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Last night I ran some corrugated plastic tubing from my air box to the front of the truck to simulate K&N and other types of CAIs. I just uploaded pictures of the setup in my gallery. I folded the rubber shielding between the radiator and frame down so cold air enters the engine compartment. Mounted the wireless thermometer sending unit in front of the intake. Took a test drive, 15 to 20 miles, just watched the thermometers. Temp at intake remained the same as outside air. Once the engine warmed up, temp in the filter was 10 degrees warmer than outside air while driving. Hit the town near the end of the run, 25 mph, stoplight, the filter temp starts to climb but comes back to to about 10 F above outside air once reaching highway speeds again.

Last night I had the tubing sticking against the air conditioner tube. I thought this might be a little closer to the front of the truck than the K&N setup, so I cut about 6-8 inches off the tube so it is pulling air from slightly behind the radiator. I also moved the wireless sending unit to inside the engine compartment, just to the outside of the tube (see pics).

I drove to work and recorded the data. Again, no different findings than last nights run or from the original set of data using the stock setup. Air temp was 10 F higher with engine warmed up at highway speeds. Outside air was 17 F this morning during the 10 to 14 mile segment at 55 mph and air at filter stabilized at 27 F. Goes up at stop signs and in town, same as stock.

If someone requests, I will post the data. I will also make a shielded inlet similar to the K&N FIPK if someone asks, but I don't think it is necessary for my test. I am not saying the shielding doesn't help, I think it does during town driving, but not on the highway. One interesting fact, after shutting the truck off, I went out and checked the thermometers after it sat for about 20 - 30 minutes this morning.

Outside air---21 F, Air at Intake---48 F, Air at filter--116 F.

Compare this to the original test at 25 min.
Outside air---31 F, Air at Intake---46, Air at filter---112

I realize that I didn't check the temperatures at the exact same time, but the air temp at the intake with the K&N setup seems to be rising quicker. That makes sense, it is closer to the radiator and engine which are giving off heat. That's why I say I think the shielding is good for town driving, when there is low air flow through the engine compartment.

One other interesting note. The air filter temp today at the top of the mountain was 22.5 F. Yesterday's run it was 69 F. I did notice I was able to climb the mountain with a little more speed. The truck seemed to bog yesterday, I dropped down to 40 mph and it felt like it was ready to kick down to 2nd, but this morning I was up to 50 mph and holding speed until I had to slow down for the sedan in front of me. Again, just a note, there's too many other variables to draw conclusions.

Possibly tomorrow I will cut the intake tube shorter so it is drawing air from the right rear of the engine, similiar to the other styles of intakes. If anyone has any comments or would like me to try something else before I cut the tube, let me know.

steve00ram360 - I checked the water temp guage this morning at the 4.7 mile mark. It was a little below the normal operating temperature at that point, slightly below the "2". Heading up the mountain, it did reach normal.
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