We were at our place in Delaware last week when "tropical storm" Lee came through Elizabethtown PA. My '07 JK was safely tucked away in the garage, or so I thought. The creek apparently came up fast. Ended up with water up to the dash. Didn't reach the alternator or intake. The house took a beating with 3-4 foot of water in the first floor. Not what I wanted to see when arriving home from vacation. Still cleaning up today.

So, what should I do with the jeep. The insurance company is totaling it. I think we're going to buy it from the insurance company although we haven't got the figures yet. The wife says if we keep it or get rid of it, I can buy a jeep truck if and when they are released and the flood jeep can be a toy. Won't feel as bad now about beating it off road. Up to this point it was mint. 18,000 miles. Not a scratch. Lots of aftermarket stuff. 2.5" lift on 35" BFGs.

I went and bought fluids to change everything out. Engine, tranny, transfer case, differentials, air filter. Hitting all the electrical connections with cleaner and dielectric grease. I have the entire interior stripped out. Oil, mud, silt, sewage is basically on everything. I already called Line X in Pine Grove, PA. Planning to do the tub, rockers, wheel wells, and roll bar.

Anything else I need to look at, clean, fix, change to avoid future problems?

Sorry for this post being a little scattered. It has been a stressful week.

 

Maybe take off the cover on the steering wheel to clean the horn connections. Mine likes to honk randomly after a shower. I've found dirt and dust back there too.

Other than that, sounds like you hit most all your bases.

 

That is a crazy story and the best part is that you look at it from a such a positive view. I wish more people focused on the silver lining, I hope you get your Jeep truck one day, in the meantime enjoy your totaled Jeep. You're right, you'll probably enjoy it MORE now.

 

Goodt o hear you only lost property and not life.

Sounds like you have hit most of the items of concern with the electrical, now get a SAWZALL and cut something off imho.

 

What are ya gonna do. Gotta take it day by day. Nobody got hurt. We lost a lot of personal belongings. Some can't be replaced, some can. I spent over a year building a custom bar. The kegerators and refrigerators floated out from under it when the creek pushed in our out swing French doors. Luckily I didn't lose any beer although all my liquor bottles were floating around the room. Lost our 1957 bowling machine, arcade style dart board, coin op pool table, antique coke machine, etc... I also had about 30-40 pairs of skate shoes still in the boxes from when I closed my skate shop. Washing shoes tomorrow. Lots of new clothes too. Gonna give most of it away now. Just don't want to deal with it. I had a 55 gal drum of waste oil in my garage to feed to my M35A2. It's a lot of fun cleaning that off of everything. We got a second flash flood Wed evening and stupid me left the empty barrels in driveway. They're gone now.

I am amazed at how many people showed up to help us out though. We havent been there cleaning alone a single day. Friends, family, neighbors have all pitched in. Some I've never even met before now. I don't think I'll be eating pizza for awhile after this. Everyone that stops by seems to bring a few.

Well, I'm going to have one badass jeep to off road after all this is down with. Still have my wife's unlimited to drive daily. And to top it off, enterprise had a 2011 silver 4 door sitting there as my rental car. Not sure why I didn't take the extra insurance out. I could be fourwheeling this thing right now with no worries.

 

Sorry to hear of your losses but as previously stated better that it was property and not life. I've seen some of the flood damage and it isn't fun to recovcer from it. Best wishes on it going forward.
If you can salvage it, then keep it. I'm sure you should be able to buy it from them reasonably cheap. The recover is probaly more elbow grease than money. So you will have a wonderful prize in the end. 2 jeeps...one can only wish

 

I love the way u think haha

 

Sorry to hear about your loss. Great positive outlook though! Nice to hear for a change!

 

Enjoy my friend as far as cleaning. just like you said strip it all out change every single fluid and you should be good.

 

I would get a new exhaust to make sure there isn't any water in there either.

Great outlook!