HELP ME SPEND MY MONEY$$

[nickcoletti]

HAHA, i knew that would get y'all to come in here 

heres the scoop..... i just won a small lottery (not a state lottery) and i got a few hundred dollars out of it.... YYYAAAYYYYY!!!! 

i had planned to put some away but also buy something neat for my rig 

i have came up with a spending margin of around $300, what i have thought about was buying an air intake manifold/horn. i have narrowed it down to two of them, banks and the new S&B because they are both in the $280 range.

what one should i go with    the banks seems like its got more girth to it which to me sounds like a better flowing unit. the S&B on the other hand seems to have less girth but it would match my S&B air box 




also, why are the other horns so much more money? some of them get up to $400 

i would also like to know if y'all think there is something else i could spend my money on instead? i know i SHOULD be putting money away for a trans upgrade but i dont think i want to get into that just yet.

[mayfair]

I always have, and still do like the Banks horn.

Plus, it's easier to install than some of the others with all 4 bolts comming in from th top. I like my new horn, but those 2 bolts that are under it are a real to get to.

[nickcoletti]

thats defiantly food for thought...

i like the looks of the banks better also... but i thought it would be cool for matching air intakes 

[rocko]

thats defiantly food for thought...

i like the looks of the banks better also... but i thought it would be cool for matching air intakes 

It is under your hood! Do looks really matter? I would rather look up the specs, charts and reviews of each product and let that make up my mind. I would not worry about brand or color...

You could always paint or powdercoat the damn thing if you have a show truck and spend that much time with your hood open.

[Cumminalong]

Ask and ye shall receive.

Me personally.........get the CFM.

I won't spend your money, but I'll help ya make a decision.

Much of this information was sourced from leftcoastdiesel and their test on a 2004 CTD.

Read below.....



Test Truck - 2004 CTD w/

aFe Cold-Air Intake
Torque Tube
4" exhaust
boost elbow and fooler
WINspeed heater grid delete
Smarty running on 7
modified CP3 pump

Previous runs with this setup netted 379/779. Baselines with the stock manifold were consistent with earlier numbers, delivering 383/781.



For the test, each setup would get two runs, starting at roughly the same RPM with a 10% load applied to help get the boost up. Numbers are uncorrected. Peak numbers are without smoothing on, but we did put smoothing on 5 for the purposes of determining the results at 1900 and 2150 rpm. This eliminated freak peaks or valleys that can skew the numbers and doesntt represent what the truck really feels.



First up was the ATS Arc-Flow aluminum intake.

This is a sweet piece of equipment. There are FIVE tapped holes just begging for N20, water meth, hobbs switches, you name it! After plugging all the holes, Erik swapped in the manifold in about 10 minutes using the supplied hardware and gaskets. After two runs, the results were in, and the ATS netted 395/795. A very nice start, indeed! Those numbers are really only part of the story, however. Power above 2600rpm was up just a bit (10-12 HP&TQ), but the power down low was astounding! At 1900rpm, the ATS delivered 48.55 HP and 134.27 lb/ft of torque. Moving up to 2150rpm, power evens out, but the gains are still sweet at 23.74HP and 57.88 lb/ft. This is right where you can feel it!



Second on the rollers was the aFe Blade Runner aluminum intake manifold.

Like the ATS, this manifold had several ports and drillable bosses for goodies. Installation was a little less straightforward and a little odd, to be honest. It requires you to drop the outer bolts down through the manifold, then cap the holes with supplied plugs. Strange, but it seemed to work fine. The aFe put down 396/788, with very similar top-end performance to the ATS. At the same 1900rpm, the aFe added an impressive 38.61HP and 106.75lb-ft of torque. The 2150 rpm mark dropped the gains to just 4.14HP and 10.11 lb/ft.



Last in line was the composite manifold from CFM+.

This piece is the lightest of the bunch, and promises even better heat insulation than the aluminum units. The manifold we tested did not have extra ports built in, but we are told that one is in the works. Installation required the use of supplied studs and nuts, so it took a bit more time than the others, but it was still only a 20 minute install. Peak power results were 393/791, so the CFM unit was right in line with the other intake manifolds. The CFM really shines down low. At the 1900rpm mark, the CFM+ manifold delivered a whopping 57.7HP & 159.53 lb/ft! 2150rpm showed 23.65hp and 57.88 lb/ft of torque.



Stock was 379 hp / 779 tq
ATS was 395 hp / 795 tq at peak. Max gain at 1900 RPM, 48 hp / 134 tq
aFe was 396 hp / 788 tq at peak. Max gain at 1900 RPM, 38 hp / 106 tq
CFM+ was 393 hp / 791 tq at peak. Max gain at 1900 RPM, 57 hp / 159 tq

[Cumminalong]

Also, the easy install of the Banks sacrifices airflow.

Those two posts for the bolts go right throught the airstream.

The chamber on it is so big that you lose velocity.

[nickcoletti]

thanks for finding that article for me rich, according to that there is a better gain with the CFM! i just really wished they would of included the 2 cheaper ones i have had my eye on so i can see where they compare to the others.

i have found a CFM in flat black for $50 more than i had planned to spend, maybe ill toss it around in my head for a while and see what happens.

i did see a picture of how the studs restrict the air flow path in the banks unit. it did raise a flag in my head when i seen it.

[Kilch123]

That's also what I was gonna mention.

If you look inside the CFM unit, it has nothing in the way of smooth flow

The Banks has those two posts right near where the air goes into your engine, so the flow is definitely gonna get swirled up pretty bad

I did the same research, and ended up with the CFM+ on my truck

[noplugs]

Even had I not gotten the good deal on mine that I did. I would still have gone for the CFM at the higher cost. I think its just a better engineered unit being that its not aluminum.

[LaRedneck]

If you just look at the quality alone on the CFM you know your holding a good product. You can clearly see the difference. Its night and day.

thats defiantly food for thought...

i like the looks of the banks better also... but i thought it would be cool for matching air intakes 

It is under your hood! Do looks really matter? I would rather look up the specs, charts and reviews of each product and let that make up my mind. I would not worry about brand or color...

You could always paint or powdercoat the damn thing if you have a show truck and spend that much time with your hood open.

And it does to me personally, I like the thought that I have a sweet looking carbon fiber CFM under there.

[nickcoletti]

i am also with you laredneck, even know i dont have to much goin on under the hood performance wise.... the things i add i would like to add tastefully!

[Az2500Cummins]

So whats it gonna be Nick? CFM+? Too bad it is not available for the 6.7 (yet.) There are only 2 out so far, and I am not willing to spend what they want for em.

[nickcoletti]

you know something... i am really putting thought into this!

i like the fact that the CFM is made of better material that does not hold heat like the aluminum will, i also like the difference in performance gains going off that article rich gave us.

BUT, i have trying to get the S&B off ebay from a seller for $265... if he gives it to me for that price it will be hard to spend the extra $65 on something that i might not ever get a full potential out of.

i am going to wait until tomorrow to see if the S&B guy gets back with me, if not CFM it will be!

i am a very impatient person with these things, i dont think i could wait any longer than tomorrow night to place my order 

[Cumminalong]

you know something... i am really putting thought into this!

i like the fact that the CFM is made of better material that does not hold heat like the aluminum will, i also like the difference in performance gains going off that article rich gave us.

BUT, i have trying to get the S&B off ebay from a seller for $265... if he gives it to me for that price it will be hard to spend the extra $65 on something that i might not ever get a full potential out of.

i am going to wait until tomorrow to see if the S&B guy gets back with me, if not CFM it will be!

i am a very impatient person with these things, i dont think i could wait any longer than tomorrow night to place my order 

Hey Nick,

Lemme give ya a few words of advice. Take this for what it's worth.

BUY THE FRIGGIN PART YOU REALLY WANT, THE FIRST TIME!

Wanna know why? Cuz you'll just end up getting it later down the road and costing yourself more money.

Including the stock pieces, I'm on....

My 3rd intake, 3rd exhaust, 3rd intake manifold, and 3rd exhaust manifold.

Buy the one you want, otherwise you'll keep looking at it.

[aka_chewy]

i am a very impatient person with these things, i dont think i could wait any longer than tomorrow night to place my order 

Then order the CFM and be done with it....no waiting, no fussing.  JUST DO IT.