Airaid Throttle Body Spacer

Well, I finally did it. I found it on a site for $97.27 (something like that) with free shipping.

Being mechanically challenged it took me about 40 minutes to do. Kinda a pain to install, but it works............


One thing that I don't like about it is that it makes a whining noise. It says "if you can hear the whine, it's working"....well you can hear it. Almost to the point where it is annoying, but oh well. You only hear it if you blip the throttle & then it goes away.

Benefits:

Throttle response is crisper.
Acceleration seems a little better.


Return trip from Wisconsin Dells with my wife & kid & a whoile bunch of crap in the back I got 19.4 MPG out of a V8! That's with doing 70-75MPH the whole time....except for the tolls & a stop at an oasis. Could have gotten better but there was a good cross wind of 20-30 MPH which didn't help things.
Not bad for a big ole' tub huh?

Guess all the little things that I have done really does help.

The other day going to a local show about 40 miles away & doing 70-75MPH I was getting a little over 20MPG!



If you look on Airaids site, they have a 2003 Tahoe with the 5.3 V8 dyno'd with the spacer & they show it getting an additional 21HP, & something like that amount for the torque as well.......Come on.....21 horses out of a throttle body spacer???! I don't believe it, but if it really does, then great!


Anyone else have one on there vehicle & if so....how do you like it?

I'm planning on installing one in my 02 I6 here in a month or so. Ive only heard good things, except for the whining noise. Thats execellent mileage for a V8 in any car! Have you noticed any other benefits, besides the better throttle response and mileage, such as torque?

Thanks, Erik

Not really sure about felling any extra torque. The V8 pulls well enough already & I can't say if it really helped until I get her out on the highway WITHOUT the wife.....but like I said, the throttle is a bit better with the snappyness, so maybe it is the torque helping out as well.

I'll try some more 0-60 & 0-90 times to see if it has helped much.
Other people at my work have installed them & swear by them.
Hell, I am not all that much into the HP wars anymore....just trying to get more MPG out of the lead sled.....but then again....more power is always welcome :grinyes:


Future mods that I would like to do...though the wife may say otherwise:



Ejection seat on the wifes side (weight & complaint reduction)

Headers....maybe (15-20HP & 20-30 LBS of Torque)

Under Drive Pulley.....also maybe (at least 10+HP & 10 lbs of Torque)

Different air intake.....still contemplating that one....more curiousity than anything else. The TrueFlow did help things out noticeably.
(No noticeable changes in HP or Torque with another system)

Performance Throttle Body......75mm would net me an additional 10-12HP, but not sure about extra Torque.



Doing al of this, I would be over 400+HP & over 450+lbs of Torque....so say the claims on the products I have bought. Would be nice though!

According to the manufactures "claims" on my add ons right now, I am supposed to be making an additional:

84HP

100lbs of Torque.



374HP

435lbs of Torque is where I "should" be at right now. Doesn't seem to far fetched as each add on compliments the other & so their claimed gains could be getting even better with all of the improvements.
Plus I am curious as to where on the power band all of the extra power comes in at. Seat of the pants testing would say midrange for sure & the upper range.....lower rpms are still lacking to me........



I don't believe it all until I get it on a dyno where I get hard evidence.
Plus I need a print out on the dyno run to have my programmer adjusted for the air to fuel percentages. It is still blowing a little black out the exhaust & I am having a bitch of a time getting it adjusted right. Once I get the info from the dyno run I plan on e-mailing it back to Granatelli who will readjust my programmer.

sounds good to me!!! :) I don't think I will be able to mod my truck to the extent you have, the I6 doesn't have as many mods as the V8. The pocketbook is pretty shallow these days. I hear of some talk in 07-08 a redesign of the TB and the V8 an option in the short wheelbase. That would really help things out alot!! I'm just looking to be able to maneuver better in traffic and have more umphhh when towing. Erik

I hear ya.......I just want to have an edge over others if possible :-)
More power is always good & I have an addiction to it.

My 0-90 time dropped by a full second after installing the spacer & adjusting my programmer a little. Still a pathetic 18 seconds:lol2:

Must go faster:grinno:

Still pretty much a dog off the line. On the roll, it moves very well.

I'm looking at putting one on mine, but I"m wondering if I'll have room. I added a custom (ebay) chrome intake with a K&N Filter, and do'nt have much more room to move the air intake system to the passenger side. The Filter sits against the side of the truck already, so adding another inch doesn't seem like it will fly. I posted a picture in my member archive, just search my user name to check it out. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

I had a problem installing mine as well. There was NO clearance at all to add the spacer so I had to cut down the red elbow that connects to the throttle body (roughly about close to a 1/2"). By doing so, I now have a whopping 1/4" gap clearance from the fan.

Talk about close! I couldn't take any more off of the elbow or else I would have ruined it.

Update on the spacer..................

It is still getting me better mileage, but the whistling sound is V-E-R-Y
annoying. You don't hear it when you have the radio on, but if it is off......the sound drives you nuts. I find myself constantly messing with the gas peddle trying to hold it right in one spot where it won't whistle.
I love the fact that it is some how making me get better mileage, but the noise it makes it really getting old.
What to do.............?????????????????????

Yea, I hear the whistling sound gets kinda annoying on long trips if there isnt some other noise inside the car (the radio) that is on. Ohh well.

Also, how much better mileage are you actually seeing? A small 1-2, or a large 4-5? I think the I6 gets around 2+mpg increase, just curious about the V8.

Thanks, Erik

I was seeing about a 2 MPG increase.
Strange how 1 little piece can get you better MPG's.

Thanks for the reply, I will definately get one now with gas prices so high. Thanks, Erik

Go it about 40min ago from truckperformance.com. The standard shipping option only took 2 days via FedEx from CA. (Im in WA.) Will install this weekend and then post performance results.

Erik

Well, I finally did it. I found it on a site for $97.27 (something like that) with free shipping.

Being mechanically challenged it took me about 40 minutes to do. Kinda a pain to install, but it works............


One thing that I don't like about it is that it makes a whining noise. It says "if you can hear the whine, it's working"....well you can hear it. Almost to the point where it is annoying, but oh well. You only hear it if you blip the throttle & then it goes away.

Benefits:

Throttle response is crisper.
Acceleration seems a little better.


Return trip from Wisconsin Dells with my wife & kid & a whoile bunch of crap in the back I got 19.4 MPG out of a V8! That's with doing 70-75MPH the whole time....except for the tolls & a stop at an oasis. Could have gotten better but there was a good cross wind of 20-30 MPH which didn't help things.
Not bad for a big ole' tub huh?

Guess all the little things that I have done really does help.

The other day going to a local show about 40 miles away & doing 70-75MPH I was getting a little over 20MPG!



If you look on Airaids site, they have a 2003 Tahoe with the 5.3 V8 dyno'd with the spacer & they show it getting an additional 21HP, & something like that amount for the torque as well.......Come on.....21 horses out of a throttle body spacer???! I don't believe it, but if it really does, then great!


Anyone else have one on there vehicle & if so....how do you like it?
------------------------------------

Hello Northface,
Just wanted to know howz your ride with the throttle body? Have you also installed the Airraid air intake. As I am considering to put one on my TB EXT 2005. I want to know as i live in Kuwait and shipping charges are high. So is it worth to order it. And how about the sound. Is it toooo loud ??

OK, here are some performance updates:

I'm getting about 1.5-2mpg better than before.

The whining sound is very, very minimal on my 02. I can't hear it unless I really stomp the accelerator almost to the floor and get above 3000RPMs.
The I6 is soooo quiet, I think that if AIRAID made a throttle body spacer for my 99 RX300, there would be no sound, as it runs louder (not rough, there are no problems w/it) than my TB.

If I have my music or the radio off, then I can hear it, but it is still very quiet.


I'm hoping to do some dyno-less performance testing in a few months (ie. Going to Montana, spending a lot on gas, and getting heavy w/my gas pedal to get some SOTP test results.)

Thanks again Northface,
Erik

ScarabEpic22:
What is your mpg now after you put the spacer on. After reading this thread, I am really thinking about getting one, especially since you said is really isn't that annoying. (The whistle) My current mpg is about 15 in town, and maybe 18-19 on the highway.

My TB is mainly my trip car, so as of right now I cant give you accurate city mileage. My highway mileage (w/a minimal amount of city driving) is hovering between 19-21mpg. It sometimes gets up to 24mpg, but this is rare. I havent seen it drop below 19 for a while, even before I installed the spacer. (My TB is sitting in the driveway, I havent even run a full tank of gas through it snce I installed it.)

I know this isnt the exact answer you wanted, but I can provide some more feedback after I get back from my trip in 3 weeks.

I'll be install the throttle spacer tomorrow. Hope to be able to post pics and comments later.

Finally got Airaid TBS installed. Made a trip to my sis about an hour away to test it today. I have better acceleration and approx. 2mpg gain. Sorry, I don't have pics yet as I had plan. I had to rush. Installation was not as easy as I had thought. Had trouble gain access to the bottom screws on the throttle body. Only way was to remove the spark plug coils. Was nervous at first, prayed nothing breaks. Happy to say, everything was ok. Unit installed successfully after hour and half of hair pulling. Wish the instructions was more explicit.

[QUOTE=ScarabEpic22]OK, here are some performance updates:

I'm getting about 1.5-2mpg better than before.

The whining sound is very, very minimal on my 02. I can't hear it unless I really stomp the accelerator almost to the floor and get above 3000RPMs.
The I6 is soooo quiet, I think that if AIRAID made a throttle body spacer for my 99 RX300, there would be no sound, as it runs louder (not rough, there are no problems w/it) than my TB.

I have the 02 Bravada with the L6 and I have been entertaining the idea of purchasing the Airaid induction system. Let me know what kind of improvements you get from this thing. I live in SLC and am now towing a 3800 LB trailer so I need all the OMPH I can get.

RB
[email protected]

***UPDATE***
There is definitely a little more OMPHhh. Acceleration is a much quicker and I notice a wider range in my RPMs. Now if only the shift is more solid... With the red, my throttle looks prettier as well:).

I am actually contemplating the idea of the Airaid intake kit as well for my TB. If you are talking about the intake, then it will give you a little more ommph than just the spacer will. My truck has the stock intake with a K&N filter and the throttle body spacer, and I have definately noticed a difference in power. Once I get to 2800RPMs, the whistle starts to be a little noticeable, but the RPMs fly up, and the truck moves pretty well for being around 4600lbs.

just got back from a 500+ mile trip. I decided to try 91~93 octane premium gas and wow... felt more power, much better acceleration in conjuction with the newly installed TBS. It's definitely a good combination to try.

I've tried higher octane before installing the TBS and felt minimal difference. But with TBS installed, I guess the air and fuel mix better and produce better combustion.

I don't have hard science or dyno to back this, but anyone who does please confirm...

Well......so far so good with the mileage. From a return trip from Wisconsin I managed to get 21.1 MPG doing 65-70 MPH & with a bunch of rain which I am sure didn't help & the air was on.
If I was doing 55-60 MPH, I was getting 22-23 MPG out of the V8!

That silly throttle body spacer still drives me crazy with the whining......(I'll still take THAT whining over my wife & kids anyday!!! LOL)
But as I said before, it seems to be getting me better mileage which I always love. Heck...even some people asked me if I had a turbo under the hood because of the whining. I just laugh & say...yeah...sure I do ;-D

Another thing that I did was to take the top part of my air box off & leave the TrueFlow air intake exposed now instead of leaving it inside the stock airbox like I have been doing. It sounds only a little bit louder now & I don't think that it is hurting anything.

More trips planned in the near future...will try to better my MPG & see what's what.

Perhaps it louder on the V8 but with the I6, I could bearly notice the sound. I too am loving the performance enhanced a bit and the "gas savings"...