upgrade air intake tube

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

iamdub

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2016
Posts
20,712
Reaction score
44,434
Location
Li'l Weezyana
I can never find the pic of my buddy's homemade tube...


I think his ('09 Tahoe) has an extra 45° fitting in it to aim straight at the factory filter box after arching over the rad hose. If you don't like the flared parts for the slip-fits, you could cut them off and use PVC cement to "butt weld" the joints together, then sand and paint/wrap/dip it.


Found a pic. Sort of a difficult angle to study, but you can get a good idea. It looks to be a 90, two 45s and maybe a foot total of straight pipe to join the elbows together. I would've sanded the lines and text off the flares before painting it:

IMG_6090.JPG
 

ivin74

05 NBS Nali
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Posts
2,262
Reaction score
2,306
Location
Htown, Texas
Get some pvc pipe and the 90 elbow from Amazon. That's what I did, I also have the K&N filter.
 

Attachments

  • Resized_20230402_122119.jpeg
    Resized_20230402_122119.jpeg
    592.6 KB · Views: 18
OP
OP
DaveO9

DaveO9

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2022
Posts
113
Reaction score
245
Location
Vancouver, WA
Thanks for all the good ideas. I'm checking in to used AiRaid, but I may still go with the homebuilt option. I'm always up for a challenge like that. (I'm an engineer :) )

I'll post on this thread with whatever the end result is.
 
OP
OP
DaveO9

DaveO9

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2022
Posts
113
Reaction score
245
Location
Vancouver, WA
@Dave09 i have one available for sale. Used it for less then 6 months. Let me know if your still looking.
I received it today - went on no problem, looks great. Thank you.

I decided to buy the used one @crownvic31 had for sale. Very reasonable price - judging from the price of those rubber splices in the plumbing section, I don't think I would have saved much/any money by making my own. Pleased with the result. I was a little worried it'd be too noisy up front without the resonator chambers, but I barely noticed. Just at hard throttle can you hear a little more intake noise. IMG_4238.jpeg
 

crownvic31

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2022
Posts
193
Reaction score
166
I received it today - went on no problem, looks great. Thank you.

I decided to buy the used one @crownvic31 had for sale. Very reasonable price - judging from the price of those rubber splices in the plumbing section, I don't think I would have saved much/any money by making my own. Pleased with the result. I was a little worried it'd be too noisy up front without the resonator chambers, but I barely noticed. Just at hard throttle can you hear a little more intake noise. View attachment 402222
Looks great brother. Happy it all worked out and i was able to help you with this.

Enjoy
 

Charlie207

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2021
Posts
1,168
Reaction score
2,130
Location
LFOD, New Hampshire
Dang, now I want one of those smooth tubes before I apply my tune from BBP.

When I talked to BBP, he said that upgrading the factory intake on a 5.3 isn't going to do much of anything as far as power gains.

A cam and/or longtube headers are the only way to open up N/A power on the 5.3. (allegedly)
 

Forum statistics

Threads
128,802
Posts
1,805,640
Members
91,785
Latest member
Eliteweapons
Top