Joined
·
1,385 Posts
After being warned by my tuner that some tuned trucks have been splitting the stock intercooler tubes, and then hearing of a few instances of this happening, I decided to purchase aftermarket intercooler pipes.
For me, this purchase wasn’t particularly focused on performance gains. I really don’t want to be towing in the mountains with gobs of boost and then split the stock plastic tube since I’m running more boost than stock. However, Any performance gains will be appreciated. aFe claims 14% flow improvement and S&B claims 15-16% so maybe they will work nicely together.
I was worried it wouldn’t fit well with my aftermarket S&B intake system and my Mighty Mouse catch can (which does literally nothing, different thread) but my worries were set aside when everything went together nicely.
Install was simple, just a bunch of hose clamps and such. The catch can pcv hoses were more in the way than anything else. I moved them around a little and ended up trimming the engine cover just a little bit to free up some space for the hoses.
Couple things that will make your life easier:
- lube up the intercooler fitting o-ring with some nice heavy grease, this will help make sure it doesn’t get pinched or cut when sliding onto the intercooler. Also, it will help you be able to turn those elbows easily while you’re lining things up.
- I wouldn’t lube any other connections because you don’t want pipes popping out.
- I put the silicone elbows in place first and then held the pipe up to see where everything wanted to line up
- think about what angle you would want to tighten the clamps from while you’re putting things together
Hot side pipes comparison
Cold side pipes comparison (stock is plastic)
To me, it looks like it would’ve been cheaper to just upgrade the cold side. I would imagine the cold side is where any problems would be since it’s the plastic tube and the rubber part is super soft. However, for looks doing both sides definitely is cooler looking.
Installed
Or for those of you who can’t read or prefer the quick video
For me, this purchase wasn’t particularly focused on performance gains. I really don’t want to be towing in the mountains with gobs of boost and then split the stock plastic tube since I’m running more boost than stock. However, Any performance gains will be appreciated. aFe claims 14% flow improvement and S&B claims 15-16% so maybe they will work nicely together.
I was worried it wouldn’t fit well with my aftermarket S&B intake system and my Mighty Mouse catch can (which does literally nothing, different thread) but my worries were set aside when everything went together nicely.
Install was simple, just a bunch of hose clamps and such. The catch can pcv hoses were more in the way than anything else. I moved them around a little and ended up trimming the engine cover just a little bit to free up some space for the hoses.
Couple things that will make your life easier:
- lube up the intercooler fitting o-ring with some nice heavy grease, this will help make sure it doesn’t get pinched or cut when sliding onto the intercooler. Also, it will help you be able to turn those elbows easily while you’re lining things up.
- I wouldn’t lube any other connections because you don’t want pipes popping out.
- I put the silicone elbows in place first and then held the pipe up to see where everything wanted to line up
- think about what angle you would want to tighten the clamps from while you’re putting things together
Hot side pipes comparison
Cold side pipes comparison (stock is plastic)
To me, it looks like it would’ve been cheaper to just upgrade the cold side. I would imagine the cold side is where any problems would be since it’s the plastic tube and the rubber part is super soft. However, for looks doing both sides definitely is cooler looking.
Installed
Or for those of you who can’t read or prefer the quick video