Cold Air Intakes
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Cold Air Intakes
Ive got a 98 expy with a 5.4 and I am looking for a cold air intake. I am leaning toward the fipk from K&N but its a little pricey. The TFS one is a lot cheaper but does it perform? What are you guys using? What about throttle spacers?
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2009
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From: Cuyahoga Falls, OH
check out summit racing brand cai it is made by K&N but it is cheaper.Summit Racing SUM-F1140 - Summit Racing® Fuel Injection Performance Kits - Overview - SummitRacing.com
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From: ATX
Cai is a waste of money along with TB spacers. The 2v 5.4l just like the 4.6l are chocked off by the heads as it is, so making more air available when it can't properly use what it has now would not benefit you any. Only way cai's are beneficial is when combined with other real mods like headers, mid-pipe, came, etc.... and only then with a proper tune. Even my blown 2v loses power up in the higher rpm range because of the lack of flow from the heads. I'd say save your money...
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Space Coast, FL
I pretty much agree with PG and Always. CAIs, by themselves, give more sound but by themselves won't do much for the performance. You appear to be looking for the performance, so even with a major mod (CAI, headers, exhaust, programmer/tuner) the benefit is seen mostly at high rpms where most people rarely venture unless you're doing a lot of off-road driving or rabbit racing.
On a 98, if it hasn't already been done, I'd first do a cleaning: AutoRx the crankcase and tranny, Seafoam the intake via vacuum assist line, clean the throttle body, run full synthetics. I did this with the pretty clean 06 EB I recently bought and it improved both performance and mileage (16.2 avg local; 20.6 highway 70 mph avg)
On a 98, if it hasn't already been done, I'd first do a cleaning: AutoRx the crankcase and tranny, Seafoam the intake via vacuum assist line, clean the throttle body, run full synthetics. I did this with the pretty clean 06 EB I recently bought and it improved both performance and mileage (16.2 avg local; 20.6 highway 70 mph avg)
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Joined: Aug 2007
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From: ATX
I get what your after but it's gonna be hard to come by. Your best bet would be to do for a underdrive pulley set:
Troyer Performance
Those have proven to free up power. Other thing I'd say would be to look into doing headers, mid-pipe, and higher axle ratio. At this point it would be beneficial to get a CAI mainly b/c you will have to get a tune (again only if you are getting supporting mods like headers/mid-pipe/etc). If SCT is available you can get two tunes, 1 for 87 and 1 for 91/93 in which you can flip back and forth depending on if you are towing or not.
Other things you can do would be a little more drastic such as shedding weight in the truck, power-adder, electric fan, etc etc.
PS... Catbacks do not add any power.
Troyer Performance
Those have proven to free up power. Other thing I'd say would be to look into doing headers, mid-pipe, and higher axle ratio. At this point it would be beneficial to get a CAI mainly b/c you will have to get a tune (again only if you are getting supporting mods like headers/mid-pipe/etc). If SCT is available you can get two tunes, 1 for 87 and 1 for 91/93 in which you can flip back and forth depending on if you are towing or not.
Other things you can do would be a little more drastic such as shedding weight in the truck, power-adder, electric fan, etc etc.
PS... Catbacks do not add any power.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,822
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From: Minnesota
I was looking for more towing performance in my 98 Expy with the 5.4. I installed the K&N CAI, got the superchip, and did the seafoam (did work by the way). It all added up to a minimal gain but decided to upgrade the truck as it had 189,000 miles anyway. Bought an 02 Excursion 6.8l, wish I'd have done it before throwing all the money into my Expy. Just my experience.
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