Whipple issues and comments on the new closed air box
 

Hey guys,

Got my Whipple installed finally. I am one of the few with the new closed air box. Truck seems to run pretty good... but I am already itching for more.

But, I also have some beef with Whipple. The latest instructions are nowhere near accurate (based on the posts here I assumed they would be off a bit, but holy hell), and the closed airbox needs its own instructions that are nowhere to be found.

Do any of you guys have pictures of the small sized heat exchanger versus the large one? I am fairly certain I have the small one. It did not even require relocation of the horns. My dumb ass did not even think to take pictures of it before we put the grill back on. The best I have are pictures I shot from the hood latch area where you can kind of see the size of it.

Before I spout off to Whipple and have them send me the right one, I want to make sure I am not crazy.

I know there has been some serious interest in the closed air box. It's a nice'ish looking unit; but it would be way better if it actually fit properly. It came with no instructions, and no hardware to actually secure the lid. On the inlet tube itself, it has a second nipple. It also came with a hose (for what we assume is that second nipple) but we have no idea where it should plumb. The stock intake tube had 2 nipples, but the second one attached directly to the intake manifold. So we just capped the second one off for now. The truck runs fine.

I'll attach some pictures when I get to work. We tried to modify the air intake assembly to get it to fit, but where it is hitting would require modifications I did not want to do.

So here is my heat exchanger. It has the brackets that come from the outside of the radiator opening to hold it in the middle. It sits under the horns and did not require they be relocated (despite the instructions saying a horn bracket was included... as well as the bracket being checked off on the packing slip).

I can't tell if its the large one or not. It seems small. Hopefully someone can tell me for sure.

Attachment 567229
Attachment 567230

As for the intake... well it needs work. The snorkel doesn't sit flush with the radiator support, so when you go to use the factory push pins (that are originally in those holes) they wont hold it down. It just pops the pins back out. So we put some threaded inserts into the holes and used 1/4-20 bolts to hold the snorkel in. Its very solid now.
Attachment 567231

When we went to shut the hood, it was taking an exceptional amount of force to close. Initially we thought it was the upper lip on the snorkel, so we sanded it down. That did not fix it, so we got some goop and put it on the snorkel and shut the hood. Its hitting pretty good in the corner. I could probably sand it down more, but I did not want to go full ham on it yet. For now I am just using a bit more force to shut the hood.
Attachment 567232
Attachment 567233

The last thing is the extra nipple. No idea where this thing is supposed to be plumbed into. For now we have it capped until I can reach out to Whipple.
Attachment 567234

Finally found a post with comparison images. I certainly received the small heat exchanger. Lets see what Whipple tells me.

Nope, they are telling me the small one is standard for the stage 1 kit and that the big one was optional. He says the big one comes standard with the stage 2 kits.

It seems like most everyone here went stage 2, so not sure I have a solid argument here. I guess I am going to read thru the Whipple thread again and see if I can find someone that went stage 1 and got the large one.

For $7000, I guess I expected more... LOL.

Yes large heat exchanger is an upgrade option on stage 1, but is standard with stage 2. The smaller one is all that's needed for stage 1.

For sure. They were very interested in it not fitting properly. So I already sent them all the pictures and the steps I have taken in an attempt to stop it from hitting.

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, it uses a panel filter instead of the round filter. So I asked them what OEM application the filter is from as well.

I think just about anyone would argue with you on that point. Heat soak is an issue regardless of what stage kit you are on.

It is what it is though. I'll probably just pull the grill shutters out and get some 10" fans on it. That seems like the cheapest solve for a truck that won't see regular daily driving or drag passes.

You can add a secondary heat exchanger, and since the Whipple leaves the lower grille area untouched, you have that room to work with. I added a secondary heat exchanger to my Roush truck, and it lowered IAT's substantially, It was simply a matter of plumbing some hose and fabbing some brackets. I only mention this, as it would likely end up being substantially cheaper then buying the larger Whipple heat exchanger.
If heat soak ends up being an issue for you, something to consider.