Corey

iTrader: (1)

Phewwwwwwwwww, the smoke is still pouring from my fingers

OK all you 3.0 V6 owners. Here it is.

I may need to make a few corrections once Blu gets back to me, but I know some of you have been asking for this, and we aim to please over here

I went to my local Lowe's this morning and they did not have the 3" hose, or the 90 degree brass fittings.
They told me on the tele they did, but they did not :mad:

Try to find a hydraulic store, that is going to be the best place to get the hose and fittings from.
I have my shopping list made up, now I just have to round up the parts needed.

Dr. Zhivago

Woo Hoo!!! Awesome job guys! Blu, you rock! Corey, you're okay too, I guess.

Congratz you guys!
Dr. Z

tkrispin

nice mod, I wanted to do something similar about a year ago, but decided to wait until now

Are there any downsides to removing the silencer boxes? All the vacuum hoses are still hooked up, right?

Memphis4X4

Thanks Corey....Blu.......and Dr. Z for all of the R&D time spent. I will definitely do this mod and the headlight bucket drilling mod that Babypig did.

David

BTOWN4RUNNER

You talk about the sound, what sound is it? Wouldn't the muffler sound be increased, just like an intake would make it louder. If not, what sound is there? Thanks. :fireman:

bucky23111

man, makes me wish i never bought the K&N kit........woulda saved me a bunch.......oh well.....speaking of which, what does that other seperate air box do, i had to keep it attached when i installed the kit....it's almost a triangular shaped plastic module, with i believe 2 or 3 hoses attached to it...anyone know?

Bucky

bucky23111

Ok, whoops....nevermind my last reply, i havent logged on in a while and i never saw the previous airbox mod thread.......sorry about that.....im gonna try the silencer removal very soon....i hope it works...

Bucky

WATRD

I will type this again even though I got an private message not so politely instructing me to butt out last time... there ARE downsides to removing the boxes.

In addition to silencing the intake, these things perform two purposes. One, they smooth out the air coming in, reducing the "pockets" of low pressure air that can cause stalling and emissions problems. Two, the boxes collect condensation and allow it it be evaporated via engine heat.

This mod was originally listed as the greatest thing since sliced bread when I saw it for the first time a year or so ago. Then people began to have problems and I now see more posts about reversing the mod than about doing it... everywhere but here.

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." Do the mod at your own risk.

Brad

Looks Killer Guys,
Was It very Hard? I am not a mechanic by any means. Would I screw anything up? It sounds like a great mod, I am going to study the write up and give it a whirl.
How much more power? Acceleration?

williemon

Rob, thanks for the comments. I have been watching this and thought I might try it too on my 3.0 . I had thought I read some time back on another board that those boxes were there for more than just sound control, but I had not checked any further. I still will try the mod, but now I will make sure to keep all the parts IN the 4 runner so I can change it back if needed. Any comments, good or bad are needed so as that each person can make up their own mind, or at least in this case, can keep their eyes open for any odd effects. My thanks to Dr. Z, Corey, Blu, Rob, and anyone else that has added to this experiment. This will be my next mod. Later!!

Memphis4X4

I just got around to studying the write up. I noticed that in the part which discusses cleaning & painting the metal pipe, that it states,

" I took a few fags and stuffed one in each end so paint wouldn't get in that way either."

What the Heck is that all about?!?!?!

Doesn't sound like a politically correct mod to me!

Corey

iTrader: (1)

He he he, Composer's spell checker did not catch that yesterday either when I ran the checker.

All fixed now

Memphis4X4

Hehehe is right.....

Hey, Corey....on a more serious note......WATRD brings up some interesting points. Do we have any info on this? Especially if there are others that have tried this and are now switching back.

I do know that 'roughing up' the air with more turbulance is thought to be a good thing on inlet air......that is the whole reasoning behind the Tornado product. (Yes....I bought one and have had it installed for 7 years.....it does work, at least in my head it feels like it works). So, I have to question the 'smoothing' quote. But the condensate point seems valid. Anyone have any words of wisdom on this?

I'm all for more Horse Power but not at the expense of hurting my rig.

David

WATRD

I am not a big fan of the Tornado type units, but that is another story... But, I think you will find that those units claim quite the opposite. They are marketed with the expressed purpose of "smoothing" the air flow. They claim to take turbulent intake air and spin it, helping to smooth out the low pressure zones. You want the air going into your engine to be as consistant from gulp to gulp. That is, to contain roughly the same amount of oxygen molecules on each intake cycle. One of the things the Tornado type units claim to do is to "swirl" the air, thus reducing low pressure pockets in the intake stream. That is exactly what the resonator boxes help with as well

Dr. Zhivago

On the smoothing the air intake. In my write up on Page 1, I have a link to some articles on this counter-point. Like I have already mentioned, these are excellent articles and well worth reading.

As for the condensation, I have removed resonators on all my vehicles in the past without EVER causing any damage to my engines. I've ran "open" intakes for over 20 years. I appreciate another point of view, but every engine is different and they will not all respond the same. Again, like I have already said, I would never do something that I think will harm my engine, nor recommend that other people do the same.

If you're having doubts about the mod, don't do it. I'd like to know where this mod was mentioned beforehand on these trucks because I sure couldn't find any references. If someone can prove that this does damage to a properly maintained engine, and I'd like hard data and pictures, then I'll retract everything thing I've said.

I can say from experience working on high-performance cars that if you don't clean an oiled gauze filter element on a REGULAR basis that it WILL damage the intake on a car. It can damage both the MAF and Throttle body and various sensors in the intake path on modern, fuel injected engines. By regular cleaning I mean at the very minimum every 8-10K miles. Be VERY careful not to "over-oil" as well. K&N tells you that you can go up to 100K miles before cleaning is needed. That's bull˟˟˟˟. Oil evaporates.

You need to be very dilligent if you change your filter from a stock OEM Paper filter to a "high-flow" filter and that includes Oiled Foam filters, too. If you want more power from your engine you have to be willing to accept certain extra responsibilities that come with that extra power. The more power you add, the more responsible you must become.

WATRD is correct, there is no free lunch.

IMHO
Dr. Z

WATRD

Very well stated Dr. Z I agree with virtually every point you make, particularly regarding the pitfalls of gauze filter elements and the responsibility that comes with power

I can present no evidence of damage at this time, simply the stories of others who have done the mod and regretted it, that and the theoretical downsides. As to previous discussions regarding this mod, a visit to the New England TTORA site will yield a post from a year or so ago and a search of the archives of the TTORA National board on Delphi will turn up several threads over the past two years regarding this topic.

I don't think there is a need for you to "retract everything you have said", but I can agree with your statement that if folks have doubts they should not do it. I would also take it one step further and ask if there is any proof that the mod actually does anything in the positive except produce more noise? (on our engines, just to be fair and scientific) A few dyno slips would certainly be considered to be overwhelming evidence to that effect.

It would appear that we agree on many things. A good rule of thumb for all of is to be skeptical. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, so what is that "free" sandwich actually costing you? What is the downside to that "more power for free" mod? Does the mod actually do what some claim it does? These are all questions we all should ask.

Respectfully,

cybrenergy

Can't we all just get along?

WATRD

I thought we were Just a conversation about the theoretical gains and downside of a new mod.

Without discussion, we would all have to discover everything on our own Which defeats the best part of a community such as this, the sharing of experience and knowledge.

c'mere big guy... heheheh

Dr. Zhivago

I 2nd that!

Great response, btw Rob. I should have mentioned also that with a high-flow filter, the fact that it allows more air into your engine means that with more air comes more airborne dirt. Therefore, the need arises to clean that filter more often than an OEM filter because it is exposed to more airborne particles.

You make a strong argument for Dyno-testing, Rob. I'm certain this mod would show definite gains. I just found a new shop in my area that only charges $85 for three runs. So, it may be time for me to go do that. If I can get 6 people to do dyno-testing at the same time then it's only $55 per person. The have a Dyno-Jet chassis dyno that's good for 1200HP and 200mph testing. That should be sufficient for my truck.

Anybody wanna join me?

Dr. Z

Memphis4X4

This is the exact type of thing for which this Forum is supposed to be used. I applaud both Dr. Z and WATRD for their objective approach to this discussion and being respectful at the same time. They are "getting along" as adults should in sharing their knowledge and positions on this subject. I asked for information and they are sharing this in a great manner........

Now back to the thread.

WATRD: I stand corrected on the Tornado. You are correct on the "smoothing" function. I was confusing swirling with turbulance rather than smoothing and better mixing of the fuel and air.

As far as the condensation, I know that carburated cars just gulp in the air and really do nothing to remove the condensed moisture. My air filters on my carburated car have rain covers to keep rain from directly falling into the carburator throat , but I see nothing there to collect and drain away condensed moisture. Wouldn't this mod act the same way?

I'll need to check out those other sites and see what problems those guys ran into.

Thanks WATRD for the words of caution.

David