Sealing Airaid Intake (Take 2) Comparison Modded K&N vs Stock VS Modded Airaid

[ShoBoat]

Just spoke to Airaid.  They are sending me a taller weather stripping today.  The guy I spoke to said the box should seal tightly to the underside of the hood.  Also make special not the weather stripping needs to flare outward from the CAI box.  The picture I saw earlier flairs inward.  As matter of fact mine flares inward which is wrong.  The reason to have it flare outward, that way the gasket pulls up snug to the hood.  If it flares inward it will let hot air into the box regardless if it is snug or not to the underside of the hood. 

Great customer service and they didn't hesitate in sending me the taller weather stripping.

So they admit they thought it better to allow hot engine air into a cold air intake. I'm sorry....that's bad business and false advertising.

Interesting, good catch. I'll have to try that with the taller stripping. I don't recall seeing that in the instructions. But I usually skim through those anyway

 

[jmr061]

I did not intend to start a war or anything....I think its great that guys are trying to correct the issue at hand and make it better however my point is that this shouldn't be needed.

I do hope Airaid reads this thread and I would hope they would jump in and say their peace. 

My feeling is that it shouldn't be up to the do it yourselfers to fix this.  I love it when people think outside the box though so don't think I am complaining about you guys!! IM NOT! 

Probably give them a call tomorrow.  I bet they are getting a little overwhelmed with phone calls lol.

 

[SHOnUup]

Just to be clear. Not mad here.

Cheap, DIY, mod that adds performance. Sounds fun.

That being said, I probably wouldn't purchase one without the taller stripping. The insulating of the box seems alot cheaper to DIY it than them researching, designing, and testing it.

If you do order one, just call Airaid and they will send you the taller one at no charge. I got mine in 3 days.

I have the one through LMS that is basically the same thing with LMS logos.

This is the indent it leaves now, few nice size gaps in it.

 

[ShoBoat]

Just to be clear. Not mad here.

Cheap, DIY, mod that adds performance. Sounds fun.

That being said, I probably wouldn't purchase one without the taller stripping. The insulating of the box seems alot cheaper to DIY it than them researching, designing, and testing it.

If you do order one, just call Airaid and they will send you the taller one at no charge. I got mine in 3 days.

I have the one through LMS that is basically the same thing with LMS logos.

This is the indent it leaves now, few nice size gaps in it.

I would call Airaid anyway, it's just a rebranded unit. I am pretty sure they will send you the taller strip.

 

[SHOnUup]

Just to be clear. Not mad here.

Cheap, DIY, mod that adds performance. Sounds fun.

That being said, I probably wouldn't purchase one without the taller stripping. The insulating of the box seems alot cheaper to DIY it than them researching, designing, and testing it.

If you do order one, just call Airaid and they will send you the taller one at no charge. I got mine in 3 days.

I have the one through LMS that is basically the same thing with LMS logos.

This is the indent it leaves now, few nice size gaps in it.

I would call Airaid anyway, it's just a rebranded unit. I am pretty sure they will send you the taller strip.

I'm actually liking the foam idea you came up with better. That rigid strip looks like it won't sit tight through the curves under the hood.

 

[TimmyATL]

Great work ShoBoat thanks for all your hard work and time. Did you all just call Airaid and explain your situation and ask for a different seal? And ShoBoat in your opinion would you go with the larger blade style or the D style with foam? Have a great day everyone.

 

[ShoBoat]

I found that the foam does seal better to the hood. The taller blade does the job. Just not as well. If you call Airaid just explain that you found that the current stripping is not sealing. And you would like either the taller stripping or the D style. You can then go from there.

 

[SHOnUup]

How's that foam reacting with the heat?

 

[ShoBoat]

How's that foam reacting with the heat?

No issues so far, but I would assume that it won't last as long as the rubber. I would expect to change it out once a year. For the $10, why not. It forms almost a perfect seal to the hood. When you open the hood it takes a few min for it to expand fully. It's kinda cool, you can see the shape on the foam of the contours of the hood.

 

[ShoBoat]

After a week and a trip to the track.

 

[SHOnUup]

Might not look as clean as the bigger stripping, but looks way more effective to me.

 

[J-Will]

Foam is porous, wouldn't rubber provide a better seal?

 

[ShoBoat]

It's not as clean looking as the rubber. However I have seen other applications that use a similar material to seal to the hood.

The foam is slightly porous, this stuff is a high density foam. Unfortunately if the rubber doesn't seal perfectly it's useless. If someone could point out a softer rubber, or a much taller D style strip. We could give that a go. I asked Airaid and the only strip they have that is tall enough is the blade style I tested. To me it seemed a bit too stiff. Possibly it could be trimmed to fit a bit better.

 

[ShoBoat]

First gen CAI lol with a foam seal.

The filter is actually mounted in the hood.

 

[SHOnUup]

Nice. Wonder if mounting the foam to hood would stay, might look cleaner up there?

 

[FoMoCoSHO]

The ford racing sticker is a nice touch.

If you could get the foam in black, I think that might help it to disappear a bit.

 

[ecoboostsho]

I know its more work but I am really liking my cover setup with the D shaped tubing/gasket. It seals nicely and looks pretty decent...granted it wasn't really cheap to do but you don't have to edge it out like I did you could just pick up the $20 piece of Lexan from a local hardware store and cut it to shape...some screws and angle brackets to attach it and free D shaped gasket from Airaid.

I also just finished insulating the inside of my box with Reflectix and can't wait to test it out (drove the motorcycle to work today). 

 

[ShoBoat]

Nice. Wonder if mounting the foam to hood would stay, might look cleaner up there?

The stuff I am using probably not, but you did give me an idea. If we could find a flat D style strip, like the one on the hood that might work. You could use one on the top and one on the bottom. Might be something worth looking into.

The ford racing sticker is a nice touch.

If you could get the foam in black, I think that might help it to disappear a bit.

Thanks, My son wanted it there. He said it looked cool

Unfortunately I have not been able to find a similar material in black. I am still looking.

I know its more work but I am really liking my cover setup with the D shaped tubing/gasket. It seals nicely and looks pretty decent...granted it wasn't really cheap to do but you don't have to edge it out like I did you could just pick up the $20 piece of Lexan from a local hardware store and cut it to shape...some screws and angle brackets to attach it and free D shaped gasket from Airaid.

I also just finished insulating the inside of my box with Reflectix and can't wait to test it out (drove the motorcycle to work today). 

I am going to give this a try, I just have other projects on the go right now. Let us know your results on the insulation. I am curious how it behaves with the lid.

 

[SHOnUup]

This stuff looks like it might work if it was a bit thicker.

 

[ShoBoat]

What is the thickness?