well i almost finished my custom PVC intake...so far everything has worked out perfectly... i was just wondering if about 90 degrees is a good intake temperature at 65MPH? i wanna be able to get the coldest possible air so i need to positon the filter just perfect.. right now its angled at the opening where the stock air intake was, near the opening behind the headlights....

 

there is no getting around
measuring for yourself where the
lowest temperature
and highest pressure air is
on your Dakota
but both are likely to be at least near the optimum
in the interior air vent 'plenum' at the base of your windshield

The temperature probe adapter for a multimeter is only $13 at Sears tool section,
and this has a type K thermocouple that can also measure 1500 degree exhaust gas temperature if you later move on to that cylinder balancing project.

A U-tube manometer to measure the differential pressure of the air in inches of water rise
can be made out of less than $15 worth of clear plastic tubing,
or you can buy an inches of water gauge from:

http://www.donaldson.com/en/engine/s...ary/053979.pdf

another pressure measuring option is to get a weather barometer
and put it inside a sealed clear plastic food container (Lock & Lock is one brand name)
and then drill a hole in the container, screw in a 'barb nipple' and run a length of tubing or hose out to the place to measure.

other stuff to read:

http://autospeed.com/cms/A_107824/article.html

http://autospeed.com/cms/A_109741/article.html

you might also want to learn how to predict in advance
how your hp will go up
based on changes in temperature and pressure
in the old post below:
----------
Page 415 of the Bosch Automotive Handbook, 5th edition

http://tinyurl.com/yplr3d

has the two equations you need
to see how horsepower and torque change
when either temperature or pressure change.

For temperature the offical equation
used by Americans (SAE) Europeans (ISO) and Japanese (JIN)
is:

{ Temperature Before + 460/Temperature After +460} raised to exponent 0.6

you need a scientific calculator to do this
but there is one built into every Windows computer
under Start...Accessories

As an example,
say that your re-locate your air inlet to a spot where the air temperature
drops to 80 degrees
when before the air coming in had been 100 degrees.

{100 +460 divided by 80 + 460} raised to exponent 0.6

={560/540} raised to exponent 0.6

= {1.037} raised to exponent 0.6

= 1.022

You mulitply this number times your horsepower or torque
so if your engine.
If your engine makes 230 hp at peak
1.022 times 230 = 235 horsepower with the 20 degree lower air temperature.

You may have heard the 'Rule of Thumb' that each 10 degree F reduction in air
temperature improves horsepower by 'about' 1% and the equation above is where
that comes from, but is more accurate

For corrections when the pressure changes
the following equation is used:

{absolute pressure after/absolute pressure before} raised to exponent 1.2

As an example
say that the weather is changing where you live
and one day the weatherman says the pressure is
29.5 inches of Mercury as a stormy "Low" passes over
then the next day a clear sky "High Pressure Area" passes over
and the pressure rises to 30 inches of Mercury

{30/29.5} raised to exponent 1.2
{1.0169} raised to exponent 1.2
= 1.0204

It is important to realize
that built right into your engine
are IAT (intake air temperature)
and MAP (manifold air pressure)
sensors.

Your IAT and MAP sensor outputs can tell you whether an aftermarket air intake
has helped or hurt your power output. You can read these sensors
yourself by using an OBD-II scanner, or a cheap electrical multimeter.

You are correct to suspect that most CAI's
only make more noise and have flashy colored parts.

Want confirmation about this from a CAI manufacturer?

Well right now KN Filters is running an advertisement in the various hot rod
magazine saying that a typical paper air filter from the factory creates a
restriction of about 2.8 inches of water....and when this filter gets really
dirty the restriction rises to about 12 inches of water restriction. The KN
advertisement has a dyno graph showing that this can cause about 11 hp power
loss on a high horsepower engine.

The pressure of the air around us is about 404 inches of water
so KN Filter is saying that the pressure is changing from
404 - 2.8 = 401.2
to a new pressure of
404 - 12 = 392 inches of water

Play around with the equations above
and you can find out what the actual horsepower of the engine KN was using
was....and then confirm it by looking at the dyno graph in the advertisement.

 

common sense tells me the coolest area would be furthest from the engine and towards the front as far as possible. im not sure how the 97's are, but on my 99 there is a rubber material next to the radiator behind the grill and id cut a hole in that and position my filter in that area so that cold air comes straight in at the filter thru the grill.

 

Get ready to clean/replace your air filter once a month.

 

is there a product that can hold clamps from un tightening.?

 

ive had mine set up this way for a couple of months now and so far it has been fine. no excessive dirt in the fiter and my power increase was very noticable. basicly all i did was re-route the hose that went into the fender and made it go out the front instead

 

yea I did that to mine in made a big difference, just put it right behind the grill and removed the matting that was creating a block

 

dont be cheap buy t-clamps or tourque clamps, hose clamps are for, well for hoses

 

good idea... although now i have another problem. the plastic intake manifold has a slight crack in it from the pvc being to heavy for it and now i need to fix it or replace and create some kind of support to hold up the pvc in place from boucning around.

 

make some brackets, id use a rubber insert to let the thing move tho...