Air intakes and throttle body spacers

Tnjk

New member
I have a 2011 4 door rubicon with the 3.8l and am looking for any advise on cold air intakes and throttle body spacers ! Are they worth the money when it comes to hp and gas mileage gains every little bit helps with the 3.8l ? Any advise and experience is appreciated!
 

BABOOZLE

Caught the Bug
I have a K&N CAI and the throttle response seemed a little better. MPG gains is hard to tell because I did so many upgrades over the course of two tanks of gas that I don't know the change in fuel mileage. The filter is fairly exposed and I worry about water when wheeling. I have the stock box and it only takes 10 minutes to reinstall. If I did it again I would just get a K&N filter for the stock box. ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1457294538.992654.jpg
 

Honor2afault

Caught the Bug
I'm not a mechanic type, yet, but engines being what they are if you do something to the input ie. intake, you need to do something proportional to the output ie. exhaust, to truly benefit from added equipment. On the throttle body spacers, I have no idea. Happy wheeling
 

Honor2afault

Caught the Bug
I might also add that to get the best benefits afforded by such an upgrade, a programmer, like Superchips TD2 will help to maximize what potential said adds can give. Have a great Jeep day.
 

BABOOZLE

Caught the Bug
I have exhaust to match as well but the best upgrade was the Superchips flashpaq. Mainly because it changed the shift points.
 

WJCO

Meme King
Open air intakes can help with performance, but on a Jeep where you are around a lot of dust and water, it's not advisable. I only re-did mine because I had to relocate my washer bottle. I've had a K&N style system on every other vehicle I've ever owned and like them. Throttle body spacers don't do much in my opinion.
 

S_wall98

New member
I haven't done exhaust but have the flashpaq and Mopar Cai. I didn't really set much from the cai but love the flashpaq, especially after messing with the shift points.
Last week I added 35s and after driving it for a couple days added a larger throttle body.... Wow, it's a huge improvement on the low end. I wasnt really expecting much but it really helps out. Once you get to cruising speed it disappears but it feels fairly close to stock out of the gate.
 

Journeyman

New member
I just reinstalled my factory intake. I installed the banks CAI and had put about 20k and was tired of the sound it makes when the motors under load. Definitely a nice throaty sound, but just got to be a bit much. I also noticed some dust in the intake tube when I removed it. Also some dust buildup on the mass air flow sensor.
Re-flashing with a programmer gave me the most noticeable improvements. Power and fuel economy.
 
That shit is a waste of money. Your trying to wring hp out of a minivan motor. You want better power - do an engine swap.
 

JK Pleepleus

New member
yes and no

I have an 08 JKU with a manual trans, I put an AFE Pro 7 filter in my factory housing, (with the extra thought that more surface area on the filter will help), I then punched some holes in the factory housing to allow more air flow but still restrict water entry. I then added a Flowmaster American Thunder exhaust to open up the exhaust side of things. The original muffler on the American Thunder was way tooo loud so I replaced it with a Super 50 muffler which was the same size but much quieter. My jeep now has a nice sound to it when accelerating and opening the intake and exhaust ends of things does give you a seat of the pants improvement but it still is a crappy motor. I asked here if superchargers are worth it and was told that I should just re-gear- still expensive if you add lockers while you're at it, so I'm just gonna roll with what I have. Intake spacers supposedly do have a level of improvement but I have not bought one yet. Hope this helps a bit.
 
How the fuck does punching holes in the air box restrict water intake? I guess it's the same principle as having a couple screen doors on a submarine. Those restrict water intake too.
 

S_wall98

New member
Exactly.....

I guess I missed the part about a $10-15k budget

Seriously though, you could get a Viper throttle body for $100 all day. That and an intake to match woke mine up quite a bit.

Without the tb, i want impressed with the cai. Mine was cheap as hell or I wouldn't have been running it. For the $45 I had in it, I guess it was worth it.
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
I guess I missed the part about a $10-15k budget

Seriously though, you could get a Viper throttle body for $100 all day. That and an intake to match woke mine up quite a bit.

Without the tb, i want impressed with the cai. Mine was cheap as hell or I wouldn't have been running it. For the $45 I had in it, I guess it was worth it.

Hey man your money. I think they are a waste and I even have a CAI. Only thing it does is sound cool. If I could I would take that money I spent back and put it towards something more useful over something that allows more dust and water to get into my motor.
 

jeeeep

Hooked
I have a 2011 4 door rubicon with the 3.8l and am looking for any advise on cold air intakes and throttle body spacers ! Are they worth the money when it comes to hp and gas mileage gains every little bit helps with the 3.8l ? Any advise and experience is appreciated!

I guess I missed the part about a $10-15k budget

Seriously though, you could get a Viper throttle body for $100 all day. That and an intake to match woke mine up quite a bit.

Without the tb, i want impressed with the cai. Mine was cheap as hell or I wo<script id="gpt-impl-0.4222293619332402" src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gpt/pubads_impl_81.js"></script>uldn't have been running it. For the $45 I had in it, I guess it was worth it.

I have a CAI and have tried TB spacers, IMO the motors today are better suited for their stock intakes. I plan to reinstall my stock intake and use a K&N filter.


OP with the Viper TB, how did you get past the ECU trying to adjust to the Viper TB? what intake did you put on? Do you have any real gains? I've looked into trying this but from the info I've received, the gains are no more than a CAI only the CAI is less hassle.

I've seen several of my friends try the Viper TB swap and each one was a failure, the ECU would never adjust
 
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S_wall98

New member
OP with the Viper TB, how did you get past the ECU trying to adjust to the Viper TB? what intake did you put on? Do you have any real gains? I've looked into trying this but from the info I've received, the gains are no more than a CAI only the CAI is less hassle.

I've seen several of my friends try the Viper TB swap and each one was a failure, the ECU would never adjust

A neighbor traded his 09 jk and sold me his Mopar Cai (with dry cone filter). I'm not a big Cai fan but it wasnt much more than a few dry filters so tried it. I didn't really see much gain but after driving my JKU for a couple days with 35s I thought I'd add the throttle body. I don't have any hard numbers but it is a lot more responsive on the low end.
I read in a few threads that the ecu will adjust and cancel this out but haven't seen it yet. I've only put about 300 miles on it since then so don't know.
I have the SC flashpaq but haven't messed with it yet (since adding tires...beyond correcting tire size)
Adding the tb is only 4 more bolts if you're already changing the intake
 

WJCO

Meme King
If you were to throw the Jeep on the dyno before and after any mod or swap, you MAY see performance gains, and at the pump, you MAY see gains as well. With that being said, there are so many other factors that can result in good or bad readings. I've had good luck with CAIs over the years but when it comes to Jeeping, I really don't give a shit. I didn't buy my Jeep for the race track nor to save gas.
 

S_wall98

New member
If you were to throw the Jeep on the dyno before and after any mod or swap, you MAY see performance gains, and at the pump, you MAY see gains as well. With that being said, there are so many other factors that can result in good or bad readings. I've had good luck with CAIs over the years but when it comes to Jeeping, I really don't give a shit. I didn't buy my Jeep for the race track nor to save gas.

I'm right there with you. I got used to the way my jeep drove over the past 5 yrs though and thought if I can spend under $100 and get some of that back, why not.
 

BABOOZLE

Caught the Bug
If you were to throw the Jeep on the dyno before and after any mod or swap, you MAY see performance gains, and at the pump, you MAY see gains as well. With that being said, there are so many other factors that can result in good or bad readings. I've had good luck with CAIs over the years but when it comes to Jeeping, I really don't give a shit. I didn't buy my Jeep for the race track nor to save gas.

Totally agree.
 
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