The Toyota pickup is known for being a vehicle that will last a long time without any major mechanical problems. The small 22RE 4 cylinder motor also being known to run for a very long time. But, this motor definitely does not exude power. This lack of power is most noticeable when pulling onto the highway, or struggling up a hillside. It’s almost dangerous because of how long it takes to get up to speed. But, as this is a vehicle that is going to be used for traveling to and from college and in and around town as well as deep in the heart of the desert, I wanted to gain power and gas mileage in a reasonable way.

Many people suggested installing a super charger and other things like that, but I wanted to start off with something a little simpler. Something I could easily install on my own and earn a quick horsepower gain from my time. The perfect fit for what I wanted was a cold air intake and larger air filter. There are several companies now that are making intakes for full size trucks and smaller vehicles. Some of them use a new oil-less design. But K&N was still one of the only companies that made something for my slightly older truck.

K and N Intake Kit for Toyota

K&N offers a few different choices to the owner wanting to modify their air filter/intake. For most vehicles you can by a replacement filter to just put their filter in place of the stock one. But the more popular choice is to replace the entire intake system and filter. They have a few different designs and systems depending on the type of vehicle. Some including an entirely new air box for the filter to mount in, and some just modifying the stock one to hold the larger filter. I chose their FIPK system which stands for Fuel Injection Performance Kit. Not only do they claim to increase horsepower and acceleration, but you supposedly gain a little better gas mileage.

Performance

Toyota Dyno Results

According to a dyno test conducted by K&N the intake kit for my truck gains me just over 5 horsepower from stock at its peak point. The gains start at about 3500 RPM and peak at about 4600 RPM. You don’t want to normally rev the motor over about 5000 RPM so you do really have to push the motor towards it limits to gain that full 5 horsepower. After that point at 4600 RPM your HP actually starts to drop off anyways. The kit also allows you to rev the motor a little farther than stock before the HP does drop off.

Installation

Because it is a fuel injected truck, there is a mass-air sensor and a power cable attached to the top of the airbox. The power cable needs to be unplugged from the sensor before the box can be removed. There should be a wire clip on the end of the plug that has to be removed before you can unplug it.

Don’t forget to remove the clip before unplugging it

Next you can remove the three bolts holding the airbox to the body of the truck. One side of my airbox was broken and the bolt wasn’t even holding anything down. I had to attach a long and a short extension together to get to one of the bolts. Then you can loosen the hose clamp from the mass air-sensor and detach the vent hose from the airbox. Don’t remove the vent hose from the vehicle though. It will be used on the new intake. The airbox should now lift right out. I took the time to spray paint the fenderwell black where the box used to cover because the old green paint and started to flake and rust. Made under the hood area near the filter look much better!

Airbox removed from body

Once the box is out, you can remove the mass-air sensor from the box. 4 nuts and a bolt hold the sensor on. When you have the sensor off, you can remove the 4 studs from it. If you thread two nuts on to the stud, and tighten them together, you can then back the stud out with the bottom nut. Or if you want to just grab a hold of them with some vice-grips that will work too. You won’t need to reuse them.

Air-Sensor removed from Airbox	Four studs that need to be removed

Then install the filter adaptor onto the mass-air sensor using the supplied 4 allen bolts. Next the twist bracket and straight hose fitting can be attached to the adaptor

Filter Adaptor bolted onto the sensor	Twist bracket and hose fitting installed

Install the Mass-Air sensor and adaptor assembly into the intake hose but do not tighten the hose clamp yet. The brackets attached to the assembly should line up with the existing holes in the fenderwell. With those on, you can cut the vent hose shorter for the new adaptor.

The vent hose has to be cut for the new adaptor

With the vent hose on you can go back and tighten all the bolts and hose clamps. Make sure the Filter does not rub against anything when it is installed.

K&N Air filter installed and ready for a test!

         
Conclusion
            The kit wasn’t quite what I expected when it was delivered. After looking at pictures on their site and reading about the kit, I was expecting it to include an entire tube to replace the intake from the motor to the filter. Not just the adaptor piece. The website says that the intake kit replaces the filter and the entire air path to the engine, but I guess that isn’t correct in all cases.
            Overall I was really happy with this purchase. Nothing in the kit had to be modified in any way to fit right. The instructions were very informative and left nothing out. As for the road test, I can’t say that I can tell a huge difference now in the acceleration, but I can feel it somewhat. I also really liked how it sounded. It makes the motor all together sound a lot cooler. Not quite what an exhaust could change in sound, but similar. I really don’t know if I’m getting any better gas mileage or not. With the new filter and a little more power you tend to push it a little harder maybe losing the mileage that you should have gained.

Project Off-Road Toyota

Info:

Cost: $160
www.knfilters.com