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Jeep Air Intakes

4K views 43 replies 21 participants last post by  Masaga91 
#1 ·
I'm trying to get an air intake for my cherokee and was looking them up. Everyone hypes up the K&N but when i was looking i found many other brands for a lot cheaper and add more horse power, any advice on which to get?
 
#2 ·
Although they look cool under the hood, they do nothing. I had the K&N intake and didn't do a thing but add a whistle at higher rpm's. No horsepower, better mpg's or any kinda gain. I sold it and went back to a stock filter. The intakes do work well on certain applications, but not our 4.0's. This is just my opinion. Do a search before you buy any air intake.
 
#3 ·
Better intakes dont alot when you are still sucking in hot air. our box has a square hose that leads to outside air. alot of these boxes closes off that hole and you bring in engine air.

look into cowl snorkles. albeit not a air intake, brings more cold air in and if you can make a ram air it will work even better
 
#4 ·
i dunno what you guys are talking about, adding the K&N filter in the stock housing had a mpg difference and acceleration gain, although neither were significant but you can still tell the slight difference, in 97+ theres a lil plastic plate infront of the air box on the other side of the front metal thing that if you take out has a nice air flow opening from the grill.
opening up the front of the air box plus the plate mod and K&N filter will have a decent/noticeable gain in all performance areas as well as mpg
 
#6 ·
first off, majority of the time when companies say it adds so n so horsepower its just a selling gimic.
you have to look at the tubing and how it sits in side the engine bay, in the end its only price and personal preference
 
#7 ·
you could honestly buy a big cone filter from advanced auto and some PVC piping and 90 degree elbows and some air duct metal sheets and make it all your self for under 100 bucks guaranteed.
 
#8 ·
i bought a Rustys Airtube with the 6x9 filter and it works great. the only problem with the kit is it doesn't come with a heat shield, so i just made one out of a trash can, thermal tape and pipe insulation.





 
#12 ·
I just did a writeup on my new cowl intake in the cherokee tech section you should check it out. It's a true cold air intake, not a hot engine air intake like all the others out there, it raises the air inlet up as high as possible, it only cost me the $45 for the filter and the power improvement is very noticeable especially on the highway.
 
#17 ·
Well if you wanted a cold air intake and are planning on spending 100 bucks, why not just spend the extra dough and get a snorkel? That sucks in very fresh air lol
 
#19 ·
Yep. Hot air from engine bay adds 15 hp. Do they send a xxx tape with that kit so you can see somebody besides yourself get screwed? I wouldnt believe it until I see dyno results. I went through the same thing though. I made one and only noticed a large difference in my exhaust note and a small acceleration gain. Regardless of what you get your probably still sucking hot air. Snorkel would look good and be functional as well. be wary of hp promises...
 
#21 ·
I see where alot of people put cone filters and cold air kits to increase air flow. The problem I see is most people do not correct the the main culprit to air flow on the 4.0, which is the corrugated elbow at the TB.
At the ends of the elbow, the areas are smooth and cause little or no obstruction to flow. The corrugation on the other hand, causes turbulence which disrupts air flow. To solve this problem, I removed the tube and inserted a piece of 2.5 inch exaust pipe, just long enough to cover the corrugated section of the tube. Lubricated with silicone spray, so that it slid in easier, the metal provided a smooth transition from inlet to outlet of the tube, while still being flexible enough to remove to change air filter. I prevoiusly installed a K&N panel filter in the stock air box, as well as removing the block off plate from the front header panel.

Using a digital air flow meter to measure air flow at the air inlet before and after this mod, the results were a 7 cfm increase in air flow at idle. I still need to take some readings at different RPMs but I didn't have a helper at the time. Removing the turbulence wil increases air flow at all RPMs.
Total cost of mod: K&N filter $48 Exhaust pipe $5
 
#22 ·
Going by the seat of the pants dyno, I noticed an increased throttle response after installing my K&N FIPK. When I went for the intake, I also dropped in some edlebrock headers to replace the stock manifold, and replaced all the old exhaust piping, and added a high flow cat. I did the exhaust work about a week before the FIPK drop in, and had good tone, and after the FIPK, I noticed it gave a bit deeper tone, espeically when going WOT.

As for MPG increases, I'd say they're marginal at best.
After having my K&N kit for 2 years, I'd say the best feature is the million mile warranty on the washable filter.
Overall though, now I'm thinking about throwing a snorkel on it just because like everyone else has stated, drawing in warm air doesn't make much of a difference.
 
#23 ·
Check out the Thor cowl induction setup. Same as a home brew, but with a nice plate to mount to the firewall.

I like the cowl induction idea the best. Isolate the hot engine compartment from the cold air charge, nice cold dense air FTW. I also like the idea of a snorkel, but it would be overkill for me...as I never ford any rivers and don't wheel enough to make it worth it.

Personally I used a K&N drop in filter along with exhaust and induction mods. WAY better acceleration and seat of the pants feel, but probably minimal HP gains and only marginally better gas mileage.

The colder the air the better...
 
#24 ·
same here, the snorkel doesn't work for me, never take my jeep through water, so why the snorkel, so i'm planning on doing the K&N air intake, then change the full exhaust pipe, from the headers to a nice high flow cat (probably the magnaflow, is the one i like the most hahahah)
 
#25 ·
K&Ns are junk. They let in way too much dust for what you pay and how little you gain. I've witnessed it with the panel filter on my own Jeep. I wouldn't say a cold air intake is useless, but it has to be setup right, meaning actually get cold air. You are much better off buying a cone filter, and making your own heat shield to seal it off instead of paying 200 bucks for a K&N. Granted, it won't be a "Cold" intake, but cooler air than the stock airbox. Cone filters also have more surface area so they can pull in more air. I noticed a difference in throttle response and gained about 1 mpg (verified by scan gauge 2 and months of spread sheets). I wouldn't buy an intake unless you plan to properly shield it though.
 
#27 ·
Regarding the K&N kit...I just actually took mine off today. There are two studies out there (one on bobistheoilguy.com and the other on a Ford truck forum) that confirmed K&N filters are the worst out there. Yes they let in more air, but they also let in more crap. Additionally, if you look at the K&N dyno (even if you believe the results) you'll notice that any of the small gains don't even register until around 2.5K RPM. I honestly can't remember the last time I exceeded 3K RPMs.

Here is the BITOG study...http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm
If you search for the Ford one you can find it. If I recall correctly, the K&N filter was 96.7% efficient and this was significantly less than any other tested.

I am NOT hating on the K&N system. This is my opinion, and here's what I would have done differently. If you're looking for gains from the intake side of things rather than the exhaust, I'd recommend a 62mm throttle body. Jeepersandcreepers has one for less than the cost of the K&N system. All this being said, if anyone is still interested, I'll gladly sell you my K&N system!
 
#29 ·
look k&n is the brand that i thing, but if you have another brand that is better you can tell, i'm not sold on one brand, i like to have options, but you didn't read my post, the question is, does the hood vent on top of the air intake should work properly in giving a constant cold air flow

and i do off road once every 3 months, that's not my main idea, the car is my dd
 
#32 ·
Take a look at cowl snorkels. It seems to be the best solution for a Jeep that sees the dirt. The K&N and other cone filters don't filter as well as the stock paper filter setup. My cowl snorkel cost me $15 and retains the filtration of the stock setup while adding water fording ability. I have dunked it up to the hood in water, driven in snow, driving rain, mud, and my filter has never gotten wet.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/daves-cowl-snorkel-1053289/
 
#33 ·
dkg4244 said:
Take a look at cowl snorkels. It seems to be the best solution for a Jeep that sees the dirt. The K&N and other cone filters don't filter as well as the stock paper filter setup. My cowl snorkel cost me $15 and retains the filtration of the stock setup while adding water fording ability. I have dunked it up to the hood in water, driven in snow, driving rain, mud, and my filter has never gotten wet.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/daves-cowl-snorkel-1053289/
I like the snorkel idea, but i never drive on water jajaja
But with the cowl snorkel where comes the cold air???
 
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