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If you worry about collapsing your intake plenums as I did when working on your turbo and air intake system, Clay
at RiffRaff Performance Diesel has developed a low cost alternative to strengthen and reinforce the thin pressed steel factory plenums. Before
these billet plenum inserts were available, you had to buy aftermarket billet aluminum plenums and replace the entire factory piece at a cost
of over $300. A crimped plenum will lead to serious boost leaks and dangerously high EGTs.
When I saw these, I knew I had to
get a set and try them out. The fit and ease of installation was unbelievably simple!
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Got a question? Contact me on my DieselOrings.com webshop CONTACT PAGE
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Installation is straight forward and it takes more time to remove the turbo outlet spider assembly and clean your oily boots than what it takes
to install the inserts.
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Start by removing the wastegate solenoid and associated red and green hoses that are attached to the turbo outlet
spider assembly. Remove the clamps on the turbo outlet and loosen the clamps on all 4 spider boots.
Once
the boot clamps are loose, you can pull the CAC tubes from the upper boots and just push them to the side, no reason to
remove the CAC pipes unless you want to clean the boots where the pipes connect to the intercooler. The spider assembly
can be wiggled around and with some upward pull it will release from the lower boots. Once you remove the lower plenum boots,
the factory plenums are exposed and easy to reach.
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At this point I usually
stuff the open plenum intakes with a rag, just incase something gets bumped and a bolt or nut tries to land in the plenum opening.
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I was concerned at first that during the installation that the sharp edge of the factory plenum would try to shave of some of the aluminum from the
insert and fall into the plenum. To my surprise, even with the very tight tolerances these plenum inserts have been manufactured to, the hard anodized
coating that RiffRaff decided put on the inserts kept them from being scared up at all. After installing the first one, I could not find and residue or flaking or aluminum chips
in the plenum intake area!
The end of the plenum insert is tapered so feeding the insert into the plenum was a piece of cake. With a soft headed
mallet, I was able to easily drive the insert into the plenum simply by tapping one side and then the other until the stop lip on the insert seated with the top
of the factory plenum.
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Install the plenum insert into the opposite plenum in the same manner
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Now it's just a simple matter of cleaning your boots up with some soap and water, reinstalling the boots and knowing you can clamp the
plenums down without fear of damage or creating a boost leak at this very weak point of the 7.3 engine. You can even get rid of those flimsy
worm gear clamps and use some beefy t-bolt clamps that will really do the job of sealing up your intakes.
Reinstall the turbo outlet spider,
boots and associated clamps. This is one great product from RiffRaff Diesel Performace that will give your truck a lifetime of service and it will give
you peace of mind ... at least it did it for me.
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