$3 Water Bra (not for the missus...)

[maddogrc]

hey all,
since theres a good chance i might have to cross through a deepish water crossing and dont have a snorkel i had a quick google around and had a small chat with roundy about the water bra's.

as they were being sold for over $100 for proper brand name water bra i headed down to bunnings and went to the tarp section. i picked myself up a 1.1m x 1.7m tarp which has the eye loops at the corners and along the edges.

it cost exactly $2.97 and this is how it turned out after 6 cables ties and putting a small 5mm hole in the middle of the bottom of the skid plate (its only like 2mm thick so drilling took less than a minute with the cordless)...

not bad for 3 bucks! and if it breaks or rips can just buy another

cheers for looking

 

[Laith]

lol nice work.

You should put the sprinkler on in th front yard and drive through it.

just kidding. dont do that.

 

[daddymatty86]

hey mate just a theory would that water bra make it harder to push through the water crossings especially since you have only got 2 wheels driving your nav

 

[maddogrc]

not really as you shouldnt be flying through the water anyways.

i think it is supposed to help with water crossings by creating a sort of wave in front of you so all the water doesnt go straight through the bullbar and into the engine bay, and if you got a wave of water in front of your car moving away from you then that should mean there is less force applied to the front end and easier to drive through?

dont know really, but if i have to go through deep stuff i'll have the strap pre attached incase i do get stuck in open water, haha

anyone got experience or knowledge of this?

 

[Kickars2]

hey madddorrc i think you should have a look at my photos over the cape on photobucket.
it's a good idea and plan i used the same method, but it practising it doesn't work.

is this wave like your talking about?

 

[Kickars2]

a msa water bra is good i used it on the previous photo

 

[maddogrc]

i didnt end up using mine as i just stuck it in 1st and got a bit of momentum and managed to get through without hassles. i probably should of used it, but with the main crossing being at the start of the track, i was honestly too lazy to chuck it on and everyone else went through without one so i was like 'what the heck'

maybe for something deeper i'd use it for, but without a snorkel i'm not after deep water, lol

 

[Jason]

is this wave like your talking about?

Holy shit! How quick did you hit it? Looks good ha ha.

 

[MickDooit]

the reason you affix a water bra to your 4x4 when doing river crossings is so you don't end up pulling your radiator fan into your radiator. Think about a boat and a propeller and then look at your radiator fan, it's a very efficient version of a propeller, if you get enough water going through and its hot, it'll suck the fan into your radiator and rip it apart.

That and if you smack into water to deep, to fast, you can crack trim panels or the radiator with the force of the water.

Slow and Steady wins the race in water crossings, keep a consistent slow speed and ensure you keep moving to keep the pressure on the doors so water doesn't seep in.

You should also always walk a crossing before you do it if you're unsure of it, if you're really unsure, leave a snatch strap attached so you can be prepared in the case of something bad happening.

 

[maddogrc]

all modern 4wds have a form of viscous fan hub meaning that you dont need to remove the fan belts when doing water crossings like with older cars.

the viscous fan hub pretty much slows down/stops when the water hits it so it doesnt act like a propeller

 

[MickDooit]

that's not the opinion of a lot of mechanics who I drive with, but I agree, most have thermo fans now, but on old cars, people still use them so they don't suck into the motor.

some people tie off the fans though on water crossings, i've seen it mostly on winch challenge trucks, to mitigate the need for a water bra.

 

[Aido]

a msa water bra is good i used it on the previous photo

I see a set of white knuckles on the wheel there!
Nice pic.

 

[maddogrc]

i've done plenty of water crossings and high speed entries to water (yes i know its bad but its not done a lot) and i've had no problems