[halik008]

I personally always had my reservations about upgraded inlets as far as how long they are expected to provide flow benefits given that silicone ultimately relaxes and will take on whatever restricted form the surrounding environment forces upon it.

Now I have come across some used inlets, that the seller claims have 40K miles on them and things are not looking good for them just like I feared.As you can see the nice free form of the tube has been greatly restricted just due to the lack of space for it.

Anybody else have any 1st hand experience of how the inlets look after some serious time on engine?

[TEC]

This is part of the reason that I wanted alum. inlets and outlets. They will eventually deform as you said and they will eventually absorb enough heat to fail.

[Petrolhead3010]

Does anyone even offer aluminum anymore?

[nitehawk]

That rear inlet looks horrible. I'm hoping that's due to a poor install, it would be nice to get feedback from others who've ran inlets for a while.

[Jklad]

Great. So much for my plans to get new inlets when I replace turbos. Time for more research.

Originally Posted by Jklad

Great. So much for my plans to get new inlets when I replace turbos. Time for more research.

The obvious answer is to go with relocated inlets...haven't heard any *good* argument yet for keeping them on the factory side of the engine bay anyway.

[fordbaxter]

Relocated inlets might provide a benefit as they don't have nearly as many bends and places where they might develop a restriction in the future, just a thought

[Faredo]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

The obvious answer is to go with relocated inlets...haven't heard any *good* argument yet for keeping them on the factory side of the engine bay anyway.

the rear relocated inlet hugs the exhaust manifold on its way around. Mine is covered in heat wrap but i imagine without, it could look just as bad.

[sirdaft1]

Yikes. Those look pretty bad. Now imagine if they actually held boost like all of the silicone OUTLETS on the market

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

We have no idea how the installation or uninstall went. We all know the rear inlet is a b*tch to install. Most people get frustrated and just connect it and pray - this may be the cause of this scenario for all we know.

There is always relocated inlets too.

[suspenceful]

I just removed my relocated PR silicone inlets last night. They have about 10k hard miles on them. Besides being a little oily, they looked great! I'll take some pictures tonight.

I'm upgrading to MMP Stage 3 turbos and need inlets with a bigger snout for the turbos and got some metal MMP relocation inlets.

[F80Mmm]

I have the same inlets and this makes me uneasy. I also dislike the ricer BOV noise. The additional power is great initially, but damn this is the only upgrade that I'm not sure was worth it.

[ferocity02]

The rear inlet is a PITA. I am betting much of that damage is a result of the install/uninstall. There are some very sharp corners back there.

[halik008]

Originally Posted by ferocity02

The rear inlet is a PITA. I am betting much of that damage is a result of the install/uninstall. There are some very sharp corners back there.

Yes most of the cuts are almost certainly install/uninstall but the crushed and relaxed state is not.

[LMB335IS]

Don't quote me on this but I think I recall that the early version of the VTT inlets suffered from heat distortion and fit issues due to the silicone not being up to spec. Vargas replaced the defective ones and came out with a upgraded version that addressed those issues. Maybe these are the earliest version being that they have 40k miles on them and have probably been around for a while.

[terryd5150]

This thread makes TFT inlets look like a solid investment.

[TEC]

Originally Posted by terryd5150

This thread makes TFT inlets look like a solid investment.

Only if they were $400 and not $1400. I mean seriously $1400 for some metal piping and silicone connectors? No way!

[AlpineBoost]

Have tundra help make these and sell them for $400.

[RCOLEMAN545]

A lot of that looks like it happened during install. I have installed and removed several sets of MMPs, including my own, and have never seen anything like those.

[Rob@RBTurbo]

Originally Posted by terryd5150

This thread makes TFT inlets look like a solid investment.

The TFT stuff is great as it is stainless and thus it can take the licking and keep on ticking and while the Silicone options are going to obviously be more fragile they do get the job done while being extremely affordable. Plus they install fairly easily due to having some flexibility, do not require ancillary install efforts such as relocation of other items/extending wiring/etc, retain OEM aesthetics, etc. Most importantly we have found that as long as you take care during the install and/or removal they can serve you very well.

In the pictures the OP provided it is VERY clear that the damage is of what we had years ago referred to as the "squish zone" of the rear inlet. This zone/area leaves very little room for the rear inlet to get into position and we actually found that the 2" ID was too large for it and thus designed our inlets at 1.75" ID through that area instead- which fits quite a bit better with only a little interference (instead of a lot) and makes the servicing side (aka fitment) of things quite a bit better.

At any rate regardless of what you do here if you are careless with the install and/or removal these things can be damaged as it is only silicone hosing (wire reinforced) after all. If some care/consideration was utilized we are sure the condition would be quite a bit better than what it is illustrated, and if one were to focus on the condition of the front inlet rather than solely on the "squish zone" (damaged area) of the rear it is quite evident to be servicing related.

[Petrolhead3010]

Originally Posted by TEC

Only if they were $400 and not $1400. I mean seriously $1400 for some metal piping and silicone connectors? No way!

My thoughts, exactly. Their price is absurd.

If someone was careful with the install & wrapped the inlets with heat-reflective tape (which I'm yet to see anyone do), I imagine the silicone inlets will be sufficient until someone manufactures a reasonably priced aluminum option.

[TEC]

Originally Posted by the storm breaks

Have tundra help make these and sell them for $400.

ba-dum-bum-CHING

Actually, my welding isnt that bad. Maybe I will make them and sell them for the cost of a set of silicone. That would really disrupt the market.