2013 rubi snorkel or no snorkel?

[Jrama]

personally I've towed two jeeps out to the mclean store now with seized motors.  both from sucking in water, and both from guys that don't drive like idiots.  and both in spot where water was nowhere near the level of their intake.  

i have changed my tone on snorkels and they are cheap insurance; its easier to change tranny fluid/alternator etc than a motor.  

i'd be more interested to know why you folks with brand new (and assuming financed to the hilt) JKs are going through crap that justifies even thinking of a snorkel........

I agree with Johnny. Additionally  I have seen, folks end up in situations where the water level ends up near the intake enough where splashing is a liability doing nothing irresponsible,  maybe risky.

I myself I have got muddy arse water past the filter more than once, doing some of the more mud friendly trails and ending up in some un-ideal situations

[JackstandJohnny]

a tire slipping in a rut, a wave coming back off the other side that hits the jeep the wrong way, dipping your nose of your jeep into a deep hole, etc.  multiple examples.

like i said, i was the #1 guy against snorkels not even a year ago.................

wheeling experience has changed that................

[Spinalguy]

for 20 bucks, home depot plumbing section and a hole cutter will get you done as good as anything else, and you still be able to lower the windshield ... or does the JK crowd no longer subscribe to the convertible ways of the Jeep?

[pooljunky]

spinal, that is awesome .. I might go that way for me but she aint about to put pipre like that on her nice rig.. but really anything is better than nothing.. if done right!

[binare]

I doubt many people will hack n slash abs pipe on a brand new Jeep. That being said, it could end up actually being "functional" compared to some of the crap manufactured snorkels Ive seen. My votes still electric fan and override though. Snorkels a band aid for splashing water getting into the intake, stopping the propeller from spinning for a shallow water crossing solves the problem.

[Immortal]

a wave coming back off the other side that hits the jeep the wrong way.....----> didn't wait for the water to calm down, making the water come close to the intake. So your example is moot.
 dipping your nose of your jeep into a deep hole....----> water get close to the intake. Not paying enough attention (could fall into the driving like an idiot category)

My point is that water HAD to get near the intake in order for it to get sucked into the engine.
I am a fan of the snorkel (the $20 or the $400 ones). Cheaper than the alternative engine replacement.
FFT....Water = mud = new u-joints, brakes, double cardens, the list goes on.

[EEP]

Totally agree with jackstandjohnny and Immortal. Price of snorkel compared to engine repairs/replacement influenced me into ordering a snorkel for my XJ. It's my daily driver so I can't afford to have it out of commission.

[Evilweevil]

I just bought a brand new jk and I plan on putting the river raider expedition snorkel on one of the reasons why is that I have a 2003 tj with a 4" lift that sits just a little lower then my friends jk and going thru the same mud hole ,He went thru twice I went thru a multiple times and then I let my thirteen year old splash his way thru a couple times to ......in the end his was sputtering and the filter was soggy wet and mine was still bone dry
 I feel spending the 500$ on a snorkel is just a good move  and yes I know the expedition snorkel doesn't seem much higher but just being in a better location and  where you can see it would make me feel better ! 

[w squared]

Having wheeled a JK in Alberta for longer that most of the people that have posted up here, I think that I can confidently say that intelligent line choice and throttle application goes a long way to avoiding hydrolocking a JK....and there is no magical flaw in the JK that makes it super-likely to suck water in. Every hydrolocked rig that I've eve been part of getting off the trail was due in large part to human error. But it's your jeep - if a snorkel is what floats your boat, then set sail on the high seas.

 I've looked at a few, and I think that Rugged Ridge seems to have the best thought out snorkel. They're set up to do a cowl mount, which will handle better than 90% of what you'll encounter - and you can still but an extension on it if you just gotta have that hard-core limb-riser fake-beadlock look (or you live next to the Bow River).



Given that I'm moving to a place that sees a lot of flooding, this will probably be the route that I go - along with extending all of hte breather lines on my rig.

And Spinalguy....the reason that most JK owner's don't drop the windshield is that the stock "cage" on the JK uses the windshield frame as an anchor point.  If you drop the windshield, you need to detach the brackets at the bottom of the a-pillars, and take out the tubes that provide roll-over protection to the driver and front seat passenger. Brilliant engineering, eh?

[Evilweevil]

I have never seen that rugged ridge intake before ,looks good! that is well thought out I like how you don't have to do any cutting ...... Hate the ugly snorkel part  though but I also hate the river raider extension also might have to do some more research

[Spinalguy]

wjsquared, same design as the tj. i never had a cage in my first tj and i always had the windshield down. one of the reasons i bought the jeep as i thought it was the greatest convertible .