I'm always looking to free up a few hp on my vehicles, but I'm not willing to drop a few hundred on a K&N kit that just stuffs a conical filter in the corner of the engine bay.

Anyway I took a quick look at the intake routing a noticed that Ford had nicely routed the intake tube right up to the grill, but gave only a small, blocked opening in the header panel to catch some fresh air through. So I quickly zipped a hole in the panel to give the intake a direct charge. Here's a few pics:

Stock opening:


Rough cold air opening:


All back together:


I still have the stock paper filter in the truck to keep an eye on and see if it gets dirtier much quicker. Eventually I will switch over to a stock replacement K&N filter in the stock housing.

I'm also considering making a some sort of extension tube that is 100% exposed to incoming air and not blocked like this still somewhat is. And if the filter gets too dirty too quickly, I'm also entertaining the idea of adding a k&n foam dirt screen to the very front of the intake to keep out big dust particles and raindrops.


Anyway, I'm just posting this to share my idea and look for some feedback. I'd also like some ideas on where I should go from here.

Like they say in car racing "Don't look for one place to find 100hp, look for 100 places to find 1hp."

 

I think that will work out nicely. Power increases will be minimal, but you should have a slightly louder intake. At the end of the day, it will breathe better than before. I don't think you will have a problem with a dirtier filter, not too much to warrant anything. A lot of new cars pull from the front grill just like that.

 

That's exactly how I look at it. Just figured I'd share what I did since it took about 20 minutes to do and all you need is a dremel.

 

Nice work. I was going to do something like that this weekend when I change my grill out. Was thinking to possibly getting some sheetmetal airway bent up to catch the cooler air under the bumber but now think maybe just opening the header up like you did may be enough.

 

Good job on the idea, on the 7.3's we call it the ZooDad mod.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...ml#post3907935

 

Oh I didn't even realize that it was a common mod on those trucks. It makes sense though. The more I look at it, the more I think I will come up with some kind of tube/deflector that occupies that dead space between the intake hole and the assorted coolers so I have a full shot of air instead of the 2/3 opening I have now.

 

It did lead to a few other designs, lots of technical info here https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...-welcomed.html

 

Here is a link to a post for some entertainment, https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post10064244

 

Hey thanks for the links. I had thought about using a cut down funnel, but not a square funnel like I believe was used in the first thread.

 

Many of us cut the holes below the intake bell (leaving the bell obscured behind a plastic shield) to minimize water ingestion when driving in heavy rain. It can make a bit of a mess out of a paper filter....