Everything is hooked up properly. Fits nice and really nice quality. But my boost gauge is still around 8.5 pounds. As it was when stock. Any reasons why it shouldnt gain a pound or two boost??

------------------
Dave
'01 White
Alpine CDA-7875
MB Quarz
Rockford Fosgate Punch
JL ramair

 

Congradulations Dave,

Wait til you get a new boost guage, one that is accurate. These stock ones are not good at all. When you get a new one, try it with the ram air, then without.

------------------
2001 Silver L

Mods (so far):
**** carpeting for the bed
sportmaster tonneau cover
premier 720 HU

to get list:
cervini ram air hood
some form of ram air
lower blower pully
the rest of the stereo
some sort of shift kit
maybe a chip

 

I installed mine this afternoon but didn't check for more boost . I love the sound though !

 

its a good idea to adjust the boost actuator also.

 

Yes...be sure to adjust the Boost Actuator valve. Chuck (LTBOLT) has AWESOME directions on his home web page. Check it out...

------------------
Spiro-
12.373 @ 110.15
Best 60' 1.72
@ 4700 w/out the Go-Go juice

11.94 @ 115.31 with 100 shot Go-Go juice @ 4700 lbs.

11.40 @ 113 with 150 shot(on the brakes)NOT BACKED UP!
4700 lbs.

-Stock Meter
-Stock TB
-Stock Heads
-Stock Manifolds
-Stock motor
-Stock Torque Convertor

Empty Pockets Racing DE-NJ

Sponsored by POWER SURGE PERFORMANCE

Sales@POWERSURGEPERFORMANCE.NET

 

For the record,I adjusted the boost actuator for 2 days and I did not get ANY gain.The only thing I could get it to do it have the boost come on quicker but to me it seemed like the truck was actually kinda Less responsive.Sounds strange but thats my take on it.I saw NO NO NO EXTRA BOOST,Just it coming on different

 

Okay, I'll change my post now. A lot are saying DO NOT DO THIS and a lot are saying DO IT, ADJUST IT!

IMHO, swapping the lower pulley for PSP's is not nearly as problematic as adjusting your actuator.

Use your own judgement, but if you aren't mechanically inclined don't go and try this. And if you *** it up let's hope you can put it back to stock.

I do know that Sal used to preach NOT to do this mod that it could cause more damage than gain. Sal, are you still stating this or has your opinion on the matter changed any? Please lemme know, bud.

BfB

[This message has been edited by BfB (edited 05-29-2001).]

 

Im not Sal..And dont recall what he PREACHED Bfb....But I have been around just as long LOL And see no problem in trying it, just be sure to mark where you strated from.

But seriously...I did see a increase in boost when I did mine last winter. It does change the point where comes in like Ray mentioned above. Some see an increase, some dont...Dont you think it's worth trying??

THE"GREEK"

 

If Ford hadn't intended for the boost actuator to be adjusted, they wouldn't have designed it with elongated oval mounting holes.

(Also, if God had intended for us to be vegetarians, he wouldn't have made cows out of beef)

Adjust the actuator. If you do it right, you will definitely get a performance increase (I got, as far as I can tell, about 0.05 seconds in the quarter). The thing will also be more fun to drive, although you'll spend F1's at a noticeably more rapid rate.

The only possible exception to this is if your actuator is already "optimally" adjusted from the factory. By "optimal", I mean "as greedy as possible without building boost at a part-throttle 70 MPH interstate cruise".

 

BadDog- If the actuator mod alters when the SC starts to work (but doesn't make it spin any faster or produce more boost), what are the drawbacks to having it start to work sooner (load-wise on the engine)? Throw me a frickin bone here people; i'm the boss man, need the info...

 

Gang:

Looks like it's time for a little science lecture. Indeed, you can/should get a boost increase by opening up the intake tract upstream of the blower, and indeed you should get a boost increase with a TRUE (sealed) ram air, which your otherwise fine JL unit is decidedly not.

Here's how it works. The Eaton unit is nothing more than a positive displacement pump/compressor. Yes, there are bypasses and bleeds and such, but essentially you're driving a big positive displacement pump. It can deliver about 750 CFM at redline (ca. 14,000 RPM) against a "typical" (10 PSI) static head.

When you produce the usual 10 PSI of boost, that's 10 PSI relative to atmospheric pressure. That's what your boost gauge is measuring. So when you read 10 PSI on the gauge, that's actually 24.7 PSIA (absolute pressure) in the manifold (14.7 PSI atmospheric plus 10 PSI of boost). Now, the air that's being pressurized is actually starting at a pressure notably less than atmospheric, due to intake restriction. Right before the blower (on the downstream side of the throttle body), there's actually a pretty strong vacuum as a result of pulling that huge flow of air (up to 750 CFM) through the narrow, convoluted, full-of-obstacles, rough intake tract. For example, I once calculated the velocity through the stock 2000 model square-edged airbox hole and it's something north of 200 MPH, if I remember correctly. It takes a big overpressure (vacuum on the downstream side) to push air that fast through such a hole.

Anyway, suffice it to say that right before the blower, especially with the stock airbox, there's quite a vacuum, especially at redline. I plan to hook up a vacuum gauge at some pint to test intake mods, but let's take a guess and say that, at redline, there's a 3 PSI (6 inch Hg) vacuum. That means that the blower is compressing air from 11.7 PSIA (atmospheric minus 3 PSI vacuum) to 24.7 PSIA. This represents a 2.11 compression ratio for the positive-displacement device.

Now, let's say you reduce the restriction of the inlet tract by installing an aftermarket filter, perforating the airbox, installing a larger MAF, or whatever. In the extreme case, you could install a properly-designed, sealed ram-air inlet. Anyway, by reducing the restriction, you will reduce the vacuum (relative to atmospheric) on the inlet side of the blower. Let's consider an example where the 3 PSI vacuum is reduced to 2 PSI. This would raise the pressure on the inlet side of the blower from 11.7 PSIA to 12.7 PSIA. With the same 2.11 compression ratio (an inherent mechanical property of the blower, determined by lobe geometry and other factors), you would produce a pressure on the outlet side of 26.8 PSIA. Relative to atmospheric, this represents a 12 PSI boost.

This is why most everybody sees an increase in maximum boost when they make mods to the intake tract. It's basic fluid mechanics, it makes perfect sense, and it makes more power.

Now, imagine if you were able, by use of a sealed ram-air intake, to produce an actual overpressure (relative to atmospheric) on the inlet side of the blower. This shouldn't be too difficult to achieve, especially at triple-digit speeds and with a big ram-air duct. Anyway, if you were able to generate a 1 PSI overpressure at the blower inlet (15.7 PSIA), you would get 33.12 PSIA on the outlet side, which represents 18 PSI of boost relative to atmospheric.

 

'Bob:

That's a good one. A real good one.

'Racer:

Adjusting the boost actuator indeed changes the point (vacuum level) at which the boost bypass closes. It shouldn't increase the maximum boost, and I've observed that it doesn't under most circimstances. However, there are some instances where "weird things happen" indicating that the bypass isn't fully closed, all of the time, when it's supposed to be. For example, on a highway punch, mine will instantly get maximum boost, hold there for about 3 seconds, "fall SLIGHTLY on its face" for about a second or two (lose a pound or so of boost), then immediately pick back up. There are other oddities that occur under certain circumstances as well, the end result being that I think I've gained a small amount of maximum boost (a pound or less) under certain conditions in certain gears, etc.

Changing the point at which the boost engages can and will have an effect on elapsed time, and also can make the truck more "interesting to drive". For example, I used to be able to power-brake the launch on my stocker at anything up to 2000 RPM or so with no drama (or effect, unfortunately). Now, even at a 1200 RPM power-brake, the truck comes out of the hole at FULL boost and just blows the tires off the thing. Fun on the street, for sure. At the strip, I just launch from idle, the boost hits VERY quickly, and I've run my best 60-foot times ever (in worse air than my previous best) after adjusting the actuator.

Also, I now get partial-to-full boost on a not-so-aggressive part-throttle pull on the street. It pulls like a locomotive at around 40 MPH on a "normal" street drive. Previously, I would have to punch it (and probably force a downshift) to pull with the type of "authority" I would like.

I just adjusted the actuator to as "greedy" as possible without making boost at a 70 MPH highway cruise. Well worth it, to say the least.

------------------
Silver Y2K Lightning
Bone Stock w/ Duraliner, Ford Hitch Cover

Best 60-foot: 2.041
Best 1/8: 8.872
Best 1/4: 13.789
Best MPH: 99.67

Silver (matching) Y2K ML320 Benz
Burl (ML430) Shift ****
Best Run: 17.137@80.629 (2.550 60-foot)

1992 Grand Prix SE
Commuter Mule, G-Tech 17.3 @ 81

 

Hey Silver-Y2K-SVT:
Thanks for the reply. I see that you are well versed in engineering, so then why am I not seeing any additonal boost from my kit over the stock airbox? When I had my 2000, i installed an "airraid filter" and saw alittle increase in overall boost. Or did i see more boost because my 2000 broke in about the same time i installed my air filter? Thanks for your help.


------------------
Dave
'01 White
Alpine CDA-7875
MB Quarz
Rockford Fosgate Punch
JL ramair

 

'Dave:

It's a mystery to me. Anyway, I'll take a stab...

1) The stock boost gauge is crap, and you're not getting a good enough reading to differentiate.

2) Atmospheric conditions were different during the stock/modded runs (a big difference in absolute baro pressure will make a noticeable difference in maximum boost).

3) The stock induction system (specifically, airbox inlet) is less restrictive for the 2001 model, so aftermarket inductions make less of a performance difference. Since the engine hard parts are "the same", the 20-or-so HP gain with the 2001 model comes from the computer and induction changes.

4) The JL "ram air" itself shouldn't make any difference, anyway. This is simply a cold air kit, which itself is a good idea and should return a little power, but no pressurization. The filter you installed should return higher boost, unless it is as restrictive as the OEM airbox system (possible, but not likely, I suppose).

5) You're not conducting a proper, "clean" experiment (same atmospheric conditions, same throttle opening, same RPM...).

Just a guess all around...

 

Silver y2K: My '01 is about 3 months old and was JUST about to order the stage II JL kit. I ordered the '00 Airaid kit, but sent it back because it was not adapted yet to our 90mm opening. I am not tech oriented, but been reading this board for almost 9 months now about Airaid, K&N, JL, etc.... This thread is confusing me; so you mean, changing our stock air box and filter for a JL stage II won't do anything for our trucks? If that is true, what's up with Airaid advertising a 15-20HP boost for their $199 kit? Is there really proof to these claims?

I thought more air meant better gas mileage and more HP. Saw some posts that said yes, other now say no. JL's stage II is about $300; but am I reading the above correctly by assuming I will get no perceivable gain for my $300?