How Is This Possible?

[SDoolittle]

[midnighthrasher]

You could technically drive a car underwater if you follow 2 rules:

1- you have a air intake that is out of the water

In the video the person talking says that the exhaust is out of the water. That is not the exhaust it is the intake.

2- you never turn the engine off

You need to keep the engine running so that water does not run back through your exhaust

[tipptruck1]

I don't know that those 6x6s have for electronics in them. But its far better then what we have on modern cars.

If you tried that with a newer vehicle even with a snorkel it would die. The on board electronics would not last more then a few minutes. Modern cars suck don't they.

[Bassn Blvd]

I don't know that those 6x6s have for electronics in them. But its far better then what we have on modern cars.

If you tried that with a newer vehicle even with a snorkel it would die. The on board electronics would not last more then a few minutes. Modern cars suck don't they.

Yea, because them olden cars back in the day didn't have electronics. Yep, no need for bridges back then.

[SirSnookalot]

I started driving in 1961, believe me when the streets were flooded there were stalled cars all over the place, the older cars were no better under those conditions. From a technological standpoint cars are far better today than they were 30 or 40 years ago, stronger and safer in accidents. Many more convenience features, simple ones like a/c and, power door locks and windows, even fm radio, and so many more we take for granted. The mileage today is at least double over the cars in the 70's.....inflation adjusted gas in the 70's would be over $3.00 a gallon, so you are getting better bang for your buck today. Now I know someone gonna say how bad there mileage is on some 1 ton pickup utility vehicle, without fuel injection you would really be crying. In addition to my big rigs I had med duty(30,000#gvw) gas trucks as well, they got 2-4 mpg, once fuel injection was offered the mileage jumped up to 6-7 mpg.

[K_Mac]

I saw a portion of this clip a few minutes ago on CNN. My guess is there will be some serious crap flowing down the chain of command. Would the drivers of those trucks have driven them into water over the hood if they were responsible for damages? I don't think so.

SirSnook is right about the good old days of cars. Many remember them through a nostalgic filter that alters reality. Todays vehicles are far better in every respect, except for one; the complexities of newer cars do make them more difficult to work on. This is more than balanced by the less frequent need. Keeping a car tuned used to be a continuous process, esp. a high performance one. I do not miss carburetors, ignition points, glass belted radials, or countless other relics of the past.

[SirSnookalot]

The cars of today are designed for you NOT TO WORK ON THEM, it's for the service departments of the dealers to squeeze out extra profit. I do miss the styling and individuality of the older cars.

One thing I did like about heavy duty truck tires, years ago before radials ( known as "soft tires") bias ply tires didn't squash down like radials do, less being stopped by the weighmaster for being overweight , not to mention half the price, 6 tires on the tractor and 24 on the 6 axle trailer, saved a few bucks.

[J Francho]

I haven't had any problems working on "cars of today." Regular maintenance is still possible.

[OHIO]

Cars today are harder to work on than older cars, but it's possible.

They don't make them so only the dealers can work on them. That would be illegal.

[NateFollmer]

I can work on my 2007 Saturn Vue no problem, now I'd rather work on my 96 Jeep Cherokee, but only because things aren't places so I have to remove other things to get to them!

My first car was a 92 Chevy Lumina and to change the back 3 spark plugs I had to lift the engine, talk about work!

[boystcroix]

I don't think they're harder to work on, alot of times the OBD leads you to the problem, they just require special equiptment. I do find that the smaller size of some vehicles, like Nate says , makes them difficult becuase of the placement of components and the need to remove unrelated parts just to get to what you after. Although this isn't limited to just small vehicles. Take a look under the hood of a 2011 F-350 with 6.7 deseil , its dizzying trying to figure where to start if you had to remove the heads!

[A-Jay]

Perhaps they were "following Orders" - something like - "Sargent, get you and your men over there ASAP, those people need help - and don't let anything get in your way !"

You can't say they didn't give it their all.

If the folks on the bridge were instead stranded some how and clinging to life, their perspective regarding the dedication and commitment displayed by these service members would CHANGE DRAMATICALLY

The view is always different from the cheap seats.

A-Jay

[clayton86]

If you wanna see PITA to work on look under the hood of any diesel truck 07 and newer especially the new fords no thank you roll that hunk of crap back to where ever it came from. Where's robert have him post a pic of his engine compartment of his new gmc under that big plastic pos shroud is just more regulators and crap that's in the way and pointless. We had the 2010 cabelas edition ford super duty in the shop last year and it had I think 13 coolers on it! One little fender bender and your trucks done because all them mini radiators get trashed easy.

And them LMTVs in the video probably well definitly have the fording kit installed allowing u to drive submerged to a certain extent.