Water! A friend to the automobile, it is not. It’s best kept on the outside. If you’re driving a four-wheeler and you’re doing lots of water crossings, though, you know that’s easier said then done. So what do you do when it gets in? You pump it out, of course!
Bilge pumps actually come from the marine world. They are, simply enough, a pump for removing water from the bilge of a ship. That’s the bottom of the ship’s hull, where water and other undesirable fluids tend to collect. It’s desirable to pump this water out regularly so that it doesn’t build up and eventually sink the ship.
The same concept works on an off-road vehicle! All you need is a bilge pump from a small watercraft, some vent ports, and some tubing! Then, you just fire them up for your next water crossing, and they’ll flush out your interior nicely!
The concept comes to us from YouTube channel run by an Australian off-road accessories supplier called Ultimate9. The company runs a GU model Nissan Patrol with a nice lift and some other tasty off-road mods. But the most unique of all are the bilge pumps. They’re plenty capable of dumping out water that pools in the interior on deeper water crossings.
It goes without saying that this is a mod for more hardcore off-roaders. There’s no point doing this on a truck that still has a full interior and carpets, because they’ll just soak up water and mud and the pumps can’t do anything about that. However, if you’ve got a stripped interior, it makes a lot of sense. It’s much easier than trying to dry out the floor yourself!
The bilge pumps make short work of muddy water.
Ultimate9’s headline product is a throttle controller, but perhaps in time they’ll sell bilge pump kits?
Installation is relatively straightforward. Cheap bilge pumps are available everywhere, and they’re typically designed with an inlet on their base. Just hook them up to a switch and a fused 12-volt supply from your truck’s electrical system, and hook up an outlet tube. You’ll want to mount them at the lowest points of the floor; Ultimate9’s setup has one pump under each of the front seats.
You might be tempted to install this while skipping the fuse. That would be a bad idea, particularly for an electrical component that probably sit in a footwell and will naturally be exposed to lots of dirty water. Put the fuse in. Better to burn up a fuse than a wiring loom or your whole truck.
@ultimate9_ The GU is now ready for anything! ????????#ultimate9 #unleashthepower #4wd247rigs #4wd247 #nissan4x4 #nissan #4x4australia #4wdaustralia #gupatrol #gupatrolaustralia #nissanpatrol #custombuild #custom4x4 #4x4offroad #offraodaustralia #4wd #4×4 ♬ original sound – Ultimate9
The mounting route used on the Ultimate9 Patrol is particularly attractive. They built a plastic outlet panel that slots into the window frames of the vehicle and is easily removable. It’s also located such that the rear doors can still be opened without removing any components. Alternatively, you could drill holes in your doors for an outlet, or simply dangle a tube out an open window. Whatever works for you.
[Ed Note: Jeep famously has drain-holes in its floorboards for this very reason — a simpler and more elegant solution. But if you don’t want to drill holes into your floors (you could install rubber grommets in them to make them look good), then this seems like a fun solution I suppose.
There are some advantages: If you’re in a long water crossing, this could prevent water from rising too high. A hole requires you to be through the crossing before it helps. What’s more, having to pop all the plugs out of the holes (though I suppose you could have one-way valves) takes time, and beyond that, you could move a bilge pump to suck out various pools of water as needed. It doesn’t solve air intake or electrical concerns, but those can be solved with a snorkel and silicon-sealed connectors, among other things. -DT].Â
These appear to be quite a rare accessory—perhaps they’re not super useful unless you’re driving through a creek on the regular. However, we have seen at least one other example—a Jeep has been given a bilge setup as per the video below.
Even if you don’t really need one, they’re still a pretty cool accessory to have. Bilge pumps help keep your four-wheel-drive a bit dryer, and they look pretty badass when they’re doing their job. If you’re a YouTuber looking to stunt on your poorly-equipped rivals, or you just really need an excuse to do something to your trail rig, consider hooking up a set of these post haste.
Image credits: Ultimate9 via YouTube screesnhot, Ultimate9 via TikTok screenshot
The setup shown is fairly elegant but a true redneck solution would be a Harbor Freight 6hp Predator powered 150 gpm trash pump (229 bucks) with the exhaust ported outside also.
For extra fun, wait to pump the mud water out until you get back to the campsite
I have considered routing the sunroof rear drain tubes out the side somewhere, the tubes that snake down to a nearly impossible to access point at the back of the seats in my H3 always seem to clog up and/or pop out of the unclamped fittings.
What 4×4 doesn’t have drain plugs in the floor from the factory? Even my barbie jeep Tracker has em.
And yes I do understand that this is a much easier way to get water out than pulling the plugs, but still.
one side of that is you might not want to have undercarriage gasses coming up into the cabin during regular driving and if you have carpet getting to the drains is the hard part
I’d keep them installed during the crossing, and pull them when done. I have a feeling most guys doing deep water crossings probably don’t still have their carpet!
My CJ on 37’s does not, and it has all of the plugs out, but the H3 and many of the overlander types I know tend to still have carpet. but yeah.
On my Suzuki I found pulling the plugs out of the floor reduced the tendency for it to float downstream. Floating downriver in a wheeled vehicle is always intense. o-=
Or maybe just get some better door seals? Perhaps Rivian could help with knowhow? I don’t like driving through more than about 30″ of water, but have had the old XJ through some short bits up past the tops of the tires- several inches up the doors, and the door sills were wet, but not past the seals.
I could see this working with a bedliner floor or rubberized. However, that thing had carpet. You ain’t gonna stop the rust that way 🙂
4WD 24/7 is a great channel, especially if you scroll back some years and watch as they progress their rigs. They also do long trips which is reminiscent of TG / TGT specials, except always in 4wd offroaders.
and here I thought Mighty Car Mods was the best 4WD channel on the interwebs…
Their trips to the US are fantastic.
Advantage of this vs just having drain holes is the drain hole lets water in just as much as it lets water out. With this you only need to worry about how much can seep past the doors, etc.
I’m thinking check valves or even cable operated valves would be the best of both worlds. You couldn’t drain while in the water, but as soon as you’re on dry land, open up the drains and let it piss away
I remember having to park my CJ5 on a slight slope with the drain butterflies open to get the water out after some river crossings and occasional bad rain storm.
I can see a bulge pump being good for anything without a drain. Drilling a hole through double wall body sheet metal could allow water and corrosion between body panels.