Flood Trucks

[Recovry4x4]

I talked to Matt in Live Oak last night. He bought 2 of the flood trucks from LA in the first sale with them and he's got them home. He was saying that one of the trucks was cleaned after being submerged and it looks pretty good. He's draining everything now to give a better assessment of the condition. He's pretty sure both engines have water in them but hasn't started draining them yet. The other truck was not cleaned and is very crusty. This truck will be chopped to recover basic items for inspection and resale.

 

[cranetruck]

If a vehicle isn't serviced imediately following a fording operation or a dip in the water, a lot of damage will result. For example, just driving in water deep enough to submerge the axles would require all the wheel bearings to be inspected. No other way to make sure the seals held up.

 

[steelsoldiers]

I've done major overhaul on axles after submersion in fresh water. Best case scenario for me was the axle was hot, cooling it rapidly in water sucked fresh water past the seals and contaminated the gear lube. The lube was whipped into a nice milkshake looking crap. That one was take care of with a thorough cleaning of the gearset with brake-clean and a fresh fill. Worst case was my Mog. It had a bad outer oil seal, which allowed oil out and water in. When I bought it, the portal box was filled with a rusty paste and both lower bearings were toast. That required a complete tear down and R&R.

I can only imagine how corroded a set of axles would be after a nice soak in salt-water or brackish water.

 

[rumplecat]

They all looked pretty crusty when I was down there. Which trucks did he get 21/2 tons or contact maint., the cont. maint. trucks looked like they were just written off and nothing was done to save them not even washing them off with a hose!
James G.

PS: Did anyone on the forum buy the one of the M816s that were there? They were pretty rusted up but the engins showed no sign of water getting into them.