Snorkel with Hemi swap?

[Flyin6]

I'm in the early stages of a Hemi swap in my JT. The truck is in the shop along with a pile of parts the size of a VW Beetle. At this point, I opted for the complete hydro-guide setup. I think that is a pretty good option since it has been factory-sorted and uses OEM parts.
Having said that, I've spent a bunch of my life in dusty places. Most of the vehicles I used there had some sort of snorkel or a centrifugal particle separator.
The amount of dust being generated on a dirt road can be substantial, especially if you aren't the lead vehicle in a column. I am wondering out loud whether I might not be better off just trying to fit a JTD snorkel onto a factory Ruby hood?
Has anyone done that yet? Any knowledge of a Hemi-swap specific snorkel system?

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[Bandit’s Lair]

Personally I think going with the hydro guide system is your best bet to keep the build clean. I plan on going with the AmFib type snorkel to keep things low but I will be changing the filters in and out before hitting the trail. STP basic for the trail and K&N for the road. Power difference won’t be significant and it saves the more expensive filter. If I could make the hydro guide work on my 3.6 I definitely would.

 

[Flyin6]

Personally I think going with the hydro guide system is your best bet to keep the build clean. I plan on going with the AmFib type snorkel to keep things low but I will be changing the filters in and out before hitting the trail. STP basic for the trail and K&N for the road. Power difference won’t be significant and it saves the more expensive filter. If I could make the hydro guide work on my 3.6 I definitely would.

No doubt it would "look" cleaner. But you have to ask yourself why the rest of the world uses high-mount snorkels???

I sent an email to AEV. Seems to me they offered a snorkel on their 392 Hemi swap some years ago.

Who knows??

 

[Andy@AAV]

I'm a fan of high mounted intakes, for the same reason as you. I don't have one on my jeep now but my tacoma that ran all over the southwest had one and it made a huge difference. I went from having to dump dust out of my filter every trip to just swapping it every 5k. The tacoma intake was right above the front tire and I didn't have much inner liner left so it was terrible.

 

[Flyin6]

I got a response from AEV.

Some time ago, I read that they offered a snorkel for the hemi-swapped jeep.

Their response closed the door on that possibility. It seems they do not offer anything that might work.

ARB has snorkels, but they do not flow enough air to feed 6.4 hungry liters.

Running out of options here. Starting to seem like I have the standard air box option or the hydro-guide.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Running out of options here. Starting to seem like I have the standard air box option or the hydro-guide.

That depends. How familiar are you with plastic welding? I’ve seen sheets and sticks of ABS on Amazon for decent prices. If you have the time and inclination you could retrofit something like a Toyota snorkel to work. I think some of those come off the drivers side. Maybe something sized for the Land Cruiser or Tundra V8s could do the trick.

 

[Flyin6]

That depends. How familiar are you with plastic welding? I’ve seen sheets and sticks of ABS on Amazon for decent prices. If you have the time and inclination you could retrofit something like a Toyota snorkel to work. I think some of those come off the drivers side. Maybe something sized for the Land Cruiser or Tundra V8s could do the trick.

I have built several snorkels in the past. One for a Tundra, one for a W250 Dodge, actually two for the Tundra.
I'm not going to do that for the Gladiator. It is such a good-looking vehicle, and unlike anything I have ever owned before. Jeeps get crazy aftermarket support.
I think you suggested earlier to just go with the Hydro-Guide setup. After failing with the AEV effort, it looks like I am going to land on the 392 JL hydro setup. I'll just be sucking in added dust that I could otherwise have avoided. But mostly I go solo, and in most places never see dust from the truck in front of me, except for the San Juan alpine loop (Crowded!)

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Yep. I did suggest just going hydroguide but it was further stated that going up high was the better option. I’d personally like to figure out a River Raider style mushroom cap for these newer models because that snorkel was awesome!! May talk to a local shop to see if they have any ideas. I’m not a fan of external tubing for snorkels coming out along the side of the hood.

 

[Flyin6]

Yep. I did suggest just going hydroguide but it was further stated that going up high was the better option. I’d personally like to figure out a River Raider style mushroom cap for these newer models because that snorkel was awesome!! May talk to a local shop to see if they have any ideas. I’m not a fan of external tubing for snorkels coming out along the side of the hood.

That plastic pipe on your fender does a good job keeping branches away!
But, I'm already pinstriped, so... ;-)

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

That plastic pipe on your fender does a good job keeping branches away!
But, I'm already pinstriped, so... ;-)

That’s exactly why I’m not a fan. When branches become rocks it gets a bit more dicey. I love running down into desert notches and I’ve come VERY close to rubbing more than a couple times.

 

[drewcnit]

At this point, I opted for the complete hydro-guide setup. I think that is a pretty good option since it has been factory-sorted and uses OEM parts.

Dropped mine off for my "performance" hood today, supposed to be with the hydro-guide setup, but apparently that's on a nation-wide back order (Just the hydro-guide underneath part of the hood).
Remembered you mentioning it and figured I'd share the news I got, sounds like a wait is in store as mine has been ordered for 3 months already... I'm still getting the new hood this week, however it won't have the under-lining...

Also in case you don't know, I had to order the cowl center and side pieces as well for the new hood, I'd imagine your shop would be aware of that, but thought it worth mentioning.

 

[Flyin6]

Dropped mine off for my "performance" hood today, supposed to be with the hydro-guide setup, but apparently that's on a nation-wide back order (Just the hydro-guide underneath part of the hood).
Remembered you mentioning it and figured I'd share the news I got, sounds like a wait is in store as mine has been ordered for 3 months already... I'm still getting the new hood this week, however it won't have the under-lining...

Also in case you don't know, I had to order the cowl center and side pieces as well for the new hood, I'd imagine your shop would be aware of that, but thought it worth mentioning.

Good for you!
My shop is also a wholesale warehouse and distributor for Mopar stuff. Very likely, they have it all sitting on a shelf, but if not, I can run it awhile with just the airbox

 

[spanishmack]

Get a Mopar JT and a JTD snorkel and have twice the intake and fab up the hose work on the inside of the hood. Turn the ram intake heads backwards and it'll look like a semi with twin stacks.

 

[tcabece]

I'm in the early stages of a Hemi swap in my JT. The truck is in the shop along with a pile of parts the size of a VW Beetle. At this point, I opted for the complete hydro-guide setup. I think that is a pretty good option since it has been factory-sorted and uses OEM parts.
Having said that, I've spent a bunch of my life in dusty places. Most of the vehicles I used there had some sort of snorkel or a centrifugal particle separator.
The amount of dust being generated on a dirt road can be substantial, especially if you aren't the lead vehicle in a column. I am wondering out loud whether I might not be better off just trying to fit a JTD snorkel onto a factory Ruby hood?
Has anyone done that yet? Any knowledge of a Hemi-swap specific snorkel system?

Flyin6: I know its been a bit since you posted this. I did the 6.4 swap on my 2023 JT Mojave. I opted NOT to put the hood scoop with hydro system on mine. The Mojave hood is setup for the Unlimited Wranglers hood scoop and hydro system. I haven't notice any performance or fuel mileage issue with the "closed" hood. I thought keeping the Mojave hood original was more inline with it's desert racing objectives. Obviously if you're river fording then probably a snorkel would be the way to go?
Tim

 

[Flyin6]

Flyin6: I know its been a bit since you posted this. I did the 6.4 swap on my 2023 JT Mojave. I opted NOT to put the hood scoop with hydro system on mine. The Mojave hood is setup for the Unlimited Wranglers hood scoop and hydro system. I haven't notice any performance or fuel mileage issue with the "closed" hood. I thought keeping the Mojave hood original was more inline with it's desert racing objectives. Obviously if you're river fording then probably a snorkel would be the way to go?
Tim

Thing is, there aren't any snorkel systems I can find for the 392 JT, so the hydro guide is the next best option.
Thinking about it more, the stock 392 Wrangler has a 2" lift and a 35" tire. I use a 4ish" lift and a 40" tire.
The stock 392 Wrangler can handle a max of 30" water depth. (Man, that's scary deep!)
My JT using those metrics should handle a bit more, 4.5" to be exactly approximate, or aboutish 34.5".
Whoever forded at a constant depth? No one ever! You bounce up and down and bow waves and river currents, and joksters in side-by-sides go splashing about, so on an average crossing you see 2"-42" of water, and somehow manage to crawl out the other side with all your pistons and rods...Magic!

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