THOR 4x4 Cowl Intake

I've been following a couple of threads on various DIY cowl intakes. I started own the road of sourcing the parts and looking at the various options for tubes and elbows and clamps, etc... Honestly after reading all of the posts and looking at all the options, it was starting to get cloudy.

I was fortunate enough to meet Mike at @Trail Head Off Road. Mike has been making cowl intakes for jeeps for years, he's now offering a "bolt on" kit for the tacomas as well as the FJs.

Figured I'd do a quick review. My install was super quick and easy using the factory air cleaner. Love the quality of the parts, you can see from the pics that even the clamps are high quality, not just some cheap hose clamp. Measurements/spacing is precise. All parts, even the rubber grommet was included (no rattle).

Some folks have said the cab noise increased but I really haven't noticed any increase, but to be transparent, I have a roof rack and was coming from a AEM CAI setup so I was already used to a lot of wind noise from the rack and the "droning" from the CAI.

Biggest plus for me, super clean and easy install. Gained a good amount of space under the hood for either a compressor or 2nd battery or both. Got rid of that annoying CAI "droning".

https://trailheadoffroad.com/shop/

 

I can't believe my eyes!......His cabin air filter doesn't have pack rat turds on it!!!!

Installation is very clean - kudos to the supplier..

 

I’m not seeing any info or kit for a Tacoma…

 

I spoke with Mike and he is in the process of updating his website.. hopefully soon!

@Trail Head Off Road

 

Still not on the website. How much is the kit?

 

Also interested in this @Trail Head Off Road

 

Interested as well. Sign me up.

 

Hopefully the website will be updated soon with more details. I'll see what I can find out.

 

The site has been updated! He's even added an introductory coupon for us at TW. Use "tacomaworld" at checkout.

 

Will this work with the secondary air injection system?

 

Good question

 

Would this have to be run through the same process to be CARB legal? Or because of the fact it retains the factory air box and it's more of pre charge pipe, you wouldn't need to?

 

Have a look under your hood - the secondary air system is its own devil.......Has its own POS foam air filter, that eventually fails and jams the $1500 valve.........
Probably flunks the CARB visual the moment they open the hood.

 

wow, that's pricey. I'd recommend anyone interested in this to check out https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/different-approach-to-a-snorkel.266449/ .
$120 is a lot of money for what this is and it's very simple to source parts and DIY for a LOT less.

EDIT: for those wondering about SAI, this mod doesn't affect it at all, no issues there.

 

Holy cow that's a ton of money for a 90 degree elbow, a foot of pipe, and two t-bolt clamps. The 90 degree is $20, t-bolts about $3 each, and the pipe is probably a few bucks. Maybe $30 in parts. I know you gotta make a profit, but...

 

This is good to know as I have only had my Tacoma for a month now and getting ready to take it across Sedona. So what do people do?


Only reason I pose the question is I have the intake for my XJ and it’s CARB legal. So if they were going to go down that road, $120 is worth it. But if they don’t I feel like everyone is correct on the overpricing.

 

I think its more about convenience too. Some folks just want to buy a kit and don't want to worry about sourcing parts and such... With the discount code, it's not bad in my opinion.

 

Does anyone know the hole saw size needed for the Thor kit? Thanks!

 

@Trail Head Off Road

 

ExtremeTerrain is carrying these. Unfortunately my firewall (2013 1grfe with secondary air) has a lot of crap blocking that pipe area. I've not seen any video installs tho!!