zombiegirl827

Hey guys! I am thinking of getting a snorkel i want opinions/ideas on wether to build my own or buy and install one. Any feedback would be nice. Thanks!

Gee oh Dee

Moved to Chat.

If you have the money go ahead and buy one. Cleaner, unless you go with a knock off.

DeftwillP

Are you going to extend your vent lines? Seal your engine electronics?

zombiegirl827

I have no idea what I am going to do yet, I want opinions.. this is my first jeep, she is mainly going to be used for mudding and trail riding.

AoA

DDDOOOOO EEETTTTT!!!!!!

zombiegirl827

where is a good place to buy a snorkel? and whats a good brand?

Xj88

ARB is the original one but itll set you back about 400 bucks..but then agian...ARB is complete quality. Jeeptian a member on here sells Chinese versions of the ARB snorkel and they seem to have great reviews, at around 120 bucks its a good deal. Ebay has knock off arb's and they are basically identical to jeeptians. Do some searching and youll find his thread about the snorkels he sells.

Gee oh Dee

The ones Jeeptian sells need some massaging to work correctly.

Overland did an actual review and posted exactly what the snorkel was like and what needed to be 'fixed'.

Xj88

Ill have to check that out. I was thinking of getting one but I realized a snorkel isnt really a thing that many people NEED. Lockers are gonna come first for me.

DeftwillP

Boom goes the dynamite. Another light switch turns on.

Atmos

I like the look of snorkels on land cruisers. but it's just not an XJ thing IMO. if you're looking to just draw cold air then tap into the firewall and get a true intake.
or if you're looking to go swimming get a boat haha. definitely get the locker first

cdn_xj

Ordered mine from Jeeptian on July 7th. It was delivered to Ship Happens in Sumas on July 16th and I picked it up yesterday (July 18th).

Most of the hardware was missing but that's no big deal as I can get any nut or bolt I need from work. More importantly, all of the important bits were still in the box.

I haven't seen one of the authentic ARB Safari Snorkels in person so I can't make a direct comparison. I CAN, however, give you my impressions:

Quality control in the casting process isn't the greatest; you can see where they cut corners. For example: the cleaning/finishing of the flashing isn't great so clearly they didn't take a whole lot of time.

You can also see variances in material thickness around the intake of the snorkel head. a result of not rotating the molds long enough to allow a sufficient amount of the resin to harden.

Nevertheless, for $120 instead of $400, the quality is acceptable.

Installation instructions would be helpful, but really, it's not that hard to install. There are enough pictures, diagrams, sketches, posts, threads, etc., etc., etc., for ANYone to figure the install out without having instructions.

I WILL give one tip with respect to placing the template:
the skinny end of the template should line up with the end of the fender sheetmetal where it meets the A-pillar sheet metal.

So far I've only got the outer part of the snorkel installed. I simply ran out of daylight. besides, I'm going to deviate from the "proper" installation and need to collect a few pieces to do so. I'm also going to replace the hard plastic hose supplied with the kit with a more durable hose.

in a nutshell:
I'm glad I bought the $120 Made in China knockoff instead of the $400 "original".

caged

i bought one through my buddy that owns Titan Winches.
it is a china made ARB knockoff, but seems very well made.
no crappy moulding, no choppy flashing, all hardware was there and the template was perfect.

if someone told me it was an ARB, i would almost believe them.

it fit perfectly on my 96 air box and looks great. i would trust it's functionality.

now, i wouldn't get one just so you can cross the pond in your xj, but if you tend to dip the front end in deep water and you're afraid of hydrolocking before you can shut the engine off, then this is exactly what you need.

i didn't waterproof my computer or silicone my wires, because i'm not looking to go swimming. i'm not gonna change my wheeling style because it have it. it is ONLY for insurance purposes if i ever dunk my front end under water again.

on a side note, i've had my computer buried under water and had no problems for years later. still no problems on my original cpu.
not sure if having a renix with the cpu inside the dash makes a difference, but she's been wet before. along with my TCU.

i say if you want to protect your engine, but you're not looking to cross the atlantic ocean, then yeah, it's worth every penny.

Morat

better than a snorkel