More HP?

[admonster01]

I recently cleaned my throttle body and intake from the box to the manifold with carb cleaner, wiped it out very well and then used very expensive auto wax and full waxed the inside of the air box, the air box hose and inside the throttle body. I buffed them out until they looked like diamonds and were very smooth.

Next I took the little baffle/air deflector off the front cross member that sits in front of the air box intake. As soon as I fired her up the exhaust sound was much deeper. Took her out for a spin and swear before the Almighty that I gained 5-10 HP. The pedal is very sensitive now, where if I step on it hard she just takes off like a rocket.

I followed the exact same steps on my wife's '06 (I have an '07) and the results are exactly the same. She walked out and asked what I did to her Jeep because she could hear the difference. Actually got an email from her today at work where she mentioned the extra power on the freeway.

AM I CRAZY OR DID THESE SIMPLE THINGS ADD TO MY HP? I have no scientific way to prove a performance gain but both Jeeps seem to have more power, a deeper growl and increased torque. I'm not that mechanical so if someone can shed light on this I would be in your debt.

 

[JeepJeepster]

So you cleaned the throttle body, air box, and took that baffle off that sits infront of the air intake? I would say its possible to gain some hp, more so at hw speeds since you took that baffle off.

Do both have a nice clean air filter?

 

[Marlon_JB2]

OMG, BLAKE!! You're being outdone here! Time for you to follow up and clean out and wax your airbox too!!!!

I'd say that maybe it's just restored performance that was lost with aging. However, the removal of that water deflector on the crossmember was mentioned a little while ago in another thread with the same results.

 

[JeepJeepster]

haha, Ive cleaned it all out before but I cannot say I have waxed the inside of the air box.

 

[admonster01]

Well my K&N could use a cleaning and my wife's air filter is practically brand new. I figured the wax might reduce friction inside the box, tubing and throttle body improving air flow. Does it work? I have no idea but in theory who knows. I was disappointed to find the throttle body on my '07 is made of plastic and not aluminum like the '06. So I guess I'm not polishing and porting mine anytime soon......

Has anyone tried the spacers?
Do they work and is it worth the money and trouble?

 

[Ry' N Jen]

Well my K&N could use a cleaning and my wife's air filter is practically brand new. I figured the wax might reduce friction inside the box, tubing and throttle body improving air flow. Does it work? I have no idea but in theory who knows. I was disappointed to find the throttle body on my '07 is made of plastic and not aluminum like the '06. So I guess I'm not polishing and porting mine anytime soon......

Has anyone tried the spacers?
Do they work and is it worth the money and trouble?

So, why not go and port and polish it anyway? Should be a lot easier concidering it's plastic. Will give you the same result, cause your doing the same thing to it.

 

[Bashgod]

The stock air box is very restrictive anyway (made for safe off roading). just puting a $40 k&n on the stock intake tube will vastly change the sound and give you a little more power. tb spacers have no real performance affect, they make a little more noise but if you're looking for more than that, don't...

 

[aksloan]

Next I took the little baffle/air deflector off the front cross member that sits in front of the air box intake.

It is raining here today and when I came home I poped the hood and noticed that there was water on the baffle/air deflector you removed.

So I'm wondering if I was driving 70mph on an Interstate for a few hours while it was raining and not having a baffle there could be a real bad thing.

 

[tommudd]

I tore that baffle off of mine at under 1000 miles, 103,000 now and no problems , plus I have a 3 inch hose running from the grill straight back into the air box, gets slightly damp running through tons of rain but never hurts performance. Ran a K&N for a while but switched back to this set up and get better mileage and runs better

 

[JeepJeepster]

If the rain is heavy enough then yes, it could be a problem. There are holes in the bottom of the air box but they may not be big enough to drain all of the water out.

The CRD's were having problems with the air box actually filling up with water on the hw.

 

[Marlon_JB2]

The CRD's were having problems with the air box actually filling up with water on the hw.

Hehehehehehehehe, I wish I still had that picture of mine loaded with road salt residue!!!!

 

[Bashgod]

ive completely removed my air box

 

[admonster01]

Well here in beautiful Ohio (Cough, Cough) it's been raining for most of the past week. I have driven through some pretty heavy rain on the freeway and haven't had any issues. It simply doesn't rain hard enough here for it to be an issue. Now, when I lived in Florida it did rain hard enough. I had rain driven through a convertible top on many occasions.

I also cut off about 3" of the rubber seal under the hood which also was blocking the air flow into the inlet. Not satisfied I bought a role of aluminum tape and tape the intake tube from box to throttle body with three criss crossing layers and taped my box up.

Thinking and hoping this should keep the air temp down into the throttle body and intake. Wish I had dyno readings before starting all of this! I can tell you my Libstress has never had more power, acceleration and a deeper growl. Wish I could find some caring individual with software to reprogram my computer.

If I had to guess I would estimate based on the way she drives I added 10HP. No way to really verify it other than seat of the pants enjoyment now.