LR4 in water. Caveats?

[vivaldi1]

Hey Folks,

I'm in NC beaches at the moment, and the streets are flooded. Up to just above the lower door jams at times. I know this vehicles is designed to work thru some creeks and rivers, I was just curious what folks know about the wading thru water capabilities. And how best to handle that.

Thinking about the exhaust mostly and wondering if that's what those 'gills' do on the sides of the car.

 

[crewcabrob]

The side gills are actually the air intakes for the LR4. The exhaust exits right below the rear bumper.

The wading depth is 24" in standard ride mode and I believe close to 28" when in the driver selected high mode. If there is water that is 8" or more, I would choose the high mode just incase.

If you are driving though the water, anything less than 24" of water, the LR4 should be fine as long as you follow the guide book. Here is a link: http://www.landrover.com/us/en/lr/owners/land-rover-guides/a-guide-to-off-roading/

The last section is about driving in water and how to creat a "bow wake" and follow it.

I personally wouldn't let my LR4 sit in the water that was over 9", but I would have no problem driving around on streets that were flooded with water as long as you can guage the depth at less than 2 feet deep.

My advice is to look at regular land marks you are familar with: mail boxes on posts, fire highdrants, street signs... Normally if I can see the top of a fire highdrant, I should be safe unless there are really tall curbs in the area or they are artificially raise for what ever reason. Mail boxes should all be at the same height, but it's a little harder to judge how deep the water is just on how high the water is on the post.

Since you are in a strange place, you may have to watch other vehicles and guage the depth by them. Better yet, walk in front and get a good idea of how deep it is and have someone follow you in your rig if that is an option. Best of all: wait until the water goes down if you can.

Good luck!

Rob

 

[Count Laszlo]

I have a stupid questions, and a newbie. When an engine is hot, including the exhaust, for autos it's recommended not to get cold water on them, as an engine block can crack, and an exhaust, catalytic converter can collapse. Why isn't this a concern with 4x4s?