# Tool Talk > Wheels >  underwater truck driving in New Zealand

## Jon

What would the internet be without videos of people driving underwater?





Nobody knows.  :Rimshot: 

This is a fine example of the genre. River crossings in the Colorado mountains are generally short but hectic. When the runoff is heavy, rigs gather on a side, drivers contemplating the crossing, each offering his expert estimate of the water depth. Then there's that moment when you're halfway through and you slow down, water flowing over the hood, heart sinking. Crossings are usually done by necessity, to access terrain, and they're always stressful.

So what struck me about this video is the joy.

They're driving what I believe is a stripped down Nissan Patrol MQ, with a welded rear diff and a PTO winch on the front, on private property on a farm in New Zealand.

I would say to skip to 0:50 for the action to start, but it's worthwhile to hear the glee in this young gentleman's voice as he describes the upcoming "bit of a muck-around".

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KustomsbyKent (Dec 16, 2018),

Moby Duck (Dec 2, 2018),

PJs (Dec 13, 2018),

Seedtick (Oct 16, 2016)

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## Jon

The difference between driving underwater in a river, and driving underwater in a quarry:



Your browser does not support the video tag.


Looks like the tricked-out UTV guy loses this round to the Kiwi junk trucker.

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PJs (Dec 13, 2018),

Seedtick (Dec 12, 2018)

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## Frank S

One rig designed for the purpose One rig is just an expensive toy. But the cooler of beer survived

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bukwessul (Dec 12, 2018),

PJs (Dec 13, 2018),

Scotsman Hosie (Sep 17, 2019)

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## Airstreamer

> One rig designed for the purpose One rig is just an expensive toy. But the cooler of beer survived



I think the cooler was empty by the time they shot this video!  :Lol:

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PJs (Dec 13, 2018)

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## Scotsman Hosie

That's definitely some Darwin Award Winner stupid. Trying to take that embankment — on that kind of angle.

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## Jon

Made a great GIF from the first video. Something like:

"When I'm out in public, and I hear someone mention homemade tools."

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Scotsman Hosie (Sep 17, 2019)

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## Jon

I admit I was fooled.



Your browser does not support the video tag.

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baja (Sep 10, 2019),

Marnat3 (Sep 14, 2019),

MIGuy (Sep 9, 2019),

Moby Duck (Sep 15, 2019),

Rikk (Sep 10, 2019),

Scotsman Hosie (Sep 17, 2019),

Scotty12 (Sep 9, 2019),

Seedtick (Sep 9, 2019),

Tonyg (Sep 10, 2019)

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## Frank S

About as real looking as it can get

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## Tonyg

Yep, fooled me too!

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## Hoosiersmoker

The slow-mo makes it look full scale but the water drops were gigantic

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Scotsman Hosie (Sep 17, 2019)

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## Ralphxyz

That's not a river it's a mud hole, but I am impressed, wish I had one!

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## Moby Duck

> That's not a river it's a mud hole, but I am impressed, wish I had one!



Should be easy enough to make your own mud hole , all you will need is a few buckets of water and a garden.

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## Ralphxyz

Wish I had a 4x4 toy to run around in my mud hole, also!

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## Jon

Fullsize or model?



Your browser does not support the video tag.

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Andyt (Sep 24, 2019),

baja (Sep 24, 2019),

hansgoudzwaard (Sep 29, 2019),

Midwestern640 (Sep 23, 2019),

Seedtick (Sep 23, 2019),

Tule (Sep 24, 2019)

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## Ralphxyz

I would not even think about driving there. Especially if I had any movable object on the passenger side.

From the looks of the jeep it does not appear to have been flipped so not sure how one learns to do that without at least flipping on the side
once or twice.

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## Frank S

> Fullsize or model?
> 
> <video controls autoplay loop>
> <source src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/hmt-forum/cliff_hugging_jeep.mp4" type="video/mp4">
> Your browser does not support the video tag.
> </video>



It may be full size but if it is the driver is stone cool even full screen could only see his right hand on the wheel and it barely moved 
If full size also IMO the guy is crazy, most donkeys and goats would have to watch their step on that trail.

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## Hoosiersmoker

Everything about it seems to indicate full size, right?

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## tonyfoale

Suspension frequencies are a dead giveaway as is the tyre deflection.

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## Baddog

I agree with Tony, full size. And regarding to how one learns, I have no hesitation that's not his first rig. I had a rock crawler tube buggy on 42s and have done similar to that, but it was built to roll, and showed plenty of evidence. But unless that's one of the conveniently framed pics to make it look far worse than it is, I have never had the stones to run that close...

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## IAMSatisfied

> Fullsize or model?



It appears as though this is right hand drive (if it were left hand drive, I don't think the driver would have one arm casually resting on the door)... it looks like the driver's got a black jogging suit top on with a whit stripe on the sleeve that can be seen in the down-hill side window, and it appears to move. The hook on the winch also dangles, but that not conclusive.

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## Baddog

And speaking of "arm on door", that's a rather foolish rookie mistake that belies the apparent experience of the driver. That's what "oh sh*t" handles are for. You never put anything outside the cage, and if there is any chance of a violent role, all occupants MUST be holding onto either the OSH or their 5 point harness straps. Anything less risks angular momentum throwing your arm out to get crushed. There was an outing where a Toy conversion driven by an experienced wheeler who had brought his girlfriend along. He didn't warn/watch her, or she didn't listen. It wasn't pretty, and involved a life-flight. I never heard, but if she still has that hand, I doubt it's functional...

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## Chadboye

The video of the truck on the side of a cliff is an rc truck and I am 100% sure of it, I have rc trucks like this myself and have spent countless hours scouring rc groups on Facebook and the web so they stick out to me now in videos and pics where they are trying to make it look real. This guy did do a good job tho but I assure you it's an rc truck.

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## Chadboye

Also you can see the body post holes on the hood on each side of the hood scoop ( looks like they aren't being used tho), and the top of the body posts sticking thru on the roof right behind the "cargo bag" on the roof rack.

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## Baddog

Fair enough, sure good enough to fool me. I've seen RC trucks of that sort, and never saw one that moved as seemingly realistic as that one.

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## Chadboye

They're getting extremely realistically scale nowadays. To people who aren't familiar with certain parts and stuff like that it's very hard to tell when the right care is taken with the camera angles.

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## Ralphxyz

You'd still think there would be some scratches and dirt and things from rollovers.

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## Chadboye

Ya my guess would be that that's a brand new build that hasn't gotten much use yet cus your right, it definitely is pretty and shiny lol

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