the bottom of the center cap/hubs. On the way back i was bored and decided to drive down the stream a few feet and hit it at an angle, going pretty slow. one side was waay deeper than the other (which i knew but didnt think about- lesson learned), which means that the front right tire and back left had traction while the others were spinning in the water. I was able to rock it a while and eventually had to start digging. By the time I gave up and called my friend with a grand cherokee to pull me i had been in water up to the top of the front hubs (it was sinking as i was digging) for about 45 min total in a creek that was flowing swiftly. i drove about 3 miles back and everything seemed fine up front but i know your not supposed to put them in that deep of water. wish i had my camera so i could show you guys. so how bad is this and should I be worried about it? from my understanding everything is sealed up there so I should be ok but I would just like to know for sure. thanks!

 

[Willard]

Everything on the hubs should be sealed up. If you know what you're looking at you can try to disassemble one side and make sure it's okay. However if the front differential was under water (or even possibly underwater) I would check/replace the fluid in that.

 

[97awdx]

Everything on the hubs should be sealed up. If you know what you're looking at you can try to disassemble one side and make sure it's okay. However if the front differential was under water (or even possibly underwater) I would check/replace the fluid in that.

Their is nothing to look at, 3rd gens have "sealed" unit bearings unlike the 1st gen. You wont know until its too late.

 

[blue_goose]

thats about what i thought. Looks like I'll just drive it and keep a ear out for anything that sounds bad. thanks all!