What does it take to ford?

[buzzbike71]

I just bought my M715 from Krek. (Thanks again, Krek, and tell your boys we'll post photos as we progress) I would like to keep the truck as close to stock as original. I live on a farm that borders a river (6 inches to 3-4 feet in the summer) that would be great for fording. Can somebody tell me or point me in the right direction of a "checklist" to make sure I have everything "waterproofed" before we ford. I downloaded the manuals and they were very helpful but any advice is appreciated.

Also I had seen a post by Kamikaze about Xenon headlights. Is there a Xenon headlight conversion with the 24V system?

Were there any 715s' with floodlights or has anyone added any to their 715 24V?

All advice is greatly appreciated.

[kaiser715]

Start here:

http://www.m715zone.com/vb/view.php?pg=20chap3-3

I think one of the books pretty much says after fording, drain and replace every fluid in the truck...

Did you look in the quirks book? Seems might be mention of it there.

Edit: only thing I see in Quirks:

Another thing that’ll put the skids on your clutch is forgetting to take the drain plug out of the bottom of the flywheel housing. With the plug installed, any
oil getting into the housing will build up and give your clutch a bad case of slip-itis. Unless you’re fording or driving through a lot of water that housing plug stays in your glove compartment.

[randyscycle]

I personally am not a fan of deep water fording unless I have no other choice.

Like the manual says, replacement of fluids afterward is a must, but also, the brakes end up wet. Water gets into places it doesn't easily drain from for a long time, and forms rust, and generally, it makes everything a mess. The cleanest river still has a lot of sediment suspended in the water. Even the best sealed vehicles I've had will mix some water and oil in the differentials, and transmission after a couple good deep water crossings.

You'll want to be sure that the vent lines and system are all operating properly, all the fuel system lines and vents are also tight, the axle seals are in good condition, and the electrical system connectors are all watertight too. Be sure the light housing seals are all intact as well, or you'll have a host of issues when they get filled with water and rust the sockets, and sieze the screws in the alloy housings. If you store any tools in the underbed box, remove them, or they will also be soaked. Anything important under the seats, or int he floorboards will need to move to higher ground too, depending on how deep you cross.

[randygar]

I would say that what it takes to ford anything over about 2 feet is a vehicle you don't care much about...

--Randy

[crisp]

so how long would you leave you flywheel housing plug in for in youre going through mud? or would you even use it? i have and havent had any problems but maybe i just got lucky

[randyscycle]

The flywheel housing plug is intended to just be installed right before fording, then removed immediately afterward.

[buzzbike71]

Thanks for all of the help. I will definitely be doing some low water fording, but I may need to rethink the deep water.

[M725baja]

I have a 12V compressor, tank, and several air chucks around the truck. I was thinking of tapping the axles (kingpin 60/14 bolt w/disc kit) and putting low pressure regulated air into the axles on a switch for a positive pressure situation to 'blow' the water out when fording (which is pretty much only in the mountains in socal...). Low on the list of to-do's.

[syzygy]

I have a 12V compressor, tank, and several air chucks around the truck. I was thinking of tapping the axles (kingpin 60/14 bolt w/disc kit) and putting low pressure regulated air into the axles on a switch for a positive pressure situation to 'blow' the water out when fording (which is pretty much only in the mountains in socal...). Low on the list of to-do's.

If I recall correctly, I remember seeing something either in the manuals, or elsewhere on the zone, that in the original fording kit, one of the functions of the plug was so that when you pulled a fording lever it would pressurize parts of the drivetrain for exactly that purpose.

[brute4c]

The stock setup does pressurize all the fluid filled things on the truck EXCEPT the steering gear box in order to push pressure out instead of letting water seep in.

The engine, transmission, t-case, both axles and the master cylinder/brakes are all pressurized.

The pressure comes from the motors internal blow by pressure.

When the fording valve is cycled for fording, the pressurization begins and, according to the manual and eye witness reports, the transmission boot at the bottom of the shifter will inflate. This is an easy way to make sure the system is ready.

Since the bellhousing has an internal vent to the transmission, the plug has to be in the bottom of the bellhousing for the pressurization to be effective.