snorkel position

[bikerjosh]

“The great snorkel debate”
I’m sure this has been brought up before, but is there a consensus on when you should have your snorkel facing forward versus backward? I’ve heard that you should run it facing to the back if snowing but in the rain forward: I don’t understand why but there you have it. It would seem if traveling in a group off road in a dusty/sandy environment you should face it to the rear to avoid clogging up your filter prematurely. Does facing it forward give you a better flow of air into the engine like a ram intake? Does facing it backward, make the engine work harder getting air in?
Ok thanks, I think that is about it.
Josh

 

[bikerjosh]

Nevermind, found my info.

 

[bmh]

care to share that info?

 

[bikerjosh]

Snorkel positions

Sorry, I was right in the middle of something at work.
So the consesus seems face it forward in rain, the safari snorkel is designed to shed a bunch of water.
http://www.safarisnorkel.com/docs/product.htm

Facing forward if traveling with a group in dusty conditions just means you have to clean it more often.
Consesus seems to be in snowing conditions point it to the rear so you don't cake the front up with snow.
Some folks turn theirs around if they are going to be going through a lot of puddles at speed to try and avoid soaking the filter.
One person mentioned, they thought they felt a slight drop in power when facing it backwards.
For me, I'm just going to throw a spare filter in the back run it forward, and possibly try a scotchbrite DIY prefilter.
Josh

 

[Gerdo]

If you are worried about dust, you could replace the scoop with a cyclonic pre-filter.

 

[joker2041]

That's the design of the donaldson. In looking into this I was told they don't deliver enough cfm for toyotas gas engines. The 7 inch wouldn't be enough air for the engine and the 10 inch wouldn't be enough vaccuum to create the centrifigul force to spin the dirt out. I was told for my application it'd be best to wait for the new product coming out in oct that resolves these issues. Though I do see people running the cyclones and topspins so I'm not quoting any of this as fact, just what I've gathered from other so far.

I have heard the same thing. Where are you getting your info on the new product? Or better yet where I can I follow this lead? I would love to go this route as well when available.

 

[jsmarine]

I have heard the same thing. Where are you getting your info on the new product? Or better yet where I can I follow this lead? I would love to go this route as well when available.

X2, I'm also interested in this new product of theirs, I would also be interested in a link or something to follow up on it.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

My customers have put tens of millions of miles on their Toyota's with cyclonic filters atop snorkels, literally. 40's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 100's, Tacoma's, 4Runners, etc... you name it. Turbo'ed, V8 swaps, superchargers, etc. I've not heard of a single issue related to lack of sufficient flow nor have I ever experienced any 'rich' running conditions with any of them. Options are plentiful but don't think that the current option won't work well for you

 

[corax]

Don't forget you can also get a cyclonic prefilter off certain FJCruisers, or order one from Toyota. IIRC, the price was a bit steep at $300, but it's 3" OD so it should work with just about anything
LINK

 

[keezer37]

What to do, what to do... I spose I could lookup the reccomended cfm for the 3.4l v6, then try and match that to the specs on a particular prefilter. Vs. see what happens with the new product from donaldson next month. Any reccomendations on a current size or model?

If I recall, the Donaldson catalog states you can simply multiply your HP x 2.5 = CFM if you cannot find your actual data.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The OEM Toyota cyclonic filter is pretty neat and is reasonably sealed for water intrusion (not 100%) however the standard Donaldson Pre-Cleaner or the new TopSpin precleaners are a far more affordable way to go and are easily installed on any snorkel application whereas the OEM cyclonic insert could be troublesome to plumb on many applications such as the 1st Gen Tacoma, 200 Series, 80 Series, etc.

Standard Donaldson full view precleaners:
https://dynamic.donaldson.com/webc/WebStore/hierarchy/hierarchy.html?section=10104

TopSpin specs & charts:
http://www.donaldson.com/en/engine/support/datalibrary/000207.pdf

Fwiw the 7" full view precleaner is rated at 170 cfm and the 10" at 330 cfm

 

[cruiseroutfit]

So is anyone running a TopSpin prefilter as of yet? I'm on board with it in every aspect other than the height, it would stick up higher than the cab in many installs. ~10 years ago I trimmed the snorkel on my FJ40 an ~inch so that they head doesn't sit higher than the top of the cab, suppose same could be done to keep the TopSpin from being the first assault victim by a tree. Our local Donaldson rep is going to get me a one to test out ASAP, truthfully I expect no amazing changes... just a prefilter that doesn't need an occasional clean out.

The H002437 is a replacement for the 7" full-view precleaner, and it has a higher CFM rating too, 200 versus 170. The H002425/26's would be the replacements for the 10" full-view precleaner and offer up to 450 CFM versus the 330 of the older unit.

 

[TangoBlue]

So is anyone running a TopSpin prefilter as of yet? I'm on board with it in every aspect other than the height, it would stick up higher than the cab in many installs. ~10 years ago I trimmed the snorkel on my FJ40 an ~inch so that they head doesn't sit higher than the top of the cab, suppose same could be done to keep the TopSpin from being the first assault victim by a tree. Our local Donaldson rep is going to get me a one to test out ASAP, truthfully I expect no amazing changes... just a prefilter that doesn't need an occasional clean out.

The H002437 is a replacement for the 7" full-view precleaner, and it has a higher CFM rating too, 200 versus 170. The H002425/26's would be the replacements for the 10" full-view precleaner and offer up to 450 CFM versus the 330 of the older unit.

Yes, on a second gen Tacoma; forum member freeze in Calgary, BC installed one recently since he smashed the original elbow piece, but I haven't heard back from him yet on his experience with it. Been installed for about a month-3 weeks both on and some off-road experience with the device.

I've been toying with this notion too as I pulled out metric butt-loads of dust and grit over my month-long trip from my air filter. I use a reusable AMSOIL dry Ea filter. I'm definitely in the market for one since the clear-bowl precleaner doesn't deliver the volume of air my first gen 3RZ needs (at least 375 CFM).

The TopSpin that would fit our snorkel tube is, I believe, H002426 and delivers up to 450 CFM -- please confirm. Is there a MSRP associated with that model TopSpin?

I'd be very interested in your findings Kurt and the mysterious 'new' release from Donaldson this October.

 

[freeze]

Well thanks to Tim I'll try to answer some of the questions in this thread.

I do have a second Gen Tacoma with the Donaldson Top Spin. The snorkel was supplied by... you guessed it! Kurt ^^ from Cruiser Outfitters! (Hi Kurt!) The Top Spin was from Amsoil.

So here's the details on which pre-filter is on there now:

Part #H002426 inlet dia. 97MM /height 238MM


Some things I'd add is a silicone sleeve to the snorkel to get a better bite of the mating point of the Donaldson as there's no 3.5" option. This will take up a little slack in the attachment.

I'd also cut the snorkel tube down about 1.5" to bring the overall height down.


Observation:

Intake noise is awesome! Ok only when the window is open under load.

More or less I did notice a slight increase in torque. Also at this moment it also seems as though the amount of KM out of the tank has increased as well by 50KM. So slightly less Litres/KM. This would be more Miles /Gaylons for the American folk. (<-- for Tim!)
Not sure how this is doing this yet. It would seem like it should be the other way around.

It can sustain speeds of 160KM/h without any issue. It's been hit by a few trees already with only a very tiny crack on the outer lip which has no impact on function.

Of the 1,400KM travelled on gravel in extremely dusty conditions (powder), the Top Spin has managed to keep the dust to a minimum in the intake/filter. You can't see it ejecting the dust but it's definitely working. Almost like the tooth fairy.

It's quite large... I jokingly mention it's a small shop vac. It could theoretically suck in small children if they were playing close enough. It looks quite ridiculous but it's very functional especially since the amount of dirt track the Tacoma covers it's worth the expense.

I wouldn't recommend it if you're not in highly dusty conditions all the time. As in hi-traffic gravel roads or in large groups less than 1000KM/month. A regular Safari snorkel head with a pre-filter works really well. I had one that was hydrophobic from Australia for $25 that worked incredibly well. Plus you don't look like a cell reception tower!

Topper back on as the rack is back for powdercoat.

Photo: Mike

Photo: Aaron

Photo: Aaron​

 

[TangoBlue]

Thanks Nathan.

You've noticed a little increased gas mileage, er, ah, kilometerage and torque? That's interesting... something to be looked into a little more.

Nice pics, too! Looking forward to the next adventure with the CT4WD crew!