There's just something about seeing a ram-air hood on someone else's truck that instantly makes you feel that your ride might be a little inferior on the power podium. For good reason, too; it probably is, if the hood is truly functional.
But usually that's not the case. A lot of the aftermarket "ram-air" hoods you see on vehicles are just cosmetic. The intakes or scoops are fake. They don't actually force horsepower-making cool air directly into the engine's intake system, which is where the ram-air term originated from back in the muscle-car era of the '60s, when the Big Three used them on just about every hot car on the road. Today, factory hood scoops on pickups are almost non-existent. (The Dodge Ram SRT-10 is the only factory pickup with a ram-air hood.) But that doesn't mean they aren't effective; there is a number of aftermarket hoods available that have numerous scoop designs to force or redirect cooler, denser air into your truck's engine. "Our dyno tests show that a well-designed ram-air hood will add 10 to 15 horsepower," says Phil Alloy, national sales manager for Keystone Restyling Products, which offers a huge selection of both functional and non-functional fiberglass truck hoods under the Good Hood brand. "Our twin-scoop GM Ram-Air Hood, for example, with the Airaid ram-air intake, adds about one horsepower for ever five miles-per-hour above 45," notes Alloy. "At freeway speeds, that means there's extra horsepower available when passing, climbing grades, or pulling a trailer loaded with your off-road toys." That's a definite edge over the guy whose truck doesn't have functional ram-air, which is what prompted us to upgrade a 2002 Chevy Suburban that was being rebuilt after a bad accident. We wanted to see how much a ram-air hood would help its blasé looks and run-o-the-mill performance. We chose the Good Hood Twin Scoop Ram Air Hood [#GHG-104] to replace the stock hood, and the optional Airaid ram-air intake filter kit [#GH-GBXV8] to make the hood totally functional. Spears Auto Repair, in Long Beach, Mississippi, was doing the 'Burb rebuild and was perfectly at ease handling the hot hood upgrade. After taking a little extra effort to make sure the hood was carefully sanded and prepped so it would match the factory smoothness of the fresh paint on the truck, Warren Spears installed the Airaid ram-air intake box and filter, which seals to a special air duct molded into the underside of the Good Hood. The finished installation looks every bit factory-installed-and the edgy, sneaky look the hood gives our Suburban is just what we wanted. It also functions as advertised. Although we didn't have a dyno to test before and after installation, we did see and feel a difference on the road in both passing situations and throttle response at freeway speeds. Our Stalker radar showed the big Suburban was faster than the stock numbers all the way up the speed scale from 50 miles per hour. What does it cost to make such an upgrade? Expect to shell out $1,500-$1,800 for a fully functioning, painted-to-match hood with the Airaid ram-air intake installed. It's a fair price to pay for such a cool performance upgrade. Keep in mind that although the Good Hoods are shipped "ready-to-paint" and are one of the best looking and nicest fitting aftermarket fiberglass hoods around, a good autobody shop will still probably have four hours of prep and paint time into the hood, and another hour installing the ram-air kit. But when the twin-scoop ram-air Good Hood is in place, most truck owners with an ounce of performance savvy who look at your truck will think you have an edge . and you do. Here's how it's done: 1) Good Hoods, which are fully reinforced fiberglass hoods with underside panels, are molded to fit specific models and finished in white gel-coat. They are shipped extremely well protected so get started unpacking. 2) If you are going to attack the paint prep yourself, carefully inspect the hood and mark areas with slight imperfections to address during the prep process. 3) Block-sand the hood, paying special attention to the marked areas of concern. The painting process actually requires several sanding sessions to ensure the final coat looks perfect. 4) After the initial sanding stage, apply the first coat of primer. This will be sanded down, the hood shot with another primer, sanded again, and then readied for final spraying. 5) The two-tone look in the final pre-painting stage is the result of fine sanding several layers of primer coat that reveals the smallest of imperfections. 6) Wipe down the hood with a special grease remover to make sure no oil from hands or other impurities are on the surface prior to laying down the final primer coat. 7) Apply the base color and two coats of clear. 8) Let the hood cure before moving it from the paint booth to the engine compartment. 9) After protecting the engine bay opening with clean rags, move the hood into position. This Good Hood Ram-Air weighs about 60 pounds-or about a 1/3 less than the factory Suburban hood. 10) Use the supplied mounting bolts to attach the hood to the factory locations. You may need to use a couple of thin hood shims to fit the hood perfectly with the fenders. 11 Above & 12 Below) To make the ram-air-style hood functional, install the optional Airaid intake kit that replaces the stock air box with a high-flow filter and air box that seals right to the opening in the hood. 13) Remove the stock air box. 14) Assemble the Airaid intake box. 15) Attach the Airaid intake box to the air-intake tube and lower mounting plate. 16) Attach the gasket, which seals the intake box to the hood when the hood is closed. 17) and attach the cone filter.
