Can someone please educate me on the stock air box mod. I have an 07 5.9 mega. Thank you!!

 

Very easy...

You can take a paddle bit or large drill bit, and 'swiss cheese' the bottom of the air box, or you can do like I did and put a piece of 4" PVC elbow in it (pics in gallery...), or you can take something like a dryer vent, and let it hang down behind the bumper. Then, get a drop in replacement filter like an Airaid or AFE... Stay away from K&N. Heck, you can even leave the paper one in there, they flow well.

Then, you can take out the baffles in the intake tube. Let me know if you are interested in this...


hth...

 

Search home depot airbox mod.

 

Why do you say stay away from K&N?

 

Unless your pumping out extra HP/TQ a quality air filter in the stock air box will supply all the air your engine needs.

 

See this thread https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/....html?t=260592 It has the parts listed that I used & pics.

 

K&N's have been known to let too big of particles through.

 

This thread has pics of my turbo at 15,000 mi with the K&N air filter and the turbo silencer replacement. Can't tell if the K&N helped with the dirt, but the Air Aide was a problem. https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ty+turbo+inlet

 

Can tell much difference when you do the stock box mod?

 

I used a magnehelic gauge for the pressure differential inside box - in fender where stock bow pulls air from. All measurements taken @ 3,200 rpm & 27 psi boost (its cold here in the rust belt). Stock 4" wc. with stock air filter. Mod box, 1.4"wc. with stock air filter. With new mopar filter #53034249AA 1.4"WC. Any restictions are now past the air filter. This test did not include any changes past the stock air box. The exhaust is a 4" cat back monster exh from Banks. No other performance mods when tested.

 

My two cents worth: If you are modding your stock airbox in such a way that you increase the possibility of getting any amount of water in it (like the swiss cheese approach I did), you may want to stay away from any flat-panel style air filter. A conical filter like the K&N or others should be more forgiving of a little water. When filters get wet, they stop flowing easily. It's not hard to find pics around here of someone who got theirs wet and it sucked the filter into the intake tube (or worse, into the turbo). The conical-style filters should be stronger (just assumption here) based on their shape and extra surface area.

 

Oiled filters such as a AFE ProGuard 7 resist water damage. A k&N filter is see through and is only 2ply. Others are 4. If you have no gravel roads to drive on the 4 might be ok. The stock airbox when modded is good for 450hp from what I have read. I have bought k&n when I was young and foolish. I did the head gasket on the truck I ran it on with over 200,000 miles and the cylinders were scored pretty bad. That was a first gen. Its still going. Any body can have those filters if they want. The old girl ate a lot of dirt but the rest of the truck will probably die first. These new trucks are still worth something so a little money spent on a decent filter is worth it. No offence if you have one just my personal experience and opinion. I drive on gravel roads 50 % of the time too.

 

With my mods, I have never sucked down the filter minder.

The water thing is a semi valid statement, however, if you ever did get to the point that water/snow was a problem with a swiss cheese air box, the box would draw from the stock location before it drew water into the turbo. Maybe a little mist, but not straight water.

I put a 4 inch elbow on mine, and put a piece of screen over the opening to keep crap out of it. I go off road enough to say I do... and in some bad stuff every now and then. Never had a problem with mud on my filter, and my tubes and turbo is clean. I can see 50+ PSI of boost daily driving, and I have pegged my 60 psi gauge a few times. (a little gas may have been involved.)

Do something similar to what I have done, you'll be safe up to mid 800's.

 

thanks to all that have replied! MUCH APPRECIATED! Once again, there is so much info to be shared and learned on this site for a newbie like myself I am grateful! I have a few mods I want to do without getting to radical and i think i will do the gauges first so that i can get a baseline for everything else to build on and in the meantime just keep on learning! Thanks again.

 

I am always so surprised to read these air-box mod threads.
Given the size of the opening on the stock box (see pic' below) compared to the rest of the (3") intake tract, and the fact that the stock inlet goes through the fender and directly to the front grille... It is hard to imagine that opening the bottom of the airbox (swiss cheese or HomeDepot style) to the low pressure & HOT area under the truck can provide an improvement in flow or IAT. Especially for those of us in the sub-600 category In addition, while realize that the chance of water or debris getting in there is slim, it's not worth the risk especially when the factory system is as good as it is.

I AM inspired by ThunderRoad's scientific approach to measuring the difference! I am curious to know if those measurements were taken while driving or on a dyno' ??
I have a manometer too (plus new and old style air filters and a spare airbox) and I'm going to put a port in the lid of my airbox and run a few comparisons while driving. Will post the results here when I am done.
Cheers
-Mark