Vehicles in standing water?

[lloyd3]

I have two 4x4 vehicles (older truck & SUV) sitting in 8-inches of standing water (in Northern Minnesota) that isn't going down anytime soon. Accordingly, I'm growing concerned about what that's doing to them. Off-hand, I'm immediately concerned about brakes and anything else the flood waters are touching. Speculation about when this will all end (i.e., dry ground) is now going into mid-July.  Even getting to them to tow them out is a crap-shoot as dry ground isn't close or convenient and...the soils where they are sitting are clearly now saturated.  What to do? Anybody here have experience with something like this?

[b5blue]

Cinder blocks topped with 2x6's would give enough lift to each wheel. (If jacked up and set under tires.)

[lloyd3]

That is one solution. The battery(s) are likely dead after the long winter up there (even disconnecting them doesn't seem to help). The Trooper has a slow tranny leak so even if it starts, it might not be able to go (assuming both aren't sunk-in and stuck).

Need to build a garage up there for all of the darn equipment (including the various old boats).  The worst thing is being too-far away to easily do anything and having to rely on others to inform and then act on the matter.
 

[b5blue]

Yea wow. 8" is just at possible rotor/drum invasion and near axle seal so like forging a river. 

[lloyd3]

Things have been steadily deteriorating in Northern Minnesota all week, and today the floodwaters were driven even higher by rains over the weekend and a strong northwest wind. I tried to get my mother-in-law there to move the decent (& rust-fee from Colorado!) old '97 Ford 4x4 pick-up away from the flooding but the vehicle wouldn't start after sitting out all winter. I suggested using the 40-foot tow strap in it but she and another older friend weren't quite up to all that so...I picked up the phone, credit card in hand, and called in the big guns...











I've used that truck as a faithful hunting companion now (up there on the Canadian border) for almost 10-years (essentially a 1-adult owned, 4.6 v-8 5-speed w/ OD extended cab PU), and the thought of abandoning it to the floodwaters was just killing me. Replacement costs alone would've been well-over $7-8K (for something not arguably as good) so the $350 tow bill was well worth it in my mind.  



In better times there...

It's now sitting high & dry at a good, old, shade-tree mechanic's operation, waiting on a new starter and a solid going through. If I had waited any longer, there wouldn't be much left to save the way things are going there. I sure hope the house doesn't get flooded, because everything else there will likely be a total loss now. Zero insurance for any of it too. So much for my wife's inheritance from her dad, eh?

[b5blue]

Good save! What about the SUV? 

[lloyd3]

The old Trooper made it out under it's own power and is sitting on a piece of high ground at a nearby neighbors.
The rest of it's in God's hands now.

[dreamcatcher]

Good deal I don't think that was deep enough to hurt anything but you might drain the rear end. And there is a lot in God's hands right now. I was original from the area out side of Yellowstone. My house was 30 miles from the park border. I am SOOO praying for those folks up there. Houses going into the rivers. We used to spend time weekends in Red lodge and Cook City.

[b5blue]

 

[lloyd3]

Just got a call from the mechanic that received the old Ford truck. The problems requiring the tow were all caused by a corroded wire on the starter solenoid.  This is both good news and bad because if I hadn't been 1,200 miles away I could have easily trouble-shot the truck, fixed the wire, and avoided all the costs associated with both the tow and repair (sure wish more people in my immediate-family had even some basic car skills. Sadly, the only one up there that did went and died on me in 2020). Oh well...the truck is fixed, it's now safe from the flood, and the cost of all that wasn't too-prohibitive. Now... I just have to figure out just what to do with that truck this fall. My wife wants me to bring it back to Colorado for a number of reasons, but the biggest being that Minnesota winters are hell on everything. That is a bit of a logistical nightmare (but not impossible) as I stopped flying up there several years ago because of all the accouterments needed for my long (4 to 6 week) hunting & fishing trips up there (guns, ammo, cloths, gear, etc.) that have become such a royal-pain to fly with anymore. I also haul up lots of yummy foodstuffs in coolers to accommodate myself & my now-many guests somewhat-exotic food needs (& wants) that can't be sourced in that little backwater.  The immediate challenge will become what fuel costs are anymore. My dumpy little Honda Civic can haul 100% of those material needs up there for well-less than half of the fuel that even this almost fuel-efficient 4x4 will burn.  

I'm getting ahead of myself here, because I still have to see what's left of our home up there when the floodwaters recede. I suspect that will answer many of those questions.

[dreamcatcher]

Good luck!

[Aero426]

Wow, that seems like $350 very well spent.