when does it become beneficial to get an aftermarket intake system? I've read that putting one on a stock truck does nothing for performance. If I get a chip and 4#'r will an intake give me a little something extra, or no. When does it become necessary?

 

If you are talking about Intake Manifold (the piece the throttle body bolts to and not what people refer to as the "cold air intake")...I haven't used one so I am no expert, but I would figure that the money would be better spent elsewhere. Did that make sense?

Edit: If you are talking about taking the stock air filter box out and replacing it with a conical filter assembly, then yes it would help a lot.

 

I was talking about the "cold air intakes" sorry I wasn't too clear. Do they benefit a stock truck? I didn't think they did, but what about with teh chip and 4#'r?

 

Yes a cold air intake/open filter will improve performance on a stock truck. You also get that cool loud blower whine

If you have a 4lb pulley you should benifit even more.

 

When I put the cold air intake on, the boost came up quicker and I got like 2 extra pounds out of it without a pulley. Boost whine was also noticeably louder.

 

Ditto...

 

Double ditto. But seat of the pants improvement in performance isnt tremendous. To really get a kick a$$ when you floor it, combine that open filter and intake with the chip and pulley. That is when you will feel a dramatic increase in performance.

 

In hot 100° weather with a 2.5lb upper I was 0.2 seconds quicker in the quarter with the stock air box and K&N filter with a 2" hole cut in the bottom and routed to pick up air under the front bumper than the JL ram air kit and their 12" powerstack filter. I changed twice just to make sure the results were accurate. This was done in the summer of 2001 at beech bend raceway on my truck.

 

I was thinking of getting the JL Ram Air and Airbox. Any other opinions on this? I like the clean look that this one has with the airbox..

 

How good is a stock box that has been opened up on the bottom
and a K&N element. ****

 

either are good, i like psp's fastair though. but its just all personal preference