Intake restriction with a snorkel

Well for one the restricted elbow has always been there on your truck and mine the entire time. I purchased an outside temp gauge, vdo, and a scan gauge. The intake air temperature was always 4-5deg higher than my vdo gauge showed. After the snorkel install, they both equaled out. That’s the biggest thing that I noticed when I installed mine.

 

Yeah I mean, if there's a way to make it even better then I'm all for it...was just happy the snorkel didn't have a negative effect on boost like some said it would.

 

Well having experience in the mustang supercharging world, it can only make sense that it would possibly increase boost a bit. Maybe not even noticeable, but one company comes to mind, they made the Anderson power pipe. All it consisted of was a larger diameter pipe between the air filter and the supercharger. I can’t remember the performance numbers, just remember that the pipe was pricey for what it was.
But that was on a centrifugal supercharger, vortech or Paxton.

 

And I would like to add that it does NOT look like an easy task to make it better, could be a waist of time...

 

Didn't see a response to this question, unless I missed it.

 

Unless you are driving through tons of silty sand or water everywhere run with the deckpkate off. Install when needed.

 

No, the restriction seems to be in the stock elbow and tube. Removing the snorkel had no effect on the restriction.

 

The direction of the snorkle makes a difference.
https://northamericanexpeditions.com/2018/03/01/snorkel-air-rams-proper-facing/


Posted on March 1, 2018 by Greg
Snorkel Air Rams and their Proper Facing

Spend anytime at an event involving OHVs and you’ll see them. A raised air intake to allow the vehicle to cross deep water without water ingress into the engine and moving the air intake up and away from the dust. A snorkel. And beyond that short introduction this article is not about what snorkels are and if one is right for you. This article address a specific feature on vehicle snorkels. The air ram head.


Safari Snorkel Air Ram Head
The air ram head is the point of entry for air into some types of snorkel systems and the merits of which way to face the air ram head is discussed at events and on forums alike. Forward or backwards. Which way is best. And with varying opinions on both I decided to get a definitive answer. I decided to just ask the guys who make them.

Big thanks to Erik Herman at ARB USA and Bryan McMeikan at Safari Snorkel for doing all the legwork.

From Bryan McMeikan at Safari Snorkel.

“The Air Ram is designed to face forwards. This is where it reaches optimal flow. Whilst facing forwards the airstream entering the front of the ram is forced to make a turn to enter the neck of the Snorkel body. When the air makes this turn, the heavy particles in the airstream are forced to the outside. These heavy particles, such as water and/or dirt, are forced against the outer edge of the air ram and then forced out of the raised slots on near the bottom of the ram. This process works very efficiently for water separation from the incoming airstream, and this is because water particles are much heavier than air.

With dust, the particles are not as heavy, so although this process works, it is not as efficient. So although the snorkel ram does separate some of the dust, it does not separate it all. If the concern for dust ingress is just vehicles passing in the opposite direction when driving on a trail, I would not bother turning the air ram to face backwards. If the vehicle is in a convoy situation where they are following another vehicle for an extended period in heavy dust, then it is advisable to turn the ram backwards, but drive at a slow speed.

If the Air Ram is facing in a rearward direction there is interruption to the air flow. A basic airflow principle, the air that is trying to be drawn into the engine is from an interrupted source (see pictures below). So it is not clear airflow and lowers the volume of air that is available in the intake. There are a number of additional factors that have an effect on this airflow including vehicle speed, wind direction/speed, engine RPM etc. Because of all of these factors, Safari does not recommend driving the vehicle at more than 45mph if the Air ram is facing backwards. Just as a side note, driving in the conditions that would justify the air ram to be turned backwards – heavy dust, heavy snow – driving at more than 45mph is not advisable anyway!”



It should be pointed out that the 45mph is Safari Snorkel’s limit when the air ram is facing to the rear. When other manufactures specify a different limit you’ll want to follow their instructions.

 

That’s a good article. It also brings up a point that I also included in the filter minder installation thread. It’s not so far fetched to have more than one way for air to enter the engine. Example, lots of dump trucks and heavy equipment are equipped with a “snow” or “winter” switch on the dash. This switch simply switches airflow from outside the engine compartment (snorkel), to the inside of the engine compartment. It is used for plowing snow or for pulling warmer air from the engine compartment itself. Ford has included this same feature in their 6.7 diesel air boxes, but most people don’t even realize it’s there because it’s completely self sufficient. Inside the ford airbox air is allowed to enter from two different places, outside, and inside the engine compartment. The inside the engine compartment portion of the airbox is equipped with a dense foam pre-filter, it’s purpose is to restrict normal airflow from this direction, causing the engine to pull most of its air from the outside portion of the air box (also the largest portion of the air filter.) In the event that the outside portion gets clogged with snow, the engine begins pulling air through the inside port containing the dense foam filter that happens to be located right beside the radiator.

So having a snorkel and the deck plate mod isn’t so far out there, I just want either direction to be free of restriction, instead of the deck plate being the answer to the restriction.

 

Interesting, absolutely makes sense though

 

I get the quest to optimize the system, tinker to find a better way, etc., but I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind this venture. Any restrictions in the intake system are almost certainly not limiting factors in the power output of your engine. While your could push more air through the supercharger, unless you've significantly upgraded your fuel system (i.e. massively upsized the injectors and fuel pump) your engine will not be able to make use of the additional air, and will most likely run very lean.

Seeing how most SC'd trucks have to run additional fueling and/or methanol along with tuning to adjust ignition timing to get rid of lean conditions/pinging, I think you're barking up the wrong tree if you're looking to get more power. At least until you've done a whole lot of other modifications first.

 

Not looking for more power. Looking to make something work the way it originally started in my head. Everyone needs a hobby. I do in fact have the 7th injector kit from urd, I’m only running the stock supercharger pulley so I think I have some wiggle room there. It beats sitting on my ass drinking beer, that’s for sure. I’ve also always questioned the factory duct work, like I’m gonna trust that not to leak in a water crossing? Anyway, it’s just what turns my gears, and I’ll deal with the domino effect when I get there. This whole process is actually part of a domino effect of an earlier decision that I made.
There’s no understanding my madness, trust me, just let it go. Lol

 

Drink beer while working on solutions/upgrades for your truck, best of both worlds

 

You could waterproof the joint from the factory elbow to the factory fender tube with some waterproofing tape -

$8 MOCAP X-Treme Tape - Heavy Duty Waterproof Self Fusing Silicone Rubber Tape for Hose, Pipe, Electrical, Automotive, Outdoor, and Repairs - Leak Proof, Insulating - 1-1/2" x 10 Ft Roll - Black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HWROO7E

 

That’s the cause of a lot of my problems. Hopefully those days are far behind me now.

 

I got some progress done tonight, but I’m not sure if I’ll use it or not. I actually got a 3” black abs 90 deg elbow to fit in the place of the factory elbow. I don’t really like the way it looks though. I think I’m going to take a trip to pick and pull one day soon and look at different intake hoses. I might find something else that actually looks like it is supposed to be there. I’ve still got a ton of other work to get done on this truck but I wanted to figure this part out before I put my inner fender and fender flare back on.

 

I really enjoy your thought process. what every you do take pictures.

 

It looks like not only is the elbow that reduces down restrictive, but also the hole entering the air box.

There is not room threw the metal support but something like this that takes from square using the whole side of the air box to the side tube would be great for airflow. all the metal holes could be sealed with a water tight substance called High velocity water based duct sealant but I cant see an easy way to get threw the metal support.

 

I like that design and using the whole side of the air box. I was also thinking about opening up the inlet to the air box, but basically cutting out the existing hole, and adding my own 3” abs pipe. I’ll see if I can get some pictures tonight.

 

Not very good photos, but this is basically what I came up with last night. It’s a 90 deg close, street elbow. I had to cut the lip off of half of the hole on the fender apron where it looked like it had been stamped. I’m probably gonna go ahead with this idea for now. I plan on cutting the factory hose connector off of the factory air box and then cut a piece of 3” abs pipe on an angle and epoxy it or fiberglass it onto the factory air box. Basically the box will have a bulge on the front, instead of being flat. One thing is for sure, I will know that it won’t leak when I’m done. The factory part of the snorkel assembly with the elbow is kinda sketchy about sealing if you were to ask me anyway, it’s really flimsy. I just hope this 3” upgrade is enough to fix the issue.