I'm interested in updating my Expedtion with one of the air injections kits available on this site. Of the three choices, (Airaid, K&N, or Air Force 1) what are the differences if any? Which are eaiser to install, best quality, and offer best performance? Thanks in advance for any information.

Alan M.

 

I slipped on the Airforce One on my X a few months ago and have been very pleased with it.

My choice of this kit was made based on the polished stainless steel tube used......I'm a sucker for polished pieces.

The installation was straight forward and took about a hour. I have not had any problems with it slipping off like I've heard with other kits. The mounting is very rigid and I don't expect any problems in this area.

I also read where others were not satisfied with the howling or added noise when installing similar kits. This was a major concern for me and have found that the Airforce One does not make any added noise until you put your foot in it. I can only describe the sound as what a quadrajet with the aircleaner flipped used to sound like ......flash backs of those high school day : )

I did not dyno mine before or after the installation but there is a noticeable increase in power.

My 4.6 has a superchip installed, airforce one and flowmaster muffler. At this point, I'm satisfied with the motor. My ultimate goal is to stuff a blower under the hood and am saving my boxtops for this mod.

As far as measuring performance, my flying partner has a 2WD EB X, 5.4 and 3.73 gear. When I bought my 2WD XLT X, 4.6 with 3.31 gear, he could leave me in the dust from a standing start, while rolling and on top end. Now my 4.6 runs fender to fender with the 5.4 in all situations and gets 2 mpg better gas mileage.

 

Just remember with all those open element type setups, around town you are sucking very hot underhood air. The only advantage is going down the highway where you will not have a chance to heat up the underhood air. Hot air = less power. Also, because these units eliminate the resonance chambers etc. of the stock systems you may loose some low end power. The theory behind this is a proven fact as resonance tuning and intake volume can greatly affect power. The peak power claims they make maybe just that, peak power, not where you normaly use it. If you do your research you'll find that none of them will show you a dyno plot of your stock system vs this aftermarket unit. Why is that? LIkely because there is a actually a power LOSS at some of the lower rpm's. I've seen instances of this when a straight tube intake system was installed in place of the factory intake tube. There are restrictions in the factory system that can be removed, that along with a good air filter like the ACCEL power filters can give you a very good true COLD AIR INTAKE.

 

Irutt, thanks for your reply. The information you gave make alot of sense and has given me reason to research further. You mentioned removing restrictions in the stock air intake systems. Can you enlighten me on removing these restrictions other than add high flow air filters. Or if you could direct me to this information I would also appreciate this greatly. Thanks again!

 

I only removed the snorkle going to the fender. It is a 2.25" diamater rubber snorkle. The hole in the fender is almost 3.5". If you fashion a tube that goes into that hole at full diameter that is a 200% larger opening than stock. I fashioned an aluminum venturi (bell shape) that goes through that hole and is painted black. Some people will tell you to remove the inner tube in the elbow. I disagree with that move. That disrupts the smooth airflow and resonance tuning characteristics. I think removing the snorkle and adding a hiflow filter is adequate for the normal driving aspects of this engine. There might be a small sacrifice at the very upper reaches but who drives up there, not many, not often. These engines were tuned for lowend torque (max tq at 2500 or so) so why not enhance that type of performance instead of detract from it. I added a true dual exhaust with smaller diameter 2.5" pipes to gain a much better sound. Next step may be a chip, that can give you the most gain of anything.

 

Irutt

Thanks again for the reply. I will check into this type of modification for the stock system.