Airbox Intake Mod for a Cleaner Air Filter.

Since I have owned my Taco for the last year and half I've been amazed how dirty the air filter got. I would even find twigs and pebbles at the bottom of the airbox.

Last month I did the airbox intake elbow cut off modification. I read that removing the elbow was good for 6 HP on a dyno. Something I noticed was why I think the air filter gets so dirty. The airbox sucks air from a cloud of dust and debris picked up from the front tire. I can not think of a worst air intake position.

Here are some pictures of the fix I came up with. The mod. was a proof of concept so it isn't pretty but cost less than a new air filter and provided some quality Taco tinkering.

Here the intake tube has been removed and elbow cut off.



This is the dust baffle I made from thick rubber sheet and aluminum angle. I used 3M 90 spray contact cement. The most right aluminum angle wasn't needed.



Here is how the dust baffle is installed. Again I used contact cement to mount to the baffle to the inner fender. The weather strip sealed the gaps and provide a little extra support. The goal is to draw air from the front bumper area and not from the dusty fender well area.
I'll recheck in a year or so to see if the glue holds up to the heat cycling.



Here is the end results. The air filter on the left is an OEM filter with the stock airbox intake. This filter has just 2 days of off roading (about 80 miles). The filter on the right is 100 miles of dusty off roading after the dust baffle mod.



So far so good. I have not noticed any HP change. At my usual metered freeway on ramp I still hit 64 MPH right at the merge point. Also since this is my third air filter in less than 10K miles this modification will actually save me money. Plus it should pass even the most anal visual smog check.

Hope someone finds this worth while...

 

Regarding HP gains. I would assume the elbow delete would have about the same or perhaps less effect on airflow as the deck plate mod does. The deck plate mod has zero effect on HP. This would be the same.

The cleanliness result on the other hand is remarkable.

Does your truck still have the inner fender liner?

I just did about 1000 miles of rough dusty roads in Baja. My filter never got as dirty as yours on the left. I knocked it out every evening at camp. I did skip a day and it was dirty but not that dirty. Those two days were about 400 miles of dirt driving around 50mph. This includes silt beds where the silt washed up over the hood and onto the windshield like it was water. I was frequenly behind other vehicles as well. Although I do make an effort to hang back to be in cleaner air.

 

Do you have the plastic inner fender liner installed when the air filter got that dirty.

 

Cool, gives me ideas since after my SAS and having to hack my fenders up, the intake tube is totally exposed and my tire flings crap right into the tube. I have been brain storming how to seal it up, this gives me another option to ponder!

 

Yes, I have always had the plastic liner installed. When first removing the liner a few of the clips were missing which I have since replaced. Maybe why I was ingesting more dust than usual. I was considering sealing all the gaps in the liner with duct tape to keep out the dust. Later thought against it because it may prevent proper drainage in wet conditions.

 

It is odd that you have this problem, when others are not. Had your issue been a design flaw, it would have been mention on here before now. Pebbles in your air box is defiantly a red flag. Did you take any before photo's of the inner fender before pulling out the plastic liner?

 

Wasn't expecting any HP gain but wondered about a loss because I created a restriction. I really should peel the liner back some to see if the dust baffle has been sucked out of position.

The pre mod dirty filter was 2 trips to Drinkwater/Rower. The post mod clean filter was 2 days in Cleghorn/Arrowhead/Big Bear area. Similar terrain but not the same. I'll do a few Drinkwater/Rower trips and report back if there much difference.

 

I agree the pebbles were a big issue. The previous owner used this truck as a SCORE rescue vehicle for motorcycles in Baja. The pebbles at the bottom of the air box were never cleaned out at filter changes. Some of the pebbles were in between the air filter seal and let a lot of dirt pass. The throttle body and intake tubes had a heavy coating of dust.
I unfortunately have no pictures of the liner. It looks to be in good condition. The lack of any tire rub marks at all I believe this truck has always had OEM size tires.

 

Sorry for the thread jack OP.

Do you have a build thread for your Tacundra?

 

+1

 

2003 toyota tacoma double cab 2uz-fe v8 swap I regret not making a video. I also should have made the build as I was doing it, would have been more fun.

 

Just a quick update. I just hit 7000 miles since doing this mod. Here's a few pictures.



The intake tube and TB are also staying much cleaner. Having cleaner intake air will probably help the supercharger last longer

 

I love the idea and I am going ram air from that spot to right behind the bumper slots with a oval shaped opening, everyone thinks theres no improvement that can be made and naysayers saying it won’t work. If I can draw directly from the front bumper as speed picks up it gets a colder denser air charge and will give hp regardless I will prove on a dyno. I am going to stuff the opening of the ram air with UNI foam filter material to pre filter the big stuff. This is a cool project not many have done but I’ve seen it in the past it works well.

 

The reason Toyota doesn't do simple things that net 5hp is because 1. They usually don't and 2. Doesn't matter if they did. 5hp is a pointless pursuit.