So I installed my Vararam intake the other day. Install was a PIA. So hard to keep everything lined up and routing the intake ducts wasnt fun either. For the price I think the fit and finish was pretty crap and the routing of the intake ducts seems a bit long and not straight enough for me.

Anyhow, I was wondering if i should drill two small holes in the intake ducts at their lowest point to drain any water. Rain/Snow will definately get in there while driving and I dont want it just sitting in those ducts with nowhere to go.

What do you guys think?

 

I've had mine for about a year and a half and haven't had any problems so I don't think it is necessary. There is a lot of duct there and a long way to travel, but I do see why you would be nervous. Stay away from deep water and you should be fine.

 

I was all set on the Vararam until I did some searching around on here for it and read of a few cases of hydrolock or other water intake issues from several posters. They say it was from normal driving conditions (like following a car spraying up water in the rain), or hitting "puddles" that splashed water up to the intakes, though who knows if that is true, or if they are having problems because they drove their truck into a lake...? One of the ones I read about, the poster said he did have holes drilled in the intake tube for water drainage, but apparently that didn't work.

I take my truck off road and drive it in all weather conditions, so I just decided the Vararam wasn't for me. I don't have any other real engine mods where an intake would help much at the moment, anyway.

 

If it is just snow or rain you're worried about getting sucked in and hydro-locking the engine, there isn't much to worry about. The long and winding intake tubes will catch any moisture and allow it to dribble back towards the opening. Any "drain hole" in the tubes will be pointless.

BUT, if you get the both intake tubes under water like a deep puddle or perhaps a large splash of water like mentioned by Chet Ubetcha, then any small drain hole you make in the tubes will also be pointless. If it is sucking up enough water all at once that could cause damage, then small drain holes won't even make a dent in the amount of water being sucked in. The drain holes would have to be quite large in order to work as intended for that scenario. Of course, there's no point to the entire setup if you're putting holes like that in the tubing...

I believe that under normal driving conditions, even in pouring rain, there is nothing to worry about for water getting sucked in that could cause damage. Sure, there will be a lot of moisture (humidity) in the air it is taking in, but not enough to hydro-lock the engine. Even if a large amount of water is splashed up to the entrance of the tubes, as long as you weren't at or close to WOT at the same moment of the splash, then there isn't a need to worry. The engine would have to be sucking in a lot of air to be able to draw the water into the intake. It's not impossible for it to happen, just not very likely under normal driving conditions. My suggestion is to not follow the vehicle in front of you close enough to get hit with that much water. If it is a vehicle passing by that creates the splash, keep in mind that both tubes need to be sucking in large amounts of water at the same time to maintain enough vacuum to draw the water all the way to the intake. As soon as one of the tubes is clear of water, the vacuum is lost and the rest of the water drains out.

You can contact them with any questions, which is probably better for your peace of mind than just taking my word for it.
http://vararam.com/contact.html

 

Thanks for the input. No deep water off tossing for me. I wasn't concerned with water getting to the TB much since that is a long way to go. I was just more concerned with any excess water sitting in the bottom of the ducts. It would drain out on any downhill I guess and I have plenty of those in Pittsburgh.

Thanks again

 

Off roading. Stupid auto text on my cell.

 

I have driven mine through a complete down pour and when I got home checked under the hood and there wasnt so much as a drop of water in by the filter. If you are worried about it though, before going through what you may think is deep water or if there is a spot on the road you know floods on your way to and from work or school, disconnect the intake tubes that mount to the bottom of the filter and tie them to the side some how or another. you will still get the air moving but not the ram air function. Then when you get home and it drys off put them back on.

 

Even though the Vararam intakes are in the front, but keep in mind that the factory airbox opening is even lower than those. Many have hydrolocked their Ram with the stock intake.

 

Im sorry man, but the factory airbox is no where near as low as where the vararam pulls its air from. Under the hood they are about the same height but from the tubes, the vararam has at least a solid foot if not more from where the inlet on the stock box is.