JWB37

I'm in northern california unfortunatly. Looks like a great community though.

The cowl intake looks like a pretty good mod. Ill have to give it a shot. The reason I haven't looked at any cold air intakes is because my dad just bought me a couple OEM replacement filters. Where's the intake silencer? The link you posted doesn't work and I don't remember seeing anything in my airbox.

Has anyone tried wrapping the airbox on the motor side in some heat reflective tape material? Idk how much it would really help, but it couldn't hurt to try it.

Kamaran

Seems like you haven't found Dino's site yet...I'll link you.
http://www.jeep4.0performance.4mg.com/
Read everytyhing & copy..he's done every bolt on & proved what works & what doesn't, I've copied just about everyone except I run a cowl intake vs dino running a CAI setup.
The intake manifold heat sheild helps soooo much and would be top of my list if I were you..like 13 bucks & 10 minutes..makes a huge difference!
Cause no matter how cold the air is at the air box it just gets heated up by the time it reaches the intake manifold, since the intake manifold is being cooked by the header lol..so do that before any kind of intake!


The cowl intake is way better than just throwing a air filter on..

The intake silencer...take off your intake hose, remove the upper half of the air box & look intake..you should see a a trumpet shaped item where the hose connects!
Its skinnier in the middle...really serves no purpose. You'll get a little more growl & flow more air & get some throttle responce from it! Its like 3 minute job & worth it..
Should need a flat head screw driver or 2 & some pliers. Easy enough to take out!

EDIT: if you wanna find that write up for the silencer google "jeep intake silencer removal" Thats how I found that link! It shows pics & everything!

JWB37

Part of me is heasitent to do the cowl for a few reasons.

1. Some people claim there is a rather loud suction noise in the cab
2. will this effect the A/C heater at all?


Other than that, I really want to do this. If I really get the throttle responce and HP gains people are claiming, and all for $20 then I think its more than worth it. Especially since other intake kits cost upwards of $200 or more...

I'm going to take off my airbox silencer this afternoon...

I saw the heat wrap shields on Dino's site is exactly what I had in mind. I'm glad to see someone else has done it. I get paid next monday, so if I do the cowl and heat shield, it will have to wait another week.

I just read about the lawn trim fenders mod. Looks almost exactly like bushwacker flat fenders but for a hell of a lot less $$$. If I can find a way to make it look clean, I'm going to try that too. The last thing I want is to start making my jeep look like a ghetto rig.

JWB37

I got bored and tried to flex in my sloped driveway. The front swaybar is still connected but the rear actually still had some nice flex.









And then i finally got around to finding out why my inside lights dont turn on when i open the doors... theres no flippin bulbs there to begin with. Anyone know where to get these? Or what type of bulbs i need?

Kamaran

Your questions..just saw them! Sorry about that.
You will see neither. The heater & A/c will work just the same as before! Mine hasn't changed a bit.
As for sound...you can't even hear it inside the jeep lol..sounds like someone was speculating on what the Cons could be of the mod versus actually doing it..You will get a little more growl out of the intake, but it would be the exact same as adding a aftermarket intake.
I'll say this for comparison, I had a pipe & cone filter before..the rusty style intake. I swapped to the cowl intake because I like to hit water whenever possible and its alot quieter! And I no longer have the dust film inside my intake pipe!

All I did was go buy a 2-3" adapter..stuck the 2" side into my airbox and then ran a 3" hose up to the firewall and stuck it through. Use a 3" plate type thing to secure it. Using the 2-3" adapter makes for an easier install into the air box, and honestly it doesn't seem to be a bottle neck at all! Its jsut easier to cut a nice clean looking 2" hole, versus a 3" hole.
Wish I had a damn camera, but I copied someone elses write up online. I bought all 3 peices from home depot.
List:
2-3" adapter black plastic adapter.
black 3" flex pipe/hose
black silicone
and then this peice, its sqaure and kinda similar to this, just to give you the idea..its exactly like this but no little valve and its black & has a 3" opening.
http://www.homedepot.com/Plumbing/h_...atalogId=10053
I mounted it to my firewall with 4 little screws, and secured the hose to it with normal hose clamp. It made for a very clean install.

I'm thinking about adding a 45* bend on the inside of the cowl. This will give me security and possibly help pull in more air.
Security incase any water does enter my cowl area, it would have to be like 2-3" deep before water would get sucked in since the 45* bend peice would be higher up. And since its higher up = closer to the cowl, inturn maybe pulling in more air..Won't be a noticable gain at all but it'd make me think its better

And I think everything I got was on their pvc or plumbing isle lol..weird getting parts for a jeep in the plumbing isle.

Kamaran

Also autozone or any parts store like that..
I believe I bought 194s bulbs...something like that anyway.

explorebc4x4

Sweet build so far man! Love the Colour. Just adding my .02 on the flat style flares. I have a 98 sport with a 4.5 RC and 33's and was thinking about going the lawn edging route as well to save money. But I am so glad I went with the bushwacker flats. They look so mean and are actually very rugged. My buddy stood on em no problems while heaving a cooler into my roof basket. I doubt lawn edging can handle that haha. Also i get lots of compliments on them as well.
Keep up the good work dude. Definitely gonna keep my eyes on this build!

JWB37

How's the actual performance gains? My dads not convinced and would rather I buy an actual kit.(everything I do goes by him first as long as he still pays for gas) Well, he really just loves Banks ram air systems but they don't make one for cherokees. I might hold off till after X-mas just in case I get an afe CAI. I don't do water, so as long as I get some HP and TQ I'm good!

Thanks for the list though! Its save me from having to figure it out on the spot

JWB37

Thanks man! I really want to put some flat fender flairs on, but it might make my 31s look small.(I'm netting about 4.5in of lift) maybe if I'm lucky ill get some for X-mas. Glad to hear how strong they are too!

Kamaran

Alright lets break it down..
Cowl intake/cheater snorkler-$5-100 bucks depending on how wild you get
Unless you have a true ram air setup..I mean litterally ram air, the only gain you'll see is by pulling colder air. And the cowl intake will pull colder air and looks oem which is a very big plus to me! Still Cali legal for when your smogged, and smog techs wouldn't even look twice at it, wheres as a flashy CAI may raise the suspision. Also you can use a K&N replacement filter for 25 bucks or a oem filter for 5 bucks..
It pulls colder air from right below the windsheild wiper..if you look at it you can see the mesh type stuff is already opened up and lets air flow through it freely. Air has to flow over hood & up the windsheild so this setup always has fresh cold air feeding it!
Performance gain: throttle resonse, raised induction point, more power but no matter what intake setup you use, that power will be after 3000rpm+. I felt a difference though.

Now a aftermarket CAI..cost $100-300
Flashy and cool looking. Easier to suck up water, filters get dirty quicker, filters need to be oiled. Fit and finish on alot of them aren't "great" & may require you to modify it to work well or sit just right. They usually pull air through a tiny hole behind the grill and honestly it isn't enough to feed these 4.0's. You'd seriously need a scoop by the bumper or something..kinda like the banks ram air setup!

Performance gains: If it has a heat sheild you'd see the same as above, throttle responce and maybe a slight gain but I wouldn't count on it, cause your still going to be sucking up hot engine air...these 4.0 engine bays get hot! If its got a sealed box..like the filter sits in a completley sealed box then you would see a nice gain, but again that would cost you like 300 bucks. Your biggest gain will come from pulling colder air..90% of the intakes out there haven't done crap for R&D on this and they use crappy heat sheilds that allow hot air to be sucked up, and no cold air forced in.
The cowl snorkle is different because fresh cold air is always pouring over that area when your moving.
Be advised you can also loose performance with a "cold air intake"..reason being is, if they are sucking hot air your loosing performance..ever hear people say they car feels faster or stronger in colder air or early mornings/late nights? Thats cause air is cooler at those times! The hot air will make you loose gas mileage & power.


Now this is me being very honest! If you could get a completely sealed, ram air style intake then sure I'd be great as long as your careful around water..street jeeps wouldn't need to worry of course.
The volant system we had on a 06 frontier was great! 100& sealed box and had a ram air tube & scoop to force feed the air box, similar to the banks ram air. If you could get something similar then thats the only way to go..if not the cowl snorkel is the ticket! And honest opinion again...something like that would cost you quiet a bit..300 or more. A cowl intake cost me pennies. I don't even think they make a ram air setup for a jeep lol


Now again being honest..go spend 15-20 bucks on the cowl intake, and then spend the rest of the cash you saved from not buying a 300 dollar intake on another performance mod.
You can get a nice 2.5" exhaust for like 150 bucks online. So for around 300 you could get a intake & exhaust. Cowl snorkle is more benefcial in my eyes. Guess its up to you at this point

JeEpDuDe167

How do you like the lift? i just ordered mine and i was wondering if you have a tc drop or anything? or if you even have any vibes because you havent mentioned anything about it.

JWB37

The lift is awesome! It will give you 4.5-5 in of lift at first, then settle to 4-4.5in. I have been pretty lucky to not need a SYE and driveshaft. I have the AX-15 tranny and 321 transfercase, which I'm told is the shortest combo(aw4 and 242 and supposed to be much longer), which gives me better DS angles. The only vibes I get are at about 55-60mph and they are so minor its hardly worth mentioning. In the future I might put some small shims in to fix that, but I really don't see a need right now.


Sorry for not having any updates lately guys, I've been busy with school and sports, and not having a job means I can't afford anything right now that I want to do(like the cowl intake, cat back, bumpers ect...) after sports ill have a job which means more stuff for the Jeep

djcallao

Pretty nice build so far. Clean looking XJ

JWB37

Thanks! I appreciate it.

I got a flowmaster super 44 with a 2.5in tailpipe for X-mas, and I have a ton of money from relatives for the holidays. Looks like I'm doing the cowl intake this week before I go back to school!

Quick! I need more cheap DIY stuff to do before the week ends!

JWB37

Finally got the exhaust!!!



I'm also working on the cowl intake. I've been playing around with PVC and I think I've figured out how I want to do this. I just need to find time to go back to the hardware store and pick up a few more small things.

Also, in the pictures, anyone know how to use the hangers with the slots in them? I know the other hanger can just be welded on, but IKD what the other ones are for. I'll have to sit under the jeep and play around a bit.