TRD cold air intake worth it?

I'm running the Airaid intake on my '23 Limited. Plug and play, no wire mods required. Only thing I ended up doing was trimming the engine cover a bit to clear the larger intake tube.

 

Toyota sold this intake system for the 4Runner. The modification just moves a plug and 2 wires out of the harness to another location. Not a major change.

 

I understand now. The cutting is just for the loom. Not the harness. That makes more sense because it’s the same sensor. I was awful confused. Now if I only knew the part number of the actual kit.

 

The P/N is out there but it will only say up to 2014.

The extra harness keeps you from having to hack up the OEM loom.

 

Have you read every page of this thread? I purchased the individual components, not a whole kit. It is much cheaper this way. I'm not sure if you can even buy a complete kit these days....other than from Yota...

 

There you go

 

Wait, is the premise here that if you buy all parts separately it is a much cheaper deal than the full kit

$567 PTR03-89100 Toyota Genuine Parts - TRD 4R Fj Air Intake (PTR03-89100)

PTR03-89100? I interpreted and found the part number based on the screenshot you sent.
It looks like PTR03-35090-AE is not needed because it already comes in PTR03-35090-AA?

Finally, does anyone have the PDF of the install instructions?

 

YouTube is your friend. Great vids on there show the easy install.

 

So, I did an analysis, and buying things in parts will work and save at least $120-$150 but it doesn't come without compromises. If I really want this, I might bite the bullet and pay a little extra, and not have to hunt down for hacked up hoses and clips, and wire looms.

As far as the wire loom goes, in order to avoid cutting, I hear that there are extensions one can buy. Still doing research on that, but I don't mind cutting the wire loom if I have the actual replacement wire loom from the kit. Parting out leaves me "wire-loomless", "hoseless" and "cliplesss".

Now, trying to hunt down for the CARB sticker, part number 00602-35130, https://www.4runners.com/threads/trd-intake-sticker-question.22798/

And, the air filter insert itself, PTR43-00083, seems to be discontinued. That alone probably makes it not worth the investment.

After my analysis, as nice as I think this is when buying the kit (as opposed to a part-out, which comes with pain-points) - it does suck that the insert itself is discontinued, but also, that it is not an "officially supported" product for our model year, and that hunting down for a CARB sticker is not easy. If this thing was CARB legal, why not just drop the sticker as part of the kit?

 

The original air filter in your current factory box works just fine. Or one of many on the market...like WIX for example. There are separate threads on just air filtration. The wire from Michigan Sports makes it plug n play. If you can change your own oil successfully you can handle this process. If not, go spend your money on different wheels or something.

 

if i recall, the only things I needed to get on my own were extra wire loom and hose (I got both for less than $10 at ace hardware)
The filter has been discontinued, like you said but I've been using an AEM filter that I like much better as it's a dry filter, so no oil needed. Or you can use the disposable OEM filter as well. Filter size for trd intake is same as stock

 

I think I'm zeroing in to doing the kit itself to avoid dealing with the loom or hose situation, and I'm in Texas so I'm sure they'll ding me for having a California sticker, and thumbs-up me for not having one.

 

The next question I have is: why would this not be something that officially fits our 4Runners? Why is it only pre-2014?

 

It needs to be smog approved for each year which costs money. Probably no one was buying them because they don’t do anything.

 

You're making this very complicated for something as simple as an airbox and intake tube swap. Its three pieces of plastic and two silicone couplers.

 

lol ok dude

 

Quick update after 1,000+ miles and a trip to Tahoe. Strangely, the induction noise grows on you and doesn't get old. The resonance on normal acceleration (2k-3k rpm) can be felt through the wheel and it feels cool, so I now enjoy driving the car. While I still think $500 is too much, it made me like driving the 4R, so I'm happy.

 

That’s what it’s all about. Enjoy your ride. Better than spending $500 on cigarettes or some other unhealthy habit

 

I installed it and this is more than just a trivial sound difference. It completely changed the attitude of the car, I love it!

I didn’t end up doing the wire loom split, I used an extension wire to reach the MAF, clean and easy.

The install was straight forward in concept, but some details were a little bit of a pain. The most annoying parts were:

1. Aligning all the couplers such that they all are pushed in all the way and tightening them up while ensuring there are no leaks. Not hard just annoying.
2. The air filter box only has two clips, the rear two are sort of hooks that you have to align with the lower box. When you do that, can only be done in one angle, like a door hinge that opens upwards, it then makes aligning all the couplers etc, just a bit tedious. This is probably one of the many areas that was causing some people to get a CEL. Probably a vacuum leak somewhere. I didn’t have that issue.
3. When you put back the engine cover, you gotta make sure that the position of the screws of the collars that tighten up the couplers don’t get in the way of the engine cover, around the throttle body area.

Overall I’m very happy with the install. Easy and the car sounds more like a truck and less restricted. It’s loud, quite significantly for me. I think there is a bit more power.

 

Butt dyno isn’t calibrated.