sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
The $ 30.88 Snorkel !
- Thread starter The Moe
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"a steel anchor is a steel anchor" "A plastic tube is a plastic tube"
I so wish these statement were even close to being reality, but, oh my....they aren't even close. There are so many things wrong with these statements....
If you truly want to depend on this snorkel to protect your engine, please let me know when you are ready to part your truck out as the engine will be junk soon. I want the axles. If you are doing this for looks....well that I could almost understand.
I so wish these statement were even close to being reality, but, oh my....they aren't even close. There are so many things wrong with these statements....
If you truly want to depend on this snorkel to protect your engine, please let me know when you are ready to part your truck out as the engine will be junk soon. I want the axles. If you are doing this for looks....well that I could almost understand.
sleeoffroad
Supporting Vendor
Are there any supporting vendors who want to adoped this project? test it or even supply it ? I would love to find a cheaper snorkel in the vendor's section to buy ....
I would not touch it for the pure reason of having respect for ARB. I have been receiving the emails from that Chinese company for years. They copied all ARB product, even to the part number. See there locker range, it even uses ARB part numbers.
I will not deal with that, just like I won't deal with s***tybuild after the blatantly copied Staun Deflators, Hi-Lift Jacks and many other US and other products.
If you have China resources available, develop your own product, make it and sell it cheap. Then you are adding value to the market.
Hi-Lfit is a respectable US company with US workers. I can not see how we can just stand by and let this happen.
Trail Jack - Smittybilt
Tire Deflators - Smittybilt
here is a link to anything Chinese you want for your truck
ATV Winch,Electric Winch S Series,Electric Winch X Series - SOONG 4X4 PARTS PROFESSIONAL MANUFACTURER LTD
Lockers. Same color, same part number, same everything, except quality
products, China products, products Manufacturers, China products Suppliers
He's ripping you on the shipping. I used to get stuff shipped by DHL straight from China to my door. Shipping was always about 30 bucks for stuff probably about the same weight. Get the address of where it is shipping from and look up shipping costs yourself. The thing cant weight that much. I used to deal HID kits from a supplier over there and they worked well enough, until about a year passed then they all started failing.
I agree with what others have said though, all plastics are not equal, just as all steel's are not equal.
Think of white zip ties vs black zip ties. Black always outlasts the white because it's UV resistant. The white gets brittle and snaps.
If I were you I'd buy 1 or 2 as a sample. You'll probably have to use western union because there isnt any other way to get the money there. I used to do this and it was fine, but I was scared at first because they could just burn you. You could also wire the money as well if you have that ability at your bank, very few banks have the ability to wire to China.
I agree with what others have said though, all plastics are not equal, just as all steel's are not equal.
Think of white zip ties vs black zip ties. Black always outlasts the white because it's UV resistant. The white gets brittle and snaps.
If I were you I'd buy 1 or 2 as a sample. You'll probably have to use western union because there isnt any other way to get the money there. I used to do this and it was fine, but I was scared at first because they could just burn you. You could also wire the money as well if you have that ability at your bank, very few banks have the ability to wire to China.
Snorkels and Starbucks go hand in hand
Would love to hear what is leading some to speculate the engine will be ruined by a cheap snorkel? I agree it may be subject to warpage or UV degradation, but how in the world is the engine going to be "ruined"? There is still a filter in the airbox...
If I got one of these, I would probably attempt to paint it, to slow down UV exposure.
If I got one of these, I would probably attempt to paint it, to slow down UV exposure.
Hmm, but who said that it costs ARB 31$ US to make a snorkel in the first place? you are assuming that they are made out of the same materials, that the build process is the same and that they are subjected to the same level of quality standards, which I seriously doubt.
Also that 30$ price does not include shipping, which would probably double that ammount at the very least, you are also not taking into account the time it takes to reasearch the product and then to negociate with the Chinese supplier, as well as taking care of the shipping arrangements, then you have to find out if there are any additional taxes or fees involved in importing the snorkels, the list goes on and on.
When it's all said and done, the knockoff will cost you much more than 30$, not to mention that it will take at least a couple of months to have it in your hands, whereas with the Safari it would be as easy as going to your closest ARB dealer.
Also you are getting a tried and true product, that you know 100% will be up to snuff, with the chinese snorkel, it's quite a gamble.
So it's either 400$ for the real deal or a little less than half that (my guesstimate) for a chinese knockoff of unknown reputation or durability.
I do agree that 400$ does seem a tad to much for a glorified "f#@$ing plastic tube", but then again, I have not seen a plastic tube get sandwiched between a LC and the side of a mountain and come out in one piece either. However, if I was going to take the cheap route to install a snorkel on my LC, I would go with the DIY route, if it gets damaged over time by UV rays or if I break it, it will be very cheap and easy to repair/replace, just my .02$ .
"A good deal on a POS is a waste of money"
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- Thread starter
- #48
I cannot argue with Christo... he has MANY valid points... I have to agree, my passion for LCs urges me to agree... and it's the same reason I looked up the stuff in the first place... What I will do is try to optain my sample... evaluate its qualities... Enhance it and make it my own... I will not arrange any purchases nor facilite any... I'll just experment on it and post my resluts.
I was in the process of gathering information / materials to make my own snorkel out of reinforced fiberglass when I came accross that resource... But thought of sharing my findings with the mud.
I cannot jeoprodize local vendors and true LC supporters... So, Again I am working on a private project here... But the info / results... those I will happiely share
I was in the process of gathering information / materials to make my own snorkel out of reinforced fiberglass when I came accross that resource... But thought of sharing my findings with the mud.
I cannot jeoprodize local vendors and true LC supporters... So, Again I am working on a private project here... But the info / results... those I will happiely share
Uncle Grumpy
SILVER Star
So we're all in agreement? The Safari is superior but at $400 we should at least get some KY with it?
Moe, I've been playing with composites for another project and considered carbon fiber for a snorkel. Now that would be perfect for sitting at Starbuck's in my pink panties enjoying a non-fat, flat, two Equal, exta-hot, decaff. latte. But as much as I like bling, to paraphrase, aesthetics follow function. Plastic has much greater elasticity and I'd rather have that between my fender and an immovable object. Fiberglass and carbon fiber would fracture and/or impart damage to the fender before yielding.
Moe, I've been playing with composites for another project and considered carbon fiber for a snorkel. Now that would be perfect for sitting at Starbuck's in my pink panties enjoying a non-fat, flat, two Equal, exta-hot, decaff. latte. But as much as I like bling, to paraphrase, aesthetics follow function. Plastic has much greater elasticity and I'd rather have that between my fender and an immovable object. Fiberglass and carbon fiber would fracture and/or impart damage to the fender before yielding.
Just because it's "chinese" and "cheap" doesn't necessarily mean it's poor quality.
See:
Jeep Articles / General (Winches In Hell) - MoabJeeper Magazine
Harbor Freight was selling their 10k winches for $299.99 not that long ago, and it was comparable to winches 3x that price.
See:
Jeep Articles / General (Winches In Hell) - MoabJeeper Magazine
Harbor Freight was selling their 10k winches for $299.99 not that long ago, and it was comparable to winches 3x that price.
Cool thanks for the links Christo! LOL. Just kidding
ummm, ok.....snorkels are generally used to raise the height of the air intake for the engine when you think you might go deeper into water than the stock height. Pulling water into a running engine generally is bad for an engine as liquids aren't very compressible. Filters don't stop water in large amounts. If you are truly using the snorkel for this and it fails due to cracks, leaks, joint failure, holes, or just poorly built/constructed....you see what I mean now?
Like I said...if you are doing this for looks then I might be able to understand it.
VanGo- the last time I checked his post, "The Moe" wasn't taking votes as to whether this was an "acceptable" thing to do. I believe he is trying to see if enough people might want to try this product in order to make the shipping, and overall price, cost-effective. This would be after "The Moe" gets the sample product and analyzes / tests it himself.
There are people on this forum who bought the $150 sliders and are happy with them, and others who chided them for it. But the bottom line is if the cheap sliders satisfy their needs, and if they knew what they were getting, then they were making an informed decision- even if you, or major vendors, or experienced members do not happen to agree with that decision.
As for supporting ARB as a vendor:
Ebag333 said:
Well said, Ebag333. Ditto.
- Thread starter
- #54
Grumpy ! you crack me up
Well, I see what you're saying here but I have to ask ? aren't many performence body panels used in applications like expeditions, rally, even military tachtical vehicles and other autosports are fabricated with fiberglass ? I mean if you have a fiberglass fenders ( for example ) would you be that extra worried about a snorkel ? Besides, fiberflass is repairable, almost seemlessly. And, what is your opinion on a fiberglass-plastic hybrid setup ? buddy !
My point as well. A snorkel is an engine saving device. If it fails in that regard for whatever reason then it pretty much means the engine is junk.
As far as the experience with my MAF housing goes, while I didn't care for some of the criticism and how it was delivered the end result was a positive one. I took the concerns and info and applied that to what I had and addressed those concerns with a design change that I feel actually improved the housing. The process worked for me because I worked with it.
Now are the manufacturers of this snorkel going to do the same after your testing of it if you find a problem with fit, finish, sub-coming to the elements or degrading from use?
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FUD from vendors is expected, but this is a bit extreme? How would a snorkel damage a motor? Even if it has zero resistance to sun and turned to dust in a week, the most damage that I would guess is a clogged air filter, clean it and go.
A snorkel is not rocket science, pretty much a noncritical intake extender. Many have been made from PVC pipe, which has little UV protection and have been functional (not pretty) for years.
About the fender, even if the snorkel turned to junk, my guess is an ARB could still be mounted. There maybe extra holes, but most likely they would be covered by the new snorkel?
I do some work with a co that has stuff manufactured in the pacific rim. It's easy to find stuff at 10% of US retail, the $$$ is in getting it here at a competitive price and the time/pain of doing it. Just the part and shipping isn't always the whole story, there are often port fees, breaking down/repacking fees at the port, then more shipping to get it to the US destination. I'm not saying it wouldn't be a good deal, just do the research to find what the total cost will be?
Uncle Grumpy
SILVER Star
A snorkel is for fording water above the factory intake. If you are doing that and the snorkel fails you will likely hydrolock the motor.
This is a bad thing by the way.
If I am not mistaken, the OEM snorkel was not designed/intended for raising the intake for water intrusion, but more for getting the intake up into cleaner air above the dust/dirt in a desert environment (cleaner air=runs better/less long term wear). Yes with some sealing the side effect is better protection from the wet stuff too. I don't have experience with the ARB/Safari snorkel though, but from what I hear they are better designed for the wet stuff. Just my two cents on the snorkel purpose. I have no comment/opinion on the knock-off part that's the subject of this thread as I do not intend on putting a snorkel on my latest 80.
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I'm well aware of the intended use of a snorkel. The stock '80 with a few mods (seal the dist, raise the breathers, etc) will ford to the door handles. On my rig, that is ~4' and has been there.
It's not something that I take lightly, don't know how much experience you have with crossing deep water, but it likely has one of the highest chances of carnage of anything done in a wheeler. Before any trip that is going to include this fun my rig gets a though check, often pop the hood and peek just before crossing. If you dive into 5+ foot water without an equipment check, you deserve what you get. Or are you trying to say that this snorkel will instantly dissolve in water, I would think that would be revealed at the car wash?
True, the air cleaner stays cleaner.
Most run snorkels for the "looks cool" factor. I don't run one, don't see the point, the stock rig will cross deeper water than I like to deal with and the air cleaner setup deals with dust well.
