Airaid jr intake tube

So this isn’t a CAI
Honestly in my opinion after hours days of driving across a few states and locally I think the tube is a waste of money

Here’s an example
everyday I drive down and up a 12% grade and since I added this tube I can hear the engine bogging down like it’s getting too much air lol I know that sounds silly but it’s the best I can describe it

Also at a dead stop when flooring I feel like HP is less than with the stock “air tube”.

I’m still using the stock air cleaner box but with a AEM pro dry because I had a factory paper filter b4

So I want those who use this airaid jr to explain to me what this $160 tube does for me…..other than make the engine bay look empty and the engine sound cool

The "theory" is that if you add more air, after a couple weeks of driving, prob sooner, your computer will start adding more fuel. that equals more power. I wouldn't get an intake without getting at least a better flowing cat-back exhaust. Then, at that point, i'd want it tuned to get the most out of it possible, and also to make sure i don't blow it up..... i have a habit of doing that...

read up...what you purchased was a visual aid to engine bay, and possibly the better option to a cat back if you want hear the engine but dont like loud drone filled exhaust.

I'm not sure what you expected, or were told by others, but the AirRaid Junior is strictly a cosmetic change with some additional 'sound'. I purchased mine, because I did not like the looks of that monstrosity of a stock air connector (I know that it was specifically engineered to reduce engine bay intake noise, but I'm not a fan of low noise).

Will never get to touch cats because I am in California
Already opened up exhaust “still need to remove the reso “

I Expected 20hp gain with airaid jr JUST KIDDING

Well I think the engine looks better with the stock boxtube

The airaid jr is small and leave a large empty area in the engine bay.

So the airaid jr is at best a sound mod and cosmetic only
Sounds about right to me so I’m selling it use the $ for a bb tune later

Ghost10 said:

Will never get to touch cats because I am in California
Already opened up exhaust “still need to remove the reso “

I Expected 20hp gain with airaid jr JUST KIDDING

Well I think the engine looks better with the stock boxtube

The airaid jr is small and leave a large empty area in the engine bay.

So the airaid jr is at best a sound mod and cosmetic only
Sounds about right to me so I’m selling it use the $ for a bb tune later

Click to expand...

Now that WILL make a very noticeable difference.

Ghost10 said:

So I want those who use this airaid jr to explain to me what this $160 tube does for me…..other than make the engine bay look empty and the engine sound cool

Click to expand...

I shaved 3 seconds off in the 1/4 and gained 100 hp.

In reality.

It looks better and changed the intake note in wider throttle positions. Which is all I expected of it.

I think it worked perfectly to remove $160 from your wallet…

I think that if there were efficiency gains or mpg gains or even power improvements that the marketers could sell, you would see GM using it and marketing it. A lot of their work goes into making the truck quiet and civilized for its intended purpose for people like me. When I see or hear a loud truck in my village I don’t think “that is really cool” I think “what a maroon!” It’s a generational thing…although I loved the sound my recently-departed Porsche made.

I contemplated an upgrade to a 2021 Denali and while ticking the boxes, the “performance upgrade” of an air box and a muffler, which looks really good, just added noise for a slab of money. They make no claims for power nor efficiency, just looks, as far as I could tell. I think if you want power you need to turn your truck engine in for a Corvette engine or one of those new crates that make 1000 hp…now you’re talking.

Ghost10 said:

So this isn’t a CAI
Honestly in my opinion after hours days of driving across a few states and locally I think the tube is a waste of money

Here’s an example
everyday I drive down and up a 12% grade and since I added this tube I can hear the engine bogging down like it’s getting too much air lol I know that sounds silly but it’s the best I can describe it

Also at a dead stop when flooring I feel like HP is less than with the stock “air tube”.

I’m still using the stock air cleaner box but with a AEM pro dry because I had a factory paper filter b4

Click to expand...

It's not gonna create a bunch of HP because there's not much sacrificed in the design of the factory intake duct. The point of it is to replace the factory duct, with its accordion tube and resonators, with a tube that has a smooth path and smoother transition to the throttle body.

The factory duct has the chambers (Helmholtz resonators) to muffle the intake pulses, making the intake sound quieter. This isn't a performance thing, it's just to make the engine less noisy by muting a few key frequencies that would drone. Supposedly, these resonator chambers can cause a little turbulence in the air flow. Between these chambers and the accordion tube, there might be a very tiny bit of top-end power sacrificed.

For those that like to hear the engine and possibly gain a little power, this is an easy and attractive solution. IMO, any power it may yield isn't enough one's butt dyno would detect.

It, in itself, isn't a "cold air intake". The factory one is. You could just call this a "smooth air intake" or "straight pipe intake" (since it doesn't have mufflers).

It's been years since I looked into it. But, IIRC, Black Bear showed it to yield about 8HP on my generation of engine and the more expensive full kits didn't do much better. On the newer generations like yours, the full kits did pretty good. Whether-or-not they were ~$400 good is up to you.

Personally, I wouldn't spend $160 on one. You could get the same results for a fraction of the price using PVC or ABS plumbing pipe and fittings. Yes, this sounds ghetto and paints a trashy image in your mind. How good it looks depends on how much effort you're willing to put into the details. I bought my MIT secondhand for $100 cuz that was enough to satisfy my laziness and, let's face it, it does look better than straight pieces of pipe. I got the AEM Dry Flow filter for the cost of shipping (about $15) cuz a guy was convinced it caused him poor fuel mileage and wanted it gone after very little use.

I wasn't expecting any noticeable power or MPG from the combo. I bought it for the looks and sound, which I was very pleased with. I recommend it to those looking for a "CAI" but don't wanna spend the big bucks on a true CAI but also don't wanna fab one up out of plumbing pipe. I certainly did not lose any MPG other than that caused by me being harder on the throttle to hear the engine growl.

That sound you're hearing isn't "the engine bogging down like it’s getting too much air". It's the sound wave pulses in the intake droning with the engine under load. It's the exact same as some mufflers causing exhaust drone. It's all sound waves being pulsed through pipe. The factory puts Helmholtz chambers on the intake to combat droning frequencies. You've removed those chambers so now you hear the drone.

It's the same as someone switching to a performance muffler to get more volume, which lets certain frequencies previously muffled or muted by the factory muffler to become more audible. So then, just like the intake duct, you have to install Helmholtz chambers to attenuate the offending noise.

If you don't find the $160 you spent worth the "gains", at least be glad that you didn't spend $300-$400 on a system to have about the same results.

As for bang-for-the-buck, yes, a REAL tune can't be beat.



Clean example of a homemade PVC intake tube:




I'd likely use ABS pipe. Instead of the slip-fit couplings, I'd bevel the edges, butt them together (like how pipefitters weld pipe together) and bond them with ABS cement then sand and paint so it'd look like a single, formed piece of pipe.