I used a Toyota Tacoma snorkel, heat gun for reshaping, an aluminum inlet bell from intenseperformance.com in the air filter housing, some wire reinforced rubber hose, a little aluminum intake tubing, a bunch of black silicone, and blocked off the stock inlet.http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/115_1521-a.jpg

That is sharp. How about pics inside of hood?

yea, do you have any pictures from the instalation

:thumbsup: That is a nice looking snorkel... finally someone with balls to spend money to cut something up without assurance that it will ever work...

nice. wher at in sac are you?

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: looks good I like it

-Drew

:thumbsup: That is a nice looking snorkel... finally someone with balls to spend money to cut something up without assurance that it will ever work...


X2

Can't wait to see the pics under the hood, and maybe a closer shot of the fender fitment and the like.

Awesome job man :thumbsup:

TTIWWOMP (this thread is worthless without more pics) ;)

Looks really good. And unlike most people, you were able to retain the stock antenna location. :thumbsup:

In a few days I'll post some more pictures, My weekend is booked. I'm hoping to get to Prairie City next week to test it out in the mud. The hardest part of this job was putting a 3 1/2 inch hole up to the fender and going for it. Thanks for the compliments.
Bruce-L

when do you plan on going i might be there next sunday.

love the modifications. Where did you get your TJM bullbar from? ive been trying to get one and i cant find it anywhere. Love your truck!

I purchased the bumper through TJM's American distributor. http://www.tjmbullbars.com (http://) It's a T-13 steel bumper for the 93-96 Ford Ranger. It was on sale as a factory blemished item. I spent two weeks looking it over and never found a defect.

Thats one of the prettiest snorkle installs yet!

thats a sharp looking snorkle...wating on more pics...

I sent a picture to ARB and they asked me to send more pictures and a description of the install. Who knows, maybe ARB will finally pick this up and run with it. I'll try to have more pic's posted by Saturday.

it would be great if you could do this. im from australia and have been trying to get arb to get me everything for my explorer.
I would really appreciate it when you post further details.
thanks mate

The pics don't work. :(

Sorry this is post install but I was racing against the weather to get this on and didn't have time to take pictures.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/side-view.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/front-view.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/rear-view.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/door-clearance.jpg
Door clearance is only about 1/8 of an inch. This is due to the mounting position I chose and because I didn't have a step drill or 5/8 bit for the mounting boltholes which would have given more wiggle room. Also the hole in the fender for the snorkel outlet could have been moved straight up about 1/4 of an inch.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/bracket-2.jpg
You'll find that the snorkel support bracket is not tall enough and you'll need to make one that's about 1 1/4" taller that the Safari bracket. I made mine from a piece of 1/8-inch thick material. You'll need to use a break or a vise to put about a 30-degree bend in the bracket.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/rivet.jpg

The snorkel's support bracket is attached to the window pillar. I used a box knife to cut through the seals and later closed the cut with silicone. I wish that I'd had an angle head drill when drilling the pillar for the bracket. My 1/2 inch electric drill didn't fit well in the space available, which forced me to drill at an angle. This created a misalignment of about an 1/8 of an inch. When the bracket was pop riveted to the pillar I found that I had to enlarge the boltholes for the snorkel to compensate for this. This wouldn't have been a big deal if I'd had an electric dremel handy or a way to drill out the rivets and take the bracket to the workbench.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/contour-fill.jpg
Here's where I filled a contour with silicone. I spent a couple hours working the snorkel over with a heat gun and some of the Toyota curves couldn't be removed. In one spot on the back side I had to make a stand off to fit over the mounting bolt in order to fill a 5/8 inch gap between the snorkel and the fender.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/medium/snorkel-plan.jpg
All the ductwork is tucked in the fender and out of site. Inside the fender there's a box-like structure spot-welded to the inner fender wall. I had to cut a triangle shaped piece of this out to accommodate the 3 1/2 inch O.D. ducting and the rubber elbow at the snorkel outlet. The piece I cut measured approximately 2 inches at the base and was seven to 8 inches long. If you decide to do this the position will become obvious during the install.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/inlet_bell.gif

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/inlet-view.jpg
After drilling a 4 inch hole in the inner fender and lining with some rubber trim material (edging of some sort I had laying around) I cut a hole in the end of the air filter housing big enough to accommodate the 3 inch inlet bell and drilled, bolted and siliconed it in place.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/old-inlet.jpg
the lip on the factory inlet was ground flat and I made a sheet metal disk that was used to seal the opening along with four number 8 screws and more silicone.

I hope that either ARB or the guy from Florida will make a nice clean kit for us so that others can simply drill and bolt, not require a ton of silicone to fill gaps and everything will fit like it's OEM.

Sunday I went to Prairie City and drove through a 100+ foot long mud pit with water above the headlights and the engine never faltered. See you at the deep end of the pool!!

How does a snorkel affect mpg? or does it at all??

freakin eh, thats nice. i hope arb makes something like that.

So far I haven't noticed any change in mileage. It's as bad as ever. HAHA.

Looks great, and great write-up. :thumbsup:

Any idea if you'll have problems passing smog check, or are you in a no check area?

Thanks for the writeup and pics. That looks like a great install. Hopefully ARB will agree.

I have to get it smogged every two years for registration. The snorkel won't be a problem because the only thing it did was move the inlet position. All of my smog equipment and factory filter housing are still in place.

Now that I've survived deep water there's a dusty pony express trail along Hwy 50 I want to drive again. Last year two hours on this trail completely clogged a brand new filter with dust.

The deep end is calling you....

One more question, did the aluminum inlet bell come with the kit? I've been planning on building my own snorkel for quite some time and need it looks like it would be easiest to just use one of those.

I bought the inlet bell from from http://www.intenseperformance.com/products/parts/parts.html (http://) It took two or three days longer than estimated for the part to arrive and nobody from the company answered my email when I asked where the part was. I got the aluminum tubing from these guys http://store.airflo.com/intake-tubing.html (http://) They were very friendly and responsive. These links don't seem to be working for me so you may have to copy and paste them.
After wiping out two air filters while mudding I'm very happy to have this on the 'Sploder. Good luck with your snorkel.

"This is standard aluminum tubing for air intake systems. 1/16th inch wall thickness. Cannot be used for exhaust." Why is that???? Looks the same to me, and it's the same size as exhaust tubing. Oh well, I'll just try to get some from Advance Auto Parts or Auto Zone or something like that if I use that setup. I'll probably just build something instead of ordering that bell (just get some 3" tube and weld it to a flange to bolt it to the intake box) Thanks for the help and all the pics. I can get started on mine as soon as this SAS is done. :)

Sick!! I love it.

I have to get it smogged every two years for registration. The snorkel won't be a problem because the only thing it did was move the inlet position. All of my smog equipment and factory filter housing are still in place.

Now that I've survived deep water there's a dusty pony express trail along Hwy 50 I want to drive again. Last year two hours on this trail completely clogged a brand new filter with dust.

The deep end is calling you....
what trail are you talking about?

Hey BMX',
I have no idea what's up with the "not for exhaust thing." Maybe the tubing is too thin. I only know it worked perfectly for what I needed. I don't have any welding tools so for the time being I'm at the mercy of those who supply ready made parts. Good luck with the SAS.

Lifeguard,
Dig up a copy of Backcountry Adventures Northern California, and you'll find the trail on page 342. It's an 8 mile segment of the pony express route off of Icehouse Road. Not technically challenging but when I drove it, most of the trail had this layer of baking flour fine dust about 6 inches thick and it wiped out my air filter. The snorkel should put me above that problem as well as water.

thanks i will have to check it out.

Looks good :thumbsup: How much did the job run ya?

Very nicely done :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
You have definitely put in some serious fab time and effort to get a nice clean install. Does/can the inlet be turned to face the rear of the vehicle? I ask because I just watch fourwheelers 4x4 event (comcast on demand) and they had a few vehicles with snorkles going through deep mud bogs. The mud was flying a good foot over the roof of the vehicle and they turned the air inlet rearward to prevent any crap from being flung in...

Thanks. The inlet can be rotated to any position by loosening the clamp that holds it in place. There's also a couple inches of vertical play. I have it near the top.

If everyone who views this thread would send an email to ARB they would take making snorkels and other parts for us seriously. Don't leave it up to one or two people and then wonder why we have no accessories. Want a snorkel, cool bumper, front air locker? Click the link and send an email telling ARB that you want cool toys for your Explorer. arbusainfo@arb.com.au (http://) or sales@arbusa.com (http://) 600, 700, 800 emails to ARB would be awesome. Come on...I double dog dare you to do it!!!

Snorkle looks really good, nice work!

Happy Birthday too! http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/images/smilies/party-smiley-050.gif

good job on the install. The pics are great. Do you have any pics of it in action?

This was kind of an expensive project:
Toyota tacoma snorkel $300
2 hole saws $16
Silicone $12
Inlet bell $20
Aluminum tubing $15
Rubber elbow $20
2 extra metric studs $1.49
Misc. hardware $5.00
Flexible air duct $20
heat gun $30
Driving away from 4 foot deep Prairie City tank trap $5.
Not having having to tell my wife I need a new engine...PRICELESS!!!!

If everyone who views this thread would send an email to ARB they would take making snorkels and other parts for us seriously. Don't leave it up to one or two people and then wonder why we have no accessories. Want a snorkel, cool bumper, front air locker? Click the link and send an email telling ARB that you want the same cool toys for your Explorer that jeeps, ladndrovers and toyotas get. arbusainfo@arb.com.au (http://) or sales@arbusa.com (http://) 600, 700, 800 emails to ARB would be awesome. Come on...I triple dog dare you to do it!!!

so any response from arb? im thinking about doing the same conversion as you, bit of a long job tho

i got a response from them

Thanks for your email.



Unfortunately at this time Safari does not yet have a snorkel for the Explorer. As ARB does not own Safari it is best that all requests be forwarded directly to them. They can be reached through their website at: www.safari4x4.com.



Best Regards,

Tim Lund
Tech Supervisor
Engineering Assistant
Air Locker, Inc.
425-264-1391
720 SW 34th St.
Renton, WA 98055
tlund@arbusa.com
Please Note: This e-mail is intended only for the use of the individual or the entity named above and may contain information that is confidential and privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify immediately by return e-mail and destroy all copies of this message. Thank you.



Please note that we have moved. Our new address is:
720 SW 34th St, Renton, WA 98055-4814.

Our new fax and phone numbers are:
phone (425) 264.1391 fax (425) 264.1392




i dont think they care.

Been there before with their front winch bumper... for some strange reason they believe that all SUV's need that thing but not the Explorer...

oh well... back to the garage - got to fab my own then.
:(

Okay... Try this one.
http://www.safari4x4.com.au/docs/info.htm (http://)

im from australia and im having so many problems finding parts to modify my explorer. i have found a bull bar that can take a winch (http://www.formulaoffroad.com.au/page33.html model is the type 51 bar). it has the winching mounts but the company has told me that the explorer isnt strong enough to mount a winch up front!@!! :confused:
seeing that the explorer's didnt really sell well here because of fords marketing (they didnt advertise it at all once to my knowlege in 7 years) i thinks thats why alot of 4wd companies dont make many parts (seeing most them are based here i think... ARB, Safari etc).. please correct me if im wrong.

Great Job, cool look too.
Pics under the hood?

I worked hard to tuck everything into the fender so there's really nothing to see under the hood. Except for the snorkel the air intake looks original. You have to look closely to find the three inch flex duct that goes from the end of the air box into the fender. I'll try to get a picture later this week.

I haven't heard anything from Safari, ARB or anyone else about this. In addition to Safari and ARB I've sent links and copies of my write up to Mantec and TJM. Nobody has responded yet.

I believe we could change their minds if enough people were willing to take two to three minutes to send an email requesting snorkels and other parts for the Explorer. I say we flood them with requests. I've included links to make it easy.

sales@mantec.co.uk (http://)

info@tjm.com.au (http://)

http://www.safari4x4.com.au/docs/info.htm (http://)

Well well well it's finally happened after ages of me trying to get you blokes off ya bums to pester ARB, someone has finally got you to take notice.

BruceL that is a top notch job :thumbsup:

Now email ya heads off guys, cause when i spoke to ARB they told me if there is enough interest in a certain product then they will usually put it into production, the Subaru owners managed to get a snorkle made for the Forrester, so you guys should be able to get them to make one for the Explorer.

Baz.

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion.
You must set yourself on fire."

Every email gets us one step closer to having the accessories we want. I refuse to believe the Explorer is less deserving of a snorkel, a bumper, a locker, or a tire carrier than any other 4x4. If any one has a direct line to ARB please send them a photo or link to this page. Every time one you reads this please send an email requesting the accessories you'd like to have for your vehicle.

http://www.safari4x4.com.au/docs/info.htm (http://)

i have emailed them and i got a reply today. it was from a guy here, i havent got the email here to post, its at work and i can post it later, but he said that he needed to be able to know that they could sell at least 1000 units before they consider developing one for the explorer. for we need to send over 1000 requests before they consider it serious... sounds like we have some work ahead of us!!

i have emailed them and i got a reply today. it was from a guy here, i havent got the email here to post, its at work and i can post it later, but he said that he needed to be able to know that they could sell at least 1000 units before they consider developing one for the explorer. for we need to send over 1000 requests before they consider it serious... sounds like we have some work ahead of us!!

So your telling me they got 1000 emails to build a snorkle for the Forrester? Didn't know there was that many on the road??

They don't just look into one area... Forester is pretty much everywhere and if there's a lot of those Down Under then you can say they do have the market for those snorkles there...

post the e-mail addy so we can start sending away...

ok, this is a copy of the email i received so lets start emailing..
""Hi Edward,

Although it sounds like an easy task to produce, it is actually quite a lengthy and costly procedure to have a snorkel produced. In order for us to go ahead with a new model, would mean that we would have to have great confidence in being able to sell 1000 snorkels as a minimum. Hence the reason why we don’t produce one for it as we don’t project we could ever sell that many.

Sorry I can’t assist you.

Best regards,
James Gruber
Safari Automotive Technologies""

the email address is info@safari4x4.com.au

I think we need to show Gruber he's full of crap!!!!!! Even though a small percentage go offroad there are more Explorers out there than any other kind.

info@safari4x4.com.au (http://)

Tell 'em what ya want.

So your telling me they got 1000 emails to build a snorkle for the Forrester? Didn't know there was that many on the road??

A very very popular car here in Australia, the forrester and Outback as well as the WRX and RX, the Forrester because it's small, and has enough room for a young family, powerfull, economical and good offroad in most situations.

The Ford Explorer is not very popular here in Australia, in fact it has a very bad reputation offroad, weak transfer case, bad clearence, no accessories available (see above ;) ) bad motor in the 96/97 model, and the bad reports it got from the tyre exploding thing.

The thing is, Nissan Patrols and Toyota Landcruisers are the most popular 4WDs in Australia followed by LandRovers, you can get anything for these vehicles.

Baz.

sweet install hopefully arb picks that up.

Yep it's me again, sent all those emails have you, ain't gunna happen if ya don't:dunno: :scratch:

Baz:australia

Well its time to bring back an old thread. I have long since loved this adaptation on a safari snorkel. But it seemed that until safari made yone just for us we were out of luck. I now however believe that they might have with out even realizing it. Ladys and gentilman the safari snorkel for the fj crusier bight be our ticket to almost "made for" equipment. http://www.safarisnorkel.com/guides/TOYOTA/ss410hf/ss410hf.htm

The length and the angle of the snorkle seem to me to be a good suit. With the adaptation peice as out lined in this thread we might finally have a winner.

As am am posted:salute: away from my EX at this time I cannot make a few cruical measurments.

1. The angle of the windscreen of an explorer vs. that of a FJ cruiser.
2. The angle of the fender's.
3. The length of the fender of and FJ vs. an EX.

If some one could check these measurements we might all be pleasantly suprised.

rad.

Thanks to my handy dandy protractor. I now believe that the FJ might not work, as I can not acctualy measure a FJ or my explorer. I searched out a good picture of an ex right front fender and compared them to the safari line up for toyota's the SS87HF the snorkle for the NEW land crusier has the exact same angle (per my online comparison) as a ford explorer. Just some food for thought.

This one here fits rangers I'm not sure about explorers though.
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/ARB_snorkel.htm