air (intake)filter upgrade?

[BGolden]

Does all the opening up of air filter really help anything? I went back to stock from ASA because I did not like the noise. I still achieve same 30lbs. boost, and the truck is whisper quiet(compared to ASA).

 

["Mad Max"]

That is a very vaild question - let me try to answer.

From what we can determine, the factory was mostly concerned with keeping everything as quiet as possible - it doesn't seem like the factory was necessarily concerned with power as much as quieting down as much as they could.



That said, the factory plastic air box assembly and the rubber corrugated flex hose are designed to essentially eliminate turbo whine and the sound of rushing air - that's about it - not much was designed to make power. The other big noise-reduction comes from the under hood matting. Our first truck was louder than our current 1st gen, and the difference is the under hood sound insulation. If you don't have that insulation the turbo whine will echo through the hood and your hood will turn into a great big speaker. Even I will admit that my first 1st gen was right on the edge of being too loud, and it did not have the hood matting. Our current 1st gen does and it is much better - just right.



Overall boost will not increase with our Intake. Once a turbo is spooled up, aftermarket or stock, it ingests air just about regardless of if there's an airbox in place or not. But, what does change is when the boost begins to build. Because our Intake is smooth-bore, and because the filter can bring in air uniformly around the filter, the boost builds sooner than the factory assembly - roughly 100-200 rpm sooner. There are no appreciable gains in top-end power over a stock system, but there is an appreciable difference in low-end power because it comes on sooner than stock - a big plus for the tug-boat crowd. There is also a small increase in fuel mileage as a result of the increased efficiency of the AFE filter over anything stock.



There are bigger improvements with upgraded fuel and exhaust systems as well, especially exhaust. I have a hard time getting past 1200* when pulling big weight trying to maintain highway speed. Just when the pyro nudges 1100-1200* the boost gauge climbs and maintains a nice pyro temp.



For sure there will be increased turbo sound, which is sometimes a desired gain :-laf. What I might recommend is if you want to keep our Intake system in place but reduce the sound you could add the hood insulation (if it isn't there), and for more you could build a shroud around the filter, not too close but more or less similar to the factory box. The turbo whine comes from both the filter and through the Intake itself. You could also wrap sound deadening insulation around the Intake itself - I think that would make a fairly big difference. We looked at several versions of a shroud but most of our customers preferred not to have one.



There does not seem to be any adverse affects from rain, water, snow, etc, with the system. In fact the factory air opening seems to direct rain and 'spray' from the front grille directly into the airbox more than our system would. And if any water gets on the filter it will simple atomize with the incoming air and cool off the exhaust - a natural version of water injection.



Hope that answers some questions. Thanks for the inquiry.



- Sam

ASA Modifieds

 

[JGrefenstette]

wow. thanks sam. i didnt even ask the question, but i feel much more informed from reading this. good to know.

one question. - if i want more sound, would removing the hood insulation achieve that? does it give more turbo whine, louder combustion noise.

and would that mean that the motor would run slightly cooler, and not warm up as fast??? thanks

 

[Makaio]

BGolden,



Put a silencer ring on your turbo and leave the ASA intake. Your engine will like you more because it can breathe better.



Aloha,

Matt

 

["Mad Max"]

JG -



Yup, taking out the hood insulation will allow more sound to echo through the hood, and the engine will be louder. Without it the turbo will sound like a tubrofan engine trying to come through the hood, and the cars you passing will wonder which Kenworth you got your engine from :-laf.



- M2

 

[tugboatphil]

- a big plus for the tug-boat crowd.

Sam, are you saying I have Groupies somewhere that I don't know about?? :-laf:-laf

 

[JGrefenstette]

well i think i no what my next quick fix will be on the old ram. get rid of the hood insulation! does removing it affect the warm up time at all??

 

["Mad Max"]

Sam, are you saying I have Groupies somewhere that I don't know about?? :-laf:-laf

:-laf - I thought you had a fan club too!!

well i think i no what my next quick fix will be on the old ram. get rid of the hood insulation! does removing it affect the warm up time at all??

Naww... but it will affect the spool-up time



- M2

 

[TomThomas]

JG, I don't thinkit would affect the "war-up time" as the blanket doesn't add any heat. removing the blanket would allow heat to escape, so your engine would cool faster in the winter time, not necessarily a good thing. Theoretically your engine would run cooler due to the lack of insulation, but I don't think it would show on the guage.

 

[JGrefenstette]

how would it affect spool-up time??

yea it would be a bit of a pain to have it cool off any quicker than it already does.

 

["Mad Max"]

ummm... I was being silly - it won't spool any faster... but you will hear it spool... faster .



Seriously fellas, the insulation is for quieting the engine noise - always been a significant factor in Cummins sales at the showroom. The engine won't notice.



- M2

 

[JGrefenstette]

hahhah as i figured. thanks sam

 

[Jgolden]

I had a big intake but really noticed improvement when I added a 4"in and 4" out muffler.

Good to see other 1stgen Goldens.

 

[JGrefenstette]

what type of differences did you notice? did you change the turbo housing or just flange out to a 4" down pipe? im about to make a 4" down pipe for mine.

 

["Mad Max"]

Here is our downpipe:



#ad




#ad




Factory DP:

#ad




ASA's DP:

#ad




It is a full 4" DP with a tapered flare - it works fantastic but it requires removing the heat exchanger for clearance. Pulling the heat exchanger is not a problem for those that warm up the transmission (in neutral) while warming up the engine. It also requires a small extension tab on the transmission dipstick-to-bellhousing bracket. It does not cook the heater box but we are going to add a layer of heat shielding just in case.



- M2

 

[Philip]

JG I had a 100 degree drop in EGT's at WOT when I went to my 4" system. Its a stan's sytem. This link has some pic's of the install and what problems I ran into.



Going to a 4" system is worth the effort.

 

[JGrefenstette]

this is exactly what i was going to do. my buddy has the stock 4in system off his 05' cummins. i was going to snag a few factor 90* elbows from that, then soon as i get past the mount down near the bell housing id run 4in flexpipe to get around the T-Case an alll that junk.

i have the getrag so the tanny dip stick is no issue here. what exactly is the heat exchanger? does removing it effect anything? im planning on taking the factory DP and cutting off the 3in flange and welding it to the new tapperd 4in pipe. is that what yall did?

 

[JGrefenstette]

oh and an obvious question, being young and reckless:-laf how is the noise increase when you did the 4in rather than the 3in. my exhaust is steight all the way out. its 3in untill just under the cab, about a foot in from the cab/bed seam, then i put it into a 4in and ran it out just infront of the passenger rear wheel. it dumps out of a 5in tip. its pretty loud as is. . i wondering how much louder the 4in DP will make it. more throaty? what kind of noise difference will there be?

 

[TWorline]

M2:

Nice job on that downpipe, it looks great!

 

[GHarman]

I want to do the breathing system upgrades to my truck as soon as I can get it running reliably, again. The cold air intake, intercooler piping and a 4" exhaust are on the list. However, I do not have the funds to buy alot of aftermarket shiney dodads. My truck is pretty well worn and I'm sure the engine will far outlast the rest of it. I have the ability to fabricate most of the small stuff, given time.

The Breather tube that M2 sells and the intercooler piping that TWorline fabricates are great stuff. That reducer that M2 built, a classic orange peal, is outstanding.

I have been slowly gathering materials over time and hope to start with the exhaust in 2008. Probably a Stans system. The rest I will make. I just cant have the truck down for long periods. Unfortunately, that is where I am at present. A project truck is what I dont need. GregH