Rusty's Air Tube: any new opinions?

[tomjonesrocks]

Saw some old threads about Rusty's air tube but none of them really went so far as to say there was a definitely MPG or HP gain after install.

Presumably, those that installed theirs would have now had some time to evaluate--any opinions on the performance of this item?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Trodo]

Well there is going to be a HP and Torque gain, MPG.... you'll get more because the engine is breathing better and on the freeway you'll get more if you keep you foot out of it.
The problem being... Rusty's Air Tube is 'NOT' 50 state legal, you're in San Diego, that makes it not CARB legal. You'd have to remove it every time you got smoged.

I'm selling a brand new, still in the box, AEM air intake-full kit,
that 'IS' 50 state legal. I live in Orange County, north of you. It will fit your 02.

 

[nrifenbark]

Do these after market air intake systems affect the water fording abilities of the Liberty? The stock air intake looks like it is about as high as it can be under the hood. I am wondering if the after market intakes would reduce the water fording ability of the Liberty.
I checked AEM and their drop down vehicle search does not list Jeep as one of the model brands.

 

[JohnKJ]

I put one on when my KJ hit 10k miles, I have about 13k on it now and have really seen no noticable MPG gain. The only thing I noticed is that the engine is a bit louder now. Other than the Air tube, my KJ is completely stock.

 

[thx1138]

I was always a CAI fan. The last 4 cars We've owned I either installed a K&N drop-in filter or some sort of cold air intake system. But lately, I've wondered about the wisdom of this. before I got my KJ, I owned a 2002 Dodge Ram Sport. I loved this truck and miss it even now but I wanted something with better mileage and something in a 4x4. Anyway, I had a Volant CAI system on it and it SEEMED to generate a little more horsepower (along with the fact that I also had a flowmaster catback dual exhaust). I never realized a MPG gain but that was ok with me. Now my wife has a 2002 PT Cruiser Limited. I installed an Airaid CAI system on it. When you punched it, it sounded like the lil booger had a 4-barrel on it...LOL. Problem was it felt like it was doggin' it when i kicked it down. But I left it on there for the better part of 3 years..washing it and re-oiling it twice in the interim. Recently, I was lurking in some auto forums and read some posts about the efficiency of these intake systems. I came away with a different take on the subject such as that some cars don't really benefit from these setups and that being high flow, they let a lot more contaminants thru into the intake. I thought 'I'd remove the Airaid from my wife's car and run it stock for awhile. My wife has to drive twice a week 40miles one-way to a college class. The route takes her along I-70, a well travelled interstate highway. On the way back home, there is a long straight uphill grade section. I asked her how the car acted when she got back from class. She said it felt like it was more responsive to the throttle and it didn't kick into passing gear when she was on that grade! I about freaked. I asked her, " ya mean..all this time the car's been kicking down a gear when you are going up this hill?" Her reply was that it always did...until after I removed the CAI. I was flabbergasted. I've since Ebayed my CAI setups and run stock now. I'm not sayin' they're bad for your vehicle, but I'd try to research whether they'd benefit your particular car or not. :-k

 

[Trodo]

Intake systems sometimes do not seem like they are doing anything. I put one on a previous vehicle, it was the best thing I could have done for it. Mileage shot up 30%. (it was a Chevy) But I also believe that it will improve overall. If you constantly look for one improvement, you miss the bigger picture.

 

[thx1138]

Well all I can say is my wife's PT runs a lot better now stock than when it had that Airaid setup. The difference is like night and day and I doubt I'll put one on my KJ.

Hmmmm...ahma poet and din't know it!