Installed a Snorkel (sort of)

[103]

I have a trip back to the high watermark trail in Arkansas in December. After the last trip it was very clear that I didn’t ingest water out of pure luck. So I wanted a snorkel before December. I didn’t want the ARB snorkel and didn’t want to wait for any of the others still in the works.

I spoke with a friend who owns a shop and does a lot of custom fabrication for cars and trucks. I bought one of the overseas version snorkels (from eBay) that uses the badge plate to enter the fender. We are going to make an airbox probably out of sheet metal or aluminum (depends on cost). For now the snorkel does nothing as I have the factory airbox in place. We didn’t originally plan to install anything today, but we went ahead finished with the parts we had.

It still required a little cutting on the fender and a fair bit of modification of the parts. But it came out really well at $190 spent so far:

Sponsored

 

[Dave1899]

Looking good so far. I want to see what you come up with for the air box.

 

[VoodooRanger]

This looks much, much better than the Safari snorkel. I understand the placement of the air box makes it difficult, but that large piece of plastic sticking out of the fender doesn’t look good to me.

 

[D Fresh]

How have you dealt with the alternator?

 

[103]

How have you dealt with the alternator?

Hoping the ARB plates prevent a considerable percentage of the stuff being flung up into the engine bay. Otherwise will be dielectric greasing what I can and am bringing a spare alternator on the trip...

 

[103]

Looking good so far. I want to see what you come up with for the air box.

I’ll take progress pictures as we make it. Biggest concern is the bung for the IAT. Probably won’t be working on it for another month though.

 

[103]

Oh I agree. I killed my alternator last December on the HWM trail. That’s why I’m bringing a spare on the next trip. It’s very frustrating because the truck is silly capable otherwise.

 

[RoadBoss]

It still required a little cutting on the fender and a fair bit of modification of the parts. But it came out really well at $190 spent so far:

what parts of the fender needed cutting? Anything that's visible on the outside or just inner bits for fitting the piping? Also did this need a upper support bracket mounted to the A-pillar or anything?

 

[103]

what parts of the fender needed cutting? Anything that's visible on the outside or just inner bits for fitting the piping? Also did this need a upper support bracket mounted to the A-pillar or anything?

Support bracket used the channel liner bolt hole in the roof, but we had to make a really short bracket to attach the snorkel to the first bracket. If that makes sense.

This is what the fender looked like on the outside (plus one bolt hole on the bottom that isn’t there in this pic). Also made a hole for the tube in the inner fender.

 

[RoadBoss]

Support bracket used the channel liner bolt hole in the roof, but we had to make a really short bracket to attach the snorkel to the first bracket. If that makes sense.

This is what the fender looked like on the outside (plus one bolt hole on the bottom that isn’t there in this pic). Also made a hole for the tube in the inner fender.

Awesome, thanks for this. Doesn't seem too bad.

 

[onobeka]

One option instead of fabricating an airbox would be to buy a diesel Ranger airbox. It already goes in the fender well without a snorkel. The snorkel you have already bought is designed to work with those OEM airboxes. I do not know what the interface with the hose after the airbox is on the two versions, but it may be the same.

Here is how it looks: https://ballaratperformance.com.au/shop/uncategorized/ford-px-3-2-2-2-ranger-airbox-cleaner/
The top right elbow goes into the wheel well. With the snorkel, that elbow is removed and the airbox is connected to the snorkel piping.

 

[103]

One option instead of fabricating an airbox would be to buy a diesel Ranger airbox. It already goes in the fender well without a snorkel. The snorkel you have already bought is designed to work with those OEM airboxes. I do not know what the interface with the hose after the airbox is on the two versions, but it may be the same.

Here is how it looks: https://ballaratperformance.com.au/shop/uncategorized/ford-px-3-2-2-2-ranger-airbox-cleaner/
The top right elbow goes into the wheel well. With the snorkel, that elbow is removed and the airbox is connected to the snorkel piping.

That's a really good idea and one I thought of, too. My friend REALLY wants to make a box, though, and he is really good at this stuff, so I figured having a custom fabricated airbox would be neat.

 

[RoadBoss]

Oh I agree. I killed my alternator last December on the HWM trail. That’s why I’m bringing a spare on the next trip. It’s very frustrating because the truck is silly capable otherwise.

Just out of curiosity, how did you kill your alternator? I was looking at it the other day, and it's about at the same height as the top of my tires, so ~32" up, which is some pretty damn deep water.
Also, considering moving through water creates a bow wave in front, and the water around the sides (and in the engine bay) will not be as high....

I'm not trying to call you out or anything, just curious how bad/deep it got that your alternator got destroyed, and wandering if you had any other issues at the same time, like water coming in the cab or the bed of the truck, or with the diff/trans breathers (I'm still not sure where those actually are on these trucks).

 

[103]

Basically I hit the water way too hard is my theory. I’m busy right now, but I’ll post a more detailed explanation with pictures when I can. It was super deep.

 

[103]

To elaborate...

I did the High Water Mark Trail in Arkansas with some friends last December. It was a lot of fun, but it was raining/sleeting/snowing the entire time. We did a bunch of water crossings without issue. I did my best to avoid any significant mud because I was worried about the alternator. It getting wet, however, was not something I was super afraid of.

The last evening we ended up on a dead-end trail (due to more debris than we could move) and had to backtrack. In the process, we had what I can only describe as a water crossing that was a pinch of sand away from being a mud pit. I believe I was consistently hitting the water too fast and forcing a lot of it up in front of the motor. Once enough silt and mud got in there, I think that's what killed my alternator. I am HOPING the ARB plates and a slower (less stupid) approach speed will be enough to prevent future failure. I will also be greasing the connector.

The picture I have attached is not the deepest we went, so I am linking a video one of the guys put together of the trip. It's fairly boring, but if you skip through, you can see some of the water crossings.

Hope this helps explain.

Sponsored