Steve's Swamped Toy

I got the truck in Oct of 99, used of course, and hadn't been in the good mud not one time since I got it. Then we got a really good rain and was off to the trails to see how the Toy did. Everything was GREAT as you can tell by truck pic #6 and #2 (below).

As we were leaving the trails after several hours of fun and excitement, I notice a cool little flooded spot that is covering several lots worth of ground on the back side of a construction zone. We slid around in this area for a while and had great fun. Man I have been amazed at how well my truck is doing completely stock with bald AT tires!! Then it happened, my friend Mike pointed to the "hole" and said "Hit that one"... Well, it looked a little different than the ones we were just playing in, I didnt see any grass. It will be all right if I just nick the edge of it. As I move my way into the hole it starts to suck me in. I cut my wheels hard to my right and its still sucking me down. I stop and call for the chain to pull me out. Pic #3 is how I was sitting before the chain got tight.

I cut my wheels to the left hoping to get out of the tractor beam that was sucking me under, didnt help. Pic #5 shows what was happening, the cut was so steep that my bald AT tires just slid down and the water was pulling me to... I had a few seconds of panic as my hood was going under water, part 1 (below), and then Death, pic part 2 (below). If you look, we got the truck out a little bit with a high lift jack, about 3 inches before it jammed and stopped working. Note the white water line running parallel with the trim ring for the fender!! We were stuck bad!! We waited for about 2 hrs before the tow truck finally got there to winch us out. The flat bed on the last pic is the first on the scene, but he got stuck in the entrance to the trails. Another truck got called out to save us both. This may explain my obsessing with finding a snorkle kit for my truck. Just in case!! All in all I was very lucky, the water dried out of the cab after about a week and a half of frost on the INSIDE of my windows, and $500 worth of wrecker bill and new fluids all the way around she lives again. Still need to get a relay for my power door locks, that is the only thing that didnt dry out. I'm still a little scared of wide water crossings, but my confidence grows more every day. It was a very expensive lesson on what happens off road when you panic!! I think I learned!!