Snorkel

[Surfscottydog]

So I’m thinking of adding a snorkel to my Tacoma. Not for water crossing but for the supposed benefits of cold air induction. They say the engine runs better, better mileage and maybe increased horse power. Anyone have a snorkel that can attest to these attributes? Any mechanics want to chime in? All the help I can get would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[MMc]

I just change my air filter and carry a extra at all times. It also depends where you go, my travels are Baja and south west. I think most do it for looks so I’ll follow along see what other say.

 

[bgenlvtex]

If you want one get it.

You will get polar opposite replies and somewhere between the two lies the truth.

I want a Hauk River Raider for my Gladiator because it looks cool as shit. I'm not going to try and validate that with any amount of perceptible or imperceptible benefits. I like them,it's my money, that's all the reason I need.

 

[cgranier]

If you want one get it.

You will get polar opposite replies and somewhere between the two lies the truth.

I want a Hauk River Raider for my Gladiator because it looks cool as shit. I'm not going to try and validate that with any amount of perceptible or imperceptible benefits. I like them,it's my money, that's all the reason I need.

That River Raider looks really cool. Go for it.

 

[M Rose]

If you want one get it.

You will get polar opposite replies and somewhere between the two lies the truth.

I want a Hauk River Raider for my Gladiator because it looks cool as shit. I'm not going to try and validate that with any amount of perceptible or imperceptible benefits. I like them,it's my money, that's all the reason I need.

I’m looking at the Universal River Raider as well. I don’t expect any MPG, Horsepower, or any other gains over the stock filter setup. For me what it will do is move my horribly located stock prefilter intake that sucks up dust, water, and other contamination and prematurely ruins the air filter and move to a place that will get “cleaner” air. Then combined with the River Raider Prefilter I should see almost 0 contamination from dust, mud, water and bugs like I have been getting.

The dirty piece is my stock prefilter intake... the clean part is the top of my air box. The top and inside of the air box looked just like the pre filtered intake.

 

[Cypress]

I run one because I don't run a lot of lift or huge tires. The OEM intake on my XJ is only about 28" off the ground. We have mud holes around here that are deeper than that. I bought the cheapest thing that would get the job done. Amazon, under $100.

 

[Kory Joseph]

I run a snorkel on my Land Cruiser, and a K&N cold air inside the original housing. Seems to work well. Though, i’m told that I should get a pre-filter once I get to N.M., b/c the sand in the air is so fine. Big plans once I get to the states!

 

[GLOCKer]

I put one on my truck because:
-I was emulating Ford Rangers I saw on a trip to Australia.
-I've read about the benefits of having your intake up above dust. I did a day trip with folks and my truck ate a lot of dust!
-I've done a couple of creek crossings that were moderately deep!

 

[El-Dracho]

Technically, the snorkel should first intake in the clean air higher up. In many vehicles, the air intake is located somewhere where it is dusty. Only if the intake is really waterproof, the snorkel might help at deep water crossings. However, this is not the case with many standard solutions, because somewhere plastic moldings are often simply plugged into each other. So you have to build or modify something indvidual to make it waterproof. Please keep in mind, however, that not only modifications with regard to the air intake may be necessary here. For example, axle and transmission breather or the location of any electronics must also be considered with regard to water crossings.

Of course, a snorkel should not prevent you from checking and changing the air filter regularly, if this is planned or necessary in the maintenance schedule.

Whether the snorkel reduces performance depends on its design, length and diameter. A very individual thing and also depends on the vehicle. This is a question that cannot be answered in a general way.

By the way, if you want a snorkel, I would say: mount one!

 

[Boostpowered]

I vote don't, we don't need more people with snorkels just because they look cool. If you have a lot of water crossings in your area by all means get one, regular dust storms get one. The air don't get that much colder to give any kind of moticable performance gain maybe 2hp, the air going past the tubing heats up from the friction of thermodynamics.

If you just want a cold charge of air for your engine look up dei cryo2 systems, or methanol injection

 

[madcratebuilder]

The air intake on my truck is in the wheel well, I noticed a lot of debris would get in the air box, leaves, bits of gravel and a ton of dust. After installing a snorkel it stays clean. I have a larger surface area for the filter media so it should have a minor performance boost. I limit my water crossings to 28-30", call me chicken, AND I avoid mud when ever I can.

 

[TheBison]

I had one on my '07 FJ Cruiser, and while I don't have anything empirical to back it up I do think the intake air was cleaner (I cleaned my own K&N so got a good comparison) and although I didn't test it in deep water I feel it gave me a peace of mind. The only issue I ran in to was when driving during ice or heavy wet snow conditions - sometimes the ram air intake would ice up and get restricted. Solution: turn the ram air intake around to face backwards when needed. When funds allow, I will probably install the AEV snorkel on my Bison.

 

[El-Dracho]

I had one on my '07 FJ Cruiser, and while I don't have anything empirical to back it up I do think the intake air was cleaner (I cleaned my own K&N so got a good comparison) and although I didn't test it in deep water I feel it gave me a peace of mind. The only issue I ran in to was when driving during ice or heavy wet snow conditions - sometimes the ram air intake would ice up and get restricted. Solution: turn the ram air intake around to face backwards when needed. When funds allow, I will probably install the AEV snorkel on my Bison.

These are good points. Thanks for adding them. That gives me another thought. I use a cyclone pre-filter instead of a ram intake. When it snows, the pre-filter actually separates the snow as well and I have to empty the bowl quite frequently during heavy snowfall.

 

[MidOH]

Put a scuba snorkel in your mouth and run around the block. We generally put less restrictive, and shorter intakes on performance cars. NOT giant restrictive tubes.

Use it for dust. Use it for water fording. But unless there's something defective with the Tacoma's stock intake, it offers no performance benefit. My truck gets cold air from inside the front fender. Good for fording 33" of water. Water 33'' deep can't really be crossed by streetable trucks where I go. Our rivers aren't hard stone bottoms, and most are eco safe to cross. So I'm not getting a snorkel. No idea on what that Taco's intake looks like.

I thought some snorkels had a removable plate. So that they operated as a regular cold air kit, pulling air from the fender area. Put the plate on to block that opening, and then they pull from the snorkel. That would be acceptable.

 

[GLOCKer]

Put a scuba snorkel in your mouth and run around the block. We generally put less restrictive, and shorter intakes on performance cars. NOT giant restrictive tubes.

Use it for dust. Use it for water fording. But unless there's something defective with the Tacoma's stock intake, it offers no performance benefit. My truck gets cold air from inside the front fender. Good for fording 33" of water. Water 33'' deep can't really be crossed by streetable trucks where I go. Our rivers aren't hard stone bottoms, and most are eco safe to cross. So I'm not getting a snorkel. No idea on what that Taco's intake looks like.

I thought some snorkels had a removable plate. So that they operated as a regular cold air kit, pulling air from the fender area. Put the plate on to block that opening, and then they pull from the snorkel. That would be acceptable.

A good friend of mine, a very analytical engineer, helped me install the Safari snorkel on my truck. He said that just based off what he saw, I was going to be flowing more air than the stock air inlet on my 2019 Ranger. I increased the volume by twice based off the size of the stock opening compared to the Safari's opening. Not only that, he opined that the airflow was going to be straightened out in the Safari's down tube compared to the kinked stock inlet path.

 

[Alanymarce]

On our current vehicle we drove the first 17,000 Km without a snorkel, and then fitted one for the first "big trip" (to permit wading in deeper water). We've now driven 67,000 Km overall. Haven't noted any difference in how the engine runs, fuel consumption, or power. I do believe that we are receiving cleaner air when in dusty conditions, so that should help engine life somewhat, although I don't think we'll really notice it until we've put a few hundred thousand Km on it.

 

[LostWoods]

Former mechanic... You're not going to see much benefit of ram air or cold air or anything similar from a snorkel; modern engines just don't have those issues anymore. The choke point is the throttle body and modern materials/routing has all but removed the hot air issue.

The real functional benefit is raising your intake point above the dust (i.e. not the fender or grille) and it moves hydro-locking down the list of things to fail when fording deep water. In reality your electrical system is as much a risk as water ingestion in most vehicles so the benefit there is smaller. I can attest to how much less dust my truck pulls in since I got the snorkel and mine is only on the cowl.

If you like the look or drive in the desert a lot, go for it, but don't think you're going to get much out of it otherwise and keep in mind it's going to reduce the value of your vehicle unless you can find someone who will appreciate it.

 

[Paladin2020]

So I’m thinking of adding a snorkel to my Tacoma. Not for water crossing but for the supposed benefits of cold air induction. They say the engine runs better, better mileage and maybe increased horse power. Anyone have a snorkel that can attest to these attributes? Any mechanics want to chime in? All the help I can get would be appreciated. Thanks

Yes, I recently added a snorkel on a 2015 Frontier but have not yet extended the vent lines, I do feel a little more horse power during acceleration but haven't notice a difference in mileage yet mostly because all my driving since I installed it has been in town.

 

[MidOH]

A good friend of mine, a very analytical engineer, helped me install the Safari snorkel on my truck. He said that just based off what he saw, I was going to be flowing more air than the stock air inlet on my 2019 Ranger. I increased the volume by twice based off the size of the stock opening compared to the Safari's opening. Not only that, he opined that the airflow was going to be straightened out in the Safari's down tube compared to the kinked stock inlet path.

You doubled the volume? But what's the length? Get your E an Uglies book for gas line. Even at double the diameter, it's rough on an engine. I'd recommend checking carefully on a dyno, before towing or hauling.

I'm glad that you guys like your snorkels, but put down the rose colored glasses before newbs click the thread.

 

[GLOCKer]

You doubled the volume? But what's the length? Get your E an Uglies book for gas line.

I'm glad that you guys like your snorkels, but put down the rose colored glasses before newbs click the thread.

Oh, it's much longer! LOL