Ebay Snorkel Experience?

So my windshield relief molding on the passenger side (USA model, so starboard maybe...) is done for. Given the price of a replacement vs $180 for an EBAY snorkel kit, I am wondering if it is maybe a fun but silly alternative to keeping the trim at factory spec.

I do not really need snorkel, though it does buy some safety in the bigger ponds / puddles and maybe could help with dust.

Does anybody have experience with this particular version?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Snorkel-Ki...-Air-Intake-System-Off-Road-4X4-/172304359373

I bought a few direct from the factory and sold them to some members here... mine went on without issue and nobody contacted me with complaints.... so I think it's a reasonable deal for what it is.

It's been mounted for well over a year now and the plastic is still holding up

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I recently got a snorkel off Amazon for $150 shipped. The inexpensive ones are probably all from the same place in China. I haven't installed it yet. The snorkel is pretty solid and looks like it could take a tree branch whack across a trail and be okay.

I bought and installed one off ebay a couple years ago on my red H3, zero problems with it. You can get it a bit cheaper from this seller:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Snorkel-Ki...L-Air-Intake-System-Off-Road-4X4/201863448606

And I found this one for $10 less on Amazon that I just bought to put on my Alpha ($149 with free shipping):

https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Snorkel-2008-2009-I5-3-7L-Passenger/dp/B0759V1P7D

They likely all come from the same plant in China, probably the one that makes the Safari snorkels. Only thing is I would not use the rivets that come with the kits because they are stainless steel and you need a rather strong riveter to manage them. I broke my riveter trying to use the ones that were included. Pick up some aluminum rivets instead, and if possible rivet them so the heads are inside the air inlet for two reasons. One, if the rivet "nail" or whatever it is really called comes loose it won't go into your airbox (while your filter should stop it, do you really want something like that in your airbox?). Two, the head is much less intrusive to the airflow, though the positioning of them more or less have them out of the airflow.

Also use some rivet washers since you're riveting plastic, shouldn't really be much of a concern but it's just a little thing to make it that much better. I also used red RTV sealant when attaching the adapter to the airbox. Black or any other will probably be just fine as well, it was mainly just what I had on hand at the time. And they do come with the template for drilling the fender. Oh, and the box will seem small for having a snorkel in it, when I got mine I had to open it up to make sure everything was really in there.

The reality is that a snorkel isn't just for water crossings. Truthfully if the water is up high enough to enter the airbox you're in too deep already and are probably going to have other problems. It can help with dust, rodents (when it's sitting), cooler air, etc. Plus it does just look cool in my opinion.

Can you guys post up a few photos installed after being on the trucks for a while?

atvspeed4 said:

Can you guys post up a few photos installed after being on the trucks for a while?

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This is the one I had for a couple years (installed April 2017), this photo is from September 2018:



That's in the Utah sun as well. Not the friendliest, and we get a fair bit of air pollution here as well. It was parked outside full time when I had that on I believe.

EDIT: The plastic actually held up far better than the anodizing on the antenna spacer, that faded surprisingly fast. It was black but if you look closely you'll see it's already faded to a purplish/tanish/blah. Nothing some paint wouldn't fix/prevent. Glad I looked at that before i install the new one on the Alpha, I'll have to paint that piece before I install it.

This is definitely on the list for me as well. Only hesitant about using rivets as I have no experience with them. Is there any learning curve to them? I’ve done shocks and brakes and that kind of thing myself, anything I should be aware of with this install?


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i bought my for 120 usd. works fine. 8 years.

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ludevick said:

This is definitely on the list for me as well. Only hesitant about using rivets as I have no experience with them. Is there any learning curve to them? I’ve done shocks and brakes and that kind of thing myself, anything I should be aware of with this install?


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The pop rivets are easy, you can get a rivet gun at any hardware store and probably Walmart as well for cheap. To semi-quote Antonio Banderas' response to Anthony Hopkins, "The pointy end goes into the tool." Then squeeze until it pops. Easy peasy. Probably the most challenging part of the install is cutting a huge hole in your fender, but as long as you use the template that is pretty simple as well. However, while they tell you to use rivets for the bracket that goes into the pillar, I would only do that if you cut a notch in your pillar trim for the bracket to poke through and then rivet the bracket directly to the steel of the pillar. The directions have you rivet the bracket through the pillar trim and into the pillar. So if you ever need your windshield replaced or want to run cables or something you have to drill out the rivets. I went another route and put nutserts into the pillar and used bolts to attach the bracket. It required some modification of the bracket due to the crash bar that is hidden inside the pillar. Here's my install:

https://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/fo...-H3-Base-build?p=211995&viewfull=1#post211995

Goes for a few posts. It will be a lot easier the second time around, provided I can find all my tools in the disaster that is currently my garage.

JPaul said:

The pop rivets are easy, you can get a rivet gun at any hardware store and probably Walmart as well for cheap. To semi-quote Antonio Banderas' response to Anthony Hopkins, "The pointy end goes into the tool." Then squeeze until it pops. Easy peasy. Probably the most challenging part of the install is cutting a huge hole in your fender, but as long as you use the template that is pretty simple as well. However, while they tell you to use rivets for the bracket that goes into the pillar, I would only do that if you cut a notch in your pillar trim for the bracket to poke through and then rivet the bracket directly to the steel of the pillar. The directions have you rivet the bracket through the pillar trim and into the pillar. So if you ever need your windshield replaced or want to run cables or something you have to drill out the rivets. I went another route and put nutserts into the pillar and used bolts to attach the bracket. It required some modification of the bracket due to the crash bar that is hidden inside the pillar. Here's my install:

https://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/fo...-H3-Base-build?p=211995&viewfull=1#post211995

Goes for a few posts. It will be a lot easier the second time around, provided I can find all my tools in the disaster that is currently my garage.

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Excellent write up! and helped me decide I will probably be putting this off a little while longer hahah. Especially until after I get my windshield replaced. I wonder if theres another way to attach the snorkel to the A pillar...


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ludevick said:

Excellent write up! and helped me decide I will probably be putting this off a little while longer hahah. Especially until after I get my windshield replaced. I wonder if theres another way to attach the snorkel to the A pillar...


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Rivnuts like I used. Then the bracket bolts through the trim and when you need to take it off you just unbolt the bracket from the pillar and the snorkel, undo the couple screws for the trim and pop it off. No need to remove the whole snorkel then.

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I see these are all listed for 2008 and up. What's different? I have an 07

Mcssls said:

I see these are all listed for 2008 and up. What's different? I have an 07

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The inlet of the airbox. On 08+ it's ultimately a rectangular shaped inlet with an insert you pop out when installing the snorkel and replace with the adapter the kit includes. 06 and I think most if not all 07 had a round inlet molded into the airbox. I don't think it is impossible to retrofit the snorkel to one of those, but it will require some work and parts to do it. I think someone has done it before but cannot recall who.

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I like the clone better without the giant Arb logo all over it. I doubt I would even bother with the antenna I can't even remember the last time I used the radio. +1 to rivnuts for the a pillar, you still have to pull the fenderwell and snorkel to change the windshield but it beats drilling rivets every time and only costs a couple bucks.

Traxx said:

I like the clone better without the giant Arb logo all over it.

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This is the exact reason I went with the clone as well, I dont like the "graphics" that they had on their unit

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RamRod said:

This is the exact reason I went with the clone as well, I dont like the "graphics" that they had on their unit

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You mean the extra $300 they want wasn't the main deterrent? :wink:

Thanks everyone who responded. Seems like a nice, decent product for the price.


Have you ever run it through a car wash?


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Bowser-II said:

Thanks everyone who responded. Seems like a nice, decent product for the price.


Have you ever run it through a car wash?


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Probably not a good idea to use the automatic washes, they will definitely spray water in. Theoretically you should be ok if you did as long as the engine was shut off during the wash since the water that will enter should not reach the filter with the engine off and should drain out of the bottom of the filter box. I would also definitely turn the inlet to the rear to minimize any water intrusion, same as when driving in the rain. Rain is different though from high pressure water spray, you don't get all the mist and volume you would from the sprayers.

I just always washed my H3 by hand and made sure to not spray water into the snorkel.

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Only if the quality was the same. Alot of times the clone stuff out of China is garbage. I've never seen them both side by side so hard to say but since it is essentially just a plastic tube how bad could they screw it up?

JPaul said:

You mean the extra $300 they want wasn't the main deterrent? :wink:

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Traxx said:

Only if the quality was the same. Alot of times the clone stuff out of China is garbage. I've never seen them both side by side so hard to say but since it is essentially just a plastic tube how bad could they screw it up?

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I'd be very surprised if they weren't the same overall quality. The plastic might be a cheaper grade, that's definitely a possibility, but it didn't seem like it to me (though granted I too have not seen a Safari snorkel in person). And the hardware "might" be cheaper but I kind of doubt it. Both of the ones I have gotten though seemed to be pretty well made, and frankly if they wanted to cheap out they would be providing aluminum rivets, not stainless steel. That really is kind of surprising coming from a Chinese knockoff which really makes me think these are coming from the same plant that makes the ones for Safari and they are simply using a mold that doesn't have the logo in it. Probably the mold is from when they were doing the initial test runs. I doubt they've made enough of these to wear out the molds.

The molded in nutserts on the bottom of the snorkel that you use to bolt it to the fender seem fine, and that is the biggest area of concern I would have with the snorkels (aside from the UV resistance of the plastic), everything else is pretty run of the mill. Even if the plastic is cheaper than the Safari, for the cost you can get three of the Chinese snorkels as opposed to one Safari and just replace it every several years. Mine after a year and a half didn't seem any worse for wear. The OEM trim on the other hand definitely needed some help. I'm sure in time the snorkel will fade as well, but if you start off treating it (or just paint it) then it can have a nice long life too. Hmm, maybe I will paint my new one before I install it, just to be sure. It's a cheap preventative measure really.

On a side note, I did a Google search about ebay snorkels and came across a thread on tacomaworld.com about the topic. 51 pages long, and it was started in October of last year!! We're seriously slacking off here guys!!

Here is my ebay snorkel after 3 hot summers. Still looks good

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i have one from Aliexpress. Used for five years. Stil looks like new. Works fine. When installing it i uses gasket maker for seal fitting place. Absolutely solid. when intake pipe closed by hand engine immideatly stops because out of air. Have payed for it 66 dollars. very cheap. it seems it made on same factory as original but in the night.

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