AF1 intake vs. competition
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Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
To answer a few relevant questions.....
First, for HamRadio.............
The Air Force One has about a 5-7 HP advantage over the Airaid in the 4000 & under rpm range on the 5.4 3V F-150. In the higher rpms, it drops a little bit, to about a 3-5 HP advantage. Now is that worth scrapping the Airaid and going with the Air Force One? Not for most people - it's a matter of whether it's worth it to you to have the absolute most power gain, so that is really something you would have to decide. Its easy for me to say sure, spend more money on another intake kit from us, but the reality is, only you can decide if that is worth it to you, without me playing "sales dude."
One other aspect (aside from the obvious nice appearance) I did just think of is that the AF1 does tend to have less "intake moan" on part-throttle under load, so I don't know if that might be a relevant factor to you. Worst case, we feel the Airaid does a fine job, and until we got the AF1's R&D done, the Airaid was the *only* intake kit we approved of for that application, so it's still a nice unit to have!
Regarding "polishing" - the Air Force One is *not* polished on the inside, it is polished on the outside only. It's a real PITA to have S/S intake tube polished inside, as that has to be done before it's rolled & welded - and we did test that kind of configuration. We found that it made no significant difference in the inlet air temperatures, though it will add maybe 1-2 hp more in these trucks. This is because the air closest to the tubing wall is always moving the slowest - it's velocity is reduced by the friction of the air moving against the wall of the tubing, and when you make that wall smoother (via polishing), you do in fact reduce that friction and thus don't slow down the air velocity in those areas *quite* as much. But in this practical application, it's a *very* small difference, and not worth doing - IMHO, it's not worth doing unless we're talking about all-out no-cost-spared racing applications, such as when porting & polishing cylinder heads using dry intake manifold designs, for example - where the rough texture surface for the intake runners does not help atomize fuel droplets, fut that's really another matter, and not what we're discussing here.
As to what intakes are aluminum versus plastic, etc., aluminum was used for intake manifolds in the muscle car days because it was so much *lighter* than the stock factory cast-iron manifolds - same reason why it was used in the older late-model F-150's, before they went to plastic.
Now in terms of intake *kits*, one that comes to mind is the AEM "Brute Force" intake kit, which is made out of aluminum, and one that we'd never recommend using - it scratches easily, transfers heat into the IAT's quicker, etc.
Last - why we see such larger power gains form properly designed intake kits on the 5.4 3V F-150 is precisely because of the design of the *factory* intake kit - not because of materials used, though the Air Force One does indeed show factual advantages in IAT's. The stock intake is far more restrictive in most (but not all) rpm ranges in the 5.4 3V F-150 than in previous F-150 designs, and is why we see such huge gains possible at just 2000-3000 rpm, but the power gains actually DROP at 5000 rpm, up at the power peak - because *that* is the only area where the stock factory 5.4 3V intake works decently - and in that area, we see maybe 10 HP gains from the Air Force One, while we see 25 HP gains at the wheels at just 3000 rpm from the Air Force One on that application. That weird anomaly is due to the design of the factory intake - the expansion chamber invokes a pressure drop one air velocity hit s critical point, and that allows it to not cost too much peak HP up top, even though it costs a boatload of HP down low - they're simply trying to keep *velocity* up along with dramatically retarded cam timing in their effort to provide some torque as well as try to improve MPG in the 5.4 3V F-150. There's *far* more going on there than most will ever know in the 5.4 3V F-150's air intake tract design & PCM calibrations, etc, it's fascinating - and can be improved on quite a bit, as we all know - that's what we do.
I hope that helps a bit,
First, for HamRadio.............
The Air Force One has about a 5-7 HP advantage over the Airaid in the 4000 & under rpm range on the 5.4 3V F-150. In the higher rpms, it drops a little bit, to about a 3-5 HP advantage. Now is that worth scrapping the Airaid and going with the Air Force One? Not for most people - it's a matter of whether it's worth it to you to have the absolute most power gain, so that is really something you would have to decide. Its easy for me to say sure, spend more money on another intake kit from us, but the reality is, only you can decide if that is worth it to you, without me playing "sales dude."
One other aspect (aside from the obvious nice appearance) I did just think of is that the AF1 does tend to have less "intake moan" on part-throttle under load, so I don't know if that might be a relevant factor to you. Worst case, we feel the Airaid does a fine job, and until we got the AF1's R&D done, the Airaid was the *only* intake kit we approved of for that application, so it's still a nice unit to have!
Regarding "polishing" - the Air Force One is *not* polished on the inside, it is polished on the outside only. It's a real PITA to have S/S intake tube polished inside, as that has to be done before it's rolled & welded - and we did test that kind of configuration. We found that it made no significant difference in the inlet air temperatures, though it will add maybe 1-2 hp more in these trucks. This is because the air closest to the tubing wall is always moving the slowest - it's velocity is reduced by the friction of the air moving against the wall of the tubing, and when you make that wall smoother (via polishing), you do in fact reduce that friction and thus don't slow down the air velocity in those areas *quite* as much. But in this practical application, it's a *very* small difference, and not worth doing - IMHO, it's not worth doing unless we're talking about all-out no-cost-spared racing applications, such as when porting & polishing cylinder heads using dry intake manifold designs, for example - where the rough texture surface for the intake runners does not help atomize fuel droplets, fut that's really another matter, and not what we're discussing here.
As to what intakes are aluminum versus plastic, etc., aluminum was used for intake manifolds in the muscle car days because it was so much *lighter* than the stock factory cast-iron manifolds - same reason why it was used in the older late-model F-150's, before they went to plastic.
Now in terms of intake *kits*, one that comes to mind is the AEM "Brute Force" intake kit, which is made out of aluminum, and one that we'd never recommend using - it scratches easily, transfers heat into the IAT's quicker, etc.
Last - why we see such larger power gains form properly designed intake kits on the 5.4 3V F-150 is precisely because of the design of the *factory* intake kit - not because of materials used, though the Air Force One does indeed show factual advantages in IAT's. The stock intake is far more restrictive in most (but not all) rpm ranges in the 5.4 3V F-150 than in previous F-150 designs, and is why we see such huge gains possible at just 2000-3000 rpm, but the power gains actually DROP at 5000 rpm, up at the power peak - because *that* is the only area where the stock factory 5.4 3V intake works decently - and in that area, we see maybe 10 HP gains from the Air Force One, while we see 25 HP gains at the wheels at just 3000 rpm from the Air Force One on that application. That weird anomaly is due to the design of the factory intake - the expansion chamber invokes a pressure drop one air velocity hit s critical point, and that allows it to not cost too much peak HP up top, even though it costs a boatload of HP down low - they're simply trying to keep *velocity* up along with dramatically retarded cam timing in their effort to provide some torque as well as try to improve MPG in the 5.4 3V F-150. There's *far* more going on there than most will ever know in the 5.4 3V F-150's air intake tract design & PCM calibrations, etc, it's fascinating - and can be improved on quite a bit, as we all know - that's what we do.
I hope that helps a bit,
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 797
Likes: 1
From: houston
so if i was throwing a cel with the airaid i had. is this going to not happen if i were to buy an AF1 intake. or will i have to get it tuned to get it to go away. the airaid that i had is on another truck that is not having any lights come on.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi One04FX4,
With either the current Airaid units or any of the AF1's shipped to the public, your truck would not actually run lean - what happens on the 2004 F-150's (and this is also true in the 2005's, though not to quite as much extent) is that the PCM's calibration is set up to report a lean or a rich code well before the motor actually goes lean or rich - in other words, the code reporting thresholds are significantly tighter than the actual adaptive A/F range is.
We have gone over this thoroughly, and so what we do in our tuning of these vehicles, even if the truck is bone stock, is we set the 2004's up to have the same code-reporting thresholds that the 2005's do - it's a whopping grand total of only a 3% difference - nothing significant - but it can make the difference, and you'll notice that you don't see 2005 5.4 3V F-150's with those lean codes - it's an issue on the 2004's, and it is simply because the code reporting thresholds are too tight compared to the actual adaptive range.
Don't get me wrong, there are indeed some intake kits for the 5.4 3V that DO actually cause lean conditions - and in the case of the 2004 & newer F-150's and even in some of the pre-2004's, the driver doesn't know for sure if it's really running lean (or rich) or not unless he knows the actual adaptive range and the code reporting threshold on his particular vehicle, AND also datalogs to see what the fuel trims & A/F's really are.
We have done all of that many times, and so we can safely say that with either the Airaid or the Air Force One intake kits, your truck will not actually suffer from a lean condition, though since it's a 2004, it just might set a code for lean - simply because that reporting threshold is too much tighter than the actual adaptive range.
I know this gets a bit technical & isn't easy to just accept at face value if you don't know how this works and don't have the data, etc - but that's the scoop.
Now it is also true that with the first 2 versions of the Airaid kit, a few trucks did actually go just a little bit lean - but not enough to ever hurt anything. Their 3rd generation units (that is OUR term, by the way, not theirs - if you said "3rd generation" to Airaid, they wouldn't know what you were talking about, that is simply how *we* designate their revisions to that specific kit) work just fine on all 2004 & 2005 5.4 3V F-150's, as does the Air Force One, and neither causes any true lean condition as long as it's installed & seated properly.
Will your truck throw a code with the AF1? It might, if it did with the Airaid, that is possible - but it wouldn't actually be lean as long as the kit is installed & seated properly. We've tested a very significant number of these trucks with the AF1's various revisions since December of 2003 (we did all the R&D/testing on that AF1 intake kit for the 5.4 3V's for AF1), and not a single truck has ever actually gone lean with any of their units that have even been shipped to the public in our testing - so I just don't see that happening.
What to do if it *does* throw that code with the AF1 installed? While I do think it's a good idea to look at the fuel trims & see just how much compensation the PCM is having to make to hit stoich A/F in closed loop, the bottom lien is simply clearing the code and keep driving takes care of it over time. Don't just disconnect the battery, as that will also clear out the adaptive strategy adjustments - just clear the code, and that generally does the trick, allowing the PCM to continue it's adaptive adjustments, and once enough drive cycles & miles have been accumulated, then it won't set that code any more. And keep in mind that I am NOT saying to do that for any part, or any time the PCM throws a code in ANY situation - only that in *this* particular situation, in the 2004/2005 5.4 3V F-150 using either an Airaid or an AF1 that throws a lean code. You may need to clear the code a few times - but eventually it will in fact settle right in, as in every single case we've seen it's still well within the PCM's adaptive range on these trucks.
With either the current Airaid units or any of the AF1's shipped to the public, your truck would not actually run lean - what happens on the 2004 F-150's (and this is also true in the 2005's, though not to quite as much extent) is that the PCM's calibration is set up to report a lean or a rich code well before the motor actually goes lean or rich - in other words, the code reporting thresholds are significantly tighter than the actual adaptive A/F range is.
We have gone over this thoroughly, and so what we do in our tuning of these vehicles, even if the truck is bone stock, is we set the 2004's up to have the same code-reporting thresholds that the 2005's do - it's a whopping grand total of only a 3% difference - nothing significant - but it can make the difference, and you'll notice that you don't see 2005 5.4 3V F-150's with those lean codes - it's an issue on the 2004's, and it is simply because the code reporting thresholds are too tight compared to the actual adaptive range.
Don't get me wrong, there are indeed some intake kits for the 5.4 3V that DO actually cause lean conditions - and in the case of the 2004 & newer F-150's and even in some of the pre-2004's, the driver doesn't know for sure if it's really running lean (or rich) or not unless he knows the actual adaptive range and the code reporting threshold on his particular vehicle, AND also datalogs to see what the fuel trims & A/F's really are.
We have done all of that many times, and so we can safely say that with either the Airaid or the Air Force One intake kits, your truck will not actually suffer from a lean condition, though since it's a 2004, it just might set a code for lean - simply because that reporting threshold is too much tighter than the actual adaptive range.
I know this gets a bit technical & isn't easy to just accept at face value if you don't know how this works and don't have the data, etc - but that's the scoop.
Now it is also true that with the first 2 versions of the Airaid kit, a few trucks did actually go just a little bit lean - but not enough to ever hurt anything. Their 3rd generation units (that is OUR term, by the way, not theirs - if you said "3rd generation" to Airaid, they wouldn't know what you were talking about, that is simply how *we* designate their revisions to that specific kit) work just fine on all 2004 & 2005 5.4 3V F-150's, as does the Air Force One, and neither causes any true lean condition as long as it's installed & seated properly.
Will your truck throw a code with the AF1? It might, if it did with the Airaid, that is possible - but it wouldn't actually be lean as long as the kit is installed & seated properly. We've tested a very significant number of these trucks with the AF1's various revisions since December of 2003 (we did all the R&D/testing on that AF1 intake kit for the 5.4 3V's for AF1), and not a single truck has ever actually gone lean with any of their units that have even been shipped to the public in our testing - so I just don't see that happening.
What to do if it *does* throw that code with the AF1 installed? While I do think it's a good idea to look at the fuel trims & see just how much compensation the PCM is having to make to hit stoich A/F in closed loop, the bottom lien is simply clearing the code and keep driving takes care of it over time. Don't just disconnect the battery, as that will also clear out the adaptive strategy adjustments - just clear the code, and that generally does the trick, allowing the PCM to continue it's adaptive adjustments, and once enough drive cycles & miles have been accumulated, then it won't set that code any more. And keep in mind that I am NOT saying to do that for any part, or any time the PCM throws a code in ANY situation - only that in *this* particular situation, in the 2004/2005 5.4 3V F-150 using either an Airaid or an AF1 that throws a lean code. You may need to clear the code a few times - but eventually it will in fact settle right in, as in every single case we've seen it's still well within the PCM's adaptive range on these trucks.
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Hi jcc,
Any CAN-compliant scan tool can do it - also, if you have a 1714 Micro Tuner for the 2004 F-150's, or the 1745 Micro Tuner for the 2005 F-150's - or the XCalibrator 2, which will do it for *ALL* 1996 & newer FoMoCo vehicles.
Any CAN-compliant scan tool can do it - also, if you have a 1714 Micro Tuner for the 2004 F-150's, or the 1745 Micro Tuner for the 2005 F-150's - or the XCalibrator 2, which will do it for *ALL* 1996 & newer FoMoCo vehicles.
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 320
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i am looking at the airaide and the magnaflow si/so system from you guys for my first by not sure about the tuner yet.still doing research on that
do we get any better prices being members of f150online.
i probably purchase within the next few weeks
do we get any better prices being members of f150online.
i probably purchase within the next few weeks
Former Sponsor
Joined: Mar 1998
Posts: 13,385
Likes: 4
From: Virginia
Yes you sure do get the best pricing being a registered member here, especially on our tuning products - so make sure to call us when you're ready and want to get your pricing since you're a member here!
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,389
Likes: 0
From: Fort Worth,Tx
Originally Posted by Superchips_Distributor
Yes you sure do get the best pricing being a registered member here, especially on our tuning products - so make sure to call us when you're ready and want to get your pricing since you're a member here!
wow mike lol this must be ur shortest post yet!!!
