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K&N Cold Air Intake/TCM

SpartanShub

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Any added a K&N Cold Air Intake? I have been looking into these and there are about 4 choices arond the same price. Only difference I see is HP gain, or one has a dry filter. Go for the highest HP increase rating? Any thoughts? Thanks. Also thinking about a throttle control module, any thoughts on that good/bad idea? Recommendations on a good one? /2023 Trail Boss LT 5.3L/
 
I have the cheapest K&N that replaces the factory silencer with a curved plastic piece from the throttle body to the stock airbox and has a stock replacement filter. I already had a Stillen ram air scoop that mounts in front of the radiator and routes the air to the bottom of the stock airbox.
 
Any added a K&N Cold Air Intake? I have been looking into these and there are about 4 choices arond the same price. Only difference I see is HP gain, or one has a dry filter. Go for the highest HP increase rating? Any thoughts? Thanks. Also thinking about a throttle control module, any thoughts on that good/bad idea? Recommendations on a good one? /2023 Trail Boss LT 5.3L/
I have been looking into the Cold Air Intake as well and researching. I found a Dyno article that says it doesn't add much horsepower. If that helps any. Still looking. As far as a control module. I put a pulsar in my 2021 and love it. It has a few features to turn off the DFM which I have been reading is an issue with these motors and lifters going bad. You can also adjust the throttle response depending on conditions. Which is nice for when it comes to wet pavement.
 
I put a pulsar in my 2021 and love it. It has a few features to turn off the DFM which I have been reading is an issue with these motors and lifters going bad.
Electronically disabling the DFM DOES NOT SOLVE THE LIFTER FAILURE ISSUE! It has to do with bad lifters in the engine that fail from use, regardless of DFM being active or not. Supposedly the last of the bad lifters was identified in April of 2021.
 
Our trucks are designed from the factory to pull air from in front of the radiator which is already the coldest air in the engine compartment. Any Cold Air kit that places the intake behind the radiator will most likely not be an improvement. The best thing for performance would be to increase air flow and smooth out the air flow. IMHO the setup that GETGONE mentioned is the best option and the same setup I have. The Stillen scoop combined with replacing the silencer box with a straight tube will smooth out the air flow and then adding a good air filter designed to allow more airflow will increase the efficiency of the air system. As SMisfit stated, short of a true RAM air system, a supercharger, or Turbocharger, any bolt on air mod will have minimal effect.
 
Any added a K&N Cold Air Intake? I have been looking into these and there are about 4 choices arond the same price. Only difference I see is HP gain, or one has a dry filter. Go for the highest HP increase rating? Any thoughts? Thanks. Also thinking about a throttle control module, any thoughts on that good/bad idea? Recommendations on a good one? /2023 Trail Boss LT 5.3L/
I went with the chrome tubing one because it claimed the best power and I knew it would sound amazing, because I had a similar setup on my 2015 Silverado with the 5.3 and it sounded awesome on it as well. It didn't disappoint for my 6.2. They just provide a different throttle body coupler for the 5.3. I do wish, however, that I had considered AFE's carbon fiber intake a little more. But that's because now I have a functional ram air hood and I would prefer a fully enclosed air box that only opens to the top. This K&N setup also opens to the fender. I would love to trap more of that air flow from the hood. But if you don't have that, this K&N is much cheaper and provides noticeable power gains and very noticeable sound improvement!

20230711_145108 (1).jpg
 
I went with the chrome tubing one because it claimed the best power and I knew it would sound amazing, because I had a similar setup on my 2015 Silverado with the 5.3 and it sounded awesome on it as well. It didn't disappoint for my 6.2. They just provide a different throttle body coupler for the 5.3. I do wish, however, that I had considered AFE's carbon fiber intake a little more. But that's because now I have a functional ram air hood and I would prefer a fully enclosed air box that only opens to the top. This K&N setup also opens to the fender. I would love to trap more of that air flow from the hood. But if you don't have that, this K&N is much cheaper and provides noticeable power gains and very noticeable sound improvement!

View attachment 6479
Dyno chart for that intake for the 5.3. Hard to argue with dyno charts versus verbal claims!

2023-07-31 11_14_26-77-3110_dyno.pdf.png
 
Regarding the Stillen air scoop, I looked into that over a year ago and learned it's only for the trucks that don't have active shutters behind the grill. If you have a active shutters you'll need to modify the stillen scoop to prevent the shutters from catching on it.
 
Regarding the Stillen air scoop, I looked into that over a year ago and learned it's only for the trucks that don't have active shutters behind the grill. If you have a active shutters you'll need to modify the stillen scoop to prevent the shutters from catching on it.

They redesigned it to work with the shutters. I bought mine last August and it does not interfere with the shutters.

From the Stillen website:
*NOTE: As of February 15, 2022 this product is compatible with the active aero shutters.
 
I have the shutters and the scoop works on my truck. I can confirm the change fixed the interference with the shutters.
 
I have the shutters and the scoop works on my truck. I can confirm the change fixed the interference with the shutters.
I purchased the one that was not meant for the shutters and all I had to do was slice off about a quarter of an inch from the front of the scoop and it worked just fine. This was before they made the one meant for the shutters, of course.
 
It's good to know my info was out of date. Perhaps I'll buy one now that they've modified it to work with my truck.
 
After a few months and almost 6,000 miles I’m suddenly getting a “Check Engine Air Filter” warning on my display every time I start up.

Anyone else having a similar issue?
 
Stock air filter or a replacement cold air intake? There should be a setting to turn off the air filter monitoring in the DIC.
 

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