Am I the only one who thinks a snorkel on a TJ is crazy?

Blackjack said:
Those that wheel in parts of the Canadian Shield and here in Alaska understand that relocating the airbox intake for certain trails is definitely a required modification. Just go back and watch Ultimate Adventure 2019. Up here it is not overall depth that gets you it is the vertical entrance to the water crossing that will put the airbox intake under water until the ass end of your rig settles down. So just doing a cowl intake mod may actually get the job done in most cases but not everyone wants to go DIY so they buy a snorkel kit. It is just one part of an overall plan that needs to be in place like making sure gearbox breathers are adequate and taking time to do some preventative maintenance like using connector grease on electrical stuff (which Jeep did a lot better on the TJ than some on this forum give them credit for) and also understand that you need to step up your after trail maintenance as well.
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Good points.
 
imahnu said:
This is the only real reason I’ve experienced for having a snorkel/relocated air intake. The depth isn’t really ever the issue, the angle of entrance in the creek/river crossings are the main issue.

That being said most of my off-roading is in areas with lots of water crossings where some can take 2 minutes to get through. Because of that I’ve done pretty much all the waterproofing of electronics I could find.

I’ve many times driven through 3ft or so of water and my cowl intake has been more than sufficient.
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Good reasoning.
 
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PNW_LJ said:
This will seem like a long ramble because it is just a collection of my personal experience tagging along on trips with older vehicles. Not an expert opinion or recommendation by any means:



Concerns over electrical damage are vastly overstated. It just isn’t that big an issue for most offroaders there that try to minimize the time spent in water.

The more extreme folks will do things like stuffing special sealant in the electricals, relocating interior wiring to the ceiling, bringing spare fan clutches, sealing off electrical blocks. Alternator/starter/fuses don’t seem to be affected most of the time.

The bigger concern is the trans/tcase/axles for which you either add or extended the factory breathers. Still a good idea to check all fluids every couple trips. There are also considerations with the snorkel quality, installation and maintenance.



Prevention is the best medicine. Enter the water slowly and only then slowly speed up to keep the wave in front of your hood. Always walk the seemingly “small puddle” before crossing.

If you happen to catastrophically flood the interior, and it’s sunny out, let it sit and just dry out. Insulation within door cards and in engine bay may fall apart. Over time, the wire harness will start falling apart and glitching, so try to dry it out too.

If you’re an idiot and entered say a fast moving river and feel the rig start to float, open your doors! It’s better to flood the interior and get towed away, than for you to get taken away/rolled over who knows to where.




But nothing is guaranteed. Occasionally people still do flood their electronics, hydrolock the engines or even write off their vehicles entirely. I see it as a similar level of risk to rolling over while rock crawling here in the US.

This all assumes freshwater of course, saltwater is an entirely different ball game.
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As intimated above, fresh water is not a good electrical conductor. Salt water is an excellent conductor. If you dunk your electronics in fresh water, they should not suffer damage. I left my CJ-7 out in the rain with top off many, many times with no damage.


The last time I used a snorkel was on a old Diesel submarine. We dove in the Chesapeake Bay as part of a decommissioning ceremony ('71 or '72). I was one of about 20 enlisted aboard. Never saw so much braid before or after. I launched the snorkel and fired up the Diesel. Loud, but worked fine. Precursor to today's EVs. Used big-ass Diesel tractor engine to charge up the batteries!
 
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Dr. Internet said:
As intimated above, fresh water is not a good electrical conductor. Salt water is an excellent conductor. If you dunk your electronics in fresh water, they should not suffer damage. I left my CJ-7 out in the rain with top off many, many times with no damage.


The last time I used a snorkel was on a old Diesel submarine. We dove in the Chesapeake Bay as part of a decommissioning ceremony ('71 or '72). I was one of about 20 enlisted aboard. Never saw so much braid before or after. I launched the snorkel and fired up the Diesel. Loud, but worked fine. Precursor to today's EVs. Used big-ass Diesel tractor engine to charge up the batteries!
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I keep my Jeep as far away from salt water as possible. Nothing good can come of it.
 
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My LJ had a snorkel when I bought it. It was the first thing I removed. It was a hack job install and I didn’t like it.

With 43’s I don’t like it when water is over my tires let alone my hood.

I do have a Windstar filter housing I plan to install to pull air from the cowl area for lower AIT to help run more timing. Some day I’ll get to it.
 
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L J said:
@hear @hear
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Since this thread couldn't move forward without me & my misspelled name...

My crew is no stranger to deep water, but nobody has a snorkel (yet). On the other hand we're also no strangers to being waist deep in water removing spark plugs and ejecting water out of the holes. Disney, OK has a lot of water. Most of it is maybe a foot deep with bedrock bottom. But some of it is DEEP. You definitely need to know your line in a few areas. A week or two ago a SxS found an extra deep spot and completely submerged. No word on if he had a snorkel. For it to have done him any good it needed to double as a periscope.
 
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Dr. Internet said:
As intimated above, fresh water is not a good electrical conductor. Salt water is an excellent conductor. If you dunk your electronics in fresh water, they should not suffer damage. I left my CJ-7 out in the rain with top off many, many times with no damage.


The last time I used a snorkel was on a old Diesel submarine. We dove in the Chesapeake Bay as part of a decommissioning ceremony ('71 or '72). I was one of about 20 enlisted aboard. Never saw so much braid before or after. I launched the snorkel and fired up the Diesel. Loud, but worked fine. Precursor to today's EVs. Used big-ass Diesel tractor engine to charge up the batteries!
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Interesting!
 
i like a snorkel on a vehicle, Having accidentally hydro-locked an engine before in my beloved first gen 4runner, i can attest that even a small amount of water can be a hazard, if you have too much speed or a steep entry angle. To me, troubleshooting damp electronics is one thing. Having uncompressible water in a compressor space, is entirely another. I changed my oil 3 times after my episode and my engine still blew a connecting rod out the side of the block about 2-3 weeks later while running down the highway doing 60-65.

Personally, i wouldn't add one to a TJ because the only one i'm aware of, which is think is an ARB, looks super goofy to me due to where it starts SO far down on the fender. Why not do a cowl mount or do something like older CJ's where it pops out the side of the hood via cutout.

If there were a more aesthetically pleasing option - i would definitely consider it.


This is another option, and it is apparently 50-state smog legal.
https://trailheadoffroad.com/product/wrangler-tj-lj-cowl-intake-97-06/

At the very least you move the intake point farther up the hood for deep water entries, though I think i'd be tempted to create somewhat of a "hummer-like" raised intake at the center of the cowl, that didn't block my view of the road.
 
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I've got a short HMMWV style & it doesn't block my view

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Saw this poor guy today. Not only does he have an accessory hated by all, with the intake turned around facing backward it probably pulls a vacuum and costs him a couple of the 40 or so ponies the old Tracker is likely making these days. :ROFLMAO:
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AzJeff said:
Saw this poor guy today. Not only does he have an accessory hated by all, with the intake turned around facing backward it probably pulls a vacuum and costs him a couple of the 40 or so ponies the old Tracker is likely making these days. :ROFLMAO:
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I'm sure you're joking, but you're technically supposed to turn it around in rain/snow.

Still weird to see on an Arizona vehicle..
 
PNW_LJ said:
Simply raising the air intake level higher does nothing in a desert environment. Dust doesn’t magically disappear 6 feet off the ground.
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In a Jeep application I would agree however raising the intake does benefit other applications such as Toyota. This is due to the air intake design through the side of the fender and out through the wheel well. Engine heat combined with tire wake create a negative pressure zone that essentially sucks in dust directly at it's thickest and heaviest. Moving the intake out and above the cab not only removes this intake pressure but also removed the intake from the densest buildup of dust. Night and day difference and adding a pre-cleaner is 100% the thing to do.

But for a Jeep...I dont see the benefit.
 
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