To Snorkle or Not to Snorkle? What about the winch?

[Mark W]

My '96 has multiple holes in the distributor

I should have been more precise. At least 3 holes that go all the way through and are not plugged. One more that I am not sure about and have never has reason to investigate.

One way or the other, the 1FZ dist is not sealed, even though it has an o ring and bolt on cap.

Mark...

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I should have been more precise. At least 3 holes that go all the way through and are not plugged. One more that I am not sure about and have never has reason to investigate.

One way or the other, the 1FZ dist is not sealed, even though it has an o ring and bolt on cap.

Mark...

I have often consider you guys up there the water crossing pros. I was surprised when you said one hole, now Im relieved I hope one day to visit and learn about real water crossings and maybe get to use my snorkel for real.

 

[Mark W]

The first time I went to Moab I watched for a day before I was willing to spot for anyone.

Different places, different conditions, different experiences.


Mark...

 

[Tools R Us]

What was the cause??

Driver error, new to the rig and it's strengths/weakness. Dipped the distributer and it was dead, it's not stuck, the motor is dead. The next thing that happened was the factory alarm got wet, horn honking etc, the bad part is it disabled the motor, so even after the distributer was dry, had to pull the alarm and dry it out before it would run.

It has been in water close to the door handles several times, without issue. Deep enough to dip your elbow by sticking it out of the window. It will do that depth without a snorkel, but you are seriously risking the rig. At that depth there is little traction, the rig wants to float, any currant is significant, wants to wash the rig away. You better know what is under the water, any unanticipated holes, obstructions and it's big trouble. Most will never risk that deep of a crossing (smart) so for most, the snorkel is a decoration.

 

[Otter]

Minus the water crossings, I was under the impression that one of the main benefits of a snorkel would be cleaner air into the intake. Of course, this isn't an issue in Georgia, but I have an upcoming move to Phoenix.

I'm not in the market for a snorkel, but thought one would help in the desert. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[Tools R Us]

Minus the water crossings, I was under the impression that one of the main benefits of a snorkel would be cleaner air into the intake. Of course, this isn't an issue in Georgia, but I have an upcoming move to Phoenix.

I'm not in the market for a snorkel, but thought one would help in the desert. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

It may help a bit, maybe, but does it matter? The stock system is very efficient. I have a filter minder, the filter will run tons of dusty trail miles and still not be clogged or even move the reading on the meter. My guess is 30-40K miles with lots of dusty trails, more for for normal driving. Just dump the tuna can often. The stock replacement filter is cleanable 10 times, so even if it were cleaned every 30K, that is 300k life.

 

[-Spike-]

Minus the water crossings, I was under the impression that one of the main benefits of a snorkel would be cleaner air into the intake. Of course, this isn't an issue in Georgia, but I have an upcoming move to Phoenix.

I'm not in the market for a snorkel, but thought one would help in the desert. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Ask Kevin (Tools R Us) how many years it's been since his filter was cleaned. Literally, he's been monitoring the vacuum drawn at the intake (filter minder) and the results would startle any of the 'must do maintenance' guys.

Snorkels are eye candy in Arizona, that's about it. If you get deep enough to significantly submerge your hood, you're gonna have bigger problems than water in the intake.

 

[The Moe]

Well, AFAIK the intended purpose of the snorkles is not necessarly to allow the motor to breath while it's being submerged in water. The actual purpose is to direct a cleaner air supply to the motor by elevating and offsetting the intake point higher than the usual airborne dust and debries pathes common in certain driving conditions/environments frequently found in the developing/third world countries. The main LC market and area of operation.

I also do recall a statement I read in an off-road magazine once stating another reason to use snorkels on LCs and similar vehicles being that many of these vehicles are frequently used by military and simi military units across the globe ( also heavily used by UN personnel ). And many of those units/groups tend to travel in a form of convoys / motorcade formations with often multiple vehicles driving the same path (usually an unpaved, dirt/sand trails or roads). This form of driving, the magazine article stated, can mean an accessive amount of airborne dust going into the following vehicles' intakes raised by the vehicles ahead, causing performence and reliability losses. A snorkel was the ideal solution for that problem. Another indicators to this fact were the "pre-cleaners" you often find mounted atop of the snorkles to reduce the amount of contaminations even further.

This actually make some sense when you notice how many of the Ause. North African, Middleeastern and South American vehicles comes standered with snorkels or at least have them as available OE options...

Just my thoughts about snorkels

 

[DiscoveredLC]

Well, AFAIK the intended purpose of the snorkles is not necessarly to allow the motor to breath while it's being submerged in water. The actual purpose is to direct a cleaner air supply to the motor by elevating and offsetting the intake point higher than the usual airborne dust and debries pathes common in certain driving conditions/environments frequently found in the developing/third world countries. The main LC market and area of operation.

I also do recall a statement I read in an off-road magazine once stating another reason to use snorkels on LCs and similar vehicles being that many of these vehicles are frequently used by military and simi military units across the globe ( also heavily used by UN personnel ). And many of those units/groups tend to travel in a form of convoys / motorcade formations with often multiple vehicles driving the same path (usually an unpaved, dirt/sand trails or roads). This form of driving, the magazine article stated, can mean an accessive amount of airborne dust going into the following vehicles' intakes raised by the vehicles ahead, causing performence and reliability losses. A snorkel was the ideal solution for that problem. Another indicators to this fact were the "pre-cleaners" you often find mounted atop of the snorkles to reduce the amount of contaminations even further.

This actually make some sense when you notice how many of the Ause. North African, Middleeastern and South American vehicles comes standered with snorkels or at least have them as available OE options...

Just my thoughts about snorkels

That's exactly what Ive always thought over the years.... If you research on the net, you can find a few articles about how they were first intended for dusty conditions just like you said.

Living in NV, it's pretty dry and dusty here. I put one on my Rover for just that reason...

 

[FloridaCruiser813]

Simply adding a snorkel adds nothing to the rigs fording ability. There are lots of other things that need to be addressed, will stop/damage/total the rig/motor/etc long before a snorkel is needed

many people have agreed with this statement... what else needs to be done besides waterproofing the dizzy? is there a list or a link to another thread?

 

[OGBeno]

I always love seeing LC's in long UN convoys.....

 

[Mark W]

Well, AFAIK the intended purpose of the snorkles is not necessarly to allow the motor to breath while it's being submerged in water. The actual purpose is to direct a cleaner air supply to the motor by elevating and offsetting the intake point higher than the usual airborne dust and debries pathes common in certain driving conditions/environments frequently found in the developing/third world countries. The main LC market and area of operation.

I also do recall a statement I read in an off-road magazine once stating another reason to use snorkels on LCs and similar vehicles being that many of these vehicles are frequently used by military and simi military units across the globe ( also heavily used by UN personnel ). And many of those units/groups tend to travel in a form of convoys / motorcade formations with often multiple vehicles driving the same path (usually an unpaved, dirt/sand trails or roads). This form of driving, the magazine article stated, can mean an accessive amount of airborne dust going into the following vehicles' intakes raised by the vehicles ahead, causing performence and reliability losses. A snorkel was the ideal solution for that problem. Another indicators to this fact were the "pre-cleaners" you often find mounted atop of the snorkles to reduce the amount of contaminations even further.

This actually make some sense when you notice how many of the Ause. North African, Middleeastern and South American vehicles comes standered with snorkels or at least have them as available OE options...

Just my thoughts about snorkels

I see this idea on the net a lot. while it may be true... it could as easily be just a way for guys who never cross any watercourse to justify a cool add on.

Based on the number of later model Cruisert with snorkels that are never operated in water OR heavy dust... well...



Mark...

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

I see this idea on the net a lot. while it may be true... it could as easily be just a way for guys who never cross any watercourse to justify a cool add on.

Based on the number of later model Cruisert with snorkels that are never operated in water OR heavy dust... well...



Mark...

Not that there is anything wrong with it... We can all spend our money anyway we see fit. I think snorkels look cool, I'm going to buy one, I will probably never see water deep enough to justify its purchase.

TK

 

[CycloSteve]

As the saying goes, better to have the tool and not need it than need the tool and not have it. That is my view on the Snorkel. Snorkel-less here, but it is way down on my list of to do's behind the dual battery setup for camping/expo.



Steve

 

[Tools R Us]

Well, AFAIK the intended purpose of the snorkles is not necessarly to allow the motor to breath while it's being submerged in water. The actual purpose is to direct a cleaner air supply to the motor by elevating and offsetting the intake point higher than the usual airborne dust and debries pathes common in certain driving conditions/environments frequently found in the developing/third world countries. The main LC market and area of operation.

I also do recall a statement I read in an off-road magazine once stating another reason to use snorkels on LCs and similar vehicles being that many of these vehicles are frequently used by military and simi military units across the globe ( also heavily used by UN personnel ). And many of those units/groups tend to travel in a form of convoys / motorcade formations with often multiple vehicles driving the same path (usually an unpaved, dirt/sand trails or roads). This form of driving, the magazine article stated, can mean an accessive amount of airborne dust going into the following vehicles' intakes raised by the vehicles ahead, causing performence and reliability losses. A snorkel was the ideal solution for that problem. Another indicators to this fact were the "pre-cleaners" you often find mounted atop of the snorkles to reduce the amount of contaminations even further.

This actually make some sense when you notice how many of the Ause. North African, Middleeastern and South American vehicles comes standered with snorkels or at least have them as available OE options...

Just my thoughts about snorkels

Agree and a snorkel can increase fording ability, but it is vehicle design dependent. The air intake on my previous rig was behind the headlight. If attempting to ford, push a bow wave as high as the grill, it would pressure feed water into the intake, instant hydro lock. It had a flat panel air filter, with a relatively small area, so would clog pretty quick. In this case, a snorkel would help for both uses.

None of this applies to the '80 series. It is almost like someone decided to design an air intake system capable of dealing with dust and water to the max possible within the body work. IMHO they did a very good job. The cyclonic filter is very good at depositing the dust in the tuna can, instead of the filter and the air intake is at the top, inside the right fender.

 

[Tools R Us]

This is where the air intake is on the '80. The fender cavity makes a nice air bubble, if driven correctly, prevents splash, water intake. I have found myself in deeper water than I prefer a couple of times (3.5-4') and have never had a drip of water in the intake.

 

[Tapage]

anyone here has try cross something deep ( over your hood .. but not the wave ) with just an snorkel ?

Your gasser will probably die due to electrical failure and not water in the intake ..

 

[Tools R Us]

many people have agreed with this statement... what else needs to be done besides waterproofing the dizzy? is there a list or a link to another thread?

I don't know that there is a list and it would depend on what you are trying to accomplish, like depth and frequency of crossings, etc. For starters, all breathers need to be extended, in the pic above, it is sucking water into the trans, took 22qts of ATF to flush it out, transfer change, CDL and rear diff actuators had water related issues. It really not possible to seal most things (axles, hubs, trans, etc) so if the plan is often use in deep water, it is likely that a pressurized system would be best.

The next issue is electronics, they don't much like water. Most all of the critical connections, etc, on the outside of the rig are weather sealed, kinda, unplugging and packing with silicone grease would likely be enough. The bigger problem is inside the rig, none of them are sealed. In my case had to remove all of the boxes below the water line, (ABS, CDL, alarm, ECU's, relays, etc) dump the water, clean, etc. Unplugged every electrical connector that was below water, cleaned, coated with silicone grease. Big time pain, not even going into the interior cleaning, headlights, etc, full of muddy water, etc. For frequent deep water work, a simpler rig (FJ40?) would likely be better?

 

[Rusty]

As the saying goes, better to have the tool and not need it than need the tool and not have it...

Steve

I agree with Steve. Most people that have snorkels probably wouldn't be that comfortable with water up to the windshield, if you're in water that deep then it's not likely you're sure where the bottom of the water body is either.

That's one advantage to having a snorkel, if you accidentally submerge the truck too deep for the stock air intake you're less likely to hydraulic the engine. It's one thing to have a soggy ignition system that you have to dry out, but it's another thing altogether to have to rebuild your engine.

To me it does offer some piece of mind in that sense, I was out wheeling with a friend of mine years ago, he drove through water that he thought was up to his bumper, he hit a deep spot and submerged the hood; the motor sucked in enough water to seize. He wasn't driving a Cruiser, it was a '90 Toyota 3.0l V6 4X4 truck (same air box behind the headlight scene) but it was game over, we had to tow him home for miles because we were in the middle of nowhere, that's not a great scenario especially if you are on a long expo trip. Let's face it if you were a long way from home and you came across a water crossing on your trip you may decide to attempt it to get to your destination instead of turning around.

Getting stuck in the middle of a crossing with water over the hood because you lost traction with the engine running could be a real problem because no matter how water tight or how much an "air bubble" the air box design creates, it doesn't matter if you get stuck for long enough while trying to drive out, you risk water intrusion.

Diesels with their lack of ignition system fair better than a gas engine, but with proper prep of the ignition system (vent tubes for the distributor and sealing the spark plug boots) along with a well sealed snorkel, you can still get through deep water, at least short crossings, without toasting your engine.

 

[Rusty]

Now whether or not a snorkel restricts air intake too much for a supercharged engine, that's another question (I'm guessing not), especially if you install a cyclonic pre-filter...

Anyone have any thought or experience with that one?