MOguy
Explorer
If you are able to turn around you will find it easier to breathe.
The Snorkel's relevance to North American overlanding
- Thread starter Dalko43
- Start date
If you are able to turn around you will find it easier to breathe.
Hillbilly Heaven
Explorer
Yes it is because our engines have the intake and exhaust in the same hole. You can only pull in what you can blow out. Try in your mouth out your nose.
Buliwyf
Viking with a Hammer
Oh for f$%^S sake. Manometer time. Google manometer vids.
Drill a 1/8" npt hole in your snorkel near the throttle body. Install 1/8" npt nipple. Attach clear silicone tube. Run the tube into your cabin. Bend it in a nice long U shape. Fill with colored water so water is puddled on both sides of U.
Drive with all your windows down. Does the water in the U move towards the engine? That means there's less air pressure in the snorkel than ambient outside. The more it moves, the more horsepower you're losing.
I already know the answer. The forklifts / tow motors I used to service had vacuum gauges because of tall snorkels with dust bowl prefilters. And those were less powerful engines, and had bigger tubes, and less bends than 4x4 snorkels.
Drill a 1/8" npt hole in your snorkel near the throttle body. Install 1/8" npt nipple. Attach clear silicone tube. Run the tube into your cabin. Bend it in a nice long U shape. Fill with colored water so water is puddled on both sides of U.
Drive with all your windows down. Does the water in the U move towards the engine? That means there's less air pressure in the snorkel than ambient outside. The more it moves, the more horsepower you're losing.
I already know the answer. The forklifts / tow motors I used to service had vacuum gauges because of tall snorkels with dust bowl prefilters. And those were less powerful engines, and had bigger tubes, and less bends than 4x4 snorkels.
charliedontsurf
Observer
Anyone who doubts the snorkels significance in North American Overlanding has never dealt with Florida during hurricane season...
1) The best way to deal with Florida's Hurricane season is to get out of the hurricane's path. The post-hurricane flooding is often bad enough that it makes more sense to get around by boat versus driving your rig around.
2) I acknowledge that there might be overlanders, who live in and/or drive to certain areas of North America where a snorkel could make sense. However, I also believe its relevance to North American overlanders can vary depending on geographic location and driving habits.
I was hoping to see a nuanced discussion take place, but it seems a lot of people here just got offended that I even brought the topic up.
My perspective as someone who lives and explores in and around upstate NY:
- Short of going to a dedicated offroad park, there aren't all that many areas where you need a snorkel due to water; I can think of 1-2 seasonal roads in NY that flood during the spring, and in both cases the water can be forded without a snorkel or there are bypasses. Likewise, having been through a bit of Ontario, CA, I think an overland rig exploring up there will be largely uninhibited when snorkel-less; again, I've run into the occasional flooded out side trails, but there were almost always convenient ways to bypass the water.
- We get a lot of rain and snow here in the northeast; I'm more worried about having water get sucked into my intake via the snorkel during heavy precipitation than I am about being without a snorkel and encountering an impassable water obstacle. Water crossings just aren't all that common in the northeast; heavy precipitation is.
- I also understand the argument about mitigating dust on the intake filter; I think unless you're driving on long stretches dirt roads (which are hard to come by outside of the remote areas of Maine and Canada) on a regular basis, your stock intake will work just fine.
That is my point of view on snorkel use. I'm sure it would be different if I lived elsewhere. If people want to discuss their own perspectives on snorkel use, please go ahead.
Hillbilly Heaven
Explorer
As far as water getting sucked in, some of the better commercial snorkel systems on the market are designed to separate the water from the air and discharge the water just below the inlet elbow. If you look closely at ARB ones it looks like the inlet elbow is much large than the tube it fits in. Also at the bottom of this elbow you will see holes that circle the outlet. Those are the water discharge. Consider it a tube inside a tube. Water goes out the outer tube and air down the inner tube.
Buliwyf
Viking with a Hammer
Bah. Florida doesn't even know what weather is. Irma was weak sauce, I was there for the whole thing. I had the only 4wd in the fleet we sent down.
We have to go down every year and bail ya'll out. And I've never needed a snorkel. Water more than bumper deep usually doesn't have dirt or pavement solid enough to cross anyways.
We have to go down every year and bail ya'll out. And I've never needed a snorkel. Water more than bumper deep usually doesn't have dirt or pavement solid enough to cross anyways.
Actually, the best place to route your inlet for dust control and for brief but deep water crossings is into the cab of the truck. If I seriously had to deal with these things I would consider it. I would also route my exhaust above water line. You lose a lot of power when your exhaust goes under, and if the engine dies the water can back flow. Trucks are never going to make good submarines.
I've seen the drain holes you're referring to. The water separation, if you want to call it that, sounds great in theory, but in heavy rainfall or with the heavy, moist snowfall we get here in the northeast, I'm not confident that all of the precipitation is going to get removed from the airflow.
I've seen/heard of a few instances where vehicles with snorkels got their airbox filters got soaked during heavy precipitation. Anecdotal for sure, but I have more faith in the OEM design than an aftermarket accessory when it comes to dealing with precipitation. If I lived out west, I might have a different perspective on snorkel use.
Well a little late to the party, but I am in Western Canada - SW BC. My yearly travels take me from days on dusty FSR's though to trips after or during heavy rain which require some fording.
So far a snorkel has not been a requirement.
Having said that I have been turned around at water that is too deep to cross in early spring or late fall. But the number of times can be counted on one hand. And all of those crossings had some what iffy bottoms so discretion was advised particularly as I travel solo.
I can see a use for them out west here for water crossings, but I think it would be pretty limited.
So far a snorkel has not been a requirement.
Having said that I have been turned around at water that is too deep to cross in early spring or late fall. But the number of times can be counted on one hand. And all of those crossings had some what iffy bottoms so discretion was advised particularly as I travel solo.
I can see a use for them out west here for water crossings, but I think it would be pretty limited.
plainjaneFJC
Deplorable
Yeah because every plans to overland in the path of hurricanes.
charliedontsurf
Observer
No, but some of us live here and don't have the ability to leave. So believe it or not a snorkel does come in handy. I used mine extensively after Irma to bring supplies and help out friends stuck in some of the flood-ravaged areas where I live. I drove through water that was up to the top of my hood / bottom of my windows. It's like driving through deep mud or soft sand... Just don't stop and you'll probably make it through. Replaced my engine air filter afterwards and now things are good to go.
southpier
Expedition Leader
maybe not "overland", but three days before and after a storm there's less parking available in my neighborhood than the Fourth of July weekend.
http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Monahans-Dock/forecasts/latest/six_day
I imagine in warmer climes it's the same.
ExplorerTom
Explorer
120 miles of this on the Rim Rocker:
It even changed color:
This is my wheel well before the snorkel. See how you can see the engine:
The dust I was sucking into my intake wasn't from the vehicle in front of me- it was my own right front tire.
It even changed color:
This is my wheel well before the snorkel. See how you can see the engine:
The dust I was sucking into my intake wasn't from the vehicle in front of me- it was my own right front tire.
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
The best all around reason to run a snorkel?
Get a 20' length of dryer hose, and tape it to the end of the snorkel tube.
At the end of the adventure, use it to vacuum out your rig, then just replace the air filter that would have been replaced anyway.
Two birds, one stone...
Get a 20' length of dryer hose, and tape it to the end of the snorkel tube.
At the end of the adventure, use it to vacuum out your rig, then just replace the air filter that would have been replaced anyway.
Two birds, one stone...