Do throttle body spacers really work?

[mrmopar02]

I'm one of the few that really pushed for more street use than off-road. And, not to say/act I know everything about jeeps, but, In my own experience at the track or on the street, the things that worked well were: Exhaust modification (wrapping the header, larger headpipe, high flow mufflers, etc), Air induction modification (high flow intake preferably drawing air from the outside the engine compartment, throttle body boring, TURBO!, etc) and tuning (MAP Adjuster, flashed computer, etc.). The amount of money you spend on a TBS vs the things you could better spend your money on is ridiculous! SNAKE OIL I SAY! Whether the TBS works or not, 3 or 4 horse at the most? C’mon now, your rig has 190hp stock, that much of a difference is not noticeable? And for the fuel mileage part, I don’t care what anyone says, more air=more fuel= worse mileage. It’s all in your heads.

[4by4TJ]

Originally Posted by TerryMason

That's pretty amazing for having 35's.

A stock 2004 TJ should get 14 mpg city and 18 mpg highway - you're doing that after putting on 35s

Mine is an 2002..
I also have a glasspack muffler.
I mainly drive city though .. (16.5-17.3mpg)
My Highway milage is lower but im rarley on the highway unless going wheelin somewhere.

[Bounty__Hunter]

Originally Posted by mrmopar02

The amount of money you spend on a TBS vs the things you could better spend your money on is ridiculous! SNAKE OIL I SAY! Whether the TBS works or not, 3 or 4 horse at the most? C’mon now, your rig has 190hp stock, that much of a difference is not noticeable?

Even if they're only $40 like mine?

[mrmopar02]

Originally Posted by Bounty__Hunter

Even if they're only $40 like mine?

Honestly, yes. I made a cold air intake that completley changed how my jeep came out of the hole for $30. I am in no way discouraging anyone from experimenting. A TBS could work more idealy on a V8 or V6 manifold, but the way the i6 manifold is set up it shouldnt work. Once air hits the long runners just before the injectors the air is going to be just as straight or turbulant no matter what your throttle body is set up like. I feel air temperature and air amount is what really matters on the i6. But I could be wrong. My solution to every problem is to strap a turbo to it.

[jps4jeep]

Heck, I remember making a wood carb space in High school. not the best idea, but effective

[mrmopar02]

Spacer for a Carb will work. It allows the air and fuel to mix slightly more than without one. Fuel Injection forutnatly does not need it becuase the injectors do it for you after the throttle body.

[TerryMason]

Originally Posted by jps4jeep

Heck, I remember making a wood carb space in High school. not the best idea, but effective

Look out Johnny, you're dating yourself

[SteelHeadz]

Originally Posted by TerryMason

Look out Johnny, you're dating yourself

LMAO

[backhalfeds10]

the reason y the manufactuer does not do this is cause it would cost them 5 dollars to make it and the labor and the machine to do it they would probaly charge another 1000 dollars to the sticker price and y do they car what kind of mileage we get they dont have to pay for our gas

[mrmopar02]

Originally Posted by backhalfeds10

the reason y the manufactuer does not do this is cause it would cost them 5 dollars to make it and the labor and the machine to do it they would probaly charge another 1000 dollars to the sticker price and y do they car what kind of mileage we get they dont have to pay for our gas

Manufacturers dont make them becuase they do not work.

[TerryMason]

Originally Posted by mrmopar02

Manufacturers dont make them becuase they do not work.

I believe that the mopar cold air intake comes with a mopar throttle body spacer

	Throttle body spacer A throttle body spacer is designed to improve the quality of the airflow, allowing air that is more condensed and, thus, more oxygen laden, to enter the combustion chamber. The result of this is a more efficient burn, which serves to release more energy from the fuel, making more horsepower available.

[mrmopar02]

Originally Posted by TerryMason

I believe that the mopar cold air intake comes with a mopar throttle body spacer

If they didnt throw some snake oil in with the package you'd think you were getting ripped off

[GTAMike]

Terrymason you are dead on on that gas mileage. I get exactly between 14-15 in the city and I drive pretty easy. Not sure about highway though, haven't done it.

Mike

[quicksand97]

I have a 97 jeep with a 2.5L with home made cold air intake, accel coil and wires from acmejeepparts.com. Home made bored out throttle body, Dynomax muffler, and cut of the downward elbow at the end of my tail pipe added a stainless exhaust tip and i gained plenty of extra ponys. Then i purchased a airaid throttle body spacer and it was only good for low end torque,and nothing on the highway. My jeep was to torquey and real jerky in parking lots and crawling. I came across a real sweet throttle body spacer that is my best engine mod. It increase torque and power at all rpm ranges. I mean i have torque at 65 MPH. I would not take my spacer off my jeep for nothing. O i got it at gsppowerspacers.com. I promise this thing works great, my jeep is like my own lil rollercoaster. My next engine mod is a electric fan from flex-a-lite.com

	Throttle body spacer A throttle body spacer is designed to improve the quality of the airflow, allowing air that is more condensed and, thus, more oxygen laden, to enter the combustion chamber. The result of this is a more efficient burn, which serves to release more energy from the fuel, making more horsepower available.

[Hemi 08]

A TBS reminds me of when those resistors came out to trick the MAS (mass air sensor) into thinking it was a constant 32 degrees outside thus the computer would dump more fuel into the system. I didn't see any HP improvements but I did see a decrease in gas mileage.

[baileydc22@gmail.com]

I could see it giving a slight increase simply by increasing the volume of air between the TB and the intake valves. But I don't see it being a noticable difference. I would not spend 50$ on one unless I had a larger throttle body to match. And I have seen some fairly "home-made" stuff at the race track in my life. My best one that I would say 1/2 way worked, was my buddy (engnieering student) made a small aluminum lid & intake for his LS1 Camaro, then made a second casing about 1 inch around that with a pressure release valve, filled it with broken dry ice... so essiently held the ice around the intake. His results were "okay at best", and 1 block of dry ice is 10$ and it last about 2 runs on the track under a 195 degree hood... In the end I think if anything it could have build condensation, and adventually did more harm to engine internals that good....
My two cents really tho, is I worked on a project for a venture captilist firm for a company called Optimal Solutions, and they are a fluid engineering firm, that produced a software that can maximize engineering effiency on many products, including race cars. They work with Aston Martin, Honda racing, and other HUGE names. And I saw about 20 ways to optimize intake manifolds, and exhaust manifolds based on air flow and heat structure. But no one ever brough up a TB spacer. The problems in an engine is getting air to make a 90 degree turn, not volume coming in.
I also think if you get a tb spacer, and it somehow does actually help, I think it would take well over a year to see a gain in gas milage vs. the cost the of the product.

Stick with the basics, open up the intake with a cold air of some-sort or just a k&n filter and cut the box opening, and a professionally bored and polished Trottle spacer, possibly headers and opening up the exhaust. But even at that, you have to worry about proper amount of back pressure, if you open theexhaust too much, then you lose more than you gain. Or at least that is how it works on a v8. I am new to jeeps, but have an idea of how to increase power, and getting the most power for your $$. I would say drop a k&n flat filter before you do a TB spacer.

[Chester]

I have had a TBS install for over a month. My 95 YJ is a daily driver and I keep close tabs on my MPG. I drive 60 miles per day to the job and I have had no increase in my MPG. First I installed a K/N cold air intake along with a Flowmaster Back Cat exhaust system. I gained 3 MPG and loads of power. I installed the TBS and there was no gain. I think 1 month is long enough for the computer to adjust. I should have used the $80.00 for gas.

[JeepWrangler1999]

i have the 2.5 engine. should i get the 4.0 throttle body. Get a TBP and a cold air intake?

[jfrabat]

The 4.0L TB is a great improvement, because of the volume of air that can go through vs the stock one. And if you get a 62mm bored one (I think Bounty Hunter is still selling them), even better, not only because of the volume, but because it takes out those wied shapes inside the TB...

As for the TBS, the theory is that it creates a larger area around the throttle body, giving TB more capacity (ie. volume) for air intake, when the accelerator is pressed. When the throttle body valve opens, the throttle body spacer allows a greater amount of air to pass through the valve, increasing the power available to the car. In theory, due to the fact that the air is readily available, the engine does not need to expend effort to bring it all the way to the throttle plate.

Now, in practice, I also cannot tell the difference between having and not having the TBS. My MPG did not change, and I cannot feel any power difference. I keep it on because I already have it, but would not buy it again. As for the 62mm TB, that is a whole different ball game. I did feel quite a bit of difference, especially the sharpness of the throttle response when I installed it.

Felipe

	Throttle body spacer A throttle body spacer is designed to improve the quality of the airflow, allowing air that is more condensed and, thus, more oxygen laden, to enter the combustion chamber. The result of this is a more efficient burn, which serves to release more energy from the fuel, making more horsepower available.

[RockCity]

I agree with Jeepster, the spacers do work. I installed an Airaid spacer on my '06 4.0L Wrangler and my '99 4.0L Cherokee Sport, big difference in thorttle response and power. I also have an K&N air box modifiction on both vehicles. Best $65 I have spent.