2021 Ranger ARB Snorkel Install

​Remove the air cleaner assembly.

​Cover the intake hose with a plastic bag to prevent anything from falling into the intake.

Cover the fender with masking tape.

And then use the fender template to mark the mounting holes and cutout.

​Drill out the mounting holes.

​And then increase the hole sizes to 16mm (5/8″).

Drill holes inside the circle so you have a place to start the saw blade.

Now cut a hole in your $40K Ford Ranger.

My only saw choices were a Sawzall or a jigsaw. I used the jigsaw.

The saw started to tear the tape, so I covered it in Gorilla tape.

I had to remove the plastic clips that hold the fender liner in place.

I hate whoever the person is that invented these plastic clips with the stupid plastic Philips screw in the middle of them. The plastic screw in the middle almost never comes out and I end up having to remove them with a trim removal tool.

​Anyway, you have to remove the marker light in the fender flare by squeezing the clip on the back of it and pushing it out and then removing the bolt behind the light.

Then remove the bolt at the bottom of fender flare at the rear of the fender opening.

​Once all of the clips are out you can drop the fender liner down, so you have access to the area behind the fender.

​Apply Loctite 243 to each of the stainless-steel mounting studs and install them in the snorkel finger tight.

​And install the upper mounting bracket.

​Cover the A-pillar with masking tape.

​Carefully install the snorkel body onto the fender and then mark the outline of the upper mounting bracket on the masking tape.

With the snorkel body positioned, open the door to make sure it clears.

​Then remove the snorkel, remove the upper mounting bracket, and use it as a template to mark the mounting holes.

​Now drill out the mounting holes with a 5mm (3/16″) drill and install it with the supplied pop rivets.

​In the inside of the engine bay, you need to unclip this wire loom.

​Position the inner support plate to the inner fender using the 6mm hole that’s already there (above my thumb) and trace the opening with a marker.

​Now the fun is cutting the hole out. I tried cutting it with the jigsaw, and it was a pain. I found that if I drilled larger holes close together there was less metal to cut.

​I cleaned the opening with a grinder.

And then installed the support plate again with that 6mm hole so I could mark and drill the remaining mounting holes.

​You need a 90-degree drill to drill out the (10) 5.5mm (3/16″) mounting holes. I didn’t have a 90-degree drill, so I picked up a Milescraft Drill90Plus Right Angle Drill attachment for about $20. Works great.

​I had to apply Sikaflex 227 adhesive to the back of the inner fender support before bolting it on. This is basically a seam sealer.

​I really don’t understand why ARB calls for Sikaflex to be applied to this support plate. It doesn’t seal anything. It doesn’t seal the snorkel.

​I broke the plastic retaining clip that held the harness where the support plate mounted. I had some plastic retaining clips and took (2) zip ties and made my own clip to hold the harness.

Modifying The Air Box

You have to remove some of the ribbed areas on the air box and cut out a section for the snorkel to attach to.

​

I trimmed them off with a hacksaw blade and sanded the area smooth.

The snorkel kit comes with paper templates that you lay over the air box and trace, so you know where to cut.

ARB gave these templates part numbers but refer to them in the instructions by an item number. So, you have to look at the parts list to figure out what part number is Item 29. I simplified this by writing the item number on the templates. I also realized that two of them were mislabeled.

So, I put masking tape on the air box so I could trace the templates with a permanent marker.

I hate that there’s a bunch of little templates instead of one or two that wraps around. Not only do you have to trace out the cut lines, but you have to mark the holes for the snorkel to bolt to it.

Look at the tape below. I positioned the snorkel hose to it and found that the holes weren’t going to line up with the holes in the snorkel. So, I used the snorkel for my template for the mounting holes.

You have to apply Sikaflex 227 to the mounting surface of the snorkel hose before you bolt it on to help seal it.

In the top middle part of the photo below you’ll see a drain hole in the bottom of the factory air box. ARB suggests that seal the drain hole, but for some reason doesn’t include anything to seal it with.

I covered the hole on the bottom of the air box with Gorilla Tape. This tape is strong and holds up well.

On the inside I filled the hole with Sikaflex 227 to help seal it up.