How-To-Guide (TRD CAI) Installation

[Mtn.Rush]

This is a great write-up thanks Toy. Whats the general concensous on the TRD intake, worth it or not. I know its what ya like and what you want to spend your money on but The Borla and TRD intake keep pulling at my wallet. Thoughts?

 

[harper7]

harper, do enlighten me, does the intake go down the fender, to the wheel well?

I haven't pulled inner liner on the truck yet, but if it is anywhere close to any other setup, these intakes are more of a short intake, cone base one could be called a ram intake..

TOYSTRY has very good detailed pics earlier in this thread of where the air comes in There is a hole in the pass. inner fender that goes out to inside the pass. front fender. The air comes in in those vent holes in your pass wheel well liner on the forward side, into your fender and then through the intake..

Never heard of the term "short intake" and a ram air intake is a scoop or forward facing intake hole with outside air flowing direct to the filter increasing air pressure relative to your speed. Snorkels are ram air too that I'll probably buy when they come out with one.:thumb3:

 

[darkandshiny]

I know it has been a while since TOYSTRY wrote this (thanks a ton by the way).

I'm wondering if there is an advantage to the TRD CAI over the K&N CAI
77-9034KP - K&N Intake Kits, Performance Intake Kit

Anybody have any opinions? I have no personal experience with K&N CAIs

Also, anybody put a snorkle on? I've no illusions of fording water over 12 inches deep - I put one on my old Taco and the performance boost was amazing.

 

[Foques]

TOYSTRY has very good detailed pics earlier in this thread of where the air comes in There is a hole in the pass. inner fender that goes out to inside the pass. front fender. The air comes in in those vent holes in your pass wheel well liner on the forward side, into your fender and then through the intake..

Never heard of the term "short intake" and a ram air intake is a scoop or forward facing intake hole with outside air flowing direct to the filter increasing air pressure relative to your speed. Snorkels are ram air too that I'll probably buy when they come out with one.:thumb3:

yeah, um.. nearly all cars have that.. it is not a replacement for piping.

Have you worked on any other car but the 4r?

In the full CAI, pipe goes all the way down to the wheel, to pull the coldest air possible.

common CAI:

here is a short ram intake:

see where I am coming from?

 

[harper7]

I know it has been a while since TOYSTRY wrote this (thanks a ton by the way).

I'm wondering if there is an advantage to the TRD CAI over the K&N CAI
77-9034KP - K&N Intake Kits, Performance Intake Kit

Anybody have any opinions? I have no personal experience with K&N CAIs

Also, anybody put a snorkle on? I've no illusions of fording water over 12 inches deep - I put one on my old Taco and the performance boost was amazing.

K&N actually makes the TRD one for them and the K&N 77-9034KP kit ,in their own words,is a "High-Flow Performance Air Intake" and not a CAI,nor advertised as one.

I'd wait til AFE has their CAI out any day now to compare to the TRD. No snorkels are out yet to fit 5th Gens.

 

[wanderer33y]

Personally, all I did was buy the K&N filter and replaced it with the normal stock filter. Since the intake is already a CAI, and if I wanted ill just replace the piping. $70 bucks, not $400. I personally see a little better responsiveness, still waiting on the MPG.

 

[Foques]

No .....I don't see where you are coming from.Any intake that gets air from outside the engine bay is a CAI ,no matter what piping you use to get it there.

I am a mechanic and have been for over 30 years. Rebuilt Volkswagen engines with my dad when I was 13 .Also have done 2 frame off restorations(my baby for years was a 70 RS/SS Camaro with a 406 SB Nitrous motor that I built from scratch ) and built at least 10 Chevy motors from the block up and umteen short blocks. Alot of them from teh comfort of my living room.Your not a redneck until you have had an engine block as a coffee table! Right now ,I'm at work rebuilding a UPS RB211 jet engine. At least trying to as the paperwork is all screwed up.

Pardon me, but I resent that statement.
In no way do I consider myself being a redneck or have even a slight possibility of becoming one (due to my origin), but hell I'd love me some of them tables! Matter of fact, when I do own a house I plan on acquiring a table like that because I find them look absolutely super cool
Granted, my second half has her own opinion on that, and I consider the possiblity that it'll have to rest in the "man cave".. but hey.. at least my cave is going to have on kick ass table.

now as far as CAI goes, I find it baffling that you do not see the difference.. But if you are a mechanic of 30 years, and do not see the difference or chance of benefit of pulling the air from under the car (wheel well) instead of right/left side of the engine (engine compartment).. I rest my case.

Again, as I mentioned before in other threads, I am coming from the world of slammed rides and sharp turns..so, perhaps, my experience has been different from yours..

 

[Jtraskell]

Personally, all I did was buy the K&N filter and replaced it with the normal stock filter. Since the intake is already a CAI, and if I wanted ill just replace the piping. $70 bucks, not $400. I personally see a little better responsiveness, still waiting on the MPG.

Thats what I did also. Looking at the TRD CAI, I really did not get the difference vs. factory. Did I miss something? (I am sure I did). I had my K&N filter on now for over a year, yea a bit more pickup, but I really did not witness much gas mileage increase. But then again, I put it on so soon, prior to break in period so I may be getting a benefit and simply do not realize it.

I think the K&N filter only, with maybe a magnaflow to open up the exhaust a little would be a good combination with the least expense. Am I thinking correctly here?

 

[Jtraskell]

yeah, um.. nearly all cars have that.. it is not a replacement for piping.

Have you worked on any other car but the 4r?

In the full CAI, pipe goes all the way down to the wheel, to pull the coldest air possible.

Foques, are you saying that in order to be a "true" CAI, the intake "has" to be at or near the lower wheel well or say below the engine block vs. just being outside the engine compartment, even if the intake is located at or near the upper wheel well?

 

[Foques]

that is what commonly understood as CAI (COLD air intake) in the tuner community. Logically, if you think about it, where will you see the COLDEST possible air? inside of the engine bay or out of it?

i've built quite a few show / go cars, but never owned a truck.. Clearly, in the truck community you guys have different understanding of this topic..

Thats what I did also. Looking at the TRD CAI, I really did not get the difference vs. factory. Did I miss something? (I am sure I did). I had my K&N filter on now for over a year, yea a bit more pickup, but I really did not witness much gas mileage increase. But then again, I put it on so soon, prior to break in period so I may be getting a benefit and simply do not realize it.
Am I thinking correctly here?

trying to figure out the same.
thus far, I see that the TRD intake does NOT have : ribbed flexible piping (it is a solid plastic(?) piece), it doesn't have mufflers.. Outside of that, it looks like a stock airbox, with red letters and high flow filter.

Is your thinking correct? In mind, absolutely, at least until we get more data about "differences".

 

[kingpin748]

now as far as CAI goes, I find it baffling that you do not see the difference.. But if you are a mechanic of 30 years, and do not see the difference or chance of benefit of pulling the air from under the car (wheel well) instead of right/left side of the engine (engine compartment).. I rest my case.

Actually he specifically said outside the engine bay here.

No .....I don't see where you are coming from.Any intake that gets air from outside the engine bay is a CAI ,no matter what piping you use to get it there.

The inside of that fender is not part of the engine bay.

that is what commonly understood as CAI (COLD air intake) in the tuner community. Logically, if you think about it, where will you see the COLDEST possible air? inside of the engine bay or out of it?.

It doesn't matter which community you're in. A cold air intake is just that, a cold air intake. It doesn't matter where you get the air from, under it, beside it, above it as long as it's cold.

That hole in the fender draws air from outside the engine bay. Your "tuner" intakes pass through a plastic piece into the fender so what's the difference? Just because we don't have a bent piece of anodized aluminum tubing doesn't mean it's not a CAI.

 

[Foques]

Just because we don't have a bent piece of anodized aluminum tubing doesn't mean it's not a CAI.

I'll let Injen know that what they are selling as a Short ram intake for a lot of vehicles is actually a CAI...

 

[BradleyB]

Edit -- nevermind -- there are already sufficient responsed to Foques.

 

[kingpin748]

Edit -- nevermind -- there are already sufficient responsed to Foques.

Sign... Good point. I don't know why I bit either.

 

[Jtraskell]

Edit -- nevermind -- there are already sufficient responsed to Foques.

Ditto

 

[darkandshiny]

K&N actually makes the TRD one for them and the K&N 77-9034KP kit ,in their own words,is a "High-Flow Performance Air Intake" and not a CAI,nor advertised as one.

I'd wait til AFE has their CAI out any day now to compare to the TRD. No snorkels are out yet to fit 5th Gens.

Thanks Harper - I'll wait on the AFE. Since we're on the topic of airflow, does the Borla exhast significantly improve flow? I remember reading here that the pipes are the same diameter so purchasing a better flowing muffler is all that is needed.

I am interested in a set of headers. Any vendors make a street legal (use the cat converters) for a 5th Gen?

 

[TOYSTRY]

ALL CONCERNED,

First........everyone needs to take a breather and take the venting to PMs. Keep this an information thread for those who want to do the mod :thanks:

Second......the CAI goes into the fender well (completely separate compartment from the engine and YES, it's colder air.

Third.....would I purchase it again, NOPE, and here is why. The OEM intake is nearly IDENTICAL to the TRD CAI with exception of the ribbed tubing. If a company were to make a smooth, non-restrictive tubing to the intake box you'd have the same thing for $400 less. I've seen a slight (1.5 - 2.0 mpg gain) over the last 3 fill ups after it being installed for about 2-3 months now.

Hope this helps clear the air and any questions. Feel free to hit me up.

 

[Foques]

^
Nobody is arguing that it is colder, but it is not a CAI.. lol

Now, I wonder if we can get the Tundra or Tacoma's intake to work on our motors? I haven't researched that yet, but I did recently help a buddy of mine install an intake on his v6 tundra.. they get the cone..

althought, Injen may come up with an intake as well, from what i've heard from their rep on Monday.

 

[TOYSTRY]

I agree ,sorry to step on your DIY thread.
I deleted my recent 2 off topic post and will delete this one later tonight. A new thread should be started on what a CAI is......since Foques is our forum expert,he can lead us to the cold air land.imp:

This post will self destruct too in T minus 1 HOUR.:roadkill:

No worries, wasn't directed at any one person just thought it would be best to keep it related to the DIY project and completely agree that a new thread should be started regarding what a CAI is or isn't.

Everyone have a good night........ :hatsoff:

 

[Mtn.Rush]

Is the air filter in the TRD CAI oiled or is it dry?