Snorkels on vehicles

[Rain Man]

There's an SUV that's been parking outside my house recently, and it looks like something that suzzer would drive to Patagonia. It's got extra gas cans strapped to the top, some sort of cargo carrier, big ol' spotlights that would blind an elk, and most importantly a snorkel.

Has anyone ever had a vehicle with a snorkel, and did you ever find yourself in a situation where you used it? I like them a lot and am considering putting a decorative snorkel on my BMW just to make it look even more cool.

[COchief]

Originally Posted by SAUTO

You're right. I've never seen anything like that.

Well except for the one I built for a guy who drives it around Columbia on a daily basis...

Sorry you didn't know what it was called and that an entire car culture existed. Really it's not that big of deal. If you are that worried just copy and paste my post into your original "probably" (that word isn't telling or anything) post and I'll delete all mine, cause you knew the whole time, right?

No big deal, not like cars are my business or anything, just an interest for me.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by COchief

Sorry you didn't know what it was called and that an entire car culture existed. Really it's not that big of deal. If you are that worried just copy and paste my post into your original "probably" (that world isn't telling or anything) post and I'll delete all mine, cause you knew the whole time, right?

No big deal, not like cars are my business or anything, just an interest for me.

Yeah not like cars are my business either

[tooge]

I've thought of buying a plain old swimming pool snorkel and putting it on my truck. Just to make fun of the butt****ing morons that have actual vehicle snorkels on theirs.

While we're on that topic, how about the jeep wranglers that they put all the shit on, rock guards, snorkels, huge tires, two winches, etc., then it's driven in town by some dude or chick that doesn't even know how to put it into 4wd.

[COchief]

Originally Posted by SAUTO

Yeah not like cars are my business either

I know, they aren't mine.

If I can change the narrative I would love to know as a shop owner do you love these automotive trends that come through? Did you see any rise from the whole fartcan F&F trend, lowered trucks, donks, Overland, or does it not trickle to your state/shop? Did you charge dumb kids $1k+ in labor to slap on an intake/header/exhaust? Are you able to capitialize on any of this stuff or are they too small? Most automotive trends require a fair amount of investment, I would imagine as a biz owner you would be feasting on those entertainment dollars. My initial tone was admittedly dickish, genuinely curious about the other side of the coin if you want to share?

[prhom]

Just curious, for those of you in the snorkel=douche camp. Does it bother you just as much to see someone with a souped up sports car or a classic hot rod? I mean, unless you have access to a race track or drive on the autobahn, you can’t legally take advantage of anything sportier than a Honda Civic. Sports cars and classic cars are terrible options as a daily driver if you live where it snows.

Both groups are using the full capability of their vehicles less than 1% of the time and almost certainly do much of what they do to their vehicles simply to look like a badass (in their opinion anyway).

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by prhom

Just curious, for those of you in the snorkel=douche camp. Does it bother you just as much to see someone with a souped up sports car or a classic hot rod? I mean, unless you have access to a race track or drive on the autobahn, you can’t legally take advantage of anything sportier than a Honda Civic. Sports cars and classic cars are terrible options as a daily driver if you live where it snows.

Both groups are using the full capability of their vehicles less than 1% of the time and almost certainly do much of what they do to their vehicles simply to look like a badass (in their opinion anyway).

we drive our hot rods, the guys that work for me drive their drift cars. they are all always pushed hard.

i'm mainly talking about the guy who puts all that shit on his car to drive it to the office everyday and thats it

[COchief]

As a true car guy I embrace any car culture because it gets people into cars which helps us all no matter what. Even a kid dreaming about his future "Donk" is miles above an uncaring millennial and their beige prius.

My biggest automotive pet peeve is TRD Tacomas with brush guards and radial tires. Colorado has it's shit together regarding proper tires, however in nation wide posts I see this all over the damn place. Learn to BFG people!

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by COchief

I know, they aren't mine.

If I can change the narrative I would love to know as a shop owner do you love these automotive trends that come through? Did you see any rise from the whole fartcan F&F trend, lowered trucks, donks, Overland, or does it not trickle to your state/shop? Did you charge dumb kids $1k+ in labor to slap on an intake/header/exhaust? Are you able to capitialize on any of this stuff or are they too small? Most automotive trends require a fair amount of investment, I would imagine as a biz owner you would be feasting on those entertainment dollars. My initial tone was admittedly dickish, genuinely curious about the other side of the coin if you want to share?

i make money on it all, i built a jeep like what you are talking about for an air force retiree a couple years ago. 10 inch lift and the whole deal...its never even gotten muddy.

i do whatever it takes to get paid usually unless its not safe for the other people on the road.


i dont do fart cans, the kids that work for me do the whole turbo drift car thing. but they are about performance, not just playing the part.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by COchief

As a true car guy I embrace any car culture because it gets people into cars which helps us all no matter what. Even a kid dreaming about his future "Donk" is miles above an uncaring millennial and their beige prius.

My biggest automotive pet peeve is TRD Tacomas with brush guards and radial tires. Colorado has it's shit together regarding proper tires, however in nation wide posts I see this all over the damn place. Learn to BFG people!

radial tires? bfg arent?

and i agree, even if i hate some of the trends.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by tooge

While we're on that topic, how about the jeep wranglers that they put all the shit on, rock guards, snorkels, huge tires, two winches, etc., then it's driven in town by some dude or chick that doesn't even know how to put it into 4wd.

this is my point.


theres the douche

[SAUTO]

and i say the same thing about the guy who builds and old hot rod and trailers her everywhere.

epic douche

[COchief]

Originally Posted by SAUTO

i make money on it all, i built a jeep like what you are talking about for an air force retiree a couple years ago. 10 inch lift and the whole deal...its never even gotten muddy.

i do whatever it takes to get paid usually unless its not safe for the other people on the road.

i dont do fart cans, the kids that work for me do the whole turbo drift car thing. but they are about performance, not just playing the part.

So you do see a bump here and there it sounds like. I'm curious if you ever think about some of the absurd dollars that are being spent on trends that make sense to me. Like the overland thing can be overdone and people are going nuts with it, but if I had a couple young kids taking something like an 80s suburban and popping some cheap suspension on there and good tires and throwing a rack and tent up top would be an awesome vehicle to go exploring in. Some of the 4x4 van builds with custom simple RVesque interiors are going for big money, basically custom built American Westfalias. Really all they do is a bed with a slide out underneath with basic sink/stove config. This sort of thing is growing for a lot of simple reasons that make sense and with the internet opening pathways for SF millionaires to Kansas mechanics you ever consider jumping in or dipping your toes into anything like that? I mean shit people are paying $40k for clean Westfalias, a guy like you could easily buy a ford or chevy fleet van and do the drivetrain swap, lift it, build the simple interior (offer a couple packages), and make a minimum of $10k per rig if you plotted it out right and got deals from manufacturers. People in the right industries in the right cities have ungodly amounts of disposable income with tons of dual income no kids homes. Ever consider anything in that realm or typically keep it closer to whats worked?

Also when I said BFG I meant BFG A/T TAs which used to be kind of the standard 31-33 AT tire for decades, my bad. It's kinda my personal lexicon.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by COchief

So you do see a bump here and there it sounds like. I'm curious if you ever think about some of the absurd dollars that are being spent on trends that make sense to me. Like the overland thing can be overdone and people are going nuts with it, but if I had a couple young kids taking something like an 80s suburban and popping some cheap suspension on there and good tires and throwing a rack and tent up top would be an awesome vehicle to go exploring in. Some of the 4x4 van builds with custom simple RVesque interiors are going for big money, basically custom built American Westfalias. Really all they do is a bed with a slide out underneath with basic sink/stove config. This sort of thing is growing for a lot of simple reasons that make sense and with the internet opening pathways for SF millionaires to Kansas mechanics you ever consider jumping in or dipping your toes into anything like that? I mean shit people are paying $40k for clean Westfalias, a guy like you could easily buy a ford or chevy fleet van and do the drivetrain swap, lift it, build the simple interior (offer a couple packages), and make a minimum of $10k per rig if you plotted it out right and got deals from manufacturers. People in the right industries in the right cities have ungodly amounts of disposable income with tons of dual income no kids homes. Ever consider anything in that realm or typically keep it closer to whats worked?

yeah i usually stick with what i know.

i'm not a body guy and thats what it takes to make things like that look right.

i bet if you did a couple a guy could get pretty good at it i just really dont have the room to tie up for a couple months to figure it out.

[SAUTO]

my MAIN problem with the custom stuff is its hard to push people's cars that they drive every day and depend on back because im working on someone's toy.

then i end up working a 100 hours a week to try to get everything done and i hate the world...

[COchief]

Originally Posted by SAUTO

my MAIN problem with the custom stuff is its hard to push people's cars that they drive every day and depend on back because im working on someone's toy.

then i end up working a 100 hours a week to try to get everything done and i hate the world...

Yeah, I hear that and good on you for putting people over dollars. For me I see some of these types of elite specialty places popping up and they are simply my childhood dreams personified on the daily. Plus, these assholes are getting loaded doing it. I would love to just hunt decent vehicles and have the knowledge and the space to do basic rigging and sell them for a healthy profit. Crap if you just find decent XJs and do a 2-3 lift, bumpers, racks, wheels, and rhino line the thing that is a lot of bang for your buck on a weekend toy. I think the basic idea is pretty awesome, however there is always the douches with the dick measuring.

Thanks for rapping about cars and answering my questions, cheers.