I did mine the same way but without the extra hardware. after removing the factory intake my flex-hose slipped into the hole in the filter box and just rides there nicely. I poked the other end through a hole I cut in the rubber shield just the right size to hold it firmly. A nice round hole too. I found a route for my flex-hose that did not require any squishing.

I didn't bother with a screen and in about five months I've yet to find so much as a moth in my filter box, but I did have water issues at a car wash once. My solution was to shut off the motor during washes.

Factory stock my 5.9 would get about 14mpg around town. That's figuring it myself on paper. I found the overhead computer not to be very accurate. Adding the 'custom' ram-air didn't improve my mileage much but it did improve my performance nicely.

 

Another proud user of the home brew CIA!

 

I know this thread is over a year old but here are some pictures of the intake I just put on my 99 Durango 5.2 today. I managed to route the pipe without squishing it. I also put a K&N lifetime oiled filter in so that if any water would find its way in, it won't destroy the filter.

 

Just did my home brew intake 5 days ago, my mileage has gone up 1.5mpg. I have found my overhead to be very accurate and handy.

 

You are the first to say their overhead is accurate. Mine says I get 13.1 - 13.3 MPG consistantly. However, my hand calculations (which I have done for 2 years now with each fillup) indicate an average of about 13.8 MPG over the past 6 months.

 

Just a heads up to those that have done this mod:

I did this too. I live in Portland, OR where it rains approx 8 months out of the year. When driving on the highways in Portland, when you can actually go 55mph+ due to traffic... the roads are like solid water mist from ground level to your windshield height.

I used an oiled filter (aFe) and the filter was fine, but when I looked inside my oil fill (where the PCV hose is located), I found caramel colored sludge. Not a lot, but enough to make me remove the CAI and go back to stock.

I was getting so much ram air that some water was going right thru the filter...

I changed the engine oil a couple times at 500 miles after that. I didn't see that my oil was contaminated, but it made me think twice about the CAI and rain...

 

i highly doubt the snot had anything to do with the CAI setup, the 4.7 is known for doing that when you drive it only short distances (or mostly short distances) without getting the engine all the way up to operating temp, the little bit of moisture that may get past the filter will not get into the oil bc it will be converted to vapor by the heat of the combustion in the piston and then blown out the exhaust.

 

+1 shrps, even if you sucked in water it is such a small amount it would be just like 100% humidity outside.

 

if your worried about sucking in water to your engine they make covers that allow air flow but the waterhits it and runs off... of just put on a custon safari snorkel

 

The oil on the k&n is hydrophobic so water should just run off anyways, but a snorkel would be awesome.