Anderson Engineering Manifold Spacer install

I'm half serious about doublestacking a pair. I live in a super hilly area, I need all the torques I can get at the low end.

If anyone wants to spend an afternoon down the youtube rabbit hole. The channel Garage 4age has a whole bunch of dyno tests with all sorts of different intake runners and intake designs.

Edit- he also has a pretty kickass hilux.

 

Couldn't a tune solve that?

 

Tune can only do so much.

 

Go for it and report back. Not sure at what point hood clearance will become an issue.

 

A tune can only do so much without beginning to change things like intake (new intake system/spacers, like this thread, and/or forced induction), headers and exhaust, and then things like cams, injectors, etc.

It's all a piece of the puzzle. I'm reading over the tune threads currently. I'm not willing to throw the money of a magnusson setup at this vehicle, and be tied to running premium all the time. Extending the length of the intake runners and a tune seem to be in the "worth it" zone of the performance gain : $spent chart

 

Oh HELL yes! How low can you go?! Well i know I'm in the wrong generation forum, so all i can feedback is that my 1st gen only had room for one of these, and that required brake-line bending. Also, at least one plug was a couple mms too short for the new stretch, so it's under tension now, but if you're prepared for some rewiring and basic bracket fabrication i don't see why not.

Side note: The hardware-store mounting bolts supplied were a bit short for my comfort for torquing into aluminum, so i also recommend finding slightly longer ones. The instructions expressly caution against over-torquing, and it's obvious why, especially if you decide to use the lock washers they come with.
Really? Lock washers?

 

Look y'all. Get this spacer and a KDMaxx tune for your truck, then thank me later.
If you're looking to outrun musclecars, you're gonna be disappointed.
BUT!!!!!! If you want to improve the drivability of your truck, along with having a more enjoyable driving experience, this is what you want.

 

I have a Grand Design 17MKE and sits about 5100 loaded. We don’t take a bunch of crap and buy food at grocery stores close to the camp site. Have 5 gal of water for bathroom breaks if needed. I have the KDMax 10 and the Anderson spacer. What I noticed is from 2200 or so to 3500 is that it will continue to pull before shifting down. So it holds 4th gear more easily on the flats.

 

Isn’t the spacer only for v6 anyhow ?

 

No, they make one for the i4 as well.

 

Good to know, thats pretty much what I need. I only tow a camper once a year, but I tow a boat pretty often.

 

They dont make a header for the v6, but I only tow a heavy load once a year, so a regear wouldnt do me much good for the other time of the year. I tow boats, but those are actually aerodynamic so its easy to get up to speed.

 

Got it installed i would say not for the faint of heart, simple but more challenging than expected just a tight spot especially for that pcv hose. Kit is nice but some of the brackets required modification and the replacement hose for the intake was the wrong size. Instructions are over detailed for some parts and lack luster on others. They intake hose included is 3/4 while the old one was 5/8, i am assuming he did that for an easier install as the 5/8 hose needed to stretch a bit to fit on the intake side, it slide right on to the valve cover. I made new brackets to space the intake mounting over as i did not care for the ones in the kit, also had to modify the brackets for the very 2 bottom mounting bolts on the manifold. Overall mostly there but did require some modifications, on a quick drive i notice a slight difference hard to tell. I am going to give it a few tanks and report back, after i installed the lce header it took a few tanks of fuel for the computer to adjust and feel a difference.

 

I received shipping confirmation for mine which should be arriving tomorrow, aiming to install on Sunday. Currently only have about 500 miles on my truck but I have already become pretty familiar with how it runs. I can say that even on my way home from the dealership I could tell it needed some improvement certain areas, it literally felt like it was misfiring at times and one area that even my wife noticed as a passenger was when entering our driveway in 2nd gear it just didn't seem to know what to do and sputtered a bit. That was corrected after my first fill up of fuel using 93, took away 90% or more of the low rpm issues and smoothed it out significantly but still wishing there was more torque. Hoping this will improve that while I continue waiting for my VF tuner cable as a tune will be the next upgrade in effort of making this V6 drive more like a truck should. Regardless of how much or little improvement there may be, I still love the truck just the way it is.

 

This manifold spacer and a KDMaxx tune will wake that truck right up.

 

Managed to get this installed today, was pretty straightforward and simple overall. I did not run into any issue which required modifications to the extension brackets, and the only issue with any wiring being in the way was the big plastic housing in the back which houses the wiring behind the manifold. I loosened the nut on the one side, popped up the other side and some harness clips further away to get some slack while I installed the spacer and manifold to the engine. The most difficult part for me, which wasn't all the difficult, was lining the spacer and manifold to the engine and getting the first bolts started. Nothing else caused any issues worth mentioning. Some things to mention about my particular truck that may be different than others - manual transmission so the clutch hose and line were present, not sure how the automatic differs under the hood in that area or any additional wiring being present. Mine is the 7 bolt manifold, I saw that some have 7 and some have 8 bolts. Everything else under the hood is stock, and only 550 miles total on the truck. I only had time to spin around the block just to make sure everything was alright but once I get about my normal trips I should have a good idea of any difference as most of the places I go are a lot of uphill in one direction and downhill back so I will see how it reacts keeping in higher gears than usual.

 

So after a week of driving and taking notice to any difference in the trucks behavior, I would say this made a positive difference. I wouldn't say it's earth shattering, nor a must have for everyone, but the way the truck behaves now at low RPM is much more how I would have hoped the truck did right from the factory. I find myself not needing to downshift nearly as much for hills while I am just cruising along, a little extra throttle is all it needs. I also appreciate when shifting from 1st to 2nd I no longer feel the need to rev 1st out as far, it handles the big engine speed change with ease now. When curves come up where I would drop a gear or two, I can typically remain one gear higher and pull through just as well or better than it used to. Again, it's not like a big night and day difference that I couldn't live without, more like a difference that improved driveability while making low engine speed response smoother. For my use of the truck it was worth the price tag and less than 1 hour of time needed for installation. Now I really can't wait to get my tuner cable and see how much more the low end comes to life with the tune!

 

Got this installed about two weeks back.

The install wasn't especially difficult or hard to follow per se but mostly just consistently irritating due to accessing the center of the engine bay in my truck being much worse than I'd figured due to lift and tires. Just a lot of steps to track, bolts to keep track of, and a lot of different socket sizes to cycle through. After install I let the truck idle a while as the idle in Park initially seemed a few hundred RPM higher (I figured the tune would need to adjust to the altered air flow setup, so I did what I'd read others doing when changing to higher flow throttle bodies), but it soon adjusted down to normal ranges and I've not had a single issue since.

In terms of performance, it has done exactly what I was hoping it would and what is was supposed to. There's more torque and pull at lower RPMs, though I can't honestly tell the supposed loss of HP at higher RPMs. Since the vast majority of my truck's time is spent below 3500 RPM, this was exactly what I wanted. There feels like there's some more throttle response for sure (though not a giant difference), but it definitely is a different feel compared to when I've had the tune on my truck adjusted to change pedal throttle response (i.e. what a Pedal Commander would do) because it doesn't feel like just pushing the gas pedal down farther.

I can feel more pull off the line when punching the throttle sure, but the real benefit for me is something I don't think I've really seen anyone talk about yet - holding higher gears on the highway. I already had a tune that gave a big improvement in shifting behavior, but with 32s and a 2" lift the truck was still having trouble holding 5th/6th at highway speeds when faced with headwinds or slight hills. The manifold spacer made a big difference with that for me by giving the truck more pulling power in the low RPM ranges where highway speeds are spent, such that it is able to hold the overdrive gears much better than before, and can pull in 4th instead of wanting 3rd constantly when no in overdrive.

This has made a big difference in drivability for me because the truck will now just settle down in 6th and stay there unless I put my foot down or hit a decent upslope, 5th is now also far more usable, 6th can be held at higher speeds than before, accelerating to pass can now be done without downshifting to 4th constantly, and it's just a much nicer experience overall. Fuel economy at highway speed has also improved due to the truck holding the overdrive gears better and not shifting as often, My highway run along the California Central Valley up I5 from Sacramento to Red Bluff would normally have been going around 60-65mph at 17.5-18.5mpg, whereas this time I averaged 65-70mph and ended the trip at about 19.5mpg. Wind was heading the same direction throughout, and wasn't a tailwind in either direction. Still, I'll need a lot more seat time before I can properly quantify this to see if it's consistent and significant under different environmental conditions and loads on the truck.

Overall I'm extremely happy with this modification, but I think it's also been more pronounced a difference for me because I'm combining it with a tune that fixes the gear shifting behaviors, which allows the truck to properly shift to take advantage of the change in torque curve. I also think the differences I noted above wouldn't be as pronounced on a stock truck like the SR5 I drive for work, which doesn't struggle with 5th/6th anywhere near as much because it's running highway tires, no lift, and minimal extra weight compared with my personal truck.

 

Does anyone know if AES offers a coupon code to TW Forum members or if they offer coupon codes at all? I'd like to get one but $325 is a bit steep in my view.

 

unsure on coupons/discounts, but I know @highaltitude was talking about making an IMS for the 3rd gen (he already makes them for the 2nd gen at a very competitive price point) any updates on that?