Which Snorkel

rob85 · Post by **rob85** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:46 pm

Hi, I drive a 1989 Nissan Safari and i'm looking to put a snorkel on it. From looking around i have seen two makes avaliable the 'Safari Snorkel' and the 'Gibson Airflow Snorkel'.

My question is which would you recomend? Is one make better than the other? What experiences have you had?

Any help would be much appriciated,

Cheers Rob

turoa · Post by **turoa** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:00 pm

Safari snorkel definitely. It has the best templates, it seals the best, it looks the best.

Smurf · Post by **Smurf** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:20 pm

Safari
Airtek
Airflow
in that order, airflow tend to have shoddy templates and are awkward to seal up sometimes

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:43 pm

Safari .....the cheaper ones have bad templates....ok they work but paying a bit extra is better....

rob85 · Post by **rob85** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:09 am

Awesome, that helps alot,

cheers guys.

Leithfield · Post by **Leithfield** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:17 am

Another vote here for Safari - hands down the best available.

xj · Post by xj » Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:39 am

I've had an "Airflow" and 2 "safari" snorks and ill jump on the bandwagon with the other re Safari. They also have what I consider to be superior water drain system. The airflow template i had was ok, but the information on the instruction sheet, and what was reality when i opened the bonnet were worlds apart....

go the Safari

muddymatt · Post by **muddymatt** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:18 pm

Has anybody bought and fitted a Airflow to a Discovery? they are on Trade-Me at $325 which seems pretty good value. I have fitted snorkels before (loads actually) but all to Cruisers or Luxes and never a Airflow product, ours were genuine Toyota or Airteks.

Cheers Matt

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:52 pm

spend the extra and get a safari one its better made and will fit better, or consider custom making one yourself out of pipe

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:10 pm

Yep, Safari are the only way to go.

If you rip off your hood the Safari ones are about $50 cheaper to replace that the Airflow or Airtech.

But I must say, Safaris look better on Landcruisers..... :wink:

tallsam66 · Post by **tallsam66** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:31 pm

I mistakenly brought an airflow for my surf.

The finish on the snorkel was poor.
The template was ok...but where i was told to drill 1 of the holes to bolt the snorkel to the guard it was impossible to get the bolt in from underneath.

The flexible hose supplied was the wrong size to connect to the air cleaner.
Some of the stainless mounting screws were missing.

One of the holes sizes i was told to drill wasnt big enough to fit the flexible hose through.

All these problems even tho the snorkel was the one designed for my model.

Id rate it 1 out of 10.

Buy another brand !!!!!

Sadam_Husain · Post by **Sadam_Husain** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:41 pm

tallsam66 wrote:I mistakenly brought an airflow for my surf.

The finish on the snorkel was poor.
The template was ok...but where i was told to drill 1 of the holes to bolt the snorkel to the guard it was impossible to get the bolt in from underneath.

The flexible hose supplied was the wrong size to connect to the air cleaner.
Some of the stainless mounting screws were missing.

One of the holes sizes i was told to drill wasnt big enough to fit the flexible hose through.

All these problems even tho the snorkel was the one designed for my model.

Id rate it 1 out of 10.

Buy another brand !!!!!

Yep thats the feedback I usually hear about the airflow's. I just happened to buy a safari snorkle by chance when I put mine on and despite having to swallow the price all I've broken in 4 years is 1 ram (hat or top to all you guys) and I'm suprised the whole cab hasnt been torn off my truck with the amount of trees its hit and smashed against.... and meanwhile I've seen quite a few mates with destroyed cheaper snorkles

Oh yeah.... and I can take the ram off and seal the top of the snorkle off with the palm of my hand and it'll stall the chevy within about 4 seconds *disclaimer* this isnt a recomended practise if you read the other recent snorkle thread

Nizsafari · Post by **Nizsafari** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:46 pm

I've had an Airflow snorkel on my Safari for 2 years now, went on easily, Like Saddam's mine has been through its fair share of trees, never broke a hat, or had any other problems with it... here's 1 vote for Airflow...

Cloggy_NZ · Post by **Cloggy_NZ** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:48 pm

muddymatt wrote:Has anybody bought and fitted a Airflow to a Discovery? they are on Trade-Me at $325 which seems pretty good value. I have fitted snorkels before (loads actually) but all to Cruisers or Luxes and never a Airflow product, ours were genuine Toyota or Airteks.

Cheers Matt

Aye, I have an Airflow on my Discovery. Bought it about 4 years ago. Yes, the finish on the snorkel is not flash, but then neither is my Discovery. The plastic has quite a rough finish which kinda matches my paintwork perfectly. Have only once lost the air intake thingy on top of the snorkel. Sealing wise there are no problems. But when I bought mine, even though the instructions stated it was for my earlier model Disco, the final flexible pipe to connect the snorkel with the airfilter was totally wrong.
Mounting wise it fits the guard as good as can be expected and the template put the hole in the outside of the guard in exactly the right spot. If you are on a budget, it will do the job. But expect some fiddeling to get it connected properly. If you just want the best, then go the Safari snorkel

muddymatt · Post by **muddymatt** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:49 pm

Thanks for the replies. Looks like the Airflow ones are cheap for a reason. I am pretty handy with the tools so I might still go down that route.
Any recommended retailers for the Safari so I can get a firm price for a Safari brand?

Cheers Matt

Jezza · Post by **Jezza** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:00 pm

You can always go the custom route with a shaped exhaust tube

, They have really good air flow as its a 3" pipe right to the air box, they're also strong has hell.

muskie · Post by **muskie** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:40 pm

safari are best, i fitted an airflow to my old discovery, my old bighorn, and now my safari, the reason i went for the airflow is price, espeicially as i had loads of other stuff i wanted for the truck, tyres/suspension/cb/etc etc i always work to a budget, decide what i want and fit it into that budget the best way i can, i can honestly say i will never buy a ARB bar again, they are nice but a bloody ripoff pricewise..

back to the question, my airflow snorkels have fitted ok you just need to line it all up before you cut anything, they can be made to fit good with a few mods and silicone, finish on my bighorn snorkel was well rough. at the end of the day its not a show car....

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:17 pm

For what another opinion is worth...I put an Airflow on my Bighorn and I believe it was the same airflow model as for the discovery. Went on easy (about 40 minutes for fitting plus time to modify airbox as it needs intake on opposite side of airbox for a snorkel) and never had an issue with it, it got hammered and came out happy as larry.

However I agree the Safari's have nicer finish etc.