Turning my JK into a boat. Snorkel or other water proofing ideas?

zimm

Caught the Bug
Well now that I'm officially transplanted to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami and found a jeep club, it looks like I need to prep for bottomless mud and deep, deep water.

I've already extended my axle breathers, but they said I need to to the trans and x-fer case, and not only extend them, but put a couple of loops in the line for solid insurance water won't drop into the lines.

On to snorkels. I don't want to hydrolock my 3.6. There's a million snorkels, do any of them work? I like the design of the river raider, but I'm running a painless wiring trail rocker and not sure if I'll be able to move the battery over 3" without having major issues. Rugged Ridge looks okay, but I saw a sub-par review on youtube about it- mostly poor fit and a large portion of the tubing goes way down low and fills with dirt/mud. There's the AEV. Or maybe there's some magic trick I can do under the hood to help keep water at bay?

Thoughts?
 
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Patrick

Member
I’ve used Safari snorkels and been in deep water over past 20 years....with breathers. Water up to bonnet level on many many occasions.....but always moving. Lots in my club also swear by AEV tho I’m a one brand man.


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VeruGE*144

Caught the Bug
If I had to do a snorkel, ( and I have considered, living in Midwest and having lots of mud and water to play with) it would be an AEV snorkel.
I must admit I did play in the deep mud and deep water before, once I even had water up to my ankles in the cab.
I have to say that now I try to avoid mud and water crossing that potentially can be so deep to flow inside the cab. Mud is not fun to clean, I've had it instances when mud was stuck inside my components for months, every time I would wash my jeep there would be some mud coming out out somewhere.
 

BobNH

Member
My concern would be if it's deep enough to truly require a snorkel, what about the electronics in the dash? I can't even imagine the amount of waterproofing that would be required to fully waterproof them.

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Honor2afault

Caught the Bug
I have been looking at the River Raider one for some time and of all that I've viewed or searched is still the one I'm leaning towards. As for moving the battery, it would be better to simply use a mandrel and bend the breathing tube, some machine ships can help in this for little $.

Courtesy is given. Respect is Earned.
 
J

JKDream

Guest
I have the River Raider. I got it after I hydrolocked my 2015 in a deep pot hole on a back road in Palm Beach county. I have been really happy with it.

I will say that it is really tight with the battery under the hood and you might have a problem. Here is a link to my install thread:

https://wayalife.com/showthread.php/40164-River-Raider-Expedition-Snorkel-Install


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I never really understood the point of that snorkel.
It really only looks a few inches higher than the factory air box, and now significantly more exposed to elements.
If you want to actually take advantage of a snorkel, you need to relocate a bunch of other things too.
 

wjtstudios

Hooked
Another vote for the AEV. I'm on 37s and 4.5 lift and I had water on the hood multiple times. Scary, but it plowed through. I have the ARB axle breathers front and rear as high as I could get them and also ran the t case and trans into them. If you do the AEV make sure you plug the drain holes in the bottom of the air intake or water can come in through those.


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jorgelrod

Hooked
Another vote for the AEV. I'm on 37s and 4.5 lift and I had water on the hood multiple times. Scary, but it plowed through. I have the ARB axle breathers front and rear as high as I could get them and also ran the t case and trans into them. If you do the AEV make sure you plug the drain holes in the bottom of the air intake or water can come in through those.


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ARB axle breathers????
 

WJCO

Meme King
ARB axle breathers????

I just installed these myself. Theroetically it makes sense. Instead of a one-way valve at the end of the hose, It's an open air filter. So when your warm differential contacts cooler water, the warm air contracts, instead of closing the one way valve, nothing happens. There is an optimum pressure differential. This prevents water from being sucked in through the seals, unless you have a seal leak.

http://store.arbusa.com/ARB-Differential-Breather-Kit-170112-P22783.aspx
 
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Hudweiser

New member
Well now that I'm officially transplanted to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami and found a jeep club, it looks like I need to prep for bottomless mud and deep, deep water.

I've already extended my axle breathers, but they said I need to to the trans and x-fer case, and not only extend them, but put a couple of loops in the line for solid insurance water won't drop into the lines.

On to snorkels. I don't want to hydrolock my 3.6. There's a million snorkels, do any of them work? I like the design of the river raider, but I'm running a painless wiring trail rocker and not sure if I'll be able to move the battery over 3" without having major issues. Rugged Ridge looks okay, but I saw a sub-par review on youtube about it- mostly poor fit and a large portion of the tubing goes way down low and fills with dirt/mud. There's the AEV. Or maybe there's some magic trick I can do under the hood to help keep water at bay?

Thoughts?

Might also think about how you are going to protect your electric fan and electric swaybar disconnect. Also, is your winch waterproof. You definitely need some magic tricks bc JK's don't like water and mud deep enough to require a snorkel.


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hinrichs

Caught the Bug
It is ugly but I was happy with my volant snorkel. I did a few "deep" water holes and always was very careful. I also ran an extra filter sock for water just as extra insurance on the filter. I found a little mud/water drops in the box, but never much on the filter itself. Their system uses a standard sealed up intake box, along with a rubber doughnut on the hood connection to really seal up the snorkel. Hell I forgot to latch my hood a few times and the snorkel held it down on the highway to work.

It sucks that your new wheeling is mostly mud pits and holes. Just be careful and take it slow.

I would never buy anything from those River Raider assholes. If you went to their shop...you would understand.
 
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