General Question-Snorkel

[chrissey]

Sorry guys I am just setting up my GQ for travelling around Australia, starting at the Sunny Coast going up north all the way to Broome and I am a little confused and got so many questions from reading about other peoples opinions whether I should add a snorkel to my GQ or not.
Some people keep telling me you are crazy if your traveling in remote places and go anywhere as deep as where you might need a snorkel, you think that's true in general?

How deep can i go with a GQ? I dont think I would feel comfortable going any deeper than the bottom of the headlights anyway.....so let me know what you think. Tell me know what is a snorkel actually good for, what water depth should you go without and why are so many cars around Queensland driving around with a snorkel, even tidy city SUV' s?????
Snorkel or no Snorkel??

cheers
chris

[Aquarian51]

Hi Chris

A snorkel supplies cleaner cooler air to your engine than without a snorkel because the normal air intake is from in the engine bay or under the wheel arch. Unless the snorkel is air tight you wouldn't want to be driving in water deeper than the bonnet, but would you really want to be driving through water that deep.

A snorkel will probably give you better fuel economy because of the extra cleaner air. There are some threads on here about snorkels and how and what to make them from.

Having made my own - my vote is "Go the snorkel".

cheers

Len

[YNOT]

The purpose of a snorkel is to raise the air intake. This not only raises the fording depth but also puts the air intake up where the dust is usually thinner. If you plan to be doing a lot of driving on dusty roads then you can also get cyclone precleaners heads for some snorkels (Safari is one). These pre cleaners spin the incoming air so the dust settles to the outside and cleaner air is drawn in to the main air filter.

The standard air intake on a Patrol is behind the headlight on the L/H front corner, allowing for a bow wave that gives you a safe fording depth of about half way up the wheels. That said I have taken a Patrol without a snorkel through a water crossing that had water half way up the doors and a bow wave over the bonnet - I got lucky and survived but I wouldn't recommend doing it without a snorkel.

If you are planning on going to remote places where you are likely to need the snorkel for water crossings then it's best to be travelling with other people or at the very least have a winch and other recovery gear AND a good knowledge of how to use it. You are not crazy, you got a 4WD so you can go 4WDing, but be smart about it.

Tony

[04OFF]

A Snorkel is cheap insurance if you plan travelling around places you don't know well.



You should always try and pre-walk through any water crossings, but you can still miss holes or rutts you just cant see or feel , your wheels may drop into these rutts submerging your standard air intake.

The way i look at it, a snuffed engine (even if not destroyed) in the middle of a water crossing ,could very quickly turn into costing thousands of dollars, i doubt you will regret spending $400-$500 for a snorkel.



I have a safari snorkel, i use a uni filter pre filter over the snorkel head in dusty conditions, great when your in a convoy.





If you get a snorkel, its a good idea to extend your diff breathers as well.

[chrissey]

Hey Len, Tony and 04OFF.
Very helpful reading through your comments and actually as we are going to do a lot of driving I will seriously consider getting a snorkel. I did some driving around the Glass House Mountains 4wd tracks today and there where some smaller water crossings/ water holes I always walk them and poke around with a stick haha.
Anyways the main reason would be the dust/ cleaner air intake. We havent got the greatest budget so its always a bit of weighing up what to do with the vehicle. Anyways it will be a once in a lifetime adventure for us to drive around this beautiful country and you are more than right we dont want to be stuck somewhere spending huge amounts of money.
I bought Gregorys 4wd Touring book, and do some research in the Forum everyday and will get the right recovery gear and by then know how to use it.
Thanks guys, very helpful!
Chris

[growler2058]

Cheap insurance agree with all above, personally i would not have a 4wd without one. i have a 4wd to take me where i wanna go and if the water is a litl deep i want to get across with the donk still running

[Finly Owner]

Make sure all the fittings for snorkel and air bow are water tight sealed.

Tim

[chrissey]

Cheap insurance agree with all above, personally i would not have a 4wd without one. i have a 4wd to take me where i wanna go and if the water is a litl deep i want to get across with the donk still running

So true, I saw there are some DIY Snorkel threads in the Forum or I might find a 2nd hand one. Anyways you guys made me feel its better to have one on the vehicle.
cheers chris

[chrissey]

Make sure all the fittings for snorkel and air bow are water tight sealed.

Tim

Well i guess you buy a Safari Snorkel kit and it comes with all you need to make it fit and properly seal it, right? This would speak against the DIY or 2nd hand ones.

[YNOT]

Any snorkel needs to be properly fitted, even a safari snorkel will leak if it's not properly installed.

Tony