Honestly, it's not the tube past the filter that's restrictive. Usually it's the air silencer before it ever gets to the tube. Also, have you ever heard of "air turbulence"?

I'm not doubting the Ford engineers on their design, I am only questioning their design goals.

Keep an open mind. Just because we don't all agree on this application doesn't mean that we are all wrong (or right for that matter). Just do what works for you and leave it at that. If people are willing to buy snake oil then there isn't much you can do to change that.

 

It has been mentioned a couple of times, that the better of the intakes for our trucks are the AF-1 and the AIRAID that have shown improvements. You could buy the ebay part but will you have support when you get a check engine light or have problems with the part(replacement) if so, then that is a heck of a deal. You could rig it to fit a different Cone filter in the future when that filter reaches its end of serviceability.

 

I am in the automotive OEM business. Whenever we go from suppliers in the states to the Chineese I always see a loss of quality and a long time to get things corrected from them. Now you are dealing with aftermarket parts. Unless the aftermarket does a better job then the OEM I would not expect to see the quality in the knockoff.