dust? if your tops down and the seats get dusty then you are bouncing up and down you will be creating little clouds of dust...this set-up seems unrealistic. Check out river raiders. For 150 greenbacks they will paint the snorkel to match your jeep and I think it camouflages it pretty well. Or, you could install the intake and then get a plastic plug to stick in the hole in the sidewall when you're not using it, but it would take a little custom work... and you would have to disassemble it when not in use.

 

You can go with one of these new snorkels. I hear they suck in quite a volume of air



Sorry, couldn`t find a pic of the gal on the bumper with the JK tail fin, so this will have to do.

 

I think snorkel-wise... the river raider is very attractive. It's not nearly as cheap looking as older snorkels were... and it fits VERY WELL (in pictures... i haven't seen it in life)

 

Anyone thought about making their own out of PVC pipe and a rattle can paint job? I don`t see why this couldn`t work.

 

The issues are multiple, you decide on your priorities/objectives.

1) The purpose of the snorkel is to:

a) Avoid sucking water into the engine
b) Provide a clean, dry, cold air intake point

2) The primary ENVIRONMENT the snorkel is used for is either:

a) Deep water
b) Dusty air

3) If you assume that the engine is flowing perhaps 134 cubic feet of air per minute per 1,000 RPM, and that a JK Unlimited's entire interior volume is approximately similar to that volume, perhaps closer to 75 - 80 % of that, even at idle, you would essentially be replacing ALL the air inside the JK with make up air from outside...every 40 - 50 seconds. (At idle)

That means that you have to suck air into the truck. If driving along at 2,000 rpm, now you are replacing all the air in the truck every 20 -30 seconds or so.

Your truck is now under vacuum....it is PULLING on every orifice to suck air in.


4) Lets go back and review WHERE you'd want to USE the snorkel.

a) In Deep Water

b) In Dusty Air

In both environments, you'd want the doors, windows, and roof, closed, to keep OUT the water, mud, dust, etc...

In Deep Water, or Dusty Air, you'd REALLY rather the truck be positively pressurized to help avoid sucking in Water, or Dust...but, at every penetration, at every weather strip, its trying to suck IN....and, it HAS TO...or the engine will stall....you will be strongly NEGATIVELY PRESSURIZED.

The faster the RPM, the more cubic feet per minute HAS TO leak into the truck as make up air....at roughly 134 cfm/1000 RPM....at 3,000 RPM, you are sucking in about four times the volume of the truck every minute...over 400 cfm.


A compromise would be to ROUTE the snorkel plumbing through the interior out of sight, and then have a riser via a hole in the roof protrude and bend as needed to take in a good charge of clean air/keep out rain, etc.

This way, it would not show on the outside along the fender/A-Pillars, but it would have a direct exterior intake point.

The idea of combining it with another structure, mentioned in a post above, such a a roof rack, or lighting, etc, would be another compromise that could work with this scenario.

You could use double walled tubing for interior plumbing to add noise isolation. You could also use low profile (Flatter but wider) ducting to save interio space/make it less obtrusive, etc. (The rushing air would be annoying at hwy speeds w/o sound attenuation), and so forth.

I hope that helps!

 

First of all thank you... quite a bit of good insight. To try and respond to most - if not all - questions.

** I want to try and avoid intake of water - but, snorkel is a bit "obvious". I would prefer something a bit more subtle.

** River Raider's is good stuff. I agree so much that Kenny is who I spoke with and he is willing to do custom work to accomodate my goal.

** I thought of ducting to rear somehow... you are right; it seems a bit much of a task that would risk becoming a bit much of a project and likely to see damage from underside impacts.

** Hadn't thought of light bar - will play around with that.

** Intake into Cowl. Now that might just work!! I will search it out.

** I don't know that I am looking for the intake tube to act as an "air -ram" so much as just a normal breather inlet. Love the idea of forcing cooler air in... but, am willing to give up HP gains and maintain stock levels if I can find a way to raise up intake and make it reasonably resistant to ingesting water.

** Thought of a "quick-disconnect" type of system. If I can come up with something reasonable would consider it.

** RR Snorkel is good looking - in pics and in person. Seen it several times and I have to agree. Just a bit "much" for me right now in this stage of build. Not that a red 4 door jeep is that sublime... but, I am trying to avoid the "safari" look I associate with snorkels.

** Teej - enough said!! All good insight and only goes to point out I would end up with a jeep that would offer great oral at any speed. Not that I don't find that a good quality on long drives... but, I have overwhelming tendencies toward female companionship rather than the mechanical.

Again... thank you. Now that I have good feedback I'll keep working on possibilities. I have a friend who used to be big into modifying vehicles (not 4x4's more along the lines of those that go fast) and he suggested a mechanical butterfly that would be controlled through a lever. Normal intake almost all the time - switch over to cab intake only when concerned about water crossings that may bring about ingestion of water to engine.

Appreciate the thoughts....

 

benmar2000 - Did a bit of searching and found quite a bit on this idea. Here is one of the better write-ups...http ://jeephorizons.com /phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=679 (added spaces so it is not a direct link).

Would appreciate all taking a look and giving feedback on this.

Thanks again... good ideas.

 

In the cab snorkels are common on mud bog trucks however as stated multiple times above, not good for everyday use.

 

I did this from the factory air box on my CJ (since gone). I already had a hold in the firewall from a failed computer project so I didn't have the "big hole in a scary place on a new vehicle" syndrome.

The problems were only a few.
There was noise. At regular cruise it wasn't noticeable. At WOT it was loud. My CJ was loud anyway, so its not apples to apples.
On occasion there was a smell. Like half burned gas. It only lasted a minute when it happened, but did make me wonder how many hydrocarbons I was breathing the rest of the time. I could disconnect this thing, so it wasn't an issue for me.

I used flexible square tubing from a 70's Ford air cleaner to do the hookup. I was able to buy two rectangular hookups. I put one near the headlamp, and another on the firewall. I also made a cap. This way I could swap the tubing from the firewall to a location near the headlamp like stock. I only hooked up the firewall connection when I went off road where there was a risk of excessive dust or deep water. For that it worked great.

I won't exaggerate and make it sound like the stupidest idea ever because it is not, but I think a switchable or "connectible" system is a good idea if you route it to the passenger compartment.

 

I swear that Rubi's bumper is smileing!