If you have ever wondered what happens when you submerge a vehicle in salt water here is a very good example of the effects. It took a lot of work to get this rig back to working order as more than just the axles got the worst of it. This Jeep got more than just its ankles wet. It took multiple vehicles and a few hours to recover it. By the way, this wasn’t any Pismo beach run gone awry; it was a Salton Sea mishap in a borrowed Jeep. No, I wasn’t the driver. Thankfully, I was not the driver.
The Dynatrac axles required a complete rebuild and many replacement parts. Those that could be cleaned up and reused were and all parts were well inspected since they were bathed in salt water for such a long period of time. This was completed on both the front and the rear by the way. The U-Joints were toast as were the axle seals. The steering ram was rebuilt. The hubs were rebuilt. The brake rotors were turned and the pads replaced and it took most of half a day to clean up the calipers. And the list goes on.
Lesson learned? Stay away from salt water in your 4x4. Your vehicle can’t really take it so well. If you do encounter salt water be sure to thoroughly wash your rig with a high-pressure washer and at least change the fluid in your diffs. If you don’t wash off the salt it will slowly eat away at the vehicle body and any exposed and even some painted metal. It can also seriously affect vehicle performance if salt-saturated fluids are left ignored.