Cold Air Intake for '94 - '97???? (1 Viewer)

[Grench]

Doug,

I must disagree with you in part. The air drawn in from the inner fender is just as hot as what is under the hood. The aprons have big holes in them and air passes freely between the inner fenders and the engine bay. I have measured temps in both locations. I can also tell you that the snorkel moves more air and, at least in my case, the throttle response is noticably "crisper" with the snorkel.

3X

I think I would agree with CDan about the snorkle. If you want power get a supercharger or turbo.

2X

C'mon guys ..he's not asking about a supercharger or a turbo...he is specifically inquiring about an open air filter .....obviously a Turbo or Supercharger will work better...but hmmmmm...thats about 3,000 times the expense of a filter )
airlaird

Open air filter = bad idea. The OEM air filter is built VERY well. Take a close look at it - it is a giant centrifugal pre-cleaner with a tuna can to collect the larger bits AND a washable (available through CDan) pleated filter with a HUGE surface area.

The snorkel is a longer tube BUT it is a straight shot of air from above the dust line and away from the engine heat. Also, the factory air tubes inside the fender constrict down to a bit over 2". It is an intake muffler system with a big surge chamber hanging on it. The snorkel is nearly 4" diameter the entire length.

The top posts in this thread seem to be taking the opinion that the designers of the 80 series could not have possibly known what they're doing. To me, these are the reflex notions of new owners who are used to adding gadgets to small cars to 'add power'.

The reality is, short of forced induction, you're not going to get any better performance out of the intake by putting an open filter in the engine compartment. In fact, you will stand a good chance to do your engine a fair amount of harm.

Anyone who has driven one of these through even slightly deep muddy water (>6") has seen the splash line on the inside of the hood where the fan throws it. I fairly regularly have thin mud thrown up over the air intake box, the top of the engine, etc... These trucks do -not- have a water tight engine compartment. Wet stuff gets thrown up there even in a heavy rain.

Now picture your open filter getting mud, water, etc... thrown all over it. It is going to suck that water through the big holes in that foam filter right into the engine.

The stock inside of the fender intake -is- shielded from this spray. The top of a snorkel is shielded as well, though you might want to spin the top of it backwards if you're driving into a serious rain or snow storm.

These trucks do great in severe weather. The intake was very well designed. Removing all of the protection from the intake is a bad idea all around. It does not add to power (the stock system flows freely), it does not do a better job of filtering, it adds oil to the MAF and can toast it, and it puts exposed air filter material right into the worst place possible - high temperatures AND liquid water.

The only person I've seen here who it makes sense to have a bling exposed air filter is probably LX_TREME - but I doubt if he drives his truck in the rain much if at all. He'd spend the next 2 months cleaning it with toothbrushes and cotton swabs if he did, and change anything he couldn't get the dirt off of. If you live in a desert city (LA, Vegas, etc...) and never go off road, and are really into shinny bling - then it -might- make sense to go to an exposed filter.

 

[AussieRedneck]

My dad is a master mechanic and has been working on foreign cars for at least all of the 30+ years I have been alive. He told me the same thing about the MAF sensor getting fried by anything other than the stock air filter.
After reading this entire thread I have been swayed towards the filter CDan has available or the snorkel. Thanks for the info.
AR

 

[Tools R Us]

Doug,

I must disagree with you in part. The air drawn in from the inner fender is just as hot as what is under the hood. The aprons have big holes in them and air passes freely between the inner fenders and the engine bay. I have measured temps in both locations. I can also tell you that the snorkel moves more air and, at least in my case, the throttle response is noticably "crisper" with the snorkel.

3X ...

Agree the intake temp is close to engine bay temp when the rig is stopped, but who cares about the potential HP at idle? When cruising, the right side of the bay and air intake is significantly cooler, within a few degrees of ambient. The way it works; excess airflow at the front of the radiator flows behind the headlight, the corner marker turns it, directs it into the fender well, establishes a cool airflow in the right side of the engine compartment. If the right marker light is removed, this cool airflow disappears, the right side saturates to fan output temp.

A bunch of us that cruise/wheel together run ultra/scan gauges. When caravaning, often call out readings, like intake air temp and there is little/no difference between stock and snorkel rigs.

The snorkel is a longer tube BUT it is a straight shot of air from above the dust line and away from the engine heat. Also, the factory air tubes inside the fender constrict down to a bit over 2". It is an intake muffler system with a big surge chamber hanging on it. The snorkel is nearly 4" diameter the entire length.

I agree that a snorkel can reduce dust that the air filter sees, but is largely irrelevant, the filter is well setup to deal with it and has huge capacity. My guess is, no recreational user will ever come close to using it's full capacity.

Agree that the plumbing differs between stock and snorkel. Also irrelevant, I run an intake restriction gauge and there is no restriction in the stock system to be "fixed".

The top posts in this thread seem to be taking the opinion that the designers of the 80 series could not have possibly known what they're doing. To me, these are the reflex notions of new owners who are used to adding gadgets to small cars to 'add power'. ...

There are a couple of ways to look at it. Stuff was bolted on, wherever it fit and got really, really lucky. Or it was engineered to provide plenty of airflow for even adverse conditions and a cool airflow was established to feed it. Judging from how the rest of the rig is engineered, I have to go with #2. I did some some off-road racing, built/maintained a bunch of them and in my experience they did a very good job with the intake system.

 

[CAHarris]

Josh, nice reply. I have to agree w/ you. Any increase in power is welcomed, especially on such a heavy SUV. Not everyone can afford to "throw" an intercooler or supercharger on their rig.

 

[cnskate]

I removed the snorkel and I'm now running without the fender air intake plastic, just a tube from the airbox into the fender, a Landtank MAF, and Magnaflow muffler. I noticed increased throttle response and slightly better MPG after removing the expo bling snorkel. I'll report back on MPG after my upcoming 3000 mile trip. I got 16-17 mpg on my last little road trip.