[desertfox]

Heartiest congratulations. Good that the Mahindra Service team did a replacement under warranty.

[manveet]

A friend of mine has blown his Thar air sensor in a recent off-roading event and is getting it replaced under warrant. The same gentleman is now advocating the use of a snorkel for off-roading and other certain 4x4 accessory sales guys are even recommending it for general city driving due to the positive effect "cool fresh" air will bring to the engine.

I personally feel this is a lot of hog-wash and very akin to the car modification scene in NCR 7-8 years ago where wannabe-tuners were citing BHP gains by simple installation of cold air intakes and K&N was the biggest fad of the season. The tuning scene in India has matured since then, but somehow I feel that the Delhi NCR 4x4 scenario of today is very similar to those days where suddenly there's a huge bunch of 4x4 accessory outfits cropping up.

Could anyone shed light on the advantages vs. disadvantages of a snorkel for "mild" offroading especially with the Thar context. Is it really beneficial in non-water-wading scenarios, say for soft-roading on a dirt/muddy/slushy track?

Or to rephrase, is it a genuine risk to the air-filter if the Thar does NOT have a snorkel and decides to wade through a one feet high water body.

Here are a couple of Facebook posts for reference to the ongoing discussion ..

[manveet]

[akshay4587]

What is that thing in last picture?
Camera mount or something?

[HillyThar]

Hi Manveet,

I too have added in the official centre console on my Thar, it looks good, and is functional. I wanted to know about your door speaker setup, as I don't have a music setup as yet.

Were the MDF rings a standard setup and easy to do or did you have to get them fabricated and painted? If so, which place did you get them fitted? If you could share that info. with indicative costs will be super.

I will be travelling to Delhi and hope to get a basic bluetooth receiver and a 2 speaker setup done, I just have a portable bluetooth speaker stuck on the dash with blue tack for my music needs currently, but on long drives and with all the wind noise one really cant hear it!

Cheers

Originally Posted by manveet

Thank you guys!


Yes it can. But once I bought the "official" centre console from Mahindra dealer for Rs. 10K, I realised that the "official" space to mount the stereo was no longer possible. So I moved the stereo along with the OE mounting bracket to where you see it. Since we use the HU only with the iPod, and we have two remotes in the car (one for me and one for my wifey) this arrangement works out beautifully - never touched the OE ever since it was installed. In fact, now that we are on the subject, just the other day when we were driving down to Amritsar in the ML, I distinctly remember my wife mentioning how she prefers the Jeeps audio setup to the Mercs. Just the setup mind you, not the sound quality.

Also, don't let my post mislead you - the centre console is beautiful. Good quality stuff.



So, we had to put two MDF rings. That solved the speaker interfering with the window problem, but created the speaker interfering with the seats problem. This is a twofold problem, first creates a hindrance to the front/back movement of the bigger+wider Innova seats and secondly spoils sound quality as the seat cushion comes right in front of the speaker.

[manveet]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

What is that thing in last picture?
Camera mount or something?

Yes, absolutely right.

So what I have done is fix a matte black lightweight aluminum pipe that runs across the dashboard just an inch away from the windscreen. The pivot camera mount is attached to a c-clamp (that can slide on this pipe) which enables me to position the P&S camera anywhere across the width of the dashboard - depending on the view I want to use in the video.

Originally Posted by HillyThar

Hi Manveet,

I too have added in the official centre console on my Thar, it looks good, and is functional. I wanted to know about your door speaker setup, as I don't have a music setup as yet.

Were the MDF rings a standard setup and easy to do or did you have to get them fabricated and painted? If so, which place did you get them fitted? If you could share that info. with indicative costs will be super.

I will be travelling to Delhi and hope to get a basic bluetooth receiver and a 2 speaker setup done, I just have a portable bluetooth speaker stuck on the dash with blue tack for my music needs currently, but on long drives and with all the wind noise one really cant hear it!

Cheers

Do you already have or intend to have power windows installed? This is important as it will impact your speaker installation.

[HillyThar]

Originally Posted by manveet

Do you already have or intend to have power windows installed? This is important as it will impact your speaker installation.

Hi Manveet,

I dont have power windows installed, without it do you think its difficult to install the door speakers? I was planning on a 6" Rocksford Fosgate Punch with some dampening. Might need to to consider 4" speakers or power windows else you think?

Thanks!

[andy.001]

Manveet its a marvelous creation, Just watching your Thar take shape was a treat to watch.
I really like the centrally mounted spare tire. How did you get that centred ? AFAIK its off-centred towards right.

[manveet]

Originally Posted by HillyThar

Hi Manveet,

I dont have power windows installed, without it do you think its difficult to install the door speakers? I was planning on a 6" Rocksford Fosgate Punch with some dampening. Might need to to consider 4" speakers or power windows else you think?

Thanks!

Infact installing 6" speakers is better without power windows since you get to choose where you want to install the speakers. With power windows, the motor takes away a lot of prime real estate killing your options.

Ready-made carpeted MDF rings are available at most half-decent audio installers for 200-300 bucks a pair.

Originally Posted by andy.001

Manveet its a marvelous creation, Just watching your Thar take shape was a treat to watch.
I really like the centrally mounted spare tire. How did you get that centred ? AFAIK its off-centred towards right.

Thank you for the appreciation and especially for noticing the minor details. Only a true enthusiast can appreciate the time and effort I have put in this vehicle.

Basically the tire is 4 inches to the right. So first you will have to extend the rods by 4 inches and then redo the factory bracket. Do not believe people who tell you that new holes will have to be drilled and a new support rod fabricated on the inside of the tail-gate. What needs to be done is just cut the 2 inch wide bracket mounted to the RHS of the vertical rod, and flip it over to the other side, and voila! Job will be done using same bracket and OE holes and support etc. It's a very technical desi jugaad, if there was ever such a term

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Originally Posted by manveet

Only a true enthusiast can appreciate the time and effort I have put in this vehicle. Basically the tire is 4 inches to the right. So first you will have to extend the rods by 4 inches and then redo the factory bracket. Do not believe people who tell you that new holes will have to be drilled and a new support rod fabricated on the inside of the tail-gate. What needs to be done is just cut the 2 inch wide bracket mounted to the RHS of the vertical rod, and flip it over to the other side, and voila! Job will be done using same bracket and OE holes and support etc. It's a very technical desi jugaad, if there was ever such a term

Dear Manveet - dude, you are exactly living my dream. My Thar would have only 3 differences to yours. It will be black. It will have half rally style body with rollover bars. It will not have negative offset wheels. Except for these three things, you are living my dream, so thanks! .

On spare wheel mounting position, I almost landed up doing the same "technical desi juggad". "As per rules" (you know which rules), the full area of the tail light rectangle must ve visible to a guy standing 5 meters away from the vehicle at an angle of 45 degrees to the center line. As I had used the MM540 army bracket as it is, the 235/70R16 tire met this regulation by a whisker, otherwise "my juggad, same as yours" was ready to move the tire slightly to the LH side to meet the regulation! Small world eh? .

On snorkel, if water goes in the engine, it will bend the connecting rods and wreck the engine. So having one is better than not having one. Having one is very easy. Having a technically "really sealed" one is extremely difficult. Power delivery will be same as long as the pressure drop across the air intake system is maintained. Unfortunately, there are more "appearance snorkels" than real ones in the market out there, where I have experienced power drop. Be careful how you spend your money (buzz - there is a very simple way to "passively snorkel" the Thar CRDe, try and guess what it is, I'll tell you shortly).

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[manveet]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Dear Manveet - dude, you are exactly living my dream. My Thar would have only 3 differences to yours. It will be black. It will have half rally style body with rollover bars. It will not have negative offset wheels. Except for these three things, you are living my dream, so thanks! .

Thank you very much BD ji .. glad you like it. Am not sure my wheels are negative offset though, let me get back to you on that.

About the black & half-rally style body - do you mean something like this?



On the Snorkel . ..

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

... (buzz - there is a very simple way to "passively snorkel" the Thar CRDe, try and guess what it is, I'll tell you shortly).

PLEASE share more inputs on this ASAP. I am not really keen on a snorkel .. does not go with the Jeep look I have in mind - but since I am expecting some in-water activity this month end so any immediate advice would be most appreciated.

A "sleeper" snorkel would be a cool thing to have on the Jeep.

[Aroy]

A snorkel is a good idea if you are traversing dusty roads, especially if some one is in front of you spewing dust. The higher the air intake, the less dust goes in. The only precaution is to ensure that the snorkel is water proof, else when you attempt water crossing thinking the snorkel will protect you, any leak will be disastrous to the engine.

Apart from snorkel, breather pipes for the differentials and GB will prevent water ingress, which may happen even if you cross 1 foot of water.

[Sutripta]

I'm a strong believer in function before form. Which I think should be the thinking of most Jeepers. So I've always wondered why I've never seen a Jeep + snorkel with a cyclone on top. I know it would look dorky, but what better way to say 'I don't bother about looks/ what others think'.

Regards
Sutripta

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

I'm a strong believer in function before form. Which I think should be the thinking of most Jeepers. ...

Originally Posted by Sutripta

... So I've always wondered why I've never seen a Jeep + snorkel with a cyclone on top. I know it would look dorky, but what better way to say 'I don't bother about looks/ what others think'...

Adding a pic of the cyclone for clarity...



pic courtesy :

http://www.euro4x4parts.com/parts/ft...rkel_head.html

[Endeavour333]

May I ask where you got your alloys from page 1 please? My cousin just bought a Thar and I'm helping him choose parts for modifications. He cannot seem to decide on rims at the moment. His Thar has gone to Mahindra for the Mahindra expedition kit mods. Back in Friday. Appreciate your help. If you got the rims online could you mention model number too please?