As anybody who rides a Ural in more extreme conditions knows, the OE aircleaner leaves a lot to be desired, can be overwhelmed by heavy dust, rain, or snow, and restricts performance. For the past 5 years I have been experimenting and watching what other folks have come up with. Some solutions work well but are difficult to service, can be awkward in placement, or detrimental to performance. My solution after much consideration is a combination of using a Trabant car filter element that was used by Dnepr, Ural on the Euro spec Wolf, enthusiast builders in Russia, and combine it with a cyclonic precleaner commonly used on construction and agricultural equipment. Unfortunately the Trabant, Dnepr, Wolf and commercial precleaners are all too large to fit in the space available on a Ural Patrol so everything had to be made from scrach using exhaust pipe and sheet metal. For the past month and a half I have dedicated most of my spare time to fabricating the aircleaner system, and now that it is finished, installed and jetted to suit, I couldn't be more pleased with the result. There has been a significant improvement in performance, and roll on acceleration. It is very easy to service, the filter can be changed in less than 2 minutes, and doesn't look out of place. The Engineair precleaner I copied, http://www.enginaire.com/ ,claims to remove 98% of contaminants before the air enters the filter. If the precleaner works as planned, the air filter shouldn't need to be serviced more than once or twice a year regardless of conditions. Filter housing Cyclone vanes Ejector rotor Cyclone chamber with debris ejection port Precleaner unit housing Branch pipe to filter connectors Snap in end caps Trabant filter element
That thing is a work of art! I love it. Are you going to sell plans, or sell finished units, or ? I want one!
What Mechanista said! A beautiful piece of work...how can I order one, and where do I send payment? Don
Great job! As a part of a futuristic aircraft)) By the way, this concept, of particulate matter ejection from airflow, has been successfully implemented in the old-style oil-filled inertial air filters on the Urals. But those filters require frequent maintenance, and according to some riders badly purify the air. Although I use it oil-filled filter, and I like it because it is "eternal" and does not requires to replace the filter element. And your filter is really so cool. Without any flaws. Now you can safely ride to any dusty roads
For awhile there in the pictures, you were on your way to a fine new series of alchol burning camp stoves. But I suppose it will work as an air filter system too. (kidding of course, you have mad fab skills sir, well done)
Please make some working drawings of this. I am sure lots of us would be willing to pay for them. At least a list of the "off the shelf" plumbing bits and other ods and ends you used. Great work.
I just did everything by eye, more of an artist than an engineer, I'd be lost trying to produce drawings. Used a foot of 5" exhaust pipe, a foot of 2 1/4" exhaust pipe, one inch of 3/8" pipe, 2 1 3/4 X 2 1/8"(OD) exhaust pipe connectors, 2 4" X 2" rubber pipe reducers, 2 inches of 1/8" rod, 2 1/8" 2R RS sealed bearings, a sheet of 16 ga. steel, some miscellaneous scrap steel. I'm just a hobbyist fabricator with some very basic shop tools, no way I could economically or efficiently manufacture these units, but the positive comments are appreciated.
Howdy Barry, You have put an awful lot of hard work into building this and from your preliminary reports it seems to be well worth the effort. I know what you mean about not being able to profitably produce such a product due the amount of work involved and limited demand for the end product. This may sound rather harsh but I would strongly advise you NOT to produce drawings of your work or it will as has your two into one exhaust pipe be picked up by someone who has the money and connections to take your idea and make money from it. If someone wants to pay you for the drawings thats up to you to decide but I know you have spent many hours just trying to figure this out before ever taking tools and material in hand to do the work itself its hard to put a price on the time you have put into making this happen. Congratulations on another fine piece of work you are a credit to all back yard engineers everywhere.
That's pretty neat :eek1 After spending the last couple of weeks mincing around with my air filter in my rig (only had it a few weeks), I can definitely see why so many people try to reinvent the wheel(s) on these things
Those little hand nibblers are the coolest thing. I have one I've 50 yrs old and it looks just like that. It's the coolest thing I've seen since cleco rivet place holders Awesome home brew project
It was my fathers, he had it as far back as I can remember, and I'm 48. Awesome tool, used it a couple times for this project.
How far off was last jetting from what is required w/ your new set up ? And what you have displayed says a lot about the builder.
Theres a statement that could be taken many ways. but really it says I have lots of spare time. Right now I am running 40/122 jets and Gossie needles, and will try 120 and 118 jets as soon as they come. Will probably raise the needle a notch when I settle on the main jet. I was running 40/128 with the OE airbox. It's too soon to tell after only 1 tank, but it looks like mileage may be in the 35 mpg range. Some of that may be weather related as it has been cold and dry with very little wind.