Friendly warning on ebay intakes-my truck averaged .1 secondsand 1.5 mph SLOWER with the ebay intake compared to stock. I did 3 consecutive passes with the stock intake and with the ebay w/ K&N cone. The stock intake did a much better job at getting to the cold air, which apparently is more important than smoother/bigger piping.

 

I've got a really good idea for cold air.... but I'm not spilling it. Someone will try to discourage me and then make it themselves.[sm=icon_sneaky.gif]

 

Two great American brothers
with only high school educations
had a DIY project
that they eventually called the 'Airplane'
but like the Wright Brothers
you need to do the project with careful testing.

If you want a real answer you can trust about an air intake design,
then you have the choices of using a scanner to read the
IAT sensor (intake air temperature)
and MAP sensor (manifold absolute pressure,
or you can use less expensive gauges........

For the inexpensive route,
Go down to Sears and buy one of the $30-70 multimeters with the temperature
probe. Sometimes they are on sale for $19

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...26+Accessories

Later you can use this relatively cheap multimeter and its Type K thermocouple
to 'balance' your exhaust gas temperatures by swapping around the highest
flowing fuel injectors to the highest flowing intake ports....but that is
another story.

Then buy one of these $30 gauges that can measure low pressures and buy a length of plastic tubing about 10 feet long to attach to it:

http://flw.com/olash2.htm#1490

Get the 30/30" pressure model.

If you don't want to spend this money for the pressure gauge
you can also make a simple
"U tube manometer"
with just a 20 foot length of clear plastic tubing and a yardstick:



Now drill small 1/16 th inch diameter holes in your stock air filter housing
and air inlet tubing,
like at:

1. at the begining of the inlet tube
2. in front of the air filter element
3. behind the air filter element
4. near the throttle body connection

Put a fresh new air filter element in your stock filter box. Go out on a road
with little traffic and measure the temperature and pressures at your small
hole test points of the stock system when the engine is at wide open throttle
through the 2000 to 6000 rpm range.

If you find between two points that the temperature goes up, then the air is
picking up heat in that length between the two points. (i predict you won't
find much heat pickup if the parts are plastic)

If you find that the pressures go down between two points then there is
restriction in that section, like across the filter element ( i predict you
will only find a small restriction across the paper element of the filter)

Now try moving the air inlet to the stock filter box from its stock location
to other places - like the grille top or bottom. Look for a place where the
pressure is highest and the temperature is lowest. (I predict you will find
that the cavity behind the firewall and below the windshield will be best -
this is also where your air vents pick up air to ventilate the truck's cabin.)

Now, if you are a bit more adventurous try the following experiment:

With all the stock air system in place, put the truck in 2nd gear and measure
with a stop watch how many seconds it takes to accelerate from 3000 rpm to
6000 rpm with wide open throttle. Do this test 3 times and average the
result.

Now if you are a little more daring and have found a clean road with little
dust in the air, think about doing the following 2 tests (it is optional but
informative)

Do the same test from 3000 to 6000 rpm, but with the paper air filter removed
from the box, and the box closed back up. This is the 'no filter but cool air
pickup' test.

Then do the same test, but with the air intake system removed and the throttle
body opening sucking the hot air from underneath the hood. This is the 'no
filter hot air pickup test.'

{The above tests sound dangerous without an air filter, but I can tell you
that many highway patrol officers removed the air filters on their cars in the
1970s. I have personally seen people pour uncooked rice down carburetors to
scour out carbon deposits. Lack of an air filter over long periods will cause
the bore walls and piston rings to wear out much quicker, but a quick test has
little effect unless you are unlucky enough to get a large chunk of something
down the throttle. If you are worried you can cover the throttle opening with
some eighth inch hole window screen material or mesh stocking}

Now go build the DIY intake with your ideas,
or order the aftermarket air inlet systems of your choice
and repeat the pressure, temperature and 3000-6000 rpm acceleration tests in 2nd gear.

If you want to be even more scientific
you can use Bowling and Grippo's very good
Highway Dyno,
which if done with
and then against the wind
is more accurate than either
a Rear Wheel Dyno or a G-Tech:

http://www.bgsoflex.com/dyno.html

 

At first the begining of your post I thought you were writing us a poem.


Seems like a good scientific way to build yourself an intake. You can just to trial/error runs at the track or on the new gtech protoo.

 

Ram air hood/intake? The TB is pointed perfect for this setup. I want to do this, but waiting for the snow/ice to melt first.

 

It would be something similar to ram air, but colder. I'm going to come up with a design eventually when I have the money for it. Then I'll test it, then I'll sell it if anybody would want one.