I had an 00 f150 XLT 5.4 and a 01 f150 H-D edition I installed a FIPK on both units. I now have an 02 f150 FX4 with a 5.4 also. I have been wanting to install a cold air intake on it however I am certain the HD suffered from hot thin air. I never noticed any trouble with the 00 truck but it seemed as if the HD ran better when it was cold outside. I have checked on the Volant air box and am wondering what is the REAL difference in simply installng a K&N in the stock air box. Is the flex line of the stock air tube really enough to cause a loss in horsepower due to turbulance?

I am convenced that the open FIPK design is inferior because of the HOT air in the engine compartment. Even though the Mass air sensor is SUPPOSED to compensate I still believe that it can only do so much. Right now I have done nothing to my truck. What do yu all think?

 

I pulled out the coupling betwen the fender wall opening and the stock airbox. The hole in the fender is huge compared to the plastic "snorkel". I replaced the restrictive part with a short piece of grey PVC drain pipe (3.5" I think), and a rubber drain pipe coupling from Home Depot. I put a K&N in the stock airbox, and used a WMS Velocity tube instead of the stock intake. The engine gets all the cold air it wants and sounds kinda like a 4-barrel when you get on it. Plus this combo only set me back under $150 including the filter. My gas mileage went up, especially after I installed a FM y-pipe and a Ravin Z55 muffler. That and a superchip - I went from 14.5 MPG city to 16 MPG city and over 17 MPG highway if I stay at 65 (can't do it, truck runs too good).

 

It is a well known fact that engines will produce more power when the following is true,

-Thicker air (closer to sea level)
-Cooler air
-Dryer air

So if your on the coast and its a nice cool dry day your truck will run really well.

As far as the FIPK drawing in hot air, yes they do but not that bad. They don't sit on top of the engine and until someone sticks a tempature probe by it I really wouldn't spend a bunch of extra time worring about it. You could make some sort of heat shield for it I guess and then have a air dam force air into that area from the front, but now you have a lot more stuff under the hood taking up space...???

 

RamblinWreck,

Can you post some pics of your air intake.

 

see next post......editing problems with original.....

 

I have what I call a modified Volant fipk. It's been an evolution of stock air intake to a Volant kit which was total crap from product to instructions to fit and finish to installation and then to trying to make the Volant fit and work. The only thing it gave me was a fancier looking airbox and a hard time. WHY??? Glad you asked !The connection from the airbox to the hole in the fender seems to be an afterthought : a peice of padded molding that almost but not quite was supposed to seal the gap to the fender. The factory wiring harness to the MAS didn't reach without stretching it way beyond where it should be and the rubber tubes that attach near the throttle body didn't even come close to matching. I had to take off the plastic factory box on one of the tubes that is designed to eliminate cold start up air howling. and even then I had to go to a parts store with a drawing of what shape of hose I needed and hope for the best. Also the plastic fitting that goes into the air tube had to have electric tape around it to seal it up. I'd NEVER buy a Volant again and YES I did get the one for my truck and engine. To add insult to injury emails to Volant's tech support site with polite inquiries were never answered even after multiple attempts. No 800 number available.
I too got tied up in the cold / hot air intake issue and if you believe what you read then you'd buy a Volant also. BUT.....the Volant was an expensive mistake for me. If I had to do it again I'd stick a K&N filter in the factory airbox and replace the airtube with a Velocity stainless steel one or do the free air silencer removal thing that I've seen detailed on one of our truck sites. I just wish I'd bought a K&N fipk to begin with instead of getting sucked into the cold air / hot air issue.....there's a reason why K&N's the best selling: A great product, replacement filters and cleaning kits available at most parts stores in stock, a competitive price, and fit and finish second to none. Whatever you do, don't buy Volant.

 

I think I will stick with the stock air box and tube with the K&N filter in it. My 01 HD being Black and Hot KY sunny days along with the normal engine heat really zapped the power out of it. The Volant looks to be a better set up however I tend to agree that from what I have seen it is substandard at best. I would like an FIPK from K&N if it had a heat sheild like that offered to our Chevy brothers. There is a tech bulletin out on hot air horsepower drain from FORD. Basically the remedy is to plug the holes behind the Coolant reserve tank to attempt to stop any intrusive HOT AIR there is also a reprogram that goes with it to offset the air fuel ratio due to Thin air ineffeciencies. I can get the tech Bulletin number from my tech at Town and Country Ford here in Louisville. Personally I think the Straight Tube offered to replace the stock unit is a good idea However my opinion of the fully exposed fiter in that HOT envionment is a **** idea. I think I will build a shroud and a nozzel to the back of the grill to ram air down the throat like my HD bike has. That really brought my sportster to life.

Again Thanks for the input!!!!

 

Hey momule,

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found the Volant kit to be terrible fit-and-finish wise (I shake my head when I see their ad claiming OEM fit and finish). I am still running with it, but like you I had to make some hose modifications. While I do like the performance, I've really never been happy with it and have even debated replacing it w/ an AF1 or custom job in the future.

 

Here's what Ive decided to do when I get my 03 Crew. I bought a stock intake off of E-bay for only $10, I figured I could play with it and not mess up the one on my truck. I was surprised that the stock intake tube is round inside, doesn't look it from it's flat shape. It seems to taper from inlet to outlet, I mean, it's bigger as the air enters after the maf and gets smaller as it connects to the TB. This would seem to increase air flow velocity to me, it was very smooth also. I did find one hole in the inside towards the inside turn just past the flexible rubber boot. I assume it's a resonation chamber opening, designed to reduce intake noise. It probably creates turbulance also, I'm go to tape over it to block it off. In my Silverado, I've tried several drop in filters in the stock air box (K&N, Amsoil & AFE), I didn't see or feel much of a difference in performance or mileage. I've been using a Rush performance filter for about a month now, it's the only one that really seem to make a SOTP difference. They're made by Barry Grant, they make Demon carbs, Nitrous Works kits, etc.. So in short (or long), I'm going to use the stock intake with a Rush filter, tape over the hole in the stock intake tube and open up the end of the stock intake where goes into the fender. The rubber connector really gets small in the fender, I'm going to pull it out and open the end of the air filter box to the size of the fender opening. This should provide a good flow of cool air, the only thing I may add is a WMS Velocity Tube if taping over the hole in the stock intake tube doesn't seem to work very well. Thoughts?
Jim