F150 Water Crossing

[AdventurousWay]

I have a 2016 Ford F-150 4x4 EcoBoost - it’s stock as far as the suspension, transmission, etc are concerned.

We’re driving the Mojave Road in a few days and there is a water crossing at Afton Canyon I’m concerned about. It’s stationary water, with a concrete base and is currently about 30” deep. It’s regularly forded by vehicles traveling that route.

According to my owners manual, the fording depth on my truck is the bottom of the wheel hubs - I’ve not measured that but I’d guess that’s about 12” (the tires are 33”). The air intake is just below the hood so I’m not too concerned about that. Apparently the weak links are ignition electronics (the vehicle may stall in deep water according to the manual) and axle / differential breather hoses.

As far as I can tell, my options are these:

1) Try and install extended breather hoses in the next couple days but I don’t know exactly what I need to do, nor do I have the parts.

2) Stop worrying and drive through the water - it’s a truck and it’ll be fine.

3) Don’t take the risk - detour around the water crossing and let my mate with the Jeep have all the fun.

4) Take diff oil and change the oil after the crossing - although I really don’t like the idea of stripping down my diff in the middle of the Mojave Desert!!

Any advice or thoughts on this?

Thanks!

 

[Irving Zisman]

#2- Stop worrying.

I highly doubt is will be 30" deep considering there hasnt been any rain in the area in over 6 months. I have been through it twice when it was at its fullest and will be going through it again this Sunday. If it is anywhere close to 30" deep, I will be very surprised.

 

[AdventurousWay]

In another topic, slide531 went through it this weekend and guessed it was about that depth.

Yep, Soda lake is fine and I guessed the river crossing was about 2.5', a little deeper than I thought it would be, wake came up on the hood.

That’s the latest info I’m going off.

 

[Irving Zisman]

If its 30" deep, then its gonna be fun. Just make sure that you open the hood and spray down your idler pulleys when you get home. That gritty water tears the bearings up.

Put it in 4 hi, and push through. Keep a constant speed through the water and you will be fine.

 

[slide531]

I spent 5 minutes setting up the gopro and then didn't hit record, d'oh. But you can see how deep it was by the waterline on the doors. Looks like it is a bit below the top of the tires which are 32+. Note that I relocated the rear diff breather to my engine bay.

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[Irving Zisman]

Would you say that it is about this deep. This was in April.

 

[dblack]

Funny story. Many moons ago when I was young and foolish I was bush camping in the wilds of western Alberta when it rained. And rained. And rained. On the way out, I had to contend with a creek that had jumped the road.

I’m in a 2 wheel drive 87 Chevy, and with a ton of people so we went for it.

We made it. My carpet was a little wet but no big deal. No one had done any breather moving on differentials and transmissions and we all got out just fine.

On a somewhat potentially related note, I did have to replace the transmission 2 months later. In retrospect a little bit of fluid changing would have been a good idea. Did the water cause it? Maybe. It probably didn’t help. No one else had any issues but who knows.

So I’d say your chances of making it through are good. Ill effects may be nil. But... you never know.

 

[dblack]

[emoji50]. Here’s a fun Thought for people to weigh in on... locate the diff breathers, tranny, and transfer case breathers before hand.

1. Drive up to the hole
2. Hop out and put vice grips on each suspect line pinching it closed
3. cable tie the grips to something sturdy
4. Drive Through and remove on the other end.

Bobs your uncle, free short term solution for a few of the problems. Admittedly, not all of them.

Probably. [emoji846]

 

[roamingram44]

Just my expirence ive seen farmers drive across stuff like that all the time and never even give it a second thought. Probably not the best for it but you should be fine I would just do it and then change the diff fluid soon after but not on the trail

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[WanderDawg]

I have a 2016 Ford F-150 4x4 EcoBoost - it’s stock as far as the suspension, transmission, etc are concerned.

We’re driving the Mojave Road in a few days and there is a water crossing at Afton Canyon I’m concerned about. It’s stationary water, with a concrete base and is currently about 30” deep. It’s regularly forded by vehicles traveling that route.

According to my owners manual, the fording depth on my truck is the bottom of the wheel hubs - I’ve not measured that but I’d guess that’s about 12” (the tires are 33”). The air intake is just below the hood so I’m not too concerned about that. Apparently the weak links are ignition electronics (the vehicle may stall in deep water according to the manual) and axle / differential breather hoses.

As far as I can tell, my options are these:

1) Try and install extended breather hoses in the next couple days but I don’t know exactly what I need to do, nor do I have the parts.

2) Stop worrying and drive through the water - it’s a truck and it’ll be fine.

3) Don’t take the risk - detour around the water crossing and let my mate with the Jeep have all the fun.

4) Take diff oil and change the oil after the crossing - although I really don’t like the idea of stripping down my diff in the middle of the Mojave Desert!!

Any advice or thoughts on this?

Thanks!

What did you do and how did it go? I just got a 2014 F150 and will need to relocate breathers soon myself


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[Brian Glendenning]

I thought the issue with Ecoboost F150s is that the intercooler is very low and if water reaches it it’s game over.

 

[AdventurousWay]

I thought the issue with Ecoboost F150s is that the intercooler is very low and if water reaches it it’s game over.

I hadn’t found that in my research. I ended up driving through it and it seemed fine. As a precaution I had the oil changed in both diffs a few months later (it was getting close to the 30k service anyway).

I will add, although I’m hesitant to raise unnecessary anxiety, that a ticking noise appeared afterwards. It was coming from the engine and I presumed it was a belt but couldn’t see anything. It didn’t seem to affect the truck in any way, so I didn’t bother doing anything about it for a long time. Then, over a year later I finally dropped it into a dealer to look at. Turns out the throttle body was bad. I didn’t tell them about the water crossing and I couldn’t say for sure it was related.

Maybe someone smarter than me can comment on whether that cold have been caused by the water crossing.

The water also tore the OEM “skid plates”. The fact it could tore them is an indication how weak they were. They were made of felt. A good excuse to buy the RCI Metalworks full skid plate package!

I actually wrote a blog post last week about all the mods I’ve done to the truck so far. Might be interesting for a fellow F-150 owner.

https://www.adventurousway.com/blog/why-we-love-our-ford-f-150

The main thing is that the water was quite deep and it was crazy good fun to drive through it. We got some killer drone footage!

 

[Brian Glendenning]

Thanks a lot. I’ve got a couple of trips planned for this year that will have water crossings deeper than specified in the manual and I’ve been stressing about it.

 

[AdventurousWay]

Thanks a lot. I’ve got a couple of trips planned for this year that will have water crossings deeper than specified in the manual and I’ve been stressing about it.

Honest opinion - bypass them if you can, plan on a diff oil change if you’re nervous about it, and just don’t stop! [emoji23]

We’re doing the Mojave Rd again in a few weeks (check out the Rally Point on 4/20), and I’m going to skip Afton Canyon. I’m glad I did it last time, but we live full-time in our RV and this truck is our tow vehicle so it’s not worth the risk.

 

[Cort]

Keep in mind there are front and rear breathers as well as a trans breather. All should be addressed if you are crossing water over the height of the hubs.

 

[Desert Runner]

I have a 2016 Ford F-150 4x4 EcoBoost - it’s stock as far as the suspension, transmission, etc are concerned.

We’re driving the Mojave Road in a few days and there is a water crossing at Afton Canyon I’m concerned about. It’s stationary water, with a concrete base and is currently about 30” deep. It’s regularly forded by vehicles traveling that route.

According to my owners manual, the fording depth on my truck is the bottom of the wheel hubs - I’ve not measured that but I’d guess that’s about 12” (the tires are 33”). The air intake is just below the hood so I’m not too concerned about that. Apparently the weak links are ignition electronics (the vehicle may stall in deep water according to the manual) and axle / differential breather hoses.

As far as I can tell, my options are these:

1) Try and install extended breather hoses in the next couple days but I don’t know exactly what I need to do, nor do I have the parts.

2) Stop worrying and drive through the water - it’s a truck and it’ll be fine.

3) Don’t take the risk - detour around the water crossing and let my mate with the Jeep have all the fun.

4) Take diff oil and change the oil after the crossing - although I really don’t like the idea of stripping down my diff in the middle of the Mojave Desert!!

Any advice or thoughts on this?

Thanks!

In this day and age, and as been mentioned in this forum, Having a fluid leak is not good...tread lightly. Knowing or suspecting you would have to replace massive fluid amounts= Unacceptable as a option on the trail. I have seen what 1 qt. of fluid can do from a blown fitting. It goes everywhere, and if your diligent on a cleanup, will entail a 55 gallon size drum to skim and clean all the contaminated dirt up. Most people would not bother with that type of diligence, especially in the boondocks. But if ever witnessed by a BLM officer, you could expect a citation, and probably a mandate to clean it all up.

1. ARB makes a kit, found at off-road places...Rear diff, Front diff, Transfer case, Automatic transmission if equipped. Would need the extension kit also for all 4.
2. Maybe....those electronics may be okay or not
3. Best option, especially if you think it will/could be a problem
4. none of would, and as I said....where would all the old go?

 

[AdventurousWay]

I hadn’t even thought about the leak side of things but it makes sense that the water must displace the oil. Great point - thanks for raising it.

With that in mind, I agree with your rationale. As it turns out, I’m pretty confident I didn’t have any issues with the diffs (the shop didn’t report any water in the oil) but the ARB kit you mentioned sounds like something worth looking into.

Thanks for taking the time to help me learn - appreciated!