The $300 some of you speak of is not the market value of these things. Some of the useless "CAI" systems are close to that. Talking of "going off road", I can't imagine why anyone who is serious about a capable rig would add a supposed "CAI".

There are really two very simple financial principals behind most niche market pricing like this. One is the principal of making more profit by selling at a higher price. In many cases this means selling fewer units at a higher price to make more money. The second is charging what you have to in order to stay in business. Often the reality is a bunch of both.

What I want as an occasional offroader is a "disconnect-able" system. I want a snorkel I can mount up and run when I go on a trip, but I want a stock air box the rest of the time.

Is there a River Raider writeup for the JK online? It looks like with a bit of work the RR system could do this.

RR I commend you for not selling out to overseas production. I hope your business model works out for you.

 

I've been waiting for a snorkel from day one. That and my roof rack are essential items for me. Here are some of my thoughts on the whole RR vs ARB thing...

- The interior dimensions are important. A larger diameter would let the engine breathe better. So far the ARB looks like it'll have a larger inner diameter.

- Although the platic might break, the metal might crumple. If it does, you could starve the engine. A slight ding might dent the metal, but would probably bounce off the plastic snorkel. I expect the Safari/ARB snorkel is pretty tough, but like anything, it could break. If you're in a tight trail, among trees or big boulders, and aren't careful, you could break or crumple either snorkel. Metal vs plastic really isn't much of a concern for me.

- Aside from the interior dimensions, the fact that it fits with my Garvin Roof Rack is _extremely_ important. Unfortunately the Safari folks seem to have gone with a very body-hugging shape that may or may not work. We'll see.

- The swiveling top is definately nice to have.

- Somekind of water entry control system, like the Safari tops, is also very nice.

I'm waiting to see what ARB comes up with under the hood. So far I haven't been impressed with RR. River Raider would certainly get my money if they came out with something better. How about moving the battery to the air box location, and putting a CAI filter where the old battery used to be? The air box location might even allow for a dual battery setup! Now THAT would nice! :-)

js.

 

I agree that I also would need them side by each for comparison. However, I lost the point in what your saying about a CAI and a snorkel combined. An under hood CAI would preclude any functionality of a snorkel, unless you want something that is easily convertible?
Did I miss something?

 

Seems to me that a Snorkel would be a better CAI than any underhood version buy the snorkel and slap in a K&N. Anything under the hood will intake the same temp air that is under the hood while the Snorkel will suck in nice fresh cool air (depending on your location.)

Disclaimer: I don't but into CAI, anyways, I had one and a lousy 5HP (if that) is hardly worth it. In my opinion, if your buying a snorkel, you want to cross deep water, not worry about a CAI.

 

That looks like something my wife has in her toy box

 

umm you are joking right? thats 100times worse then the other 2....kinda looks like a doppler radar on top of that thing... it must give you the weather forecast too

 

good idea,,they already have the plug,,just need to send it to a rotomlding shop and have them make a mold and pop a bunch per day.

 

One thing I fid interesting is that the Safari snorkel goes through the body about 12" below the River Raider snorkel. I would think that they would want this as high as possible just to keep any joints from getting water seepage.

 

now that i like
the air intake tip is very similar if not the same as NATO / MIL spec
plus allows for fold windshield.

Something that no one has considered for the JK

Full functionality should be addressed to meet the capabilities of what the jeep can do.

whether one plans to use it or not.

 

um how do you see that one as allowing you to fold down the windshield? looks to me like it is mounted to the window frame also...see the 3 bolts from midway up to the top