Snorkel, water.. Why?

[southdiver1]

Just to add my $0.02 here.
In an earlier post, Justin (Nomadic Mechanic) spoke about a snorkel.
Now, I have been wheeling with him and I have seen first hand how water can stop a vehicle. In his case, water had splashed up pretty good and soaked his air cleaner to the point where he could not draw enough air into the turbo to do anything more then an idle. After having me pull him out of the small puddle, we had to wait about 10 minutes for the filter to dry enough to get moving again.
A "custom" air filter shroud from 87 dynamics did help a LOT to shield the filter from that kind of a problem again but he still could not really follow me. This week, he installed his snorkel and, with all the rain we have been getting, maybe we will test it this weekend.

 

[MarkW]

Considering the fact that most of the kits use OE air boxes and plumbing I can't see there being any performance gains. The "cold air" aspect is a bit off as well since most modern OE plumbing pulls air from outside the engine compartment anyway. You could actually make a case saying that a snorkel could actually raise IAT's since you lengthen the tract and that lengthened portion is outside the vehicle in the sun pulling air through a black abs tube while crawling along at a snails pace at times. It's not really about gains, it's about helping prevent/slow down performance losses. Heat soak is a real performance robber and I don't see a snorkel doing anything better than a well designed OE system when it comes to performance.

When I think snorkel I think water, dust, and a pretty bad ass rig haha.

The "cold air" aspect was never a deciding factor but I have definitely seen a drop in temps. The stock intake location on my truck is in the fender above the wheel well liner. Sure it's not in the engine compartment but a lot of heat builds up in there. You are definitely correct that the air is traveling through a black ABS tube which gets heated by the sun especially at crawling speeds but at those speeds I'm not expecting any performance gains such as cold air intake to really make a difference. I have done a direct comparison between my truck with a snorkel and a friends identical (model and engine) truck without a snorkel checking intake temps several times through the day and mine consistently showed cooler temps. Don't recall exact difference and not that it was really making any difference performance wise but it was cooler.

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

The "cold air" aspect was never a deciding factor but I have definitely seen a drop in temps. The stock intake location on my truck is in the fender above the wheel well liner. Sure it's not in the engine compartment but a lot of heat builds up in there. You are definitely correct that the air is traveling through a black ABS tube which gets heated by the sun especially at crawling speeds but at those speeds I'm not expecting any performance gains such as cold air intake to really make a difference. I have done a direct comparison between my truck with a snorkel and a friends identical (model and engine) truck without a snorkel checking intake temps several times through the day and mine consistently showed cooler temps. Don't recall exact difference and not that it was really making any difference performance wise but it was cooler.

My point was to address the possibility of performance gains. To which I still say if anything they're negligible. I would of loved to hear the temp difference but I agree that not all makers put their intakes in the best location or even have the option of a better one. To their credit they didn't design the vehicles to crawl. What still holds true is that we aren't talking about gains, it's about losses. Those losses materialize as sluggishness which is never desired.

 

[MarkW]

My point was to address the possibility of performance gains. To which I still say if anything they're negligible. I would of loved to hear the temp difference but I agree that not all makers put their intakes in the best location or even have the option of a better one. To their credit they didn't design the vehicles to crawl. What still holds true is that we aren't talking about gains, it's about losses. Those losses materialize as sluggishness which is never desired.

I wasn't really disagreeing with you on it. Will have to do the comparison again to get the actual temps but will need to find another Alpha to compare against as my friend sold his. I can do it against standard I-5 equipped trucks that have the same intake but not sure what difference temp wise there would be between them stock for stock.

With a stock 4:1 low range transfer case they designed mine to crawl

 

[southdiver1]

My point was to address the possibility of performance gains. To which I still say if anything they're negligible. I would of loved to hear the temp difference but I agree that not all makers put their intakes in the best location or even have the option of a better one. To their credit they didn't design the vehicles to crawl. What still holds true is that we aren't talking about gains, it's about losses. Those losses materialize as sluggishness which is never desired.

Even if there is no gain or even a slight loss, I will take that hit while I am crawling in windshield deep water.

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

find another Alpha to compare against

Oh sure, cause that should be easy haha. I actually shopped for Alphas with the adventure package last night. Nationwide on autotrader.... I think there were 7.

With a stock 4:1 low range transfer case they designed mine to crawl

Absolutely! Haha.

Even if there is no gain or even a slight loss, I will take that hit while I am crawling in windshield deep water.

We agree completely.

 

[MarkW]

Oh sure, cause that should be easy haha. I actually shopped for Alphas with the adventure package last night. Nationwide on autotrader.... I think there were 7.

Yeah, not a lot out there. Occasionally you come across one where they don't know what they have and don't list the adventure package but looking at the pics you can see the locker buttons. I had an '06 originally and when it looked like Hummer was done in '09 I decided to get the Alpha. Production had been shut down so I couldn't order one so I had my dealer do a search for me. There were only 2 Alphas with adventure package available in the entire SE and I didn't like the color of the other one so I jumped on this one and don't plan on ever selling it.

 

[Ranger]

I like snorkels. I will get one someday. I do not like snorkel owners claiming that they got it for CAI/performance etc. when people call them out on being a pavement princess. Just say you got it because it looks cool. That fine.

 

[VDawg1115]

Water crossings are fun.....nuff said

 

[Laughing Otter]

I built my own for under $100.00. You can see more photos on page 19 of this section, under the heading, "Snorkel for under $100.00". It should have been posted in the DIY section...ooops. I put mine in mostly for dusty mountain fire roads and such. Noticed a slight increase in power as well.

 

[Hiluxoverland]

Long awaited since my mistake in the water but I installed mine finally $160 bucks total, feeling better knowing I won't kill an engine if the water is a little deeper than anticipated

 

[SaskRanger91]

Well i saw ur rig today turning off from S.G. onto albert. And it looks good man. Wish i had one on fryday took my truck to the pits east of town and Haas water over my hood [emoji58][emoji58][emoji58]

 

[Laughing Otter]

Well i saw ur rig today turning off from S.G. onto albert. And it looks good man. Wish i had one on fryday took my truck to the pits east of town and Haas water over my hood [emoji58][emoji58][emoji58]

Who were you referring too?

 

[Hiluxoverland]

I think he was referring to me, I do appreciate it sask ranger

 

[NetDep]

I recently took the snorkel "plunge" and did so mainly for dust and insurance. In reading this, and other, threads I also did the diff breather relocation when the snorkel was installed. I do intend to avoid all bad things but given the purpose of the truck is to have some overlanding fun (and the possible zombie apocalypse) I look at it like any other measure of protection - I would rather not have to use it and have it than not have it at that critical moment when options are few.




Stay safe & happy wheeling!!!

 

[Hiluxoverland]

NetDep I like it. After finding myself in the situation of needing it and not having it in this case a snorkel. I fully apply the I'd rather have it and not need it and need it and not have it principle to a lot more than just the gear in my rig, but into waterproofing my electrics and running breathers to a higher location ect ect