K&N Cold Air Intake??? Yes ? No??? Why?

[BigMikeyDeez]

Hey I am looking to get a k&n cold air intake for my 03 sport trac. Is this worth it? Will it really give me power and better mpg's?

 

[corkey]

for what you get it takes a few years to actually get your money back,
just get the K&n drop in,

 

[BigMikeyDeez]

http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=33-2106-1

so just get this one?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Look on ebay and you can get a K&N cone filter and CAI setup for between $45-90. I bought mine for $82 shipped. keep in mind you're not buying the "K&N CAI kit but a filter and aluminum CAI setup. I use that in the warmer months and have the K&N drop in filter in the winter months. Has worked great for my "03 Trac.

 

[rmcalis]

I installed a K&N FIPK on my '02 Ranger which had a 4.0L (same basic engine as the ST). I noticed no 'seat of the pants' performance increase nor a significant mpg increase. It did have a nice intake sound under full throttle. Based on my experience, I would not install one on my '05 ST.

 

[isethebye]

do what i did , smash out that stupid restrictor behind the headlight
whoa huuge difference...
might help if you unplug the battery and let her learn again

 

[JohnnyO]

This:

do what i did , smash out that stupid restrictor behind the headlight
whoa huuge difference...
might help if you unplug the battery and let her learn again

The stock intake is already a cold air intake. If you replace it with a cone filter with no heat shield around it, you now have a hot air intake. Best thing to do is what isethebye says, knock out the silencer and get a K&N drop-in.

 

[Pickupman_69]

anyone have pics of this silencer and where its located exactly?

 

[JohnnyO]

anyone have pics of this silencer and where its located exactly?

It's just the plastic intake tube that runs from behind the headlight into the airbox. You need to yank or pry the airbox off the fender to get to it. On my '05 yanking didn't work, I ended up using a 4' crowbar and the fender lip started bending before the airbox would release, so I gave up.
On my '08 the silencer is larger and doesn't look restrictive so I just left it alone.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

The silencer is on the front of the factory airbox, it's the little cone shaped inlet, all you do is pull it straight off. If you're talking about the exhuast silencer then it's the small cylinder looking object just after the muffler, you can remove that and place a piece of pipe in it's place and it'll make the exhaust alittle louder (not sure how much louder) and help it breathe better as well.