Topic: Cheap ebay intake

[Chad]

Well I am having a bit of buyer's remorse i recently purchased an intake kit for my 99 TJ 2.5 on ebay.  It seemed like a reasonable value 60 bucks with shipping for a K&N cone filter and intake tube.  The intake tube was like 12" peice of aluminum with a swooping curve to 90 degrees.  the filter is a K&N RU-4960 cone.

I received in the mail today and I was excited to install it.  First I removed the stock air box, which was easy enough.  the aluminum intake peice fit into the stock air hose fine too.



My problem was securing the intake so it didn't jiggle all over the place and all i received to secure it was a pair of nylon zip ties.  I am concerned about driving around with my air filter so poorly secured and seriously considering swapping back the stock one.  My tools are limited as I am away from home at college, if i was home at least I could have jerry rigged something.  Let me know what your opinions are on this please.  

[Jeffy]

Some people zip-tie them to the grill support struts.  Those are the two rods that go from teh grill to the firewall.  I'm not sure if that's the best place for it though.

What you could do is get some mild steel strips like they use for exhaust hangers.  Slip an inch between the filter and the tube then have it bolted to teh fender with a screw.  That's how my old K&N was setup.  Never had problems with it moving as long as it wasn't rubbing against anything.  The rubbing will cause the screen on the filter to wear.

[Chad]

yea currently its zip tied to those grill support struts.  I like the idea of exhaust hangers those i'll try to do that this weekend.  

Another question I had regarding the air filter is... what are the benefits of the air filter in the stock air box?  Are their any potential hazards I may risk by using the exposed cone?  I was thinking water potentially

[Jeffy]

I think you get get a roll of that mild steel from most auto parts places.  It could be done nicer but it will take more time.

I don't run a exposed filter any more.  The main reason was because of SMOG inspections.  The filter won't pass a visual here.  Secondly, I noticed that I had more lower end torque with the airbox.  What I'm guessing is that I screwed up the pulse wave and dropped the air pressure enough to cause the MAP to think there was less air entering then what actually was happening.  Also, the filter may have been sucking in warm air.  I think I had mine mounted pretty low so it would get colder air.  Biggest downside to an open element filter is water.  There is little to no protection.

Oh also, most of my friends who have used K&N's went back to paper.  The K&N's allowed fine dust to enter the intake which is a problem out west.  Might not notice it as much back east.

[Chad]

That stuff is good to know Jeffy.  I am not sure what i am going to do regarding the exposed filter. When i was driving today the car seemed to have a bit more kick when I hit the throttle but i am not sure either way right now I think i'll check that  mild steel out and see if i can't secure it better for now.

And you reccomend mounting it low so it gets cooler air thats good to know as well thanks.

[Guardian7]

I just quit running K&N after reading a bunch of articles on a Website about oil, they measured how much dirt gets through the K&N filters into the engine oil. More air is great but the trade off may be shorter engine life. Now I use the paper Fram filters.

[sharpxmen]

I mounted mine using a universal exaust tail pipe hanger - a metal strip with a bunch of holes and and a piece of reinforced rubber at the end - there is another small metal part attached to the rubber which is secured to the tail pipe using a u-bolt - you can use one of those to secure it to your aluminum pipe. I bolted the other end to one of the screws from the power steering pump and bend it to get it in place - it is held very solid and i have it on for over 5k miles with no problems at all. Hope this helps