Topic: Throttle body question-opinions

[stan98tj]

hello all
ive noticed some of you are sporting throttle body spacers as well as aftermarket intakes. ive done some research and i think im going to purchase the aem intake for the 2.5 i would like to know why some of you have the tb spacer and intake setup. what exactly does it do performance/efficiency wise. are there any risks involved with this setup? is it better to stick with just the intake, or intake and tb. lastly, if i were to put a tb spacer on, ive noticed a lot of you have the 4.0l tb and intake, does this mean i will need to order a 4.0l intake for the 2.5?

[blacknblue]

You would need to get an intake for a 2.5l.  The throttle body is in a different location on the 4.0 engine than the 2.5.  Regardless if you put on a 4.0 throttle body...the position of the t.b. on the 2.5 engine is different,  therefore the parts won't match up.  Depending on what kind of wheeling you do...if you are going to get into mud or water,  I would just keep the stock air box with the little snorkel.  With most cold air intakes the filter is exposed to dirt and water, not to mention engine heat.  The best cold air intake is a snorkel like ARB safari snorkel or Volant.  But those are made for the 4.0 so you would have to be creative and just make it work somehow.  With the filter in the open you risk hydrolocking your engine crossing some water or mud flung from the fan.  I would start with a high flow air filter like K&N or Amsoil in the stock setup first.  Then look on e-bay or the classifieds here and find a 4.0 throttle body or one bored out to 63mm is even better.  There have been dyno tests done and the spacer adds like 1-3h.p. But it works best in combination with a larger bore throttle body.  Also port matching the intake is even better but that requires some skill and/or a machine shop.  Look around this site for links...try the search feature.  This has been discussed before many times here and I believe there is a link somewere to a comparison of available intakes and dyno results.  Look around the Nuts and Bolts section.  A throttle body swap will give you  better off idle response,  and a few h.p., it works in combination with a high flow filter, the spacer, and whatever intake you use.  Off idle response means its quicker when you step on it!

[jcsanders79]

The intake, bored out TB, TB spacer are good mods.  They really pop with a chip, headers, exhaust, 19# injectors and an electric fan

[GTChrisB]

Strange for my first post, but just today I bolted up a cheap universal cold air kit along with a 4.0 TB.  Made a difference higher up in the rev bands and drives nicely around town to tow my jon boat.  Exhaust sounds nice too.  I also kept the stock air box to bolt back up for going into the mud, which around southeast SC is sparse anymore.  I wouldn't take a CAI off road to save my life.  Just too risky in my opinion.   

I'd suggest saving your money and just getting a universal kit.  These things can get kind of pricey for generally a marginal gain.  All in all, I spent $50 for the TB and a total of $55 for the cold air setup.  Works just as well as the $300 system I put on my wife's '01 Mustang GT (which by the way with a 70mm TB had a minimal gain). 

[jcsanders79]

You guys that won't take a CAI offroad crack me up.  Why not take a CAI offroad?  Why do you assume your stock air box is better for off road use?  Unless you have a snorkel I see no difference. 

[stan98tj]

thanks for the info folks!
if i did want to go ahead with the tb spacer, i could buy the 2.5 tb spacer from quadratec or somethin and then put the intake on as well? im not sure if thats the set up that some of the members are running. dunno if its overkill or not-certainly dont want to throw sensors off.

[oldjeep]

You guys that won't take a CAI offroad crack me up.  Why not take a CAI offroad?  Why do you assume your stock air box is better for off road use?  Unless you have a snorkel I see no difference. 

Because most of the CAI's use K&N and similiar filters which flow better because they let bigger particles through.  On top of that the oil coated ones clog like crazy if you go anywhere dusty.  I just got done throwing away my K&N cone and replacing with a stock air box because I was sick of it choking out my motor after every trip down a gravel road.   Much better now.

[stan98tj]

the aem cai im lookin at isnt oil coated...will that make it safer to wheel with? i live in CT so it isnt particularly dusty around here..but i certainly dont want to kill my engine if its just gonna let everything in. aems site says it filters pretty nicely...just when i thought i had it figured out im left with more questions.

basically id like to know..which mod is better 2.5 tbspacer with no cold intake, intake with no spacer or a combo? id like to gain a bit more oomph and if i can get 1mpg or 2 out of it id take that as well.

[oldjeep]

First thing I'd do is put on a 4.0L throttle body, that'll do more for you than a spacer for the stock 2.5L TB.  Then I'd get an air hog filter or some other high flow filter for the stock air box.   The air box helps by keeping a lot of the dirt away from the filter in the first place.

Those 2 mods are very cheap and easy.

[jfrabat]

Those 2 mods are very cheap and easy.

I dont know if the promo is still going on, but I got my Air Hog for -$1.50 (yeah, that's a MINUS); the filter I bought for like $18.50 at amazon (with shipping) and got a $20 rebate...

[oldjeep]

I dont know if the promo is still going on, but I got my Air Hog for -$1.50 (yeah, that's a MINUS); the filter I bought for like $18.50 at amazon (with shipping) and got a $20 rebate...

Yup   $12 + shipping at amazon with a $20 rebate   Rebate is good till end of dec

[stan98tj]

I dont know if the promo is still going on, but I got my Air Hog for -$1.50 (yeah, that's a MINUS); the filter I bought for like $18.50 at amazon (with shipping) and got a $20 rebate...

how does the air hog compare to a decent intake such as kn or aem..if its just as good or better i may consider changing my mind yet again lol
im basically lookin to give it a little pep to help it up hills and make highway rides easier on the engine

[Bounty Hunter]

Consider a 62mm tb over the 55mm 4.0 tb, it flows more and removes the taper below the throttle plate resulting in much quicker throttle response.  See for yourself, look down the tb and move the throttle, see how long it takes air to get by.

I offer 62mm TB's in the classifieds.