So I was under the hood yesterday, looking at how I can get more cold air flowing to the CAI since the stock one is in a ridiculously tight space, and the tube heads in a ridiculous direction stock...



I found this piece of rubber in front and to the left of the rad...










Question is... should it be left there? What's its purpose?

I presume it's just there to prevent rocks n' debris, but any definitive information would he helpful. Without it being there, it seems to open up a decent space to pull in some cool air... If I had anything but the stock Intake there...

Thoughts? Info?


Thanks,

 

well it really is there to prevent stuff from getting through there. The air filter could get dirtier faster without it.

 

fair enough, I suspected as much... I left it there just in case... I'm just trying to find a real solution to the air intake...
There's gotta be a place to be able to suck in more air... it just seems so odd that the intake just sucks air in from a fairly confined space behind the light, but on the inside of the fender.

 

i got rid of mine a while ago. unless you go thru deep mud everyday i dont think you need it. air gets to the engine and intake better.

if you got the stock intake no way its going to get dirtier with the snorkel.

 

I'd say it's there to protect your air conditioning lines from rocks. They're pretty thin and a rock at 60mph would likely pierce right through. I'd leave it there (I like air conditioning too much to risk it)

 

Yea, I would hate to have a rock in there, but I am curious how the performance will change (if at all) with it out.

Sure the AC lines are "exposed" but not too badly when the grille is down.
I'm gonna check it out with it off for the next little bit.

I'm looking at new a new grille if I can find one at a decent price, currently have the stock grille on the truck.

There's not a lot of room for a rock to get in there as it is... wonder if I can find some sort of mesh (strong enough) to put behind the grille without causing any issues... hmm brain storming has begun.

 

Twitch,

I was wondering the same thing when I installed my intake last week!

I think even putting aftermarket grill inserts in your stock grill would probably be enough to keep things out. With a higher quality filter, it is washable anyways.

Would there be a huge negative to cutting the inside fenders more around the air filter? I don't mean the wheel well, it is important, but I mean side and the front behind the headlight. I've seen guys who were doing autocross just take their passenger headlight out to allow more air.

 

This is true, now to convince wifey that I "need" this

I wondered this same thing too, but was quickly advised that it could potentially cause structural issues with the frame in that space. Perhaps there'd be a quick way to reinforce there... not sure.

I was looking at ways to reroute airflow up from the valance but I dunno if that's possible.

I keep mulling over various options.
Guess I'll have to play around with the pencil and paper.

....


Now that I'm typing, I'm also thinking that maybe wrapping the AC lines up with something durable may help as well... I'm sure there must be something to do that with.

 

I dont see really any issue with cutting the fender as long as its a reasonable amount but thinking of it my buddy has a bagged titan and cut fenders with a inch of the inner fender left ill have to get a pic of it next time. Also as long as you dont drive in dusty areas you can just take the snorkel part off but leave the rubber part there as it will stop rain from getting in there. It will still let more air in

 

Also intead of trying to convince you're wife that you need new grill inserts there arre a few write ups on DIY grills. I'm browsing through my phone right this moment so I can't post the link to it. But it uses the mesh from gutter guards and looks like one that you have bought but only costs about $7.00 at home depot