[TUNIS]

What do you guys do before and after hitting that mud hole? Anything to minimize the amount of mud that enters the engine bay? What fluids do you replace if you suspect contamination? Any tips to help prevent problems... :

 

[BKAST]

I hold my breath and roll the windows up.......


Brett

 

[woody]

Afterwards, you should check the following:

• Engine Oil
• Tranmission Fluid
• Transfer Case Fluid
• Axles
• Air Filter
• Greasable joints
• Maybe coolant as well

Now contamination of any of these is easy to spot. It will be milky. Engine oil I haven't seen, but I have seen t-case/transmission fluid that's been contaminated... Transmission fluid will look like strawberry chocolate milk, and I've seen BLACK atf come out of a t-case...

Axle-lube will be milky, it doesn't look right. I assume oil will look the same.

What happens if you don't change it out if it's contaminated? The water in the fluid will boil as it heats... Steam does nasty things, especially to automatic transmissions. If you don't change contaminated tranny fluid, you'll end up buying a new transmission...

The air filter may have gotten wet, and if so you may want to replace it (or wash it if a K&N).

As for what to do before going into deep mud/water, it handles it fairly well stock.

Some people coat up all the connections with di-electric grease to keep the water out, and you may want to grease every zerk fittings you can find (before and after).

That's about all I can think of...

Oh yeah, roll up the windows and turn off the A/C... :

If you have a permanently spinning plastic (flex) or metal fan, then replace it with a clutch-type or an electric fan. That way the fan won't pull itself into the radiator when it grabs the water. But you're pretty good with the Ram's fan.

 

[TUNIS]

Awesome! Thanks Aaron for all the info!!! :bigthumb:

 

[canyonero02]

oil does look milky when its contaminated. anyone with a quad whos sunk it in a water hole and sucked water in the intake knows that. you gotta drain the milky oil, run it for a minute, drain it again, then put new oil in again.

 

[Bill_L]

I think that we should see about a trail tips FAQ area is Jason doesnt already have one.
This is the type of info that should be there.

 

[WMIF]

i think if were gonna make a tips section, we need to keep it clean. in other words, dont make it a postable string. we can discuss it then someone write it up and post it as a hard copy. what do you think?

 

[Bill_L]

HaWiiLuVeR,

that is what I was thinking. Make it a read only area to keep useful info. If someone has questions about it they can post it in the proper area.

 

[TUNIS]

Excellent idea guys...This is useful information that everyone could benefit from! Especially if we are going to hit mud pits the way HaWiiLuVer does! :lol: But seriously though, I'd like to know how to make my truck mud proof or at least safe, like relocating breather hoses, or what fluids to check as mentioned above by Woody, and how to do it...

 

[WMIF]

This way we can learn from other peoples (my) mistakes. haha we gotta make sure that its proven methods, nothing untested. once its tested and it works, we can promote it to proven/tested status.