Fitting a Airflow Snorkel to Safari

colly · Post by **colly** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:56 pm

Finally, got myself a SWB Safari.

Bought a Airflow Snorkel, is there any advice to heed from those who have fitted one to their Safari before I make a complete jock up of the job?

Had a quick look at the instructions, it appears that the guard has to come off first.

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 6:53 am

Hi Colly,
There is a few tricks to fitting an Airflow to a Safari,
*No you dont have to take the guard off,
*Use the pattern they give you to drill guard holes as a GUIDE only (not that accurate)
*Get some urethane (Not Silicon)for all the joins.
*Make sure to prime the holes you drill.
*Most important!! A cpl cans of 8% Woody's to help the brain think more clearly. :wink:

Took us about 3 hrs all up.

colly · Post by **colly** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:19 am

Thanks Mudbum for your reply.

I've had a closer look now, and you are right about the template.

It would appear the large 76mm hole is in the correct place (is that right)?.
But the mounting points don't match those on the snorkel. Not a major, but very slack on Airflow's part.

The most difficult part I think is sealing the square-shaped Nissan airbox to the inner guard, might have to invent some sort of clamp to hold it tight.

Overall the instructions appear to have been written by the Airflow Cleaning Lady, you can tell this because there are no practical installation tips, and finishes off by telling you to give the snorkel a good polish.

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:39 am

Yes i think your right bout the cleaning lady.
Yes the big hole is right and a wee trick for the square box (which i forgot to mention)is to sleeve that join with an internal pipe as a joiner.

Are u in ChCh?

Elmo · Post by **Elmo** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:03 pm

My advice, by a Safari branded snorkel.

I bought an Airflow, looked at it, and thought, nah, too many joints, unsupported etc. I took it back and bought a Safari brand one sure it is a little more expensive, but is much easier to fit, and how it goes together looks far superiour.

In saying that. As long as you take you time. Make sure all joints are together properly. Dont over tighten the hose clamps (as this can push the joints apart) as gue up everything, you'll be fine!

colly · Post by **colly** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:14 pm

Thanks Mudbum and Elmo for your replies.

MB - no I'm not in ChCh, I'm in Queenstown.

[i]I knew it, I knew it,I knew it - some one would reply with a 'buy a Safari'[/i] well I'm from down south and we consider our dollars spent with a great deal of caution.

I refuse to pay another $100 approx for a lump of plastic surrounded on both sides by fresh air. My time is free, and I don't mind doing a bit of character building!

MB - tell me more about the joiner please, hoping to attack it this weekend.

Dak · Post by **Dak** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:48 pm

Yes but, another $100 is well worth it. The Safari one is that much better it isn't funny.

Cheers, Jeff.

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 8:46 am

colly wrote:
MB - tell me more about the joiner please, hoping to attack it this weekend.

We used a bit of exhaust pipe (or similar,thinner the better) that fitted inside the square box opening and also fitted inside the joiner piece between the box and snorkle.Remember to try and keep the airflow as smooth as poss,and seal all joins.

DaveM · Post by **DaveM** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 12:43 pm

MudBum wrote:Remember to try and keep the airflow as smooth as poss,and seal all joins.

Are we still talking about airflow snorkels? Can't get much worse than their design :lol:

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 1:53 pm

who imports safari snorkels

i found out today they make them for g wagens as well

Elmo · Post by **Elmo** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 1:57 pm

I got mine from Peter Munro. Been told he imports them??

If in the trade, get a work order, pay cash, you get a good price.

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 2:13 pm

Elmo wrote:I got mine from Peter Munro. Been told he imports them??

If in the trade, get a work order, pay cash, you get a good price.

cheers for that

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 2:18 pm

here is one that was prepared earlier

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 6:16 am

DaveM wrote:
MudBum wrote:Remember to try and keep the airflow as smooth as poss,and seal all joins.

Are we still talking about airflow snorkels? Can't get much worse than their design

I hear ya Dave,but just like Colly i had already purchased the snorkel b4 all these useful titbits came up regarding their design.

DieselBoy · Post by **DieselBoy** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:12 am

I always tell people when they are looking at Airflow snorkles that al they are buying is the plastic bit on the gaurd, the rest of the kit is throw away, and that they need to get some 76mm reinforced air hose to run from the snorkle inside the guard through to the air box.

Saying that i have fitted 4 Airflow snorkles to 2 safari's, a VX and a Terrano, and they all eventually fitted using the supplied kit with a bit of creativity, apart from the Terrano where i did have to resort to the air hose as the inner gaurd section wasn't even close to being the right shape and length :shock:

.

BUT, the whole time i was doing the job, shagging round with the stupid elbow thing in side the guard, i was thinking i should be doing this wiyth air hose, less joins to seal, and less shagging round :evil:

DaveM · Post by **DaveM** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:11 pm

I bought some good heavy duty flexi hose to fit instead of the elbow, but found it was too heavy duty, and wouldnt bend tight enough :roll:

I too used the pipe/tube method, just to be on the safe side.

colly · Post by **colly** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:09 pm

Well, finally got my snorkel fitted, and thanks to all for your comments and suggestions.

Took probably about 4 hours, but most of that was fitting and unfitting multiple times to check that I could finally fit it properly once the sealant had been gobbed on. Had to open up a few mounting holes here and there in order fit neatly. Looks just like a factory job, but I would say that, wouldn't I.

Took some photos to upload, but I can't understand the uploading procedure, every other site I've seen you just point to the folder on your computer and bingo, image uploaded - the procedure here seems quite bizarre - what's all the url biz?

And following on from my earlier post re new mud tyres, I went with Bridgestone MT, as I had near new Firestones RMT's on and I didn't like the way they handled, seemed very imprecise on gravel, very skittery, and I figured that their muds would be basically the same carcase with a different tread leading to a similar behaviour. Anyway, I've had a wee play with the new Bridgestones, and they are far superior in that respect.

Next on the list is a 50mm suspension lift, looking forward to your comments on that.

Dak · Post by **Dak** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:04 pm

Good to hear it all worked out sweet. As for the 50mm lift, SWB or LWB?
50mm is a good amount, you won't need to fit castor bushes and the only other thing is if it's a SWB you will need to fit spacers to lower the gearbox mount to help prevent driveshaft vibes. It does vary massively though. Some trucks don't vibrate at all, some do.

Cheers, Jeff.

Elmo · Post by **Elmo** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:46 am

Ive just had my safari done with a 50mm lift kit. It needed both spacers for drop box, and the caster kit. It wouldnt self center without them. But hey, they put the wrong springs in anyway, so who knows if it actually needed the caster kit!

The back of my truck went up about 80mm, due to them putting in the LWB heavy duty springs, (I have a SWB and wanted light weight)

80km per hour, feel the vib. by 90 it was gone (by feel) but when foot on the clutch fro 90 and above (to change gear) man did it hum! It was like driving down a ripple strip!!

I spaced the tranfer case down another 10mm, made it a little better.

It back in the shop today for them to fix up there stuff up!!

By the way, the vibration cost be about 200km per tank!! OUCH! Made for an expensive trip to Auckland and back!

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:10 am

I put a 60mm lift(not sure why 60 and not 50,but thats how they were advertised

) and had no issues at all.
My truck as a nasty vib just after take off which feels "Chainy" for want of a better description,which happens only at a low rev (no matter what gear)and goes completely once you give a bit of squirt.
It is completely smooth right up to 130km and thats as fast as i've had the girl :oops:

, and this issue was in the truck when i bought it standard.
I put in gearbox spacers but made no real impact,so a bit of a mystery as to what this is ,but it is not a big concern at this stage.

GQTROL · Post by **GQTROL** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:40 am

For those with excessive driveshaft vibrations (Elmo etc), you should be looking to extend the lower rear control arms, as your UJ's are being made to work out of their normal spec.

The idea is to get the output flange from the t-case as close to parallel with the input flange to the rear diff as possible.

Monty · Post by **Monty** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:06 am

try philspeed on trademe he used to own kelfords cams down here and he sells safari snorkels for about 300

DieselBoy · Post by **DieselBoy** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:22 am

Or use adjustable upper control arms for the same purpose. $250 for a pair with out bushes.

DaveM · Post by **DaveM** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:36 pm

I've just got extended lower arms made, heavier duty too.
Will hopefully get rid of the vibes, and a known weak spot on the safari.

In my opinion its the better way to go, as you are killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

PigFmr · Post by **PigFmr** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:15 pm

DieselBoy wrote::lol: I always tell people when they are looking at Airflow snorkles that al they are buying is the plastic bit on the gaurd, the rest of the kit is throw away, and that they need to get some 76mm reinforced air hose to run from the snorkle inside the guard through to the air box.

Saying that i have fitted 4 Airflow snorkles to 2 safari's, a VX and a Terrano, and they all eventually fitted using the supplied kit with a bit of creativity, apart from the Terrano where i did have to resort to the air hose as the inner gaurd section wasn't even close to being the right shape and length .

BUT, the whole time i was doing the job, shagging round with the stupid elbow thing in side the guard, i was thinking i should be doing this wiyth air hose, less joins to seal, and less shagging round

hello deisel boy
had some leaking probs with mine just lately and mines leaking in the elbow in the inner wing, so 76mm is the right size diameter for the hose that i need to buy,will have to fone around ch,ch to see where i can get some,had been thinking about relocating my radiator expansion tank and coming in behind the battery just where the elbow is, and one piece of pipe straight on,instead of using the inner wing and the air box right behind the head light

kiwipete · Post by **kiwipete** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:28 pm

had some leaking probs with mine just lately and mines leaking in the elbow in the inner wing, so 76mm is the right size diameter for the hose that i need to buy,will have to fone around ch,ch to see where i can get some,had been thinking about relocating my radiator expansion tank and coming in behind the battery just where the elbow is, and one piece of pipe straight on,instead of using the inner wing and the air box right behind the head light

Keen to hear how you get on as I want to modify the Terrano's Airflow snorkel soon.

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Mon May 14, 2007 7:14 am

Hi Vince,
Try Paykel Eng for some hose,they have all sorts..

PigFmr · Post by **PigFmr** » Wed May 16, 2007 10:07 pm

got so f..k off with it and rip the airflow off,and now sits in the corner of the garage with the other junk,just finished making a stainless snorkel all one peice and one join which is in the engine bay,had to cut a new hole in the wing as it comes in right behind the head light, and its easy as to remove when ever,
vince

safari_mulisha · Post by **safari_mulisha** » Wed May 16, 2007 11:39 pm

use alloy or stainless for joiners
exhaust tubing rusts on the inside