California Air Intakes???

I am looking for an air intake for my truck, I would be into a TRD or a Volant... but everything I have heard is that in California they wont ship them in because they wont pass smog. I am being told that there is some switch that get flipped when you take out the factory one and it wont be reset so when you go to smog it , it will not be passed ... can anyone shed light on this????

 

On modern vehicles (2000 MY+) most, arguably all, aftermarket "cold air" intakes are a waste of money. As to "ram air" read this before you spend any money...

 

Well what if I just want it to sound good?

 

Exhaust.

Air Intakes make the motor louder. That's about it (ask how I know). Exhaust is where the cool noise comes from though. And making a V6 sound cool is difficult.

 

Basically an intake will make it sound louder to you in the cab, but not to everyone on the street.

 

The biggest advantage of the Volant is the Donaldson Powercore filter. It's an oversized filter that you would normally find on a large diesel engine with a lifespan in the 10's of thousands of miles. There are some savings to be had there without sacrificing any safety or filtration like you would find with an oil filter.

 

Aftermarket air intakes are not CARB (California Air Research Board) approved because they remove the carbon filter which is built in to the factory intake system. There are a couple of options for intakes, but they retain the factory airbox.

 

Isn't there a mod you can do to your factory airbox to make the engine louder or something? I forgot what it was called. You basically cut a hole in it.

 

Deck Plate mod for the 1st gen tacos. That works really well

* There may be more involved write ups, but here's one from a quick search - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/deck-plate-mod.436089/

 

Lol is that a pool skimmer cover?

This basically just makes your engine sound louder right? No performance added?

Pool parts as performance parts on a truck is probably one of the most ridiculous sounding things ever haha.

 

I read somewhere someone getting one from a boating store if that helps, boat parts on your truck? Haha. Sound yes, but improved airflow which aids in performance. Not sure if there's a real HP or TQ improvement but the truck certainly feels better with the cover open vs when it's closed.

 

Haha you know what boat parts on a pickup truck remind me of?

Top Gear turned an old 1980's Turbo Diesel Toyota Hilux into a boat. No I'm not kidding. They attached a Honda outboard motor to the tailgate.

One of the other guys took a van and attached a propeller to the flywheel instead of the driveshaft.

https://youtu.be/7dsp_Aulp8Y?t=2m15s

 

Yes! I hope they get to this level with The Grand Tour, only seen the first two and hope it gets better.

That's one of the favorites along with the reliant robin episode and when they go to New Zeland and Jermey gets a rental car and James is on a race sail boat

 

Why would a vendor care if you made your vehicle 'illegal' with their parts? There's no border inspection at Cali for mail or UPS is there? It's the vehicle owner that has the resultant problem, not the vendor. I suspect all they have to do is state 'for offroad use only' or some gobbledygook to shift the burden to you.

Maybe it's an accurate statement and all vendors have been threatened. Well, have the vendor ship it to a friend in a vendor friendly state, have the friend ship it to you. Done.

This is a guess as I'm not in Cali. I think the CAI does not pass the visual inspection since it's not CARB stickered. Put the OE box back on and get it inspected, then swap back.

And you mention TRD. That one may be CARB certified, as it's a Toyota optional part.

But as someone else said, it's really just underhood bling that makes your truck faster because your wallet is lighter.

 

My favorite Top Gear episode by far is the Africa Special.
The Audi pulling trailers with trainwheels on a traintrack is definitely a close second. Haha.

 

Now for the deck plate mod, wouldn't dirt and grime get into the engine since it's below the air filter?

Is this legal in California?

 

Can't send illegal parts into a state where they're illegal. The vendor will be hit with a HUGE fine if they're caught. I assume it would be similar with intakes, but at a motorcycle shop I worked at we had to stop selling exhaust systems for street legal vehicles. If we were caught our fine would have been $250,000

If one could get their hands on a non CA approved intake and use it in CA it won't pass the visual inspection as there won't be a CARB sticker. The CA approved intakes come with a CARB sticker that needs to be on the truck in the engine bay.
A non CA approved intake will actually pass smog which is the real kicker.

 

You're asking on what to use to make the engine louder and making jokes about pool parts on a truck for performance mods.

Both sound pretty retarded.

 

You do it at the front of the box, closest to the headlight, so any dirt/dust still needs to travel through the air filter. Leave it open on the road and seal it up when off road.

Legality... no clue. My gf's truck has the deck plate mod done but also a CA approved intake tube with a CARB sticker.

 

I wouldn't have to worry about just normal freeway/on-road use?
I'd say about 99% of the time I drive my taco it's stuck on I-880/101 in California's famous rush hour. I could never do off-roading even if I wanted to (see signature) so I wouldn't really need to worry about that.