I just want some opinions from guys out there who have either tried multiple ones or have one that they think is the best. Some of the different styles I've seen:

1. K&N cold air intake.
2. Round Top
3. Ram Air Box (dual tubes)
4. Stock with K&N filter

Everyone knows the K&N cold air intake is expensive! I wouldnt mind paying the money for it, but I would always like to find other options. Esp if I could find something that works better! With the round tops, I'm not a real big fan. First off, they are exactly like every old chevy farm truck that I used to work on for my buddies. First thing is throw the stock piece in the junk and put an autozone chrome top on it (chrome adds 15hp), and if you stay on paved roads this setup works. But the first dirt road you drive down, your $60 K&N just turned into oil soaked mud and cloth. Now you get to spend 1hr cleaning your filter b/c you spent too much on it just to throw it away. I just saw the Ram Air Box today, and will say that it seems like a really good design. But, the kit for my 01 Ram is like $300! And Im pretty sure that I wouldnt have to buy the whole kit and could use dryer hose or plastic tubing to get by until I made custom tubes out of fiberglass. Thats still a lot of time and work. I know the stock design for my truck leaves a lot to be desired and is not very efficient. I have seen guys on here that stole parts off the durango and pieced together something that looks a lot like a K&N system. I just want to get some people's opinions on these options and any other systems that arent mentioned.
Thanks

 

Why do you want one?
They really don't do much on a stock motor.

Do a forum search and you can see for yourself.

If off-road driving is your concern, get a snorkle setup.

I also read that plain paper filters offer the same filtering as the oiled units.

But I love the Volant setup, it seems to make the most sense. The filter is enclosed and has dual inlets. one in to the stock fender location and a Ram air type of port in the front, but you could customize some snorkle setup there.

But if you are up to the fender in water, the snorkle setup will not be your first concern.

 

Yup. Thats the reason I went with the Volant myself.

Don't pay anywhere near "retail" price for it though. Look on eBay, look for sales. I got mine for $250-ish, rather than the $400 I've seen it for elsewhere. The $400 is just plain insanity. $250 is pushing it, but its the cheapest I could find it, and I had been looking for quite a while. Was a New Years deal or something or other, last December/January.

Slightly better acceleration is all I noticed until I did my exhaust.

 

I bought a cheapo setup online for my Ram and just put a good AEM dryflow filter on it. It came with the heat shield that mounts around it, so it is somewhat protected. I just did it to get a little heavier flow of air into the engine over stock...nothing is going to make a huge difference. I didn't want to pay a bunch of money, since the 8-10 HP gains that most of those companies claim comes in the 4-5K rpm range. Who drives in that range???

 

if your pulling you run in that range

 

True, but not constantly...the most I have pulled was about 4,500 lbs with OD off, and at cruising speed (I only drove about 70 mph) I was right around 3K rpms. But those companies always show you the highest numbers possible which are always in the high rpm range. I mean, my truck redlines at 5K...I definitely don't want to be driving for very long in the 4-5K range!

 

I like the volant system. It seems aight. As far as pulling, that would include a 24ft steel gooseneck trailer loaded with cattle. And yeah my truck runs right at the 4k rpm mark when Im pulling. Thank you 4.10 gears. The more I look at these things the more I think I will just end up building one out of fiberglass. I dont plan on having my fender filled with water, although its a possibility on some trails in AK! Has anybody put on one of the Ram Air Boxes?????

 

im talking like pulling trees down and stuff like that

 

Yeah, I here ya on that...definitely in that range. I you could get an extra 8-10hp for a situation like that I could see it helping. When I put my intake on, the biggest difference I noticed was at highway speeds...it had better top-end acceleration.

Jpnorris87: I would do the fiberglass...that leaves you open to design it however you want...