Hard Pan

hello guys just wanted to know what you guys thought about cai,what might be the best one for my truck. or would i be better off with a drop in filter,cut out bottom of stock airbox ? the pisser of it all is i have no e fans on this 2006 and it has a very restricted looking air tube right at the throttle body. all thoughts are appreciated

Hard Pan

anyone ?

2000 SILVERADO

If you're wondering why nobody has responded yet it's because the whole "which CAI is best?" threads are brought up all the time. You should use the search botton for common questions like this. But to answer your question, I wouldn't waste my time with a drop in, get a real CAI the replaces the filter, the air box, and the intake tube because the stock sucks. Also, how much are you willing to spend?

And before you ask about other mods, here is a list of mods that are a waste of money IMO: Throttle bodies, TB spacers, that tornado thing and anthing related to it, and mass air flow meters. Save your money.

Hard Pan

Thanks for the reply. cost allways matters but this is my first brand new truck and i would like to do it right. so the price is not an issue if i knew it would be best for my truck. the truck will never see the track. but every diesal in town trys to run it at all the stop lights. ??? but anyways i just want alittle more go and a strong running truck.

BLACKND

iTrader: (5)

I do have to beg to differ slightly from the previous post. I have used both the stock AirBox with drop-in filters and an AirRaid Modular Intake Tube, and I have used Open Element CAI's like the AirRaid kit and a knockoff kit that is available on EBAY also with the Intake Tube. In my personal experience, and note that I have no dyno numbers, but I noticed no difference in power between the stock airbox with drop-in filter and AirRaid Tube, than I did with the open CAI. My personal opinion is that for the price of the CAI's on the market, you can use a good drop in filter like the True-flow, upgrade the stock tube for the AirRaid MIT, and modify the stock box, I have a dremel tool and was able to polish some rough edges and drilled holes into the bottom of the box. The cammed crew cab that I had actually ran much better, and pulled stronger up top with the stock box than it did with the AirRaid CAI. IAT's were cooler, I can't remember by how much, my tuner and I did some testing with the IAT's though, I assume this is part of the explanation.

I am not saying that CAI's are a bad investment by any means, but IMO for the money spent on a typical CAI, anywhere from 200-350, I spent less than 150 for the drop in filter and tube and some box mods, and I personally feel that it is every bit as effective. Your not going to get much gains solely from an intake system regardless of whatever system you decide to use, and I am trying to build my truck as much on a budget as possible.

This is just my 2 cents, make of it what you will. But I disagree that the stock box sucks.

Hard Pan

Thank you for your reply and ideas Lccz71. And I also like the fact that u had some sotp experience with all 3 forms of intake.

nightrunner

iTrader: (4)

all cai's have close to the same hp increase so i would advise you to pick the one that looks the best to you

closed element filters( volant or outlaw for example) have been shown to have a little better increase than open element filters( k&n for example)

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

I haven't tried a home-made set-up, but have had both the K&N FIPK and now the Volant closed box with ram air, and I can honestly say I haven't felt a difference between the two, good or bad. I did feel something when I originally installed the K&N over the stock air box though, so I'm gonna say that both of those systems produce similar gains. One note, for pre-05 trucks doing an 05 efan swap, the Volant system will clear the 34" radiator with no problems, while the K&N system listed for your original year/application will need to be modified to clear. (I'm assuming that a later model K&N system intended for trucks with factory efans and 34" rads will work though)

BigRed53

i have the aem brute force intake, open element kit on mine, and i ditched the element with the kit, and got a better fitting k&n, and noticed a slight sotp difference from modified airbox with drop in k&n.

IMO, the cai tubes look like they would flow alot better, but its not a major mod, just a good supporting one IMO.

everyone typically mods the factory intake.

-jared

mabutler

iTrader: (1)

I had the vararam king cobra on my truck and I felt a big difference over stock. I just switched to a S&B and it does not have the power that the vararam did. I can tell a big diiference down low. I didn't like the fit and finish of the vararam and I think I will be happy with the S&B, but I the vararam definitely had better performance. Most people don't like them, but I would recomend vararam if you are going for performance.