Thread: Why is the Defender wading depth only 500mm?

Year well I only had the one photo to go on, just sating what it looks like to me. Your getting way too wound up. As for the true depth, how would you know? You since you never walked it.

As for coming back when I know what I'm on about... Well I'm not the one advocating the "drive in and see" approach to a river crossing. That'll cost you in the end, maybe just a vehicle or maybe your life.

Take care.

Ian.

Originally Posted by AndyG

What's a recommended fording speed, for say 400 mm I normally grab 1st in high with low-med revs (no tacko) Ina hilux?

And try to remain constant in transit

Originally Posted by noyakfat

As for an actual speed, I'd say the answer is totally subjective and different for every situation.

As you've hinted at, it's best as a general guideline to check the crossing route and depth first, then (prior to entering the water) select an appropriate gear and keep in the peak torque rev range. Keep an eye on what's going on with your "bow wave" and adjust your right foot accordingly.

[edit] : if you don't have a tacho', just use your ears

Cheers

I don't claim to be an expert on water crossings, but I had been led to believe that a good rule of thumb was to use whatever speed was needed to create a useful sized bow wave. How big a bow wave is probably a matter of opinion.

There will be other factors sometime which will dictate a slightly slower or faster speed but that is a good starting point.

When my brother lived in Darwin, a lot of trips involved water crossings. His advice was that when you came to the first water crossing, the most important thing was to stop, light a fire, boil the billy and enjoy a cup of tea.

The theory was that by the time you had finished the cup of tea and extinguished the fire, hot parts of the vehicle, like diffs and brake discs had cooled a bit so that there was less chance of water being sucked in as the air inside the diff cooled.

Originally Posted by mools

Year well I only had the one photo to go on, just sating what it looks like to me. Your getting way too wound up. As for the true depth, how would you know? You since you never walked it.

As for coming back when I know what I'm on about... Well I'm not the one advocating the "drive in and see" approach to a river crossing. That'll cost you in the end, maybe just a vehicle or maybe your life.

Take care.

Ian.

There was a description with my photo. There are depth markers on most fords in the UK. When you have done it a jindred times ypu get to know depths well.

Use your commom sense to determine if the river is crossable. Depth is almost irrelevant. I have forded 5ft deep rivers with nearly no flow creating a good bow wave and having a smooth river bed.

On the same token I never forded the 1ft torrent that was only a 50m dash across a concrete bottom because the flow seemed to strong. That was in North Africa.

Just use your loaf

G

royal marines land rover Picture 114 - YouTube

5 feet, that's pretty bloody deep.....
Maybe there might be a market for nugget/nugget stuff to design and manufacture extended breathers and manifolds for drivers and passengers if you're going that deep often?
Do any other defender drivers often go through 5 feet of water depth?
Of course Isuzu county owners wouldn't require such a device (extended breathers), they'd just utilise the beard device as an oxygen filter/rebreather.....

Regards,
Mike.

Originally Posted by vnx205

The theory was that by the time you had finished the cup of tea and extinguished the fire, hot parts of the vehicle, like diffs and brake discs had cooled a bit so that there was less chance of water being sucked in as the air inside the diff cooled.

Good advice, I reckon

This is us at Nolands...for anyone interested its on the video below...around about the 14.Min mark I think....and before you go and tell us that we entered to fast blah blah
we actually didn't but the video gives the illusion that we had...we actually entered Nolands as slow as we could but got caught on a tree root on entry which made us drop in to the water as we navigated to get off it, the mud slide in also didnt help the guy that went before us went in WAY to fast and conked his vehicle out on entry!!!...
there is a few crossing on the video but Logans and Nolands are well over 500mm....There was one creek not on the video which was deep and was completely over the bonnet and washed up to the bottom of the windscreen briefly!! but that was because we were following Phil who had carefully navigated through first and then lost him and his radio wasn't on and we suddenly dropped in to an unexpected hole...we certainly would not of tackled out of option

The thing is doesn't matter how well you seal your vehicle its still a risk...we went to the cape and we excepted we could drown our car..we took the risk so will some wont.....you also have to except that if you do drown it you may not be covered simple as that.

I have not posted this to instigate an argument, this is at the cape and not all creeks can be bypassed to get through the telegraph track....I think a lot of people that go to the cape except the risks that they are putting on their vehicles, and it has to be expected that the majority of creeks are over 500mm



https://vimeo.com/home/myvideos

Karl,, water ingress and warranty issues are very real as you state.
My car goes into the dealer next week about some problems and consequent fixes, all warranty work.

One problem I have with the RAI/Snorkle which needs fixing, is there is a split in the cross over air box which I want fixed/replaced, and depending on how they are about it, I'll try to get Nuggets unit installed.
But,, during my phone discussion with the manager, I told him the main air filter box has had water in it.
The first thing he said/asked, was if I'd done some deep water crossings,,,, well, no actually, just muddy tracks.

So, as it stands at the moment, I'll be ready to fight my case when I roll up on Tuesday with the car. Ultimately, I expect they'll be trying to nail me with "deep water" in order to void warranty on their product/fitment. Theres been no damage to the motor, but its a very real realization of how close it could be with just a simple split.

So my advice to all, is to think carefully before you do something you cant afford to fix off your own bat.

Originally Posted by noyakfat

As for an actual speed, I'd say the answer is totally subjective and different for every situation.

Correct, every situation will be different. A narrow channel of water will respond differently to a wide open stretch.

The trick is to get the bow-wave going and then adjust your speed to keep the top of the wave approx 1M in front of the car. A quick glance down the side, from time to time, to make sure the low point is roughly in-line with your front wheel is useful too.

M