I just purchased an 05 F150 Supercrew with the 4.6. I'm always looking for a little performance "edge" with everyone of my vehicles, from the 73 Jensen Healey to the 05 F150 . I've put K&Ns in 2 Rangers, 2 Sport Traks (for friends), 1 E150, 1 E250, a Chrysler Sebring convertible, 2 PT Cruisers, and a Fiat Spider. Now, the "edge" in some if these vehicles is that I never have to buy another filter, on others, I feel I've gotten a little more "umph" out of them with the K&N. Now it's time to put one on the F150. I've never dealt with a cone in a can before, but it appears to be sucking cool air in from under the fender well. Is a conical K&N my best (and most economical) bet here? I kind of like the howling moan of a V8 sucking up non-renewal resources, but can live without it if I have to..... Back in the day I flipped the breather lid over on my mom's Mercury Marquis with a 429 4V. It sounded like it was sucking the hood down the venturi! Geez, I miss that sound! I had removed the airboxes on both the Rangers and Sport Traks mentioned above and clamped a conical K&N onto an adapter to the maf sensor. They worked well and pulled reasonably cool air in because of their location. It give them a little bit of that howl back. But on the vans, the intake to the air box--like the F150 seems to be pulling in ambient air--no hose or snorkle replacement needed--or is there?

Please educate me!

Thanks!
Thanks....

 

I just installed a K&N 77 series CAI on my 05' 4.6, with an air raid TB spacer. Sounds great, and added a nice amount of power. Looks great too.

 

I remember flipping the breather lid over on my Dad's 70's Malibu and my Mercury Marquis, the sound was cool.
I put the K&N in my 2000 F150, then moved it to my 2008 F150. It's the replacement one that goes into the air box. I like the fact that I don't have to buy a new paper filter all the time. I feel like the performance has improved but never measured it to be certain. In reading different threads it seems like everyone is suggesting using a sock with the K&N, I need to find where I can get one for mine.

 

I put a K&N in wifes 4.6. But I also took off the end of the filter box snorkel where it oges into the fender. I replaced this with a 4.5" piece of pvc pipe. You need to sand the end of the pipe down in order to make it fit into hole. Added alot more UMPPPP to the truck. To connect the pvc pipe back to the filter house you will need a 3.5" to 3.5" rubber connector and 2 hose clamps.

 

Do you have any pics of this? I'd really like to see how you did It. Can you put it back to stock if you have to bring it to the dealer?

 

Since I bought the truck I've been running around with a remote temp sensor under the hood with the display on the dash where I could monitor it. First, I placed the sensor behind the filter, dangling into the air flow where the air box clamps together. At anything more than a walking pace, the temp in the box dropped to within a degree or two of ambient (according to my Ford outdoor temp gauge). Second, I removed the flange that connects the breather box to the hole in the inner fender. I could not tell a significant difference in the temps or how quickly it took to cool off or heat up. Third, I clamped the sensor to the open end of the tube that's normally connected to the hole in the inner fender. Again, not a lot of difference, within a few hundred yards of travel, the temp began to drop and within a mile or so leveled out to within a couple of degrees of ambient. Finally, I clamped the sensor to the outside of the airbox--in the under hood heat and was surprised at the results. Within seconds of coming to a stop--redlight, stop sign, etc. the temp soared to well over 100 degrees, but what surprised me was that within a mile or so of a full, extended stop, the temp was almost back down to ambient. I've tried this in stop-n-go traffic and on a road trip.

My conclusions--whether using a cai or drop in the box, the temp of the air--once you are moving, is going to be close to ambient. Also, the temp of the intake air rises quickly when you stop, whether pulling from under the hood or through the hole in the fender--but it doesn't rise as quick pulling through the hole in the fender. So, I'm going to pick up a drop-in and play with modifications to the air box--I want a decent blend of cool air and some intake howl......I still fondly remember flipping the breather lid over on mom's 69 Marquis with the 429......

 

SLVR- I do not have pics as of yet but i'll get some. YES you can easily returned it to stock if needed. If you take your filter box apart , you can take it out of the fender. Look inside the filter box that containers the filter itself and you will see 2 little tabs hold the end snorkel on. You pry these apart gentley and the snorkel with come off. Cut a 4.5" section of 3" pvc pipe. Grind one end of pvc down until it fits into fender opening. Once this is done take a 3.5" to 3.5" rubber connector (found at hardware store) and connect to pvc and end of filter box. Fasten together with hose clamps. Put back together. You will need to use WD40 or such to get connector onto pvc and filter box. Throttle response is terrific. If you need further info email me ..
rplatt56@aol.com

 

Thanks, your description is detailed enough that I should be able to deal with it, I'll keep your email address handy in case I run into a hiccup.
Thanks again,

 

Hey Bicdaddy i have a question for you i have the K&N 77 series as well as a poweraid tb spacer. when i get in the throttle it has a good sound but when i level off around 2 grand rpm it has a constant high pitched whistle. not a good sound almost sounds like a belt squeaking is this normal on the 4.6? Any ideas?

 

Here's what I finally came up with....after monitoring the airflow temp with and without the airbox connected to the fenderwell, I acquired another airbox--complete. I chopped a considerable hunk out of the middle of it, retaining the mounting posts on the bottom and the tube end of it but now have the middle open. I can't tell much difference in performance and haven't had it in long enough to see how it affects gas mileage. My only disappointment is that it doesn't howl! I was looking for just a little of that "flipped breather lid" sound..... Here's the pics if you wanna look.....

Picasa Web Albums - Hal - Truck stuff

Have fun!

 

Ok now I see that the 5.4 and 4.6 has a different airbox setup. Has anyone done any kind of mod to the 5.4 setup?

 

I did the same mod to my 5.4 that i mentioned above on my wifes 4.6. Didnt seem to notice as much differnce on the 5.4 thuogh. But at mid range rpms it seems to kick you in the seat better

 

the thing u have to worrie about the K&N tho is the oil on the filter. if the filter is over oiled and u are going down the road and stomp on the go fast pedal it can and has sucked off some of the oil from the filter and gets on the MASS air meater niddles and can lean the motor out, so be careful when cleaning and reoiling tho filter

 

My 5.4 intake is not made like that. I have a flat filter that slides in ontop of the intake.

 

wheelman you can also remove the baffle in the intake tube, it helps a little with response and i have not had it in long enough to test mileage but from what i have heard almost a 1 mpg increase in fuel mileage, and a bonus it give a little bit more intake howl on acceleration