I was looking through a 4wheel Parts Catalog and noticed that they offer the Zoodad mod. They call it the "AirFury". Its specifialy designed for the 7.3 & 6.0. It sells for $40. bucks. Oh and they even include the directions. I'm not sure who started this mod, Bit I remember reading somthing where Gene was experimenting with this mod by holding the unit in place with Duct Tape. This was purely for the sake of retreiving his data, calc's,and measurments. I just don't remember if Gene was testing a theory or in the develomental stages of the mod. Well I really hate to see who ever thought up of this mod miss out on the Benefits. Gene you are an invaluable asset to this site. Keep up the good work. Country

 

Hey Guys I'm off right now to the Beach. Taking the family for a 3-day camping trip. Just in case you don't here from me right away. Well I'm off. Take Care. Country

 

I have seen that Air Fury......made me go "hmmmmmm..."

Have a great weekend at the beach. Wish I could go. I am about ready to choke a couple of engineers and the swing shift supervisor and his crew of boneheads along with him. I am working straight through to next weekend so I guess I am stuck with this idiocy.

 

Did you make him an offer on his SportTrac and he turned it down?

 

No.....but that is funny.

My guys spent all day reworking jobs that his crew screwed up last night, much like we do every other day. Makes it hard to get ahead and stay on time with the production schedule when we are constantly cleaning up after others.

 

I can see where that would make you prone to wanting to wring his neck.

 

The person that first did this goes by the name Zoodad. Hence the name of the mod. Very nice guy!!!


It's a free modification to your truck. A dremel and a good steady hand. 2" X 2" oval hole.


Diane

 

Diane, my zoodad is about 4" wide and 6" tall, oval too.

Gene.. Duct tape...? Nooooooo...

 

Are we talking about ErnestEugene? Tell me there isn't someone else who duct tapes things to his truck.

 

Yes.. Ernest Eugene. I sure wish he would add something about duct tape in his user title, it would be classic.

 

"Duct Tape Guru" comes to mind...

 

My campground WiFi has been hit and miss, but it's hitting now so here goes... Below is a summary of Gene's duct tape experiments with his Zoodad. I'm not sure that sounds quite right, but keep reading and you'll see what I really mean.

First, I've always had a Zoodad since day one, I just didn't know what to call it until I joined this site a year ago. By that I mean when I raced my sports car in the 60's I employed various bodywork modifications to get more air flow into the intake, the brakes, etc... So when I bought my truck and started setting it up for fulltime towing, one of the first mods I did after I got my free TSB upgrade to the 99.5 air box in Nov 99 at Spike Ford in Mission, TX, was to cut the hole shown here Click for full size image to get more air into the intake. When I picked it up from the dealer, I couldn't believe my TSB update had been installed correctly because the inlet was so blocked closed by the radiator shroud. The Ford tech showed my a brand new truck that was the same way, so that started me thinking about how to get more air in there.

Then I ran the infamous K&N cone for 30K before my turbo blew, and there was a wide gap between the Zoodad hole and the cone, and I could see just how many bugs were coming through that hole! So, when I installed the AIS I configured the baffle shown here Click for full size image to keep the bugs and rain out. I'll admit was ugly, but it did serve its purpose.

Then I started making under the hood temp measurements with this Click for full size image and saw just how hot it was getting, and decided to remove the ugly baffle to get more ambient air under the hood and into the intake. Then I installed my air flow gauge shown here Click for full size image and here Click for full size image and at highway speeds, I was measuring a 1" to 1.5" H2O RAM air effect at the downstream side of the AIS element. I wanted to confirm if this was real, so I duct taped a cereal box lid over the Zoodad hole shown here from the rear Click for full size image and here from the front Click for full size image . Yes, I was in a hurry, and got the lid facing ugly side out.

Multiple measurements with and without the lid in place confirm a considerable RAM air effect, which is one of the reasons I recommend an AIS versus any type of under the hood filter. And that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. BTW, what was the date of the "official" Zoodad hole, compared to mine which was done in Nov 99?

 

I'm still curious if anyone knows the answer to this?

 

Are you trying to claim Zoodad credit or a rename? Kinda hard without posting/sharing it in a timely manner.

 

Did you bother to read post # 12 above and any other of this thread? That gives the background and explains my interest in the date!