Can anyone tell me what this is?

Did you test drive the truck? The K&N intake is a lot louder than stock above 3000 rpm, because it deletes the resonator built into the stock intake. You may also get extra rattles and buzzing in the engine bay and in the dash / cowl because of it.

 

2000rpm and above it was noticeably loud and was really loud going from 60ish to 75mph.

 

Only thing of value is you just clean the filter and reinstall.

 

This is an artificially man-made bee hive. It's suppose to promote the bee population so all the fruit trees are properly pollinated in order to support the growing human population. I would leave it as-is.

 

As others have noted - intake modified for colder air with air filter that is SUPPOSED to be more breathable (ie. more air). Along with that, the MAF is mounted on a custom intake tube, since the system NEEDS the MAF to monitor air coming in for the injection system.

The cooler the air, the more "dense" it is (ie. more oxygen) so in theory, POTENTIALLY allows for more HP.

Unless the engine is HEAVILY modified/built to take advantage, it barely does anything except make your wallet less dense.

 

It's not terrible to have if you can deal with the noise. I find it amazing though that the actual owner didn't know what he had installed in his own truck!!! Makes me wonder a little if anything else is modified and "improved" on it.

 

It was the owner of the small dealership I talked to, he said his guy drove to PA to get it, the previous owner had done the work not the guy I met with.

 

If the sound level is annoying to you, factor in the cost of sourcing a stock intake ($100-$400 depending on whether you can find a used one).

 

None. None at all.

 

Yup, I didn't want to mess with it . I moved on.

 

If it was a nice truck/good deal I’d just find a stock intake and put it on instead.

 

Lots of other UNmessed with trucks too buy.

 

Haha, classic. Like that intake totally “ruined” that truck. Oh well. It’s there to make the truck sound louder. If you believed it turned a perfectly good truck into a death trap, suit yourself.

This is TW bias at its finest. An intake that the manufacturer probably claims gains 20hp, doesn’t gain 20hp. And because it’s doesn’t gain that 20hp it turns a possible good truck into a run and hide? It is exactly what it is an aftermarket intake. Makes it louder. Everything else is negligible.