AirAid Intake Install

05 NISMO 4X4 · Jan 4th, 2006, 07:05 PM

My AirAid Intake arrived today, and I installed it this afternoon. First impressions are good, the materials and construction appear first rate, and after installation a quick run down my favorite street for a butt dyno test proved exciting! Pick-up is defiantly better! Noise is virtually undetectable at normal operating ranges with just a slight growl at WOT. I like it! Even after a couple spirited runs, the mpg gauge was approaching 16 mpg by time I got home, which is really unusual; I’m hoping this is a good sign of better mpg to come. Installation was relatively easy, hindered only by three things, 1st; I was working in the garage with the door closed due to the temp, with less than adequate lighting! This was my fault; the other two are complaints about the design of the AirAid System. The heat shield and MAF Housing went together great, but I wish they would have supplied a clip instead of having you reuse the OEM clip from the top of the air box (although a trip to the dealership’s parts counter will remedy this). I say this for two reasons, 1) it’s a pain to get off the OEM air box and 2) it’s a pain to get on the AirAid heat shield! Lastly, the hose clamp supplied with the kit to secure the filter to the intake was too small! I couldn’t loosen it enough to get the filter over the lip of the intake with the hose clamp in place, and if I took it off and then put the filter on, it was about 1/32 of an inch too short! So, I put a tie strap in it and ran to Advance Auto for a bigger hose clamp. The swap was done in the parking lot and I was on my way! I just filled up with gas on the way home this afternoon, so we’ll see what happens with the commute over the rest of the week to see what the gas mileage is like! I’ve posted some pics of the unit installed in my truck. You’ll notice in one picture I took of the side of the heat shield and how it mates up to the shield on the side of the radiator. It does a pretty good job of isolating the filter from the engine heat. Also, the front of the filter draws air from the front and underside of the truck and the back/bottom of the filter draws air from the fender well using the OEM snorkel and the bottom of the OEM air box. Pretty innovative design! Pics are posted here.

jerryp58 · Jan 4th, 2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 05 NISMO 4X4

Pics are posted here.

Very nice

Now update your signature!

What do you think about putting some of your FatMat on the engine side of that filter box and/or around the intake tube?

05 NISMO 4X4 · Jan 4th, 2006, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerryp58

Very nice

Now update your signature!

What do you think about putting some of your FatMat on the engine side of that filter box and/or around the intake tube?

Thanks for the reminder, I'll get that done!

The intake really isn't loud, not like when I first installed the exhaust anyway, I could tell the difference then. It might be worth looking into using some of it to seal off the engine from the filter though. If your thinking of using it it as insulation from heat, not sure if it would do that, I think it's more for deadening sound caused by vibration or resonance.

jerryp58 · Jan 4th, 2006, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 05 NISMO 4X4

Thanks for the reminder, I'll get that done!

The intake really isn't loud, not like when I first installed the exhaust anyway, I could tell the difference then. It might be worth looking into using some of it to seal off the engine from the filter though. If your thinking of using it it as insulation from heat, not sure if it would do that, I think it's more for deadening sound caused by vibration or resonance.

Yeah, I was thinking it was a heat insulator also. Maybe you could wrap the tube with header tape. It probably wouldn't make much a difference though.

You've done some really nice work on your Frontier; keep it up

AGR · Jan 5th, 2006, 07:55 AM

Congrats Paul! Looks good, too! I'll tell you; when you open the throttle with the aFe is sounds like a banshee!! Funny thing, too; My wife never really noticed, other than,,,,, 'glad the gas prices have dropped'!!! Ha!

05 NISMO 4X4 · Jan 5th, 2006, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AGR

Congrats Paul! Looks good, too! I'll tell you; when you open the throttle with the aFe is sounds like a banshee!! Funny thing, too; My wife never really noticed, other than,,,,, 'glad the gas prices have dropped'!!! Ha!

Greg,

Thanks! If I hadn't installed the exhaust first, I probably would have noticed a difference in the sound, but this intake obviously isn't loud enough to be heard over the exhaust! Although, I did floor it getting on the interstate this morning, and at WOT I did notice a bit of a howl that wasn't there before, and man did it take off! I guess the combination of the open intake and exhaust made it big difference over having either one or the other! Gas mileage has climbed pretty quickly as well, normally after resetting the mpg gauge, it take two to three days of my normal commute for it to climb to the 16 mpg range, even after playing last night and the WOT on-ramp stunt, it was reading 16.2 as I pulled into the parking garage at work! I hope this is a good sign, and it keeps climbing 1-2 more mpg! The Intake definately seems to have added more than the Exhaust alone, don't know if the intake is producing more power than the exhaust, or they just compliment each other nicely!

05 NISMO 4X4 · Jan 6th, 2006, 08:50 PM

I received an e-mail from David Lutter at AirAid, and he's sending out a replacemnt hose clamp for me. Apparently the one I got with the kit is the right number, but he's sending another #64 just in case the original was short, and he's sending a #72 also just in case. So, either way, I'll be back to just one hose clamp instead of my cheesy double clamp! I've got to give AirAid an A+ for customer service!

pyronn · Jan 6th, 2006, 09:05 PM

The picture link comes back as

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Is this the one from another post where a deal was available at $170?

avenger · Jan 7th, 2006, 01:57 AM

looks good

05 NISMO 4X4 · Jan 7th, 2006, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pyronn

The picture link comes back as

Template->make_filename(): Error - file themes/DeepBlue/forums/viewtopic_attach_body.tpl does not exist

Is this the one from another post where a deal was available at $170?

The link should go to Clubfrontier.org under their Performamce forum. I can post pictures to that forum. The write up is the same as posted here, but that one includes pictures of it installed in my truck. Not sure why the link didn't work for you, I just tried it and it worked for me. This is the intake being offered for $170.00 from Premier Trucks, that offer is still good through the 30th of January. So far I am extremely happy with it!

Avenger, Thanks for the kind words!

SD Frontier · Jan 7th, 2006, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 05 NISMO 4X4

The link should go to Clubfrontier.org under their Performamce forum. I can post pictures to that forum. The write up is the same as posted here, but that one includes pictures of it installed in my truck. Not sure why the link didn't work for you, I just tried it and it worked for me. This is the intake being offered for $170.00 from Premier Trucks, that offer is still good through the 30th of January. So far I am extremely happy with it!

Avenger, Thanks for the kind words!

Nice looking kit. how about a dyno test to see if your claims of 270 - 275hp at the crank is founded. i would hope that it is a bit more than that. the Rev estimated that his KC LE is up to 294hp (235hp at the wheels) with the aFe intake and Gibson exhaust.

05 NISMO 4X4 · Jan 7th, 2006, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SD Frontier

Nice looking kit. how about a dyno test to see if your claims of 270 - 275hp at the crank is founded. i would hope that it is a bit more than that. the Rev estimated that his KC LE is up to 294hp (235hp at the wheels) with the aFe intake and Gibson exhaust.

I would love to put it on a dyno, but I don't have access to one, and not sure I'd even know where to start looking! It would be great to have a peice of paper to give factual bragging rights, but until then, I'm going with a conserative estimate!

Q-Tip · Jan 7th, 2006, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 05 NISMO 4X4

I would love to put it on a dyno, but I don't have access to one, and not sure I'd even know where to start looking! It would be great to have a peice of paper to give factual bragging rights, but until then, I'm going with a conserative estimate!

They seem to be popping up here and there as people other than die-hard racers get interested in their cars. Sounds silly, but you might just try your local yellow pages. Lately it seems like every little town has got a "tuner" shop with a dyno. Worth a look at least.

Now where did I put the phone book . . .

-

vafrontr · Jun 25th, 2006, 11:22 PM

I've been doing a bunch of research and looking at the reviews posted regarding cai's and have pretty much decided on the airaid (especially with their new version for the '05 frontier). Anyway I just wanted to ask 2 quick questions that are still floating around in my mind..

- How does the actual filter compare to the stock filter (in regards to its filtering of debris, etc.) I've heard how some cai's will allow more particles to pass through the engine and lead to increased build up over years (Ive also seen those pre-filter things, which Im not sure how helpful they would be)

- With there not being any top cover for the intake (as compared to the volant), does it need to be treated more and recharged on a more frequent basis?

Thanks again for all your help, Im looking forward to getting more involved with this forum, and my truck!

05 NISMO 4X4 · Jun 26th, 2006, 06:15 AM

According to their web site and the AEM web site, the AirAid filter filters better than the K&N and about as good as stock. Air flow on the other hand is much better than stock. I swapped my AirAir oiled filter with the AEM DryFlow filter, also a lifetime filter, but never needs oiling, so there's no possibility of over oiling and possibly fouling the MAF Sensor. Again, according to their web site, it filters as good or better than the AirAid and flows just as much air. As far as the frequency of the need to recharge the filter, that probably depends on your driving environment more that whether or not the air box is closed or open. If you live in a dusty area it's going to need to be cleaned and re-oiled much more frequently. I've had oiled filters on my past three vehicles, and only have to clean and re-oil one of them, and that was after a long weekend of off-roading in a very dusty area. It probably didn't need it, but it made me feel better!