Next take the flat pliers and from the backside of the panel simply grab and twist out the "fan blades" from the outer edge one at a time.

This is what it should look like when done.

This is what you should have left over.

Next we move on to the air box itself. It front ribbed opening is glued to the actual air box itself. I was going to score and cut as you see in the photo below but it turns out that the opening of the front piece is a smaller diameter than the air box so all you need to do is simply work your way around snapping off little pieces one by one. Mine came off quite easily and very smooth around the edges.

 

This is how much material I was able to remove by simply prying it off.

While it was off it took that opportunity to wipe the inside and outside of the air box off and install the air filter.

This the opening with the filter installed, as you can see there is good reason to think that air flow has probably improved. Now reinstall the end with the rubber skirt and put it back in the truck.

Installed in truck. All that is left to do is install the lid on the air box.

 

subscribed........

 

Nice write up. Let us know about mileage gains.

 

Great little idea cost effective I am sure, is that AFE filter an oil less/washable one? If so I may end up doing this as well. In the long run one should save a little $$.

Thanks
Phil

 

Its the AFE proguard 5 oiled. I did the filter at the same time I did my exhaust w/DPF delete. I have efi live but I have not tuned yet. Just programed for delete and I have seen 3.5 MPG increase average city/hwy combined. I am sure it would be closer to 4.5 or 5 MPG more hwy only but I have not had a chance to go anywhere far enough to try it yet.

 

Stock filter is better.

K&N air filter or OEM, why OEM is better

 

Dude.......You really should not have done that. You just hurt your airflow instead of helpiing it.

 

are you serious brian or just joking?

 

No I am serious. The op doesn't understand how air moves the fastest. The vanes aren't restrictive.

 

I definitely would not have done that. That will not help, but it could negatively impact air flow.

 

Brian is right, these are stationary vanes that help direct and align your airflow.

 

i guess i wil go out and my truck back together than.


j.p. glad i kept reading this topic

 

Well, the good news for the op is if he had bought an aftermarket intake it would probably look similar to his modified one with the vanes being cut out. The LMM intakes are probably the best for moving air, out of all the dmax's. I say probably because I haven't looked at the other Factory intakes of all the dmax’s. The factory filter (NBS) itself has lots of more surface area compared to the filter that came on my 01 dmax. There is a reason the whole setup is tubular. The vanes on these intakes are similar to the technology used on gas turbines to maximize airflow.

To the OP I’m not trying to be a dick but, those vanes served a purpose which is to increase air flow.

Nice write up, though!

 

So are you saying that the PPE mod is wrong too. All I did was simplify their mod. I understand what you are saying, and I wondered about it myself before doing it. BUT if it was there to direct air into the filter wouldn't the vanes be curved inward towards the filter? Curving the vanes inward would have speed up airflow like water down a drain. Could it be its there do divert any dirt filled air directly away from the front of the Donaldson filter. My air box was full of bug and the were mainly stuck to the outside edge and underneath the filter all the way to where it seals to the intake. The AFE has a rubber cap on the end so it does not matter if it get hit with dirt. In fact with the way the vanes are turned all of the dirt would be directed to all of the AFE's filter surface causing it to clog with larger particles quicker. Right? Also how much "aligning" of the airflow does a forced induction motor need? I was not trying to achieve a "ram air" effect. My focus was more of an air volume issue from a stand still. If you go WOT from take off with a factory sealed air box you essentially suck all of the air out of it with only the openings around the vanes to provide more air.

Think of it like this. Imagine an 8" clear pipe say 4 feet long standing on one end. It is filled with water with this vane assembly installed halfway down the pipe and a butterfly valve on the bottom. If I snap open the valve and dump the water out of the bottom half of the pipe. Would the top half be able to supply the rest of the water as quickly as what the lower half drained at? Now picture the same thing with a high pressure pump (a turbo) that will pull the water out of the bottom section faster than what gravity did the first time......2X faster....5X faster....10X faster?? With all of the parts there are made to free up the flow to and from the motor shouldn't available air volume be a concern too?

Just a little food for thought from the op....

 

How about doing this mod to get more air flow to the airbox.

 

Dont even get them started on it, I'm going to do it once I find the right vent I want but it seems every one here hates it.

 

HAHA so our LMM boxes have a built in "tornado" like on the commercials? I majored in physics in college and i learned enough to know that fluid dynamics is a beotch. Wish i could add to this...

 

im gonna agree with the OP i dont think this will hurt your airflow, i mean the turbo is gonna do the work for the airflow, the design of the fan blades is to push dirt and bugs and things down instead of into the filter, and it works, its a great design!! but its not designed for GREAT airflow. good, but not great.

 

the vanes are there to pull dust out of the air.they direct the heavy dust to the larger tube below the filter housing.that tube collects an incredible amount of dust in a very short period of time.pulling the dust out before it hits the filter is very important when using a stock filter.the stock filters end faces directly toward the fins,so if you remove them the heavy dust is dipossited right into the end of the filter,shortened filter life.

as to cutting out the fender,seriously?measure the area of the fender opening,then measure the area of the intake tube.the fender has more area than smaller parts of the system,IT IS NOT A RESTRICTION.

 

Hmmm? OK! Maybe at idle when there isn't alot of air flow. What about when there's boost? You mean to tell me that all the heavy dust magically goes into the larger tube rather than into the filter? DieselZ28 isn't using a stock filter so your theory on plugging up the stock filter faster doesn't apply. He swapped out the stock filter with the AFE. I agree with SEXATAN, if he had bought an after market air intake it's pretty much the same thing.

Next question: How do you think that the opening in the fender isn't a restriction? The opening is less than half the diameter of the intake fan blade shroud. Look at the photos, you can see where the rubber seal around the fan blade shroud sits and the size difference. Have you looked at one? I noticed a positive improvement and that's all that matters at the end of the day.
:drink

 

The vanes create a vortex, which improves airflow.

 

prove it. it doesnt create a vortex, if you'll open up your intake and take a look, there are 2 holes in the bottom, bugs and dirt go in the because of those blades, it doesnt create a vortex, sorry.

 

It was my understanding that the addition of the vanes was to serve as a water separator when driving in heavy rain, not for bugs and dust.

I really can’t see how the massive amount of air moved via the turbo could benefit from an added vortex blade as is claimed with the Ronco gasser add-ons. Anything created there would be cancelled out by the drum filter.

 

it,s not a vortex generator.it doesn,t move more air to the motor.it DOESN,T IMPEDED AIR FLOW TO THE MOTOR. it removes debris.i have heard it is also for keeping snow away from the air filter in winter storms.(this also seems to make alot of sense.)

 

I’m not sure what the original intent of the vanes were however, I think I would inquire to its designed function before hacking it off. I know a lot of people don’t believe in guide vanes and maybe it is because our engines move such small amounts of air in relation to applications where guide vanes are used like industrial gas Turbines. I guess the point is why fix something that isn’t broken. The OP is not going to see any gain from this mod/filter.

 

I hacked mine out like PPE said to, It sounds different, I don't think it messed it up though.

 

Jesus! I didn't know so many people would get so bothered by this post. I removed the vanes because.
1. IT DOES NOT CREATE A VORTEX OR A TORNADO, NOR IS IT SOME ENGINEERING MARVEL FROM THE MASTERMINDS AT GM! IT HAS A TURBO ON THE MOTOR! LESS PLASTIC MORE OPENING!
2. MY FILTER TAKES IN AIR FROM THE SIDES! I WAS TRYING TO REDUCE SERVICE INTERVALS! LOOK AT THE DIRECTIONS OF THE VANES! AN INWARD CURVE WOULD DIRECT AIR TO THE FILTER! DIRECTING AIR OUTWARDLY WOULD CARRY DIRT AND WATER STRAIGHT TO THE AFE FILTER!
3. ITS MY TRUCK.....AND I WAS "THINKING" THERE cjw! i.e THE CURVE OF THE VANES. How is my mod really that much different from the PPE mod that several people on this forum have done??? If your gonna be a TOOL at least be a helpful one. So what does the 6.6L box do?? Create an extra bubble of air for hard acceleration at high elevation? No wait that's where the flux-capacitor is hidden.:rof Really can one crappy little piece of plastic be that BIG of a deal. NO IT CAN NOT. I did that mod almost a month before I posted the photos. I AM getting better fuel mileage.

 

that crappy piece of plastic is a big deal.your wrong .i,m done.argue with yourself.(now that your just trying to justify a harmful "upgrade").

 

What kind of MPG increase have you experienced? Any performance change under loads/hauling/towing?

 

GUIDE VANES!! O.K. guide vanes on a turbine are a little different. If they were directly in front of the turbo then I would understand your screwed up reasoning in that statement, but there is the whole problem of an "INTAKE TUB AND AN AIR FILTER". Oh and the fact that its a diesel truck and NOT an F-14!

:rof:rof:rof:rof:rof:rof:rof

GREAT!!! Now my turbo is not going to work right!!! I guess I will go down to dealer and order the little $5.00 snap in "GUIDE VANE" first thing! AND! I will do a completely anal-retentive 9 month long flow chart to confirm these findings too!!:rof:neener:rof

 

we all know,ultimatly,that you will replace it.oh and by the way ,your replacement element flows less air than a stock filter.

 

Well i did the same mod to my truck, and im getting better fuel economy and i feel it stronger but thats just me. If things go to worse i have a spare oem intake box in my garage.since i saw ppe recommending it also, i just went for it. Btw good write up dieselz28

 

i don,t recall ppe recommending this mod on an lmm.the lmm has a redesigned air box that flows more than the motor can use.

 

After the air box and exhaust I have gone up an average of 2 MPG increase. That's just everyday driving. I will have a better idea this summer when I am hauling my car to the track. Can I say for sure that it more from the air box or the exhaust? No I cant. BUT my mileage has improved. Look all I was doing was trying to simplify the PPE mod without completely cutting up the air box. The LMM trucks do not have the plastic flap behind the headlight like the previous trucks so I didn't see the need for that much cutting. Its a snap in piece that can be replaced easily. I invite anybody to prove me wrong with something in writing from GM. I will gladly switch my opinion. I'm on here to share, learn and have a few laughs. My intent is not for anybody to harm their own property I'm trying it and thought somebody else might want to see before the did it themselves, BUT when I an told I am not thinking or you want to call me stupid for doing it then you better be ready to back those words up 'cause this dumbass truckdriver don't hold back.