Stinger Accessories - Product Review

Stinger Accessories

May. 01, 1997 By Gerald Luiz

Stinger Accessories in Phoenix, Arizona, has provided Off-Road.com with the following products for evaluation on ORC's HUMMER Project Vehicle. Stinger is one of the original and most innovative aftermarket parts source for the HUMMER.

Any comments on the following reviews or personal experiences with the products are always welcome. Use the Feedback button at the bottom of the page.

If you would like to have one of your products reviewed, send email to sales@off-road.com. We are happy to evaluate products from vendors who do or do not advertise with us.

Products Reviewed

Hood Snubbers
Short Snorkel
Fuel and Water Cans
Click here for Stinger contact information.

Hood Snubbers

First of all, what's a snubber? The HUMMER hood is retained by the two rubber straps mechanism on each side of the hood. The hood is pressed onto plastic "bumpers" or "stops" mounted on the body directly under the latches. The hood is centered via a "bumper" (guide block) mounted on the body in front of the windshield center pillar and metal stops on the hood. While serving to purpose of keeping the hood closed, the hood can sometimes rattle at any of the bumpers. The plastic parts can also squeak, especially when wet. Since the front of the hood is attached to the frame and the bumpers are part of the body, squeaks can happen when the body flexes.

The Stinger Hood Snubbers kit consists of three pieces: two side bumpers and a center guide. These items are direct replacements for the two plastic latch bumpers and the plastic center guide. The key is that they Stinger parts are made of graphite impregnated polyurethane. Since the material is naturally more "slippery", squeaks should be less frequent and supposedly eliminates the need for greasing. They latch bumper parts are also hollow. This combined with the softer polyurethane makes them quite a bit more flexible. Since they are slightly taller than stock, the hood gets preloaded on the bumpers.

The installation process is very easy. The side bumpers are just two bolts each, same with the center guide. The hood opens and closes with no noticeable differences...just like stock.

Since installing them, I have noticed less rattles on the road. Most importantly, rattling off-road seems to be dramatically reduced. I can't even remember hearing them rattle at all. The preloaded and softer material really work for the side bumpers. Since the center guide is pretty rigid, I cannot comment on how effective that piece is.

I first did not lube them at all and did notice some squeaking. It got worse in damp weather. It is hard to isolated the source but I imagine that they can come from any of hood interfaces. Since the stock units were always greased, I greased the Stinger snubbers. No more squeaks. Since the parts are slicker than stock, I predict that the Stinger units will require less maintenance than the stock units.

In summary, the Stinger Hood Snubbers do eliminate hood rattles. They are easy to install as direct replacements and do not affect hood operation. I do find that they need to be greased for full elimination of squeaks.

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Short Snorkel

Engines hate to inhale water, diesels more so than gas. Since water is relatively incompressible, water entering the combustion chamber cannot be compressed as the piston moves up. Hence, the rods, crank, pistons, block, and many other parts can get severely damaged. Since the engine intake is at the height of the hood, it is very susceptible to water rushing over the hood when entering water too fast.

The Short and Tall Snorkel kits raise the height of the engine air intake to provide protection against this costly accident. This can happen when entering water too fast and a wave flows up the hood. It also protects against the accidental immersion in deep water. Note that the kits are not designed to increase fording depth. Many other components limit the fording depth. Always check the depth of the water before crossing. The raising of the intake height eliminates the need to dig out the cap after a good snow.

The Stinger Snorkels also employ a Centri precleaner at the top (the silver can). Air is pulled in from the underside of the unit, along the periphery, causing a turbine impeller to spin. The turbine action forces particles to the outside of the canister to be ejected via the exhaust port. The cleaned air moves to the center of the unit and down tube to enter the air cleaner. The Centri is designed to remove larger, heavier particles from the air before the air filter. It does not preclude the use of the engine air filter but should increase its life and efficiency.

Since installing the kit, I feel more confident in entering water. I know that if the bottom drops out or I get stuck in mud and start to sink that I probably won't destroy the motor. I cannot really comment on the precleaners effectiveness. There are just too many variables. I have been checking the dust unloader though. I have had reports from some that they actually see junk being ejected as they drive along. With the Short Snorkel, I find that it does interfere with my vision out of the right side windshield. No great loss for me because I didn't use it much. For passengers it does interfere more significantly. The Tall Snorkel moves the "can" to roof height so that only the tube is in the way. The precleaner can be removed and replaced with the stock cap. This might be good for around town driving and switch to the precleaner for off-road excursions.

Both kits come with the extension tube and Centri precleaner at the top. They both replace the stock intake cap. The Short Snorkel requires no other work while the Tall Snorkel has a bracket that must be screwed to the windshield frame. The metal tube is painted black and the precleaner is silver. Both can be painted to match the vehicle.

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Gas and Water Cans

Stinger imports these cans from Germany. The metal cans hold about 5.25 US gallons (20L) of gasoline, diesel, or water. The green cans are for fuel. The tan cans are for water and have "Trinkwasser" (drinking water) stensiled in white on the side. The lid is also painted white. It is coated on the inside to prevent rust. There are three tubular bars forming the handle.

The best feature of the cans is the lid mechanism. The lid itself is hinged on the side closest to the handle and flips to past vertical. No loose cap dangling around or unattached to get lost. The latch mechanism is hinged in the middle of the lid and flips toward the front. There are slotted plates on each side of the latch that engage with bosses on both sides of the filler neck. The camming action of the latch presses the lip of the filler tightly with the rubber gasket on the underside of the lid. The seal is excellent, and the cans can be laid horizontal with no leaks.

A spout is also available. Made of flexible metal tubing, it attaches using a latch mechanism similar to the lid. It too has slotted plates that rotate down and engage with the bosses. It provides a tight, leak free seal.

I think the cans are excellent and should give years of great service. Since there is no vent opening, pouring can be slower than the usual vented plastic cans. It is slower with the spout of course. For long life of the water can, it should be tilted on its side with the filler at the lowest part. This ensures that all water has been drained and allows the air to dry the inside to prevent rust.

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