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Anybody have any better luck with any aftermarket ones like Banks or Riff-Raff? I've had a big zip tie lassoed around it to a bolt hole on the battery tray to keep it from rubbing on that power steering pump fitting for quite awhile, and it works, but it seems there is plenty of room in there for a pipe that stays well clear of that while not needing a dent in the pipe. Not sure what they were thinking with that one.
Flip it end for end. That will put it just outside the alternator before it drops down and connects to the intercooler. Still rides close to the PS pulley but I haven't had a clearance issue like that in the 4-5 years I've had it that way. Keeps it up away from the exhaust like that too.
Can you post a picture of the whole pipe installed so we can see how it is situated in the engine bay?
maybe:
One trick I tried was to back off the boot off on the charge air cooler end...you can see how it isn't seated all the way to the stop points. Helped a little but not a fix for it. The OEM boots are a little flimsy in that they allow some tweaking of the pipe on both ends, which I think is supposed to be that way because the engine moves and the charge air cooler doesn't, but it makes easy contact with the power steering fitting even with the (factory) dent in the pipe. Plenty of people have complained it rubbed out a hole in the pipe eventually. Some of the aftermarket ones like Sinister and Mishimoto maybe look like they fit a little straighter down on the bottom end but hard to tell and few people buy that stuff so real world feedback is tough to come by. Banks actually I don't think sells them loose for the 7.3...only with their expensive intercooler kits, but they generally make well engineered stuff that fits right. Would be nice if somebody designed one that fixed that fitment and kept the proper diameter and shape down on the bottom section.
That silicone upper rad hose is nice BTW. If you made a lower one for the straight water pump fitting I'd spring for that.
okay bet. I’ve already got the billet inlet. That hose must be somewhat new because I don’t think I remember it available last fall when I bought the inlet.
Anybody have any better luck with any aftermarket ones like Banks or Riff-Raff? I've had a big zip tie lassoed around it to a bolt hole on the battery tray to keep it from rubbing on that power steering pump fitting
Originally Posted by Brandonpdx
One trick I tried was to back off the boot off on the charge air cooler end...you can see how it isn't seated all the way to the stop points. Helped a little but not a fix for it. The OEM boots are a little flimsy in that they allow some tweaking of the pipe on both ends, which I think is supposed to be that way because the engine moves and the charge air cooler doesn't, but it makes easy contact with the power steering fitting even with the (factory) dent in the pipe.
Plenty of people have complained it rubbed out a hole in the pipe eventually. Some of the aftermarket ones like Sinister and Mishimoto maybe look like they fit a little straighter down on the bottom end but hard to tell and few people buy that stuff so real world feedback is tough to come by.
Banks actually I don't think sells them loose for the 7.3...only with their expensive intercooler kits, but they generally make well engineered stuff that fits right. Would be nice if somebody designed one that fixed that fitment and kept the proper diameter and shape down on the bottom section.
Here is a side by side photo of three different driver's side CAC ducts arranged in a row:
On the left is Ford OEM stock, obtained in 2001
In the middle is Banks PowerPack Technicooler Kit (Version 1), obtained in 2000
On the right is Banks PowerPack Technicooler Kit (Version 2), obtained in 2015 (more or less)
It isn't enough to just observe the differences in angular bends of the tubing in isolation, or by way of comparison.
One must also consider the placement pitch of the tubing. So an angle formed into the tubing that may seem "off" as the tubes sit in the photo, can actually be more conducive to better fitment when keeping in mind the pitch attitude of the entire pipe when placed into position, and that position is not rightfully represented by the photo above, which was taken merely to illustrate the differences in how the tube is formed.
The photo also illustrates one other very important difference that may help you understand why Banks does not offer their CAC tubes as a stand alone item, separate from their Technicooler.
Look carefully at the length of the bottom legs of the tubes, between the Ford OEM issue on the left, versus the two Banks tubes on the right.
Notice how much longer the Banks tubes are, versus the Ford tube?
This is because the Banks tubes are designed for the Technicooler, which has cast aluminum header tanks that have a tapered transition to the heat exchanger field. The tapered transition reduces the restriction inherent in having to direct the air around a 90 degree bend, from running along the length of the engine bay to running across the radiator support.
The Ford plastic header tanks try to reduce the resistance to flow inherent in the 90 degree bend by moving up in diameter at the intercooler inlet, and using a dual diameter coupling hose to resolve the difference in CAC piping to the upsized diameter inlet of the intercooler. While this 1/2" increase inlet size in the header tank helps alleviate the restriction from the directional change... there is still a hard right angle turn within plastic header tank itself.
Banks doesn't do this.
Banks formed the metal casting of their Technicooler header tank as a smooth radiused funnel. The entire end tank is a transition, in all directions, from top to bottom, and from heat exchanger field to outboard end. So in a Banks installation, all four boots (hump hoses) are exactly the same. There is no need for different size lower boots versus upper boots. All of the flow enhancements to counteract restriction from directional change are cast into the header tank of the Technicooler.
Therefore, the Banks CAC tubes are longer in the lower legs, and are not designed to be OEM replacement tubes for an OEM intercooler. To force it to work, one would need a shorter dual diameter coupling hose, and the installation itself might be a difficult round of wrestling.
Conversely, the OEM tubes will not readily work with a Banks Technicooler, but with the right length of aftermarket boot, it could probably be made to work easier with OEM tubes and a Banks Technicooler, since there is no difference in lower hose coupling diameters with that pairing.
To find a longer boot, there is no shortage of different hose coupling (silicone boots) on the market. Many boutique or specialty diesel or street racer hot rod shops simply find a supplier to print their brand name on the boots... but the boots themselves all seem to come from the usual suspects...
The silicone boot material as seen above is monolithic.
Banks boots use a different material inside the boot (in constant contact with oil aerosol) than outside the boot.
The two different materials can be observed in the cross-section shown below:
An overall view of my engine bay, with Banks hump hoses (blue color on cold side, black color on hot side) and Banks CAC tubes (Banks tubes come powder coated... the foil wrapping is something I added)
Beyond all that, why not direct attention to the root cause of the problem, which is the hard cornered elbow fitting of the power steering pump?
I noticed that you didn't have any type of cover or protective boot over your elbow fitting, and if you added one, that alone might alleviate your problem.
An old spark plug or distributor boot, or a PVC elbow, such as what I used below, can be fitted over the hard brass block fitting on the power steering pump:
The result is no metal to metal contact as the engine jiggles and/or the frame twists.
I see that piece of rubber being a service item that must be replaced every oil change. For me the simpler solution is to obtain a FORD hot side tube and use that. It already has the deformation necessary to be able to fit in there without any rubbing on that part.
It seems to hold up. I like the rubber cap for it's anti snag properties when installing/removing the pipe, as Y2K indicated. I used a spark plug coil boot for mine.
I see that piece of rubber being a service item that must be replaced every oil change. For me the simpler solution is to obtain a FORD hot side tube and use that. It already has the deformation necessary to be able to fit in there without any rubbing on that part.
Actually, it was the Ford CAC tube wearing holes through it in that location in early 1999 models (different CAC tube material, and no foil wrap) that inspired me to install a spark plug boot over that power steering fitting back in 2000.
I was spared from having to personally experience wear through, because I had already seen the FORD hot side tubing wear through, from that power steering fitting, with other folks 1999 models. Ford changed tubing materials as a result.
My first solution was a spark plug boot from a Ford 460. It was actually the distributor cap boot from my 1979 E-350. So the boot was already 21 years old when I installed it in 2000, and it lasted another 19 years in its new job protecting the power steering fitting. So the boot was 40 years old when I took it off while doing some other service work, and misplaced it. It was cheaper to buy a new PVC boot than buy a spark plug wire. The key was that it be some type of rubber elbow designed to withstand elevated underhood temperatures expected in an engine bay.
OK, I guess I'm never too old to learn. I've seen a lot of abrasion wear over the years in different situations as someone making a living fixing other people's vehicles. But if this lasts that long, then I guess it's good.
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