Vararam Air Grabber on Power Wagon - Opinions

I LOVE the look of the Vararam Air Grabber air intake system.

A little boost in performance, cleaning up the engine bay and adding more surface area to a filter is a good idea, on top of any possible gains from the cold air / semi forced induction effect that this system provides.

My concern is it's ability to withstand extreme off road situations. I am not talking about foolish abuse, such as submerging it in a lake or neglecting it by not cleaning it, etc. But just normal exposure while off the highway.

We see insane cloudbursts and brief, but VERY intense rainfall during the Monsoonal Flow season around here. I am talking where the windshield wipers cannot keep up, even rolling at 25 mph. Would this overwhelm the system and allow water to contaminate the filter, or for those that have them, do they appear to have enough of a "run off" in design, or weep holes that keep water from pooling in the rear, bottom of the filter plate?

And, probably even more threatening, is the constant wind, sand and fine gritty dust that is blowing around out here. I often run many miles of dusty unmaintained "gravel" roads, and even do my fair share of running in Big Sand Dunes.

I can increase my service intervals, but am concerned about oiled mesh and it's ability to prevent fine sand from passing through. That would be VERY bad news to the motor, and obviously would not be covered under warranty.

For comparison, while previously living in "The City" my Mustang Cobra, fitted with a underhood "CAI" with heat shield and typical large conical K&N air filter, it could go years (if I let it) without capturing enough debris to warrant a cleaning. But, in the last six months and about 7500 miles out here -obviously driven strictly on pavement, in "nice" conditions, it has an alarming amount of orange sand and grit stuck to it.

While doing a Oil Change and Service on the Power Wagon yesterday, I removed the stock, original paper element filter and tapped it on the ground. In just 14k miles out here, there was a Palm Full size mound of sand that fell out of it, without even hard tapping or blasting compressed air through it backwards to see what would come out. This, all in a completely stock 5.7 air box, intake and everything.

SO, for those who are running them, would you feel confident running this aftermarket system in conditions as I have to deal with, as described in this lengthy post?

I would Love to run it, but DO NOT want to sweat contaminants making it's way past the filter element. That would be VERY bad, obviously.

Opinions? Anyone out there already running this set up in a Power Wagon?

For your living terrain i wouldnt recommend it.

I would say no as well. I had one on my wagon for about a year and took it off because of how dirty it got. Honestly, I would have stuck with the stock intake if I did not need the space for a second battery.

Copy That! Thanks for the honest, quick responses.

I've read on other forums that you shouldn't get this intake if you ever go off-road.

I guess that rules me out by a long shot!

Have you checked the S&B out? It's a sealed box. It may work out good for you


Sent from the Rocket in my Pocket