I just got back from a week-long trip to north central FL, finally getting to use my car to do what I bought it to do. We ended up carrying a lot more gear than I thought we were going to and the Element was definitely up to the task--even after everything, we still could have fit another duffel or two.

Pic #1 is all of the tanks we had to bring down: 4 sets of steel doubles, five 80 cuft stage bottles, and two 40 cuft deco bottles. Total weight of just the tanks was approximately 570 pounds.

Pic #2 is all the tanks in the cargo area. The tie-down points were in excellent position to secure the tanks by the valves with webbing tie-downs. I removed the driver's side rear seat and folded up the passenger side rear seat in case we had to fit another passenger while down in Florida. After taking this photo, we piled our other gear, clothing, etc. on top of the tanks, and I had one passenger in the front seat. Total weight of passengers and cargo was probably over 1000 pounds. The car handled it just fine--it was a little slower to accelerate but otherwise I noticed no adverse effects of carrying such a load. Handling and braking seemed normal, though mileage may have suffered a bit--I was only getting 25 mpg highway going 80 most of the way down I-95, whereas normally I get 28 highway. It was probably a combination of the increased weight and the higher speed.

Pic #3 is my car parked at one of our dive sites. Another Element parked next to us! I saw a third around as well over the course of the trip, so I guess I wasn't the first person to try this vehicle for caves after all...

I noticed two problems during the trip:

The tailgate and spare tire cover are holding up okay, but over time they're really going to get scuffed up by sliding doubles with sharp, stainless steel bands back and forth over them. In my experience non-slip cargo mats are a real pain because the tanks catch them and you have to slide them over a lip at the edge. I'm going to look into getting a spray-on liner put in.
During a drive to one of the more rustic sites my fuel tank bar caught a downed tree branch (I wish I had gotten a picture) I can't wait for that skid plate!

Cave diving, Awesome!:grin: Love the pics of the 2 E's. I just recently took my E off road and also drug the bottom,:mad: I'm looking into the skid plate myself. It's really weird where you find the E's, sometimes their everywhere and other times, you don't see any. Last weekend we went camping and kayaking in an area well known for outdoorsy stuff, we didn't see 1 E the whole 3 days we were there.:confused:
Next time underwater pictures please!:-D

sweet! Where are the dive pics though? I have not gone cave diving in years.

I don't have an underwater camera...too many other toys to buy first.

But here's some pics a friend took in Devil's Ear at Ginnie...
http://lh6.google.com/hendoggg/Rw6Lhp_9p-I/AAAAAAAAAbw/NPAQ3AJ7Bqc/P1010056.JPG?imgmax=512
http://lh4.google.com/hendoggg/Rw6LrJ_9qBI/AAAAAAAAAcI/ACjmxpfCsDA/P1010061.JPG?imgmax=512
http://lh3.google.com/hendoggg/Rw6Lw5_9qDI/AAAAAAAAAcY/Xk8-hqx__ds/P1010067.JPG?imgmax=512

...and here's two of me from a trip earlier this year. We took a Flat Stanley on a cave dive and took some pictures. This Flat Stanley ended up winning some big prize after all its adventures with us divers (including a trip to Antarctica!)

Thanks for showing, I'm a little claustrophobic, so the pictures take me there, without having to get wet:D.

That's really cool!
My brother-in-law dives, and he hauls all his gear around in his Jeep. I've tried to tell him he would be better off with an E....
Maybe I'll send him a link here....:razz:

A spray liner is a neat idea...

This (http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37208) thread may help you with the sliding tank situation for a lot less than a spray on liner!!!

Awesome pictures, btw.

Have you gone diving at the Blue Grotto - that was a nice cavern dive - the trip down the flight of stairs is crazy w/ full gear. It was nice.

Ther was another dive site that had a diver's bell at the 30' mark and I remember taking a pack of smokes and lighter down to the bell and having a quick one w/ my dive buddy - sadly we filled the bell up w/ smoke.

Afterwards I remember sitting on the shore and people coming up from the dive shaking their heads and wondering what was wrong w/ the air in the bell - that said it smelt like cigarettes but how in the world could that happen as you had to swim down 30' feet to poke your head inside the small bell - so they blamed the air system...

...to this day I feel bad...then it goes away...:oops:

I haven't done Blue Grotto before, but some of our group have gone over there when we've gone to other sites in that area.

I checked that thread and the skateboard stuff might work really well if I can eliminate the gaps. hmm...

that looks fun.

i am a scuba diver myself and i have to say, i respect your guys enjoyment of cave diving, but its not for me. i don't really enjoy the lack of colors that you see on open water diving. and i'm not clausterphobic(sp?) but i can see how one could be.

either way, rock on :thumbup:

flat stanley FTW

I'm a diver too and bought the Element as seemed to be ideal vehicle for the sport. I too dive doubles and concerned the wear and tear by getting doubles in and out of car. I would be interested on what you find out cost is for spray liner to for tail gate.

I gave up on the idea, it will probably be cheaper to just buy a new cover every couple years. But I did notice that water tends to pool under the spare tire cover and it started rusting my jack. I'm going to solve the problem in the future by taping over the gap with gaff tape.

What gap you talking about? Between the tail gate and cargo area? Will buying the cargo tray prevent salt water dripping in there?

Well, the spare tire cover doesn't fit right up against the rest of the interior, there's a small crack between them. I think that's how I got water under there. A cover mat would probably solve the problem but I feel like it would make it more difficult to slide tanks onto the tailgate.

I gave up on the idea, it will probably be cheaper to just buy a new cover every couple years. But I did notice that water tends to pool under the spare tire cover and it started rusting my jack. I'm going to solve the problem in the future by taping over the gap with gaff tape.


I know this thread is old, but I did a search on scuba...then diving...and came across this.

My E is two years old. I have been technical diving regularly for over 6. When I bought my E, I purchased the Honda splash mat immediately. Not a drop of water has ever seen inside my tire compartment. In Redondo Beach, there are at least 6 Elements owned by divers. It was if it was made for us.

I ended up solving the problem of water leaking around the spare tire cover by taping over the circumference with bright yellow gaffer's tape. It looks weird but it does the job :)