aFe Cold Air Intake Install on Ford Raptor

Jul. 09, 2014 By Josh Burns

Email
Print
Discuss

The aFe Stage 2 cold air intake kit for the 6.2-liter Ford Raptor engine – and other 6.2-liter Ford trucks – comes with everything needed for a quick, complete bolt-on installation. We also have the optional cover (bottom right) included as part of the installation.

When the Ford Raptor was first introduced it was outfitted with the company’s 5.4-liter V8, though promises of the 6.2-liter option the following year. The 6.2-liter powerplant is now standard equipment on the Raptor, but if you think that the additional performance is enough for truck enthusiasts, guess again. Making simple upgrades to increase horsepower are never easy to come by, but that’s where advanced Flow engineering comes in with its cold air intake kit.

The aFe Stage 2 cold air intake is designed to increase airflow to the motor while also sheltering the incoming air from engine heat – hence the “cold air” label. The kit is designed to work on 2010-14 F-150s equipped with the 6.2-liter V8 motor. aFe says its Stage 2 kit will produce 18 horsepower, increase torque by 22 lbs.-ft. and will outflow the stock air intake by 47 percent. Oh yeah, the kit is purely a bolt-on upgrade.

We headed over to SoCal SuperTrucks in Southern California to check out the installation of this kit on their new shop Ford Raptor. We had previously been at the shop for the install of Icon Vehicle Dynamics suspension upgrades, and this aFe cold air intake is just one of a number of future upgrades the shop has planned.

For comparison, here’s a quick look at the stock engine. Parts that will be removed include the air filter housing, ducting, and the 6.2L upper airbox toward the top of the frame.

The aFe cold air intake kit features everything needed to replace the stock air intake system – and work with the parts necessary for the motor to operate properly, such as the mass airflow sensor. First off, aFe includes a 16-gauge, powder-coated heat shield to provide cool air flow to the motor. The 5 1/2-inch conical air filter has an inverted top to improve airflow and features the company’s Pro 5R construction, which includes a five-layer progressive, oiled cotton gauze media filter that is washable and reusable. The top-mounted heat shield of the kit is designed to snap into the lower half of the factory air box to hassle-free installation and a secure fit. After the air enters the air filter, it travels through a polished, one-piece tube that is designed to direct the increased airflow efficiently to the engine. aFe also offers an optional intake cover to compliment the kit that will aid in air intake noise without compromising performance.

The Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor needs to be removed from the stock air duct and set aside for reinstallation on the aFe intake.

We jumped under the hood of the SoCal SuperTrucks Raptor with shop technician Ryan Poe. Overall, the kit installation is a job most any garage mechanic can tackle, and it’s straightforward enough that it shouldn’t take more than an hour or two at most. Included in the kit is all the necessary hardware for a proper installation, as well as detailed instructions using photos to illustrate the steps to remove the stock system and install the aFe Stage 2 kit.

After the low stock airbox is removed, which is literally just clipped out of place, the 6.2-liter upper airbox is removed by loosening the clamp securing it in place.

After the stock coupling is removed (left), the aFe coupling is installed (right) using the provided clamps to secure it in place.

The Mass Air Flow sensor mount is removed from the stock ducting by removing two screws. This will then be installed onto the aFe ducting later.

The intake housing will clip into the lower stock airbox clips for easy installation. The included aFe instructions detail how the intake is built.

We installed the optional aFe cover on the Stage 2 kit, which is designed to help reduce intake noise while not reducing performance. The cover will need to be put in place before the elbow coupler is installed.

aFe includes new longer crankcase vent tubes to replace the stock hoses.

Once the new air filter adapter is snapped into place in the lower airbox location, the mass air flow sensor mount is screwed in place on the ducting tube, and the is then attached to the throttle body and secured via included metal clamps and a rubber coupler that attached to the throttle body.

Overall, the aFe Stage 2 kit installation on the Raptor was just as simple as advertised. There is no cutting or modification to stock parts needed – it’s a straight bolt-on upgrade. There aren’t too many inexpensive – and simple – upgrades that can provide such a boost in overall performance, but the aFe Stage 2 kit certainly fits the bill. While we installed the kit on a Raptor, aFe offers a wide range of cold air intake kits, exhausts, programmers and more. For more information on what aFe has to offer for your rig, visit http://www.afepower.com/. For a more detailed look at the instructions for the installation, check it out at http://afepower.com/catalog/51-11902-1/is.pdf.

The installation of the aFe Stage 2 cold air intake kit is pretty straightforward and something even a novice garage mechanic can tackle. It took us about an hour, and we had no issues that strayed from the included directions.