Well, I took a week off to do a few mods. First and foremost was the intercooler. I had no idea it was going to take 4 days........But I stopped to reweld my core support, remade every bracket like 3 times etc. Heck, just getting the cooler sitting behind the grill in it's final place took 2 days. Then the next 2 days were stop and go for several things not including the truck. Building the pipes was a snap. If you can cut and weld exhaust tubing, YOU CAN BUILD THESE!!!!!!!! Just like everyone else, I was scared of the pipes. But once I got into it, it was EASY. The hot side (drivers side) was the easiest. All I did was cut the stock pipe about 3 inches back from the intake and added 3 1/2 inches of 3" pipe, no angles. The cold side (passenger side) was a little harder, but not much. I cut the cooler end of the stock pipe 1" back and welded it to a short (tight radius 90*). Then welded a long 90* opposite of that. Like an S. That put me up at the leading edge of the valve cover. Then from the intake, I kept the stock pipes first bend twards the cooler. Then I cut it off right before the next bend. Here I had to cut a V shape piece of pipe. 2 1/2" to 1" (letting the pipe make about a 10* angle.) and that connected the two. it was that easy, litterally. And the pipes fit, very little bending of the boots. But it's finished, kinda. I still want/need to insulate the pipes. I had to strip the wrap off the hot side to weld it. Not to mention I think it's ugly as hell. I have an idea of what I'm gonna do, but I don't want to give it away until I do it incase it sucks and I have to try again. But the best part of it all is I cut and shaped the motor cover to fit over the pipes. Surely I can't be the first to do this, but I haven't seen it. Some people ditch it because they are tired of taking it off, others did the intercooler and didn't want to put it back on. I just don't like the way it looks with it off, so I kept it. And I thought yall might like to see it. Enjoy. And there are pics from start to end in my gallery with descriptions. Hope yall like them.

 

Looks good to me. Makes me wish I had access to welder. Of course, if I did have access, I'd have to learn how to weld.

 

Looks good!

Is that a stock alum. 7.3 intercooler?
What kind of egt drop have you seen?

 

rd i am pretty jealous right now. if i could ever be home long enough. geeze
keep up the good work buddy.

my .02 on your next mod

throw a dana 60 under there and get a transfer case. that would be nice!!!!!!

 

for the guys that dont or cant get acess to the gear, banks is selling the pipe and brakets for a little over 400 rtxcoon is a guy on the "other" site that bought a set. the banks ones are about the routing i was gonna take, but i cant do them for that amount of money.

actually i think you are the first to mod the engine cover to get it back in there. it looks good in there with the pipes, did you use a early 99 y pipe in there? i tossed mine in 1997 and havent seen it since, i didnt like not being able to readily see the motor

 

Looks real nice duck.Hows it feel as far as throttle response with the pipes on there?I just made mine up and was wondering.Prob won't put mine on for a couple of weeks.

Jake, I made my pipes up from scratch real cheap.Spent about $100.00 on mandrel bends and that was it.You can see some pics of 'em in my Intercooler album.I can give ya somemore details it your interested.

Brian

 

ive got a source on getting the tubing bent, its just by the time all the tubing is bent, rolling the ends, machining the compressor outlet flange, welding the plenum adapter, making the ic brackets and getting the clamps and silicone adapters i just cant do it for less than what banks can sells them for.

i can get both tubes and the plenum adapter tubes bent for about $200 including material, the 6 silicone hoses, 12 clamps, it runs right about $350 then i have the welding time on the brackets and plenum adapter, and machining on the compressor adapter, packaging, shipping....and thats a plain aluminum, thermal powder coating would run another $80 if i had 10 at a time to get done. so that would price kits right about the $550 range. and if you can get basically the same thing from banks for $400 and change its an easy decision.

if i did 100 kits at a time i can get them down around the 400 range but there isnt that demand out there for me to make that kinda investment.

 

ForemanES, Yes it's a stock 7.3 with aluminum tanks. As far as the EGT drop. So far I see the standard 200* drop when pulling. I still see 800* riding down the road not pulling. But when I strap a load on is when I like to see it now tops out at 1000* instead of 1200. So it's doing it's job as far as I'm concerned. I think it might get a little better once I get the pipes insulated.

1997, yer makin' me sick!!!!! I want a single cab 4x4 dually so bad I can't hardly stand it. I think they look so bad azz. I like the way you think. But I will have to say nay to that mod. But what I am keeping my eye out for is the rare OBS crew cab 4x4 dually. With my boys getting older it's only gonna be a matter of time before they want to start going to the mud races, and momma's explorer doesn't have gooseneck hitch.

BBJ, yeah I used the early 99 y pipe.

Briansshop, I can't tell the difference in throttle response too much. I'm still so tickled with the new injectors, it's hard to say. But I am concerned about the boost loss. I went from 35psi plus to 26. I keep telling myself it's because I don't have the right clamps on all the boots, and I keep trying different things to get them tighter. But I can't make over 26 psi now.

Guys, thanks for the compliments, and again that's what makes it all worth it.

 

A lot of super duty guys remove the insulation just to increase turbo noise. Will it make that much of a difference if you wrap the pipes?

 

No idea, but I'll find out soon enough.

 

dam those brackets to hell. haha glad you finally got it all done and even the engine cover back on.

 

RD, theres a 97 crew 4x4 down here for sale. i havent looked at it though id be afraid if i did i couldnt live without it. i think it was 12k for the truck and the 30ish foot 5th

it was at an rv park by where i drive by everyday, i can see if theres a ph# on it tommorow for you

 

Jake, is it a dually? Dude, I hate to say it but if you get a chance grab a number. And if you want, PM me about what you see. I might be coming to see you sooner than we thought.

 

Rubber Duck, great job and all. I was really impressed with your work. Hope we can meet up soon and see what she's got!

 

I figured that...so I was nice. See you at work. I will leave a message on my back window for you...since that is all you have seen so far. Get some sleep. By the way, your work really does look good!