Off-Roading Fail I Wish I Saw Coming – Sharing in Case It Helps Someone

[DVA Mechanics]

Figured I’d share this to save someone else the headache - even though I’m definitely cringing while typing it.

We went out to film some social content and figured we’d grab a shot of the traction boards in action. Looked shallow enough. Spoiler: it wasn’t. The vehicle ended up sitting in mud for hours before we could get it out. Water made its way in—and the rear fuse box got soaked.

The car started right during recovery, but about three hours later (after a half-hearted field-drying attempt), it stopped cranking altogether.

Aftermath?

• Deep cleaning
• Electrical treatment
• Fuse replacements
• Dealership visit, of course.

And two weeks later, the drivers door stopped locking. Still not fixed.

Moral of the story:
Shooting content pushes you to learn something new every day—but sometimes it teaches you the hard way.
Always assume it’s deeper than it looks. Use a damn depth stick. It’ll save you a lot of time, money, and headaches.

Stay safe out there, mud warriors.

 

[TheDocAUS]

Thanks for sharing. We get the gain without the pain.

Look on the brighter side, it was not the side with the air intake for the motor. You can take out the floor plugs and hose it out.

 

[bigleonski]

Now we just need some wag to come along and say “wouldn’t have happened in my 80 Series LC or Series 1 LR……”

Oh, sorry I thought I wad on FB for a minute.

Sad to hear of the accident mate. Hope it sorts itself out with a little loving from the dralership.

 

[AWo]

I would have not expected that this kills the capability to drive on, I mean it is a tough offroad vehicle. Dirt, ok, fine. Not nice, but you can get rid of it (almost). Got stuck, fine, you can pull it out. But that much ECU failures...huh.. I mean, it doesn't look so bad, only one side partly in mud.

That's why I love really simple cars. Unfortunately....gone...forever...

View: https://youtu.be/mysp9FeOfd8?si=lCG-xwv-1mgUMR8Z


That's a good one. Fell over 90 degrees in mud...but continues after a check.

View: https://youtu.be/940gq5K0To4?si=7y5hR69ZQWBPwJ7l

Even better, very calm, nice stroll...

View: https://youtu.be/qr8eEWyKQHM?si=NeHUaXekqHDJ6wo3

Even a Td5 with ECU is capable of...

View: https://youtu.be/53PumbeAImI?si=1Qeo3l9EaLlpi95Q

AWo

 

[landmannnn]

I watched this guy floating his L200, also at Farley.

A key point is that muddy water does a lot of damage compared to clear water. Not just electrics, the dried out mud becomes grinding paste and wrecks bearings and seals all over the place.

View: https://youtu.be/SdOjXVj8k9Q?si=586O8ESn8J62sBuR

 

[AWo]

Ouch! PADI or C.M.A.S.? Will the lights pass the next technical inspection (MOT)?

You're right. That applies to all cars. The fine sand in the mud is very bad. That's why I stopped doing such stuff just for fun, as it costs a lot of money and time to get things nice again, after you took such a drive. However, the cars did it, no question, the are able to drive on, but they need some caresses after.

AWo