Hi guys I was wondering who has a all plastic intake on their 5.4 Mine does it's a 00 I would much rather have the aluminum one, but guess what they changed it because the plastic one is $10 or $15 cheaper, thats the only reason they changed it. Thats what a ford engineer told me. Also it's mass air meter is already gutted from the factory. There's no more turbulence bar in the middle of it. Only about a 1/4 of it. No more pro-m's. Another thing I like that my 97 didn't have is that little metal tray they put on the frame beneath the oil filter. The oil used to run all over the frame when you removed the filter now it runs sraight out in the front. Other then the intake I am very happy with this truck and overall ford has made alot of improvements since 97. There is one plus about the intake it saves on the weight. I have a 00 f150 RC SB XLT black sport 5.4 blah blah blah.....

[This message has been edited by frank ryan (edited 03-24-2000).]

 

Are you talking about your intake manifold, or the air intake. I am guessing the air intake tube because my whole intake manifold is solid steel. I do not see why they would change to plastic other than to be cheap...just like the new bumpers(99 up) They used half the amount of steel of the 97 bumpers.

 

Slick I'm talking about the intake manifold, the whole thing. From the throtle body down. Not the inlet ducting....

 

Darn...That is pretty cheap of them to make an intake manifold out of plastic. I wonder how stong the plastic is and how it will hold up.

 

It's not nearly as strong as the aluminum one. I do know of acouple of mustangs that had problems with their plastic ones. They make everything as cheap as they can and still raise the price every year. Oh well they are still dependable trucks...

 

Frank et al,
I read a very interesting post, elsewhere, from K&N. It talked, among other things, about their use of plastic vice metal tubing in their FIPK. They discussed that the plastic was actually slightly more costly to make. (could be!)

Then it explained the part that made some sense, the metal intake components get hotter and pass the heat to intake air faster and easier than plastic.

I have NO IDEA if Ford was trying this when they plasticized the whole intake side...but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

If it is BOTH cheaper and works better, that's the benefit of living in the plastic age.

I gotta go see if they put that cheap piece of junk on my truck!

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2001 SuperCrew 4x4 Lariat 5.4/4-spd auto, 3.55 l/s, elec xfer case, Skids, Class III tow, Stock 17"s, Oxford White/Med Graphite leather capts chairs, Rhinolined
Planned: K&N FIPK (When they get the CARB # for 2001's), Superchip



[This message has been edited by 1stSuperCrew (edited 03-25-2000).]

 

I had my 1999 5.4 replaced for a 2000 with a plastic intake last December. I requested that the dealer keep the new engine in tact although they were supposed to swap the intake from my old engine. A couple of reasons why I asked were that they keep it on was that I would prefer to keep a factory engine in tact. Also regarding the plastic intake, if some noticed that from 1999 to 2000 the gas milage rating on the window sticker went up 1 mpg. That can be attributed to the plastic intake and some head adjustments. 1stSuperCrew did find a good explanation. Plastic will disipate heat better than aluminum which will reduce intake air temps. The plastic will probably be more expensive at first for Ford since injection molded part casts are very expensive but in the long run the reduction of part clean up and milling to get a true mating surface will even that out. The platic will cast better and the tools will last longer. Also air will flow much better through plastic since it does not have any pores which the aluminum may have and stuff does not stick to plastic as well as aluminum.

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1999 F150 S.Cab 4x4
Northland Edition,5.4
Off road pkg. Fleetside
Black w/grey int.

 

My 2000 with the plastic intake runs quite a bit smoother than my 98 5.4L ever did. Whatever they changed seems to work fine for me. I know others have had rough idle problems in their 2000s already.

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2000 F-150 XLT, 4x2, 5.4L Supercab, Styleside, Black with silver two-tone, 3.55, class III towing package with heavy duty cooling package, 4 wheel disk ABS, overhead console, sliding rear window, keyless entry, dark graphite interior, in dash CD, factory leather wrapped steering wheel, Pendaliner bedliner, K&N air filter, rubberized undercoating, cabin filtration system, Bugflector II, 5W-30 Mobil 1, engine build 10/4/99, **Superchip..WOW!!!!**

 

Thanks alot for the info!