DONE! Homemade CAI with ram air!

[White07Tahoe]

I want to start off by saying please don't judge me on some of the craftsmen ship, I know some of it is pretty ghetto. I did this last week right before I got my in person Black Bear tune. I wanted to use the stock air box but allow more air to be able to flow through it. I wanted to try to figure out a way to have a ram air style intake also. First I noticed that inside of the fender well where the stock box sucks air from, there are 3 flaps that were pretty much close so I opened them.

Next I cut open the bottom of the box to get more air into it.

I wanted to find a way to get more air to the box by running a pipe from the fog light hole(since I don't have fog lights). I noticed that the stock intake tube was the perfect size, so I cut all of the extra crap off of it and ran it to right behind the fog light hole.

View from under car, zip tied into place.

View from outside of the fog light hole before I centered it. I have since cut a hole in the fog light cap so it looks a little cleaner.

What it looks like with the box back in place.

The final product! (I really wanted to use black PVC but the Home Depot by my house didn't have any.)

List of things used
4" 90* elbow with a male/female end
2' of 4" black PVC pipe
2' of 1/4" flex fuel line
4" to 3" coupling
4" coupling
1/4" to 5/8" barbed fitting
1/4" hose clamp

Took me a few hour to do bc if the "ram air" part of it. I couldn't be more happy with it!! It sounds loud and mean! This intake+BlackBear tune=perfect running truck.
Know anything I can do different/better?

 

[sumo]

haha nice. get rid of that pipe. Ive seen replacment tubes that are nicer

 

[White07Tahoe]

I know its not nice looking but it is very functional. It is a 4" tube with no unnecessary turns, this mean you get more and better air flow. I never have to look at it so I don't care what it looks like. Plus it only cost about $40 for everything!

 

[fixxxer88]

AWESOME! And i thought I was the only one with an 18 dollar PVC CAI! May not be the best thing out there, but for the price, its not bad. Also, the PVC resonates the suction noise, makes the engine sound more mean IMO.

 

[stevek]

Enjoy changing that filter every 1000 miles. WAY too much shit will get in there.

 

[puckhead]

Enjoy changing that filter every 1000 miles. WAY too much shit will get in there.

Wouldnt it be similar to an open design CAI anyway?

 

[sumo]

yea but the box allows more debris to get in and collect

 

[Sickblutahoe]

Enjoy changing that filter every 1000 miles. WAY too much shit will get in there.

+1 With that lower tube being so low and exposed it's gonna be like a vacuum cleaner for the road your gonna suck a whole lot of crap in there!

 

[sumo]

yea that why i didnt do the volant scoop. lotta stuff can get forced up there when going 70+ mph

 

[2005yukonxl]

gonna suck lots of water up too during rain storms. and it does look kinda ghetto, sorry. at least u could paint the pvc with spray paint so it doesnt look like a toilet in there? not sure what kind, if any, gaines its actually going to do for ya but at least u like it.

 

[slowstang305]

Yeah man, the ebay cai's are like $80 now just grab one

 

[04ctd]

that CAI is fine.

you will not pull water into the engine, because of the break between the hose & the box at the bottom.

it won't fill up with dirt & gravel, because the fog light hole is so small.

what little stuff that gets in there, like sand sized gravel, won't travel up the convoluted tube.

some of that stuff happened with the old Fox Body "March Ram Air" but it had a 2 inch by 11 inch opening that was inches off the asphalt. it won't with your setup, but i think you will get enough fresh air from the fog light to keep hot engine bay air out of your air box.



but, you GOTTA KRYLON that PVC! the best is "trunk splatter" it has a texture to it,

and then I usually put a JEGS sticker or something on it.

it looks fine, should work fine, just check the box & filter with your next few oil changes, and it should be good.

diff strokes / diff folks, it's all good.

 

[White07Tahoe]

that CAI is fine.

you will not pull water into the engine, because of the break between the hose & the box at the bottom.

it won't fill up with dirt & gravel, because the fog light hole is so small.

what little stuff that gets in there, like sand sized gravel, won't travel up the convoluted tube.

some of that stuff happened with the old Fox Body "March Ram Air" but it had a 2 inch by 11 inch opening that was inches off the asphalt. it won't with your setup, but i think you will get enough fresh air from the fog light to keep hot engine bay air out of your air box.



but, you GOTTA KRYLON that PVC! the best is "trunk splatter" it has a texture to it,

and then I usually put a JEGS sticker or something on it.

it looks fine, should work fine, just check the box & filter with your next few oil changes, and it should be good.

diff strokes / diff folks, it's all good.

That's what I was thinking. I really wanted to get black PVC but I didn't know where to get it. I was in a rush to do it because I was getting my BLackbear tune the next day and now I am out of town. I plan on painting it when I get back home and I will prob end up taking out the "ram air" crap. I needed it done quick and I thought I would try something different. Thanks for the advice!!

 

[wardo]

Yeah man don’t worry about sucking in rocks or small animals into that opening lol. The engine is drawing air, but it’s won’t even be close to enough suction to worry about.
I tell you the only thing you need to know is you will have a ton of dirt to clean up on the regular.

It’s a super dusty out here in the desert, I ran my car with no air damn for one week and the entire engine bay was filthy. You should have seen my filter.

 

[BOSS]

Great idea, just clean it up a little and you're set. I would go with the volant tube, it goes right where you have yours but iirc it has a wider angle on it so it doesn't scoop so much debris.

Easy on the man, he's got the right idea..just needs a push

B

 

[Cobra]

awesome. It will work! I don't think debris or rain water will be an issue. The only problem with those is if you actually drive it into water (flood) Then yes it will be like your engine taking a straw and sucking up water. I cut the air box in a 94 bird ramming air from a lower bumper vent up to a K&N in the box. Worked & sounded great till I got stuck in a Flash flood. Good luck bro.

 

[TheFuzz]

Sucking rocks and rain up into the airbox? Really? Short of him sticking a jet engine under his hood, that's not going to happen. Even if he submerges the tube completely he'd be fine - the ram air tube isn't sealed to the air box, so the motor will draw from the engine bay.

The amount of extra dirt and debris that will end up in there will be negligible at best - unless he lives in a particularly dusty area, in which case he'd be dealing with more frequent filter changes anyway.

Aside from looking like he built a water heater under his hood, I like it.

 

[ckl5899]

I think its a great CHEEP idea! If it works, why not!!

 

[Heavymetalmechanic]

If its stupid, but if it works, its not stupid.... or something like that. Great idea, now to try something like that on my '94 5.7L TBI......

This forum will be the end of my relationship, so many project ideas, my spouse would think I am having an affair if she could not see me wedged under the hood...

 

[sjsquid]

I was thinking of doing something similar till i saw some intake kits on ebay for around $40 bucks. Theyll probably work just as good too.