As some of you know Hurricane Harvey dumped 52inches on Vidor, TX and caused the worse flooding for what they're now calling the 1,000 year flood. My entire house was within 1/2 an inch from being consumed.

In that time period I used my 99 D2 because it was the tallest of the bunch with a 4inch lift & 275/65R18 BFG KO2's. It did not have a snorkel on it, but all the intake hoses, air box, and flexible hose to the fender were in mint condition. I ended up driving thru 2-3ft water for days not counting having bow waves from oncoming vehicles/air boats pushing water as far up as 5-6inches above my wiper blades. My LR never skipped a beat, it got supplies in/out to my family/relatives, and I was able to get people in/out of the flood waters.

I didn't get soaked carpet, my diff's were still nice and golden 85/140W, my air filter never even got a drop of water on it, and the only real issue was a P0336 fault caused from my CPS getting soaked or the plug (rough idle).

For anyone that says LR's are delicate, and you have to work on them all the time I'm here to say I bought my 99 D2 for $1500.00 in very good shape and if it can survive Harvey's massive flooding it'll go thru anything.

I was extremely nervous about driving thru that much water, but knowing how to drive thru high water (grew up in the TX hill country where it always floods) and it's Camel Trophy history I trusted my LR and it did not let me down. I'll be ordering a snorkel for my 99 D2 as a CYA, but I don't see any 1,000 year floods happening anytime soon.

I've owned a lot of different brand 4x4's and nearly 20 LR's. Not a single one of those LR's have ever left me stranded or let me down. I am a very proud LR owner.

My inlaw owns a Ford Raptor (which he did not drive thru the flood waters) and I think he was shocked at what my LR could do, but he'll never admit to it.

If this post needs to be moved by all means do so, but since it was my D2 that survived Harvey I posted it here.

The Best 4x4 by Far!!!!

 

Super impressive vehicles indeed. I can't believe water came so high and never got into your intake, and also impressed that you knew the roads well enough to drive in so much water.

LRs and D2s in particular have their faults, but when it comes right down to the line I trust mine more than I trust any other vehicle in our driveway (07 Silverado, 13 Tahoe, 16 Corolla, 15 Mustang), at least in anything other than perfect weather. Even in perfect weather I trust it as much as the Tahoe and more than the Silverado.

Also super glad to see that yourself and your family made it through without getting hurt or even without much property damage. 1/2" is a close call!

 

Sweet!

 

Agreed. What if what was thought to be 2-3 feet suddenly became 6-8 feet because the road, invisible below the water, was washed out? That's a scary thing, and that's what causes so many deaths in flooding. The car gets washed away and sinks in deeper water.

On the other hand in many of the pics and video I've seen of the Harvey aftermath the water appears to be relatively still. It would still be interesting to hear Best4x4 describe his navigation techniques that kept him out of the ditches. But he can do that in due course; he has higher priorities right now.

 

My secret is just two words "Rumble Strips". First the water in my area wasn't raging so if no one else was causing any waves (it did happen) you could sometimes just follow the road paint, and the center of the road is always higher and on FM 105 (Main St for Vidor, TX) it's a 4 lane road with a turn lane in the middle so you have rumble strips on the sides and down the middle. If you can't see the stripes go for the rumble strips & follow them.

I grew up in the TX Hill County where flooding back roads is a normal thing. Have a vehicle with a high air intake (D2 the air intake is in the fender) and I remember someone telling me from a D2 Trek Adventure years ago you can have water slap over the hood or just above the parking light for 5-10 seconds before water starts to fill the inner fender if you have a proper bow wave in front of you because the suction from the bow wave actually pulls it away vs filling you up like if you were just sitting there.

As for washed out bridges, you have to be watching the water. You can tell the difference from standing water & raging water. If a bridge is out normally the current will be raging.

It was also the old off road rule "follow the leader" When off roading it's best to follow the guy in front of you & that applies with water as well. I was out there watching people until I figured out the route for myself.

It was truly life or death situations for me to drive thru all that water. Had it had a raging current my Kayak was gonna be my #1 transportation.

 

I'm very surprised that your door seals didn't leak at all. Not that I assume LR seals would leak any worse than the typical truck but I've never seen a door seal that kept water out when it was consistently over the bottom of the door.

Super impressed with the performance you experienced. I honestly havnt tackled any water crossings for fear of water ingress into the cab and killing the ecu and tranny computer

 

Lets hope Discovery2's are also fire proof, as the columbia river gorge and surrounding areas are up in smoke!!

 

Yes I was very very surprised when zero water came in thru the door seals, but had it been D1 door seals I'd have been driving a boat. D2 door seals are much much better!

As long as you have a good bow wave it creates a negative pressure against your vehicle. Now had I come to a complete stop it would have blown past the door seals on anything.

When I looked out once water was just under the side turn signal lamp. It sounded like I was in an old aluminum boat as the water slapping against the side is not something your supposed to be hearing lol.

I've got a CPS coming FedEx & a huge thanks goes out to Abran for that!!!

Only thing left is to find a good 99-02 RF headlight or try to get all the orange/brown goo out of mine which I doubt will come out.

I saw so so many people that were clueless to driving in water & they hydrolocked there engines or ended up full of water.

 

F*c. im just happy to hear you and yours are Ok.