Snorkel Pre-cleaners for dust in desert

Steve,
Have to agree with you mate. I use one on the Patrol when I'm in real dusty conditions. Downside is that it roars as far as cabin noise is concerned when I'm accelerating and also I can understand why they recommend not going over 80k/h as the air flow is a bit restricted compared to the normal air ram. If I'm using mine on a hot day on bitumen @ 110k/h, the motor does seem to run hotter.

Steve and Roachie ,
Is the Donaldson that glass bowl thingie you see on a few snorkels ?
I heard these needed a sleeve to make them fit the Safari . Is that correct ?
Also I have noticed two sizes of the glass thingies . Which size do you guys use ?
Thanks ,
Willie .

Willie,
I don't like to brag, but mine is 8" !!! LOL
You're right, they are the "bowl" type thingies (the clear bit is heavy duty plastic).
Mine has a 3" base which is the exact size for my Safari snorkel. Never heard of a sleeve being needed to adapt, but could be the case with Aitec or some other snorkel brands.
I know they come in a 10" version too, but not sure what other sizes might be available. From memory the 10" was much more expensive (like about double I think) than the 8" jobbie.

Roachie ,

Being keen to have a look at your 8" thingie I was surprised to see a large blacked out area just under the position of this said thingie on the attached photo .

What did you block out ??????????????
-The face of a gorgeous blond hitchiker ?
- A brace of night parrots ?
- Your best mates butt pressed against the window ?
- Out of date registration sticker ?

I give up - tell me .

Willie

Sorry Willie,
You've lost me......(don't feel too good....that ain't hard to do??!!LOL).
On the passenger's side there's only the standard safari snorkel (the donaldson only goes on when it HAS to).
The black lump on the bonnet is the Nissan scoop I put on myself using drill and jigsaw to make the hole.
Hope this helps.

Willie,

As Roachie has suggested it's a plastic bowl thingy you buy one to fit the diameter of your snorkel. Pretty sure there are 8" and 10" Donaldson to fit most makes of snorkel.
Cheers
Steve

Roachie how hard or easy is it to put the pre cleaner on when you have to. and roughly how long does it take? Do they have a washable element, or a throw away type?

The pre-cleaner is dead easy to fit. Just loosen off the screw clamp that holds on the ram head, lift it off and replace with the Donaldson and do up the screw clamp again......2 minutes; tops.
There is no element inside it. The air is drawn up through the underside of the unit and into a 2-walled bowl. The cross section of the bowl would look like a "W" if you cut it in half. The dust settles in the bottom of the well part of the "W" and the cleaner air is drawn back upwards to the centre point and then down the snorkel.
The Donaldson consists of three main pieces. The base plate which attaches to the original snorkel; the clear bowl and a pressed galvanised lid that attaches the whole lot together with a knurled nut.
Just need to loosen off the knurled nut on top of the lid every few thousand klicks (or whenever you see dust build up in there), lift off the plastic bowl and tip out the dust.
Too easy.

Thanks Roachie, I will put one onto the list for when I grab a snorkel. The extra for snorkel installation is whats holding me up, but Brian from the Gold Coast, said a mate of his installed his snorkel by cutting the hole with left and right snips, and I'm not too bad with snips myself, so may just give it a try and whack one on.
Worst case scenario is a hole for cooling the engine bay, and a place where I can access the aux battery without opening the bonnet.
My wife may also say those loving words she said once when she watched me do a rather nasty high side on my mbike at a roundabout once....."that was F***ing clever"

here is the link

http://www.4wdmegastores.com.au/products_ak/filtration

DaLUX ,
That looks a great idea . I will go up to their shop at Hornsby on the weekend and get a packet or two . I guess you can wash the dust out of them and re-use them - Possible ??
Thanks for your help ,
Willie .

You can have mine Willie, if you want them send me a member msg.

I have this animal. Made by finer filters I think.
Completely washable & reusable and keeps the insects out of the system too.

Wayne ,

I agree , and often amazed to see a car following another 50 -100 m behind eating dust . Some people are wierd .
However , sometimes you need to keep in touch to see what side of the track their taking etc , and also sometimes bulldust can hang around the road fo half an hour if there is no wind , so I am always going to cop some .

There is 7 cars going for 26 days - it will look like Rommel's Afrika Corps !

How efective is turning the head around ? I would have thought the dust to air ratio would have stayed the same , just less air being pushed in .

Thanks ,
Willie

Willie,
I often wondered the same thing myself (ie: about how much dust is prevented from going in with the head swung around 180 degrees).
Like Wayne, I'd much rather hang back (up to kilometre if necessary) to avoid the dust of the rig in front of me.
As for the idea of wanting to see what line the previous bloke has taken....doesn't worry me.....I'd rather have a clear view of the road and make my own assessment as I go (as the lead vehicle has to do anyway).
7 cars for 26 days.......sounds like heaven on a stick; you lucky bugga.

"However , sometimes you need to keep in touch to see what side of the track their taking etc , and also sometimes bulldust can hang around the road fo half an hour if there is no wind , so I am always going to cop some . "

Isnt that what the UHF is for?

Thanks everyone for all your ideas .

Cokeaddict , you have got me worried and I will ring Toyota about using pre-cleaners on my turbo Diesel .

Willie