ack! you're right. well this just sucks.
^ Now THAT is a good looking snorkel! :girl:
Here's where it was tried on a 5th Gen and you can see how close it is. I thought about getting one a couple of years back and making it work with a homemade shim/filler the shape of our fender to match the prado fender.....
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/114906-snorkel-update.html
I have no idea why Safari won't make one for us.It looks like it would be pretty easy for ARB/Safari to modify the snorkel mold to fit ours as the airbox is in the same place
The answer I got from Safari about why they won't just make one is because they don't get the 5th gen 4runner in Australia. So they aren't going to make a snorkel for something that may or may not fit correctly.
It blows my mind sometimes how peoples mind work. There is a perfect fitting, and well made snorkel on the market now for 5th gens, something people claim to have been wanting forever, but the cost was too high.
So I buy one, pay out the nose to ship it here, install it on my truck and to my surprise, it fits perfect, and looks just as bad as FJ and wrangler snorkels.
I have posted the short write up on 3 forums, I have spent hours working with FTS and my Shanghai factory to figure out how to get the cost down close to Safari prices for everyone, and I have fielded some pretty odd questions.
I have come to the conclusion that Safari is right to not build one, people don't want a snorkel on their 5th gen, they just want one to be avail if they change their mind. I have gotten 30 responses and and a few PMs and the census is... The snorkel, is too shiny (it painted Fiberglass so you could paint it any color or texture you want), it's fiberglass (the material ALL snorkels use to be), and it's too big on the fender part (like the FJ, Landcruiser, Wrangler, exc). :cry2:
It's a functioning snorkel made to fit our trucks out of a proven material.. Sure it's fiberglass, what's the problem, afraid in all your hardcore rock crawling you are going to take it out with a bolder or tree? At least fiberglass can be repaired easily. I can see that people want to add "snorkel" to their mod list but do not want to install or use a snorkel.
Perhaps we can get them to make a stick on fender accessory (like the hood scoops or chrome vents) that looks like a snorkel to fill the void in the market.
Sorry for the rant guys, I have just got a lot of silly questions and generally disapproving responses to this snorkel. I don't work for FTS, I cannot get them to shorten the body, I cannot get them to LineX the snorkel, I cannot get them to send the cad file to me, I cannot get them to make it two pieces.
If you want a pretty well built, custom fit 5th gen snorkel, this is your option.
Note: I know I said this before, but I have tried to find a solution for a 5th gen snorkel for about 18 months, I went as far as to contact a injection molder and Eli at Ironman Off-road. Bottom line, to make the 5 molds required to produce the 5th gen snorkel and get a single snorkel into production requires roughly a $100k investment. This translates into a ROI starting at over 9200 snorkels to reach the black (not even turning profit). Even if technology could in a few years cut production cost in half or even 75 percent, they still need 2000-4000 people willing to buy a snorkel. This entire forum could not get 100 off the shelf if they were free.
FWIW. I am ordering 2 (full priced) snorkels from FTS this week, one more for me and one for GD2013. FTS says they have only sold 2 in 13 months, one to me, and one to CA. With a demand like that, I assume they will not continue offering these for much longer.
