Commander Snorkel??

[keef_7]

I had mine fitted last week too. The instructions said 3 hrs so that's all Ritchie charged me. Haven't done photos yet because the car needs a clean, will probably do it over the weekend.

[Bushtracker Bandicoot]

You're a hard taskmaster bomber. Must be foreman material! I actually thought the piccies earlier in this thread were pretty good, but I'll try to get out there tomorrow and get some of mine!!
Bandicoot

[Bushtracker Bandicoot]

Took the Commander up Cape York over 17 days arriving back a week ago. Did all of the Old Telegraph Track (well, I chickened out of Gunshot, although did it last time 3 years ago in 2006!) but everything else was done. Plenty of very rough track work with wheels poking up in air and some definate "crunches" from underbody.
Some deep-ish water crossings--about top of bonnet.
There's nothing like having a snorkel on a diesel to give you peace of mind!!
That was my seventh trip up Cape York, dating back to 1981 when there was no road other than the OTT and you had to cross the Jardine via the "ford" which was a good 200 m wide and bonnet deep! And if you had problems, it meant getting out in croc-infested water! Almost everybody (except the Army) use the ferry these days.
One of the other vehicles put a fan through the radiator (late model petrol Prado), but I always idle down for a few minutes before deep water, which allows the visco static fan to cool down and the fan clutch then allows plenty of slip when it contacts with the water, rather than trying to drive itself like a propellor into the radiator.
No problems at all with the new snorkel.
Slightly more induction noise when the turbo kicks in when sitting in the driver's seat but I quite liked it (and I already have plenty of noise from the Cooper STs anyway).
Back in 1998 I did the Cape (that was trip #5) and one of the other diesels (a Nissan pathfinder or similar) got water in the donk going across a lagoon on Kalpower. I had to wade out in croc-infested water to hook him up!--he bent a con rod so we had to back-track to Lakefield and I then had to tow him all the way back over the very steep and windy Battle Camp road to Cooktown--that was a hairy tow with the tow rope catching on trees as we went around some very tight corners and the other driver with no power steering or power brakes on steep hills. So my advice, if you have a diesel and intend to do any water crossings, put on the snorkel! You might think it's only going to be 500 mm deep, but it's easy to drop a wheel into a hole you couldn't see, or misjudge the water depth!
Bandicoot

[Bomber]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Bomber & Bandicoot how about a long term test report on your snorkels??

I wish my report was as exciting as BBs but alas the wilds of Chadstone car park is as hairy as it has got for me since the snorkel went on.

I don't do many long trips these days and 80% of my trips would be less than 2kms - in fact the only reason I don't walk to walk is the thought of walking home after a day in the shop . It's taken a while to get up some decent ks but it's definitley smoother around town and on the freeway. Turbo lag is not there really and economy has improved 0.5-1.0l/100k so about 5% I guess. It would be better if I did more long trips, that I am certain of.

It went on the dyno again last week. There were a few hiccups with Gibson's new wind tunnel design and I still have the oem airbox so it will get retested either late this year or early next year when that is finished and installed (hold up now will be my availability not Airflows, with 8000 sets of Santa photos to take I'm going to be somewhat tied up from mid Nov ).

Results from last weeks testing indicate, at 70km/h, a 24% increase in power and a 16% increase in torque. We now have around 200kW and around 600NM .

I'd love to see the difference with the van behind me but alas that is unlikely to happen for another 12 months or so now thanks to the GFC's impact on our business revenue.

[PWE]

Wanderer

Gary and Peter agreed to install my snorkel when they install the rock slides and under body protection.

The new snorkel installation instruction do not cut into the side tension bars, as I assumed before, so sorry if I cause any confusion.

Regards

[PWE]

There is no comparison (in my view) between the before power response and after power response. The turbo lack is almost gone.
I am curious to see how the economics will be after a few km.

We first fitted a Safari inlet (it is smaller than the Airflow one and looked better) with no notable changes. I replaced the Safari inlet with the Airflow inlet (Wanderer point out to me that the Airflow inlet is design for the Airflow snorkel) and the performance was immediate.

I strongly recommend a snorkel, fitted by a professional, to all Commander Drivers.

[jammy jeep]

haven't noticed a bit of difference myself, except now I feel better crossing water