First Mojave Trail trip, need advice.

[OffWheelin]

Regarding trucks and water crossings just remember, trucks are not boats. They are not built water tight and if you go in deep water it will begin to seep into places it doesn't belong. You may cross deep water and and believe you had no issue, but that is not always true. You just didn't notice a problem right away. I have seen problems caused by water infiltration. It can get into an electrical connector and cause corrosion over time that can give you an intermittent issue months later. It can get under the insulation and carpet on the floor and cause mildew over time. It can get in a differential and cause bearing or gear corrosion over time. Etcetera. You can cross whatever depth you are comfortable with, but just be aware of all the risks.

 

[FrankRoams]

Regarding trucks and water crossings just remember, trucks are not boats. They are not built water tight and if you go in deep water it will begin to seep into places it doesn't belong. You may cross deep water and and believe you had no issue, but that is not always true. You just didn't notice a problem right away. I have seen problems caused by water infiltration. It can get into an electrical connector and cause corrosion over time that can give you an intermittent issue months later. It can get under the insulation and carpet on the floor and cause mildew over time. It can get in a differential and cause bearing or gear corrosion over time. Etcetera. You can cross whatever depth you are comfortable with, but just be aware of all the risks.

Excellent points and I think why people say, “taking rigs in mud or water, throw $50 out the window every time”. Eventually something will need work and could be months later. that of course depends on deep and how often but I’d say Mojave Road water crossing is my limit.

 

[McKingfish]

My Dad and I will be out there the 24th through 27th, driving east to west. Maybe we will see some of you out there. This is our first time and the perfect time of year.

 

[Hella-Buggin']

I just got back a Mojave Road adventure. You;ll have a blast. I was concerned about the water crossing as well. I extended all my breathers but had no snorkel. I made it and it went fine but a buddy took a video and things came a little closer than I realized. I have a Jeep with a 2inch lift and the water came closer than comfort to my intake. Here's a video. People were crossing every few minutes and someone told us to stick to the western edge. I'm not sure that was age advice. Someone sent me a video from a few days before and they went through the middle and it looked smoother. The key is enter slowly and stay behind the wake. No water got inside the car and everything was fine. I left it running afterwards to make sure to evaporate any mositure in the engine bay.
My buddy made it across in his stock Titan and another buddy in his 1986 Ford Diesel on street tires.

 

[OffWheelin]

I'm glad you didn't have any problems.

This person was in similar depth water, got stuck for a few minutes, and then was pulled out. That was enough time for the water to get in.




You can see the water streaming out of the door drains. That is one way it gets inside.

 

[Hella-Buggin']

Yikes.

 

[James Feldermann]

Hopefully this will be a good question for the OP, too, and not me hijacking the thread. What can I expect of the trail when it rains? My wife and I are planning on running it from west to east next week beginning Wednesday. It supposed to rain Thursday. I'm guessing that I should bypass Soda Lake anyway, because of the wet spring, but how's the rest of the trail when wet?

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[OffWheelin]

Most of the trail will be fine. The ground is sandy and water soaks in. Soda Lake can be a problem if muddy. It is silt based, retains the water, and can be thick mud. If you do go across it, stay on the trail as the traffic keeps that ground packed down. People who veer off trail onto the apparently dry lake surface to avoid ruts often get stuck. People who were recently there would know the conditions.

The danger in desert areas is when heavy rain drops a lot of water quickly, usually during summer thunderstorms. This can create flash floods in the canyons and sand washes. The flash floods are what create the sand washes.

The floods can get a lot larger than that, but you see how it works. Often the rain is just in the mountains, and people downstream are surprised by a dangerous flood hitting them in a sunny area miles away.

 

[McKingfish]

For anyone who has been there in the last few weeks, is the road closure still in effect west of Fort Piute? If so, did you follow the recommended trail or cut across country more, like Signal Hill or Pipeline Road?

 

[VCeXpedition]

For anyone who has been there in the last few weeks, is the road closure still in effect west of Fort Piute? If so, did you follow the recommended trail or cut across country more, like Signal Hill or Pipeline Road?

We were there 2 weeks ago, 1st of March. The "closure" is passable by capable vehicles, it was a bit rougher than a year ago, but still do-able. By capable, I mean 4wd is probably necessary and high clearance absolutely, and it's a cool drive. I pulled my trailer through. The area where it was damaged is marked and totally passable.
I have also taken the recommended detour, it's a nice drive, I wouldn't advise going cross-country, don't make a new trail. The detour connects to the Road a bit west of the corral.

Dan

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[McKingfish]

We were there 2 weeks ago, 1st of March. The "closure" is passable by capable vehicles, it was a bit rougher than a year ago, but still do-able. By capable, I mean 4wd is probably necessary and high clearance absolutely, and it's a cool drive. I pulled my trailer through. The area where it was damaged is marked and totally passable.
I have also taken the recommended detour, it's a nice drive, I wouldn't advise going cross-country, don't make a new trail. The detour connects to the Road a bit west of the corral.

Dan

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Thanks for the info. We will make a judgement call when we get there. I will be in a stock JKU, my Dad will be in a 4Runner Pro & my uncle in a Chevy Colorado diesel. The Colorado probably has the least clearance, in your opinion, would a Colorado have enough to make it through?

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[James Feldermann]

Ok, so it looks like it's going to rain the first two days we planned to be on the trail. We are now going to do some other things and go East to West beginning the 24th. Maybe we will see you Kingfish.

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[LukeD]

Late to the party with this but keeping your windows up and turning on AC/Heater full blast will create some positive pressure in the cabin and help with water seeping in, obviously your door seals have a huge impact but every little bit helps :-)

 

[Kent R]

Late to the party with this but keeping your windows up and turning on AC/Heater full blast will create some positive pressure in the cabin and help with water seeping in, obviously your door seals have a huge impact but every little bit helps :-)

intersting I have never heard about the AC trick

 

[FrankRoams]

Makes sense, it's the same technique they use in server farms to keep dust out. Although I am skeptical a car AC can generate that kind of pressure. I guess it depends on how many holes ya got!

 

[VCeXpedition]

Late to the party with this but keeping your windows up and turning on AC/Heater full blast will create some positive pressure in the cabin and help with water seeping in, obviously your door seals have a huge impact but every little bit helps :-)

Haha, nice! As long as you have the AC on "Fresh Air" mode...

Water pressure at that depth is greater than the air pressure but I'm sure it can't hurt. I can see the bubbles coming out of my car all over the place now!
And all the air leaks I have above the water line would negate any pressure difference I could build up.

And @McKingfish I do think a stock Colorado will make it, we had one last year at this time go through.
He had some leakage into the cab, but otherwise no big problems.

Dan.

 

[Joseph Mongillo]

Just got back Wednesday. I was so nervous at the water crossing I forgot to ask anyone to take a video. I stayed to the left and I don't think it was much deeper than 2.5 or maybe 3 feet as someone said earlier. Again, I have an almost all stock '09 Tacoma besides the rear breather I added and some KO2's. Had no problems.

I'm not familiar with the detour around Fort Puite. We only brought the original printing of the Mojave Trail Guide, no GPS or anything else. Had some difficulties finding the head of the trail as I expected it to be a little more clearly marked. The explaination at the very end about how to get back onto the I-15 around Martha's Cafe also seems to no longer be current so we kinda had to make up our own path as we went.

No other major difficulties on the trail though. It felt like anything with 4H and a modest clearance could do the trail without much issue. Couldn't find the bus day 1 though, curious if I am blind or it has since been moved?

 

[Kent R]

Just got back Wednesday. I was so nervous at the water crossing I forgot to ask anyone to take a video. I stayed to the left and I don't think it was much deeper than 2.5 or maybe 3 feet as someone said earlier. Again, I have an almost all stock '09 Tacoma besides the rear breather I added and some KO2's. Had no problems.

I'm not familiar with the detour around Fort Puite. We only brought the original printing of the Mojave Trail Guide, no GPS or anything else. Had some difficulties finding the head of the trail as I expected it to be a little more clearly marked. The explaination at the very end about how to get back onto the I-15 around Martha's Cafe also seems to no longer be current so we kinda had to make up our own path as we went.

No other major difficulties on the trail though. It felt like anything with 4H and a modest clearance could do the trail without much issue. Couldn't find the bus day 1 though, curious if I am blind or it has since been moved?

bus was removed a couple of weeks ago

 

[Kent R]

Just got back Wednesday. I was so nervous at the water crossing I forgot to ask anyone to take a video. I stayed to the left and I don't think it was much deeper than 2.5 or maybe 3 feet as someone said earlier. Again, I have an almost all stock '09 Tacoma besides the rear breather I added and some KO2's. Had no problems.

I'm not familiar with the detour around Fort Puite. We only brought the original printing of the Mojave Trail Guide, no GPS or anything else. Had some difficulties finding the head of the trail as I expected it to be a little more clearly marked. The explaination at the very end about how to get back onto the I-15 around Martha's Cafe also seems to no longer be current so we kinda had to make up our own path as we went.

No other major difficulties on the trail though. It felt like anything with 4H and a modest clearance could do the trail without much issue. Couldn't find the bus day 1 though, curious if I am blind or it has since been moved?

Ive just got to ask a question, did you mean the guide book didn't have GPS or anything else or you didn't bring a GPS or anything else.

 

[FrankRoams]

bus was removed a couple of weeks ago

No way, the school bus is gone?