Hilux 167 Snorkel for 3.4L Tacoma

I have been told that this snorkel will also work on the 4.0L in the second gens with similar installation steps. However, I have not installed one myself so I cannot provide detailed instructions for that application.

There is a new snorkel in town, which looks to be a better design. See this thread and page 5 for pictures of it installed. Thanks to @m3bassman for trying it out for us, and making mine obsolete now, haha.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-design-ebay-snorkel.573571/

That being said, on to the good stuff...

After doing lots of looking around and deciding that I didn't want to pay the price for ARB, I messaged Q Source on here because he had one and decided not to install it. Originally, it came from Amazon, see here-

Wotefusi Compatible to Car Air Ram Intake Snorkel Kit Set for 167 Series Hilux SR5 STH167RA Petrol 5VZ-FE 3.4 Litre-V6 3VZ-E 3.0 Litre-V6 3RZ-FE 2.7 Litre-I4 Diesel 3L 2.8 Litre - I4 Petrol & Diesel

http://www.amazon.com/Snorkel-Intak...=1417107809&sr=8-1&keywords=hilux+167+snorkel. I have never seen this installed on a first gen Tacoma, but there is a 4Runner thread about it. That's how I decided I wanted to try it. See that thread here- . The snorkel fits really nicely, with a small gap at the front. Slight modification is required to the template in order to get the bolt holes to line up. I'll get to that later. Removing the tire will make this install much easier for you. I didn't do it at first, but it came off eventually Anyway, here you go TacomaWorld!

Step 1:
Line up the template with the edges of the fender, by the door and hood.



Step 2:
Remove the plastic fender liner. It is held in with plastic clips and some bolts. I couldn't get to all the clips, and ended up breaking 2 or 3 of them.



Step 3:
Remove the airbox from the stock intake tube.



Step 4:
Remove the stock intake tube from the fender. It's held in by 2 bolts by the airbox connection, and 2 inside the fender well. Mine was full of all types of nastiness!




Step 5:
This is where it gets nerve racking. Prepare to drill the hole.



Step 6:
Drill a hole in the center to help keep your circle where it needs to be.



Step 7:
This is the point of no return! I used a 3 5/8" circle cutter and then used a dremel to make fine adjustments to aid in fitment of the snorkel.




Step 8:
With the circle drilled, I did a quick test fit to make sure it was going to line up well. When it is fitted like you like, trace the snorkel because you will need to modify the template here.



Step 9:
Remove the snorkel and template and line the template up with the traced line. You will need to punch new holes through the template. Here, you can see the original mounting holes and the new ones I punched.



Step 10:
Put the template back on the fender and mark where your new bolt holes need to be. Then drill them.



Step 11:
This is optional. I put down some paper and taped around the drilled holes to spray some gray primer on them. I wanted to limit the amount of exposed metal I would have.



Step 12:
Install the snorkel! I needed to use the dremel to make some of the bolt holes a little larger because it was not an exact fit. The washers supplied are pretty big, so you've got some wiggle room there.

Step 13:
I screwed the bracket to the snorkel, then rivited the bracket to the A-pillar. Install the scoop at the top and you're almost done!



Step 14:
Time to make this snorkel functional. The rubber tube that comes with the kit is the exact same size as the inlet on the airbox. It was difficult to get on, and I had to use a heat gun, screw drivers, and two extra hands. I recommed installing that part first, because it is much harder. Then run the tubing through the hole and attach it to the snorkel. This clamp was very difficult to get on, because the tubing is almost touching the fender. Space is extremely tight in there. After letting loose a string of profanity, it was all clamped in.



Step 15:
Bolt in the airbox, double check all your clamps, re-attach the plastic liner and shut the hood! All done!

Here's the finished product.






Here is the gap I mentioned earlier. It isn't that big, and I can live with it for saving around $300 for a functional snorkel.




From the driver's seat, you can't see any of it other than the scoop. It doesn't block any view, and doesn't whistle on the highway.



That's it! There is one issue that I need to address though. When at full throttle around 3750-4025rpm, the rubber hose sucks itself closed. I think it is happening at the pinch where it goes through the hole from the airbox to the fender. This does not stall the engine, just takes away all power. I am going to try to modify the original hard plastic tube so I can use it for the corner instead of the rubber hose. I'll post updates when I do that. Until then, I just keep my deck plate open and have no issues with it. Thanks for looking!

Update: I fixed the problem I was having with the tube sucking closed. Here is what I did:

I thought it was happening at the bend in the hose, so I installed the stock tube to make the corner. I then cut the rubber hose and used the straight part to connect from the stock corner piece to the snorkel tube inside the fender. The rubber hose took a lot of persuading to get on the stock tube. I ended up letting it soak in boiling water for a few minutes and then borrowed another set of hands to get it attached. Make sure it is attached so it bends slightly down. You will know what I am talking about if you have it in your hands. From then on, I reinstalled everything as usual with a thick layer of silicone where the air box connects to the corner piece.








I thought that would fix it, but it didn't. The rubber hose was still collapsing. Next I did this:

I found this wire in my garage -



I cut a section of this wire fencing out and folded it in my hand like this -



I trimmed off one of the edges because it was too long, then I slid it into the tube like this-





I put it all back together and tested it 3 times full throttle accelerations. No problems anymore!

 

Awesome! Thanks for braving this for the rest of us. Sub'd for future plans.

 

Thanks! Yeah, I hadn't seen it done on a Tacoma before. Figured I would pioneer it!

 

Great Job Matt

 

wonder if it will work with the ditch lights. Good right up may use it if I get a snorkel and go this route rather than ARB one

 

Not quite, but almost!

Thanks!

I'm not sure if it will work or not. I think it might depend on what light you use. There's a 4Runner guy who has ditch lights with the snorkel.

 

i wonder if the snorkel could be heated and bent or made to conform the the fender a bit better in the front.

 

Maybe, but that might just end up making it look worse or deformed. I thought about putting some weather stripping in there, but the gap really isn't that big. I am happy with the fitment.

 

Great write-up! Definitely would have gone this route had I known about it when I installed my snorkel.

 

Thank you!

 

I'm not sure if it will work or not. I think it might depend on what light you use. There's a 4Runner guy who has ditch lights with the snorkel.[/QUOTE]


ByJoshCook -
my CBI ditch light mount needed a little trimming (shortening & redrilling the hole towards the center line of the truck) to fit next to the ARB snorkel - but it did work.
Great write up too!

 

ponethousand's truck had a snorkel and ditch lights, don't know if he trimmed them or not, I'll look into it. It's way down the list haha

 

Well done instruction and great professional looking installation Matt....

 

Thank you, sir.

 

Would this work with the 2.7L?

 

I can't say for sure. It is designed for the 3.4L Hilux. I'm not sure if the air box is in the same spot as the 3.4L

 

so what is plan C?

I would say just get a small piece of plastic pipe that the rubber fits over and just use the rubber as a coupling between each end of the pipe.

my truck redlines around 4.5k/5k RPMs.

and to answer if it will work with the 2.7 vs 3.4 I'm almost positive it will. i think ARB only has one snorkel model for all the 1st gen tacomas.

 

Plan C is to use more hard plastic and only use rubber for the connections between the two parts. My truck redlines at 5500rpm

 

That sounds like it would work.

 

Yeah I was thinking plastic pipe or like a plastic X that can go into the soft section.