Any intake mod that sucks air from the inside of the engine compartment is not a "cold air intake". Simply removing your filter box and installing a pipe with a cone filter on the end of it will do nothing more than make your truck sound cool and suck in lots of hot air causing horsepower to fall. If you really want lots of cold air and a sick sound, get a ram air hood and matching airbox.

 

ACTUALLY....tests have been done by a very reputable company (Troyer Performance) that disproves the "all you are doing is sucking in hot air" theory. He actually tested the under hood temperatures of the F150 while driving on the road. The engine compartment heats up while the truck sits at idle but once you begin to drive the air movement under the hood creates an environment where the temp is not much different then outside of the hood...especially where the filter of a "CAI" sits. IMO any aftermarket intake system, that's not metal and gets rid of all of the unnecessary bends and compartments that stock tubing tends to have, is going to be of benefit if the truck is tuned properly.

I find it funny that so many people tout the Gotts mod as the best thing intake wise for these trucks when there has been no legit testing (to my knowledge) comparing it to an actual good aftermarket intake system. Sure the Gotts mod is better than the way it was from the factory but you still have all of those unnecessary bends ridges and little compartments in the stock tubing. IMO a good aftermarket intake is nothing but beneficial if your truck is tuned correctly to have it. The smooth tubing allows better airflow, the conical filter is way more efficient than a panel filter and allows more air to flow more easily, and, on my aftermarket intake, the sealed box is located right where the stock tubing went into the fender and has a rubber seal that allows the intake to pull air from that same area.

That being said, I would make sure to get an intake system that has plastic tubing over intakes that have aluminum tubing as the aluminum can act as a heat sink and heat up and hold heat longer than the plastic systems while the truck is idling and heating up the engine compartment.

 

Well stated Buck...

 

The thing with the Gotts mod is removing the horn into the fender to increase the diameter by using pvc.

I was thinking of doing this mod then got to thinking. The end tube of the intake goes into the fender then extends into the wheel well.

Why not drill 2 or 3, 3/4" holes in the section of the intake tube that is in the fender area (you know, the place where you see all the leaves when you pull the tube)

The intake of air would increase and your still not pulling air from the engine bay.

Thoughts?

 

Why not just draw your intake air from the front of your grill...as much as you want.

 

Ok I'm going to use personal testing with a programmer as my IAT gauge and Bill at PHP's testing to try and help here. Buck states about the "hot air theory": In my experience with an open S&B CAI I've found average cruising temps about 2 degrees about ambient, not too bad. This is at 55 mph however. Drop down to cruising at 40 mph temps rise 6 degrees over, and this is with it continually moving. The more stop and go and slower you go the worse it is. I've personally seen intake temps go +20 degrees in city traffic. With the Gott's mod, intake temps never rose more than a couple degrees over ambient at any speed.
Bill has done extensive testing with the Gott's mod v. Aftermarket intakes. I'm not going to try and explain it all because Bill does it much better and can be reached most anytime on their forum. Here is my simple explanation: The main points for an intake system are 1. Protection 2. Flow requirements 3. Reduce restrictions. The stock system as is, offers good protection with the type of filter and flows more than enough cfm for the engine. By doing the Gott's it reduces over 90% of the restriction that is in the stock system compared to a CAI. The other 10% a CAI "gains" is sacrificed in the lack protection of the filter. Yes the perforations in the stock tube add some turbulence, but on a non tuned vehicle this is negated by the slight change in location of the MAF that most intakes have. With the Gott's you balance protection and reduce flow restriction for a fraction of the cost while flowing almost as well as a CAI.

Flame suit on for the air filter protection comment.

 

I agree that the gotts mod is a good bang for your buck improvement. And if you dont want to spend the money and don't see the need that's fine. But all of the hot air nonsense can be taken care of by simply buying a good intake with a sealed intake box that pulls air from the same spot the stock intake does. Any hot air that a good aftermarket intake system could potentially suck in could also be sucked in by a stock intake setup. I would expect intake temps to rise with an open box, or an intake setup that doesnt protect the filter from the warmer air. But this is not an issue with a good enclosed intake setup. My Stage 2 AFE has a fully enclosed box that has a hole and rubber grommet that allows the intake to suck air from the same area the stock set up does.

Too many people put so much on the Cold air part of an aftermarket intake. I look at it as an efficiency thing. As long as you aren't sucking in a ton of hot air, an aftermarket intake makes air intake much more efficient and much easier not to mention has more potential when tuning and modding your truck in any other way.

My main beef with the whole gotts mod vs aftermarket intake issue is that people don't compare apples to apples. If you take the time and money to purchase a good intake setup you wont run into the problems that everyone says you have with CAIs. A good intake system will have plastic tubing, an enclosed air box that draws air from the fender and front area behind the headlight allowing for cooler air, a location for the MAF that isn't much different from the stock setup, and has larger, smoother tubing with less restrictive bends, ridges and compartments than the stock setup. If you follow these guidelines and tune your truck properly to support it, the results will be better than those of the gotts mod. Not baggin on the gotts mod as it has its place as a great option for a free and very good improvement, its just not "better" than a good aftermarket setup for the person that wants to get the most out of their vehicle.

 

Give it a shot

 

Just did. Didnt take the truck for a drive yet.
Drilled 4, 3/8" holes in that section of the tube. (didnt feel like digging for my bigger bits) There probably wont be a difference but mentally there will be.

 

Can't hurt