Hey everybody. I have a couple of other threads out there - but when I get them taken care of, I'd like to throw on a cool air intake (my Ranger is a 4.0L V6 4x4). I can't seem to find one for my year (1994) that is made by any of the reputable companies ie. K&n, etc. however I did find one on ebay that seems ok. The only thing I am worried about are the two stock vacuum tubes that go into the stock air box. I'm not sure if they hook up to the new intake. Do they matter? also I need any other advice like weather or not to even bother going with the new intake system, is it necessary, will it give me more power or more headaches?? Thanks guys, you've already been a HUGE help.

 

I have a 93 3.0, and I have those same vacuum tubes. I've made a custom air intake for my K&N conical filter. For now, I've let those tubes sit there, unattached to anything on the new intake. I haven't noticed any considerable performance problems but I do know that they need to be attached to a filtered air source, so I'm thinking of things to make that happen. That's my two cents.

 

Why not just stick with what you've got? The intake system is already way over engineered by Ford. It will give you clean air and more of it than you can use. Now if you are going to run it on a track and keep it at 6K or more then you might consider some more air. However anything you do to it and keep on driveing it like you should be doing now... All you will notice is the inconvinience of cleaning and reoiling some stupid aftermarket filter time again. And just maybe that aftermarket filter will let some grit pass that the Ford engineered ones will not. THAT would make you very unhappy!
Big Jim

 

Sorry, Big Jim, I gotta disagree wih you. In my opinion, those stock air intake systems are not "over engineered." Ford only designs them with a moderate capacity to keep the gas mileage where they want it. An aftermarket filter kit can add significant power, especially if the exhaust system is also upgraded (more air in, more air out). Don't put so much stock in Ford engineers, their intake systems aren't that great. Ford may design an intake manifold, and a year later, Edelbrock comes out with an aftermarket version that adds power and is more fuel efficient too.

 

You are only partly correct! You must take all the hoopla you get from the aftermarket vendors with a grain of salt... Everything you have seen about how bad the Ford air intake system is and how much improvement the aftermarket systems give must be read very carefully.
At NORMAL driving rpm and under all NORMAL conditions the Ford ones perform exactly the same as ANY aftermarket ones. The only difference is when the two systems are prefoming at their maximums... maybe 5,000 rpm. At that flow the aftermarket ones do perform a LITTLE better. And like I said if you are putting the truck on a track maybe there is something to be gained. The lose might be the time and effort it takes to keep those funny filters clean and oiled properly.
Me? I drive around at around 2000 rpm and maybe 2 or 3 times a day I get it up to 2800/3000 so I am sure spending money on a raceing setup would be a waste in my truck.
The problem here is that there is nobody to advertise the opposite of what the aftermarket guys are doing. It is assumed that each of us can THINK for himself and make purchases as though he had actually WORKED to make that money. The one thing that peeves me probably more than any other is the fact that filter companys can sell a product that, without constant attention, does not equal the filtering ability of the factory specs. These filters do NOT filter out the small particles without more attention than the average buyer is willing to put into them.
Big Jim

 

Well buddy, I drive my truck like i stole it, so I need that extra extra air!
As for the filtering ability of the oil impingement filters, I'll admit I really don't know, but I would be interested in seeing some test results on that.

 

www.ifab.net for mattd860. Thats where i got mine from, it had 2 little plugs for the vaccume tubes, and it allready had a place for the oil vent tube. It fits kinda funny, but it works. It definantly made the truck seem a little louder, and after exhaust and an electric fan, my truck can fly. Especially when i get my diablo delta chip pretty soon here......ahahhaha. We also have the same trucks, what color is yours?

 

If you need more information I can give it to you here is just a little dab of it.


<CENTER><TABLE cellPadding=2 align=center border=1><TBODY><TR vAlign=center><TD></TD><TD>




Test #1 (in H2O)






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Test #2 (in H2O)






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Test #3 (in H2O)






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Test #4 (in H2O)






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Test #5 (in H2O)






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Test #6 (in H2O)






</TD><TD>




Average (in H2O)






</TD><TD vAlign=center>




Average (in psi differential)






</TD></TR><TR><TD>Napa Paper filter</TD><TD>7.0






</TD><TD>7.0






</TD><TD>6.8






</TD><TD>6.8






</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>6.9






</TD><TD>0.249






</TD></TR><TR><TD>K&N cotton gauze</TD><TD>6.4






</TD><TD>6.4






</TD><TD>6.4






</TD><TD>6.4






</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>6.4






</TD><TD>0.231






</TD></TR><TR><TD>Racing Beat foam</TD><TD>6.4






</TD><TD>6.8






</TD><TD>6.4






</TD><TD>6.6






</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>6.55






</TD><TD>0.236






</TD></TR><TR><TD>Jackson Racing foam</TD><TD>6.6






</TD><TD>6.8






</TD><TD>6.8






</TD><TD>7.0






</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>6.8






</TD><TD>0.245






</TD></TR><TR><TD>Amsoil foam</TD><TD>6.6






</TD><TD>6.6






</TD><TD>6.6






</TD><TD>6.2






</TD><TD>6.6






</TD><TD>6.4






</TD><TD>6.5






</TD><TD>0.235






</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER>

 

how about make your own for way cheaper and have the same look.
http://www.3.8mustang.com/forum/show...old+air+intake scroll down here and look at the pics

 

Dude, I checked out that link from f100guy, I'm probably gonna make my own intake, that way if Big Jim is right, I would only waste like 35 bucks. What do ya think Big Jim?
Oh, and the color of my truck is black - peter

 

Matt the whole idea of my argument is that you might LOSE cfm's and have LESS power from making any alterations to the intake system. Then by changing filter types you have no "seeable" gain and a good possibility of getting more dirt in the engine. Go to the link I posted above and read all the written words there.
Big Jim

 

I read through the research on that website and found it pretty interesting. I am a junior mechanical engineering student at Virginia Tech, so I was of course interested in a fellow ME's research. I think his methods were pretty good, but I'm not sure about his interpretation of the results on the Air Flow Test. Even though a difference of 0.02 psi between filters may not sound like much, It could mean a significant difference in flow. I haven't completed a course yet in fluid mechanics (I'm taking one right now), so he may be right about this. Notice however, his tests include only filters installed in a stock air box. There's very little improvement that can be made in a filter without sacrificing filtering capacity if you develop a filter with the same surface area as a stock filter. The only way to increase air flow without sacrificing filtering capacity is to increase the surface area of the filter, thats why replacing the stock air box with an aftermarket filter kit (cone or tube type filters) makes such a big difference in air flow. I would like to see a test that compares a stock filter with a cone type aftermarket filter.