Snorkel... or at least thats how it started....

So I have been sittin around drawing and scheming how i want to build my full length, over the cab over the bed basket for my truck and I though about running up the exhaust next to the arm holding up the basket (side note, i am ordering the metal to weld up my own) and I was like, "why run up the exhaust if i dont run up the intake..." which brought me to this line of questions...

"Everything in this motor is electronic, is this motor even capable of being submerged even if the intake is dry?"

"if not, how could i go about water proofing it?"

"If I am going to run the intake up the pillar as a tube, I can't use an L channel to make my front support coming down the same pillar... L channel next to circle pipe = stupid looking"

"Can I mount the front support arm for the basket to the top of the strut tower? is that allowed or is that a no no? "

"should I go ahead and make a strut tower bar at the same time? is that good or bad for offroading?"

"What if I used small circle pipe to make the entire basket rather than L channel frame and square rod bottom like i have planned"

"I dont have a mandrel bender... i guess i can just miter the corners, weld em up, and then grind them down to where innocent people wont have their faces stabbed off"

"Should i use structural steel pipe or just ordinary 16 gauge-ish pipe? because at only 1in diameter the 16 should be plenty supportive enough...... i think...... "

So there you go, thats how my mind works.....

Thoughts?

is bumping allowed?

You better find some way to protect the fuse box thats by the drivers side headlight. Its not very protected on the bottom so if you get water up there that would screw a lot of stuff up.

Second the fuse box and hope there no rubbed wires anywhere that could poss short with a hit of water. What ya planning on going through lol.

Well I'm a geologist, so the girl spends a fair bit of time off road and I told myself I would get every last drop of life out of these factory tires before I got a lift and some offeoad tires and well... These tires are done hahaha but some of the sample sites I have to keep returning to involve stream crossings, and on more than one occasion after a couple days of rain I ha e had to park on one side of the stream and hike across in waders WITH all my gear and then hike like 5 miles (wet) with a bunch of crap and it's getting old hahaha

srt8dork said:

Well I'm a geologist, so the girl spends a fair bit of time off road and I told myself I would get every last drop of life out of these factory tires before I got a lift and some offeoad tires and well... These tires are done hahaha but some of the sample sites I have to keep returning to involve stream crossings, and on more than one occasion after a couple days of rain I ha e had to park on one side of the stream and hike across WITH all my gear and then hike like 5 miles (wet) with a bunch of crap and it's getting old hahaha

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Sounds like its time for a hummer lol

If you mean the real deal then hell yeah, I would totally rock one... I'd love to get a rubicon (tj not that yj crap) but I'm afraid I wouldn't have room for all my equipment at everyjob

Whats the average depth and its just a stream you should be ok. I have crossed 2 while hunting that came up to past my door jams... kinda got in there and was half way so I just let her eat.

I am interested in how this turns out. Where abouts in Kansas have you been?

srt8dork said:

If you mean the real deal then hell yeah, I would totally rock one... I'd love to get a rubicon (tj not that yj crap) but I'm afraid I wouldn't have room for all my equipment at everyjob

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I would get an 08 or 09 H2. That is the only year H2 I would buy because they completely re did the interior and they gave it the 6.2 V8 with the 6 speed auto

yeah i was talking H1.... i would never own an H2.. no disrespect

Kansas question: I have been to Hays to go to the Sternberg museum twice and the pic in my signature is the truck on top of Castlerock which is like an hour west of Hays.

So I just did a (very) rough MSpaint sketch of what I am talking about for the basket, snorkel, and exhaust. pardon the colors, i was trying to make it visible, the snorkel is blue, basket is red and yellow, exhaust is grey....

Long as the exhaust can slide off I think you wont get strange looks.

Yeah I was gonna make it detachable and probably put a bracket fr it along the side of the basket so it can just ride horizontal up there when I don't need it but have it if I do.

Andsorry some o e asked average depth, usually it's plenty shallow enough for me to drive across but I have come to it three times during the summer when we get those massive thunderstorms that just ride up the Ohio river were it was waist or higher... Plus honestly I wanna see water pour over the hood and just keep on driving fine hahaha but I bet that's gonna be a lot of work and finagling on my part cause I haven't found a "waterproof your Hemi" kit anywhere haha

Now this is just my .02 so you can take it with a grain of salt or consider it. But imo the snorkel isn't that bad of an upgrade. I think I might have seen a snorkel on frogs truck but I may be mistaken. But they wouldn't look to bad if you can find a good kit. Maybe color match it so it doesn't stand out. I dunno just thinking out loud here. As far as water proof I definitely say try to seal the fuse panel the best you can. I say a custom fab job with plexi glass and lots of silicone. Maybe one of the hobby boxes from a retailer like radioshack to help enclose it all. Also make sure that any connection is water tight. Either heat shrink tubing or some of this stuff I use on my radio equipment. You can find the stuff from Amateur Ham Radio books. It's like a putty that when you work it in your hands it reacts tot he heat and will become like clay. Mold it around the connector and it is instantly Water tight. Used it on many jobs. Works great. Lasts really long too.

Sorry for the long read. Just trying to think out loud.

Yeah no worries man, I was thinking about color matching the snorkel and the front two posts of the basket (one of which will be under the snorkel) I figure too that regardless of water, the snorkel is an alright idea cause I'm takin in air from up higher where it potentially cleaner and colder. As far as kit goes, this is probably going to be another Taylormade special (I'm going to make my own, my last name is Taylor hahaha yes I am funny) that I will most likely bring through the hood of whatever aftermarket hood I get. Sealant wise I was thinking 3m marine sealant, we used to use that at my old job and that crap is sick, you can use it to patch boat hulls... Thanks for all the help brainstorming I appreciate and by all means, keep it coming and don't pull punches

side note, I am also planning on putting lights on top in every direction, maybe building gas can holder that canattach to the basket, a highlift jack bracket, and a shovel holder

Also, bigt, ever since I looked at your pics in the STOTQ... I swear I have seen you like 5 times in the last 3 days hahaha

y not run the exhaust in the bed like stacks to hide it a little bit

lol you might have lol but not in the truck. lol I vacation in Gatlinburg every year. But I take my car. lol I do have several twins though. lol I try to make the truck different but never fails someone else has the same idea as me lol.

Reef: I will be linexing and puttin a bakflip on her so through the bed stack style is out

bigT: you sure you haven't been driving around Louisville/new Albany area, cause when I said I saw you, I didn't just mean the truck, I meant to dude driving, looked just like you... Hahaha

I read this thread and then went and thought about it a bit while I took a ****.

Exhaust:
I guess you're doing this because you think if you submerge the pipe, it might suck water. That's just not going to happen with a stock cam.

If you do go with that monstrosity extension, it's all or nothing. You may get by with a slip clamp for a while, but after taking it on/off a few times it will end up leaking anyway. Kind of defeats the point of having it. You'll have to weld it to be effective.

Intake:
There is already a company that makes a snorkel for our trucks.

If you do DIY it, it doesn't need to be above the roof. Long before the water got that high, your electric would be fried anyway. There is no way to effectively seal the fuse box and (more importantly) the pcm.

Good news! Even when water is rolling over your hood, it is not nearly that high in the engine bay. The water you see is just the bow wave from pushing forward, inside the engine bay it will be much lower.

An effective solution (and cheap) is one of the "T" intake tubes you can get from ebay. It sits above the motor and by the time water gets that high, your dead anyways.

The problem with the stock intake is that the opening is low and next to the tire, just begging to become a straw.

Suspension:
The best way to keep water out of the engine is to raise the truck. A 6" suspension lift and bigger tires, say 35s, will raise you a good 7.5" over stock. That's a lot when you're in the water.

My suggestion:
Stick with a stock single exhaust to keep the velocity high and keep out water, put a "T" intake on, get a lift and tires. And get yourself a winch because you will get stuck eventually.

There you have it from the master rubber frog. George I didn't even think of the PCM.