A.E.M. Cold Air Intake Installation on 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.

One of the first modifications I make to a project Jeep is the cold air intake. There are a couple of reasons for this and the first is that it’s usually fairly easy. Back in the day we’d just throw a K&N filter in the stock air box and be done with it. This gained some quick and easy horsepower and some increased throttle response, but when coupled with a throttle body spacer created a kind of whistle when I stepped on the gas in my 1998 XJ. It wasn’t that big a deal at the time but the whistle eventually started to wear on me. Since I ended up driving it over the 200,000 mark I wasn’t about to try this combination again on a 4.0 liter, six-cylinder engine.

Fast forward to my newest project vehicle and daily driver. I bought a 2005 Jeep Wrangler TJ unlimited when the transmission in the 1998 XJ finally gave up the ghost at 218,000 miles. I put many hard miles on the XJ both on, and off the road and wanted to get a TJ before they quit making them in 2006. I thought the Unlimited would be nice since I usually carry quite a bit of gear with me and the extra bed length would come in handy.

I hadn’t been off road in a while and was starting to get the itch to make some upgrades. I started pricing the basics and when I looked at the intakes available I had some of the same requirements as most do-it-yourself types. The install had to be easy, provide some extra kick when it comes to performance and have a great sound when I was done. I wanted to start with name brand product and after a little nudge from Nick Moncure at AEM, I decided to try the AEM Brute Force with Power Spacer. (AEM Part number 21-8311DP) Some of you purists out there will disagree that the AEM Brute Force for the TJ is not truly a cold air intake. Let me start by saying that AEM agrees with you. Since the  air does not come from outside the engine compartment it can’t be called a cold air intake. AEM does include a metal heat shield with the kit that when installed will protect the intake from engine heat.

If you shop for prices you will find www.motorweb.com has the best price at $250 with the usual suspects on the web anywhere from $10 to $30 higher before shipping.

The installation was a snap and it took me longer to get the stock air box off the TJ than it did to install the new cold air intake. The Power Spacer gave me a little trouble since there wasn’t much room to get at the four bolts that needed to be removed in order get the throttle off. The right combinations of sockets, extensions and angles seemed to make the removal much smoother and in no time I was ready to test my work.

The results were truly awesome and actually got me more performance than I expected. At the time I hadn’t upgraded the exhaust and I seemed to get much more throttle response than I had in the past with my previous configurations. The sound produced was the best part. No longer did I have the whistle I disliked from my previous combinations of intake and throttle body spacer. The whistle has been replaced with what I can only describe as a roar. I highly recommend the AEM Brute Force Cold Air Intake and Power Spacer. I love it and I think you will too.
Motorweb.com has over 750 different cold air intakes for Jeep Wrangler, Ford F-150, Dodge Ram, Chevy Silverado, Honda Civic, Acura Integra, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Ford Mustang, Nissan 350Z, Chevy Cavalier, Dodge Neon and more!
Visit http://www.sportcompactonly.com/Cold-Air-Intakes/Air-Intakes/Performance/parts_c-3.htm for more details about cold air intakes.