Waterproofing?

[riffman]

Do any of you have any tricks to waterproof any part of my truck where it is possible to get hurt doing watercrossings? Specificly the air intake and the maybe the door jams? anybody? anything?

thanx

 

[Brian1]

For waterproofing the door jams I would start by putting some rubber protectant on the rubber stripping and make sure that they are in good condition.

 

[Mat R]

An open air intake will raise your fording level, a snorkel will do more, but right now noone makes one for the Explorer, though you could make one.

The best waterproofing trick in my opinion though is raising the differential breathers. Considering how low they are and that if you get water in the stock ones it can cost you a couple grand. All you need to do for this is go spend twenty bucks at the local hardware store on some rubber tubing and two hose clamps. Replace the stock hoses and move them to the same area and level that your intake is at. In my case they are in the engine compartment right next to my open air intake.

You don't really need to worry about water coming through the doors, and as you don't have any huge holes in your firewall from electronics, you should be fine.

If you want to see a good picture of an Explorer going through water, check out my web page. On my last four-bying trip I went through water that was halfway up the head light(about 3').

Hope this helps.
Mat

 

[GJarrett]

The stock rubber weatherstripping on the doors is very effective (at least while they are still new). I forded a fairly deep river twice (there is now dried river water in my headlights) and the next day when I opened my doors I could clearly see a water line on my body panels inside the door jamb equal to seat height level. Not one drop got into my interior.

Also, on my '99, I noticed that my front diffy's breather tube already goes up above the frame, so it's set up pretty decent just the way it is.

 

[Chad Nixdorf]

delete

 

[Ray Hutchinson]

Water proofing

Ditto on the door seals on my '93. I've only been in water up to the rubber side rub molding, but that's about 10" above the door sill.... nary a drop inside! As for the diff breather tubes: definately extend them up as high as possible. The front one on my truck is just below the hood level on the firewall, and the back is above the fuel fill door. I was able to wire tie it ti the fuel filler vent tube, and remember to leave enough slack to accomodate max diff travel both upm and down, as Chad N points out. Another tip I saw in an OR mag, and have done. is to install a cheap see thru fuel filter near the upper end of the breather tubes (You know, the plastic ones that you often see on V-Dubs, and only cost about a buck). This helps keep not only water but also dirt out of the diff. As the diffs cool rapidly when you hit water, the air contraction can suck a lot of junk back into the diff, and the filter helps block that. The see thru lets you judge when to change the filters,