CAI Question
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Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Southern CA
CAI Question
OK so I just bought my first Dodge. it is a 2001 Durango SLT 4.7L with 75000 miles on it. i got it for $6,300. Already I love it. However I am Never able to leave well enough alone. I want to add a new CAI. I have seen many on ebay...(that is where I shop since I tend to have a smaller budget) I really like the way those dual filter CAI's look. I do have a question about them though. How can they be called CAI's when they are not anywhere near a source of cooler air? They sit directly on top of the engine block. I have seen that a few people here have used them and I guess I am asking are they really going to add to the performance of my engine or are they just going to add to the cool sound?
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Joined: Jul 2007
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From: South Georgia/East Florida
You do get some benefit by virtue of the larger surface area of the cone filter pulling in more air, but not nearly as much as if the air was cooler. Cooler air is more dense and the PCM will dump more fuel into denser air. More fuel = better performance, of course at a slight MPG expense.
A lot of those ebay CAIs are junk. I've seen quite a few fall apart in a short period of time from normal road vibrations. Especially the "chrome" looking ones where the tubes and flanges are pot metal. There is one in particular with a small flange that connects to the bracket holding it against the sidewall where that flange snaps in no time.
You wanna save money? Make one yourself out of about $15 in PVC, elbows and a boot with a couple clamps. Paint it to match your truck, stick a good quality $25-35 cone filter on the end and call it a day, all for about $50 or less. Lots of good DIYs on this forum on how to make it.
You can even get a PVC "Y" and make one like the one you have pictured, but you'll get no real benefit from the 2nd filter, only so much air is gonna pass thru the throttle body at once anyway. But it looks cool...
A lot of those ebay CAIs are junk. I've seen quite a few fall apart in a short period of time from normal road vibrations. Especially the "chrome" looking ones where the tubes and flanges are pot metal. There is one in particular with a small flange that connects to the bracket holding it against the sidewall where that flange snaps in no time.
You wanna save money? Make one yourself out of about $15 in PVC, elbows and a boot with a couple clamps. Paint it to match your truck, stick a good quality $25-35 cone filter on the end and call it a day, all for about $50 or less. Lots of good DIYs on this forum on how to make it.
You can even get a PVC "Y" and make one like the one you have pictured, but you'll get no real benefit from the 2nd filter, only so much air is gonna pass thru the throttle body at once anyway. But it looks cool...
I agree with Hammer, but the gain you get from more surface area would be taken back due to the intake of hot air unless you had a ram air hood. I went to my auto parst store (Oreiley) and got the 3" flex pipe from spectre and a couple standard hose clamps and made myself a CAI Although it uses the standard air box, it takes it in from the only open spot with the 4.7L and also gets it from behind the headlight.
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