Jeff Foxworthy describes a redneck as someone who has a "glorious lack of sophistication". Not only is that politically correct, but describes me to a "T". I like eating with my hands, I stay away from utensils whenever possible (except for the knife in my pocket), and I've liked drinking out of mason jars since before it was in vogue. Yep, I'm a redneck.
Years ago on my first Jeep, the first modification I did was to put a K&N filter on the end of the stock intake tube. Back then it was all about making it work on a budget. Since I've been here in magazine-land, I've been doing things a more "proper" way, using the right tool for the job, installing the part on the Jeep it was made for, not using either duct tape or bailing wire for any installs (although I do still use a lot of zip ties).
As you all might know, I just got an XJ. What you may or may not know is that I've been dyno testing intakes on a TJ. Well, the muddy, dirty, two year old intake kit that was on that TJ was no longer needed. So me, in all my redneck glory, I decided to take the TJ kit, cut it up and make it work on the XJ. I needed some duct tape because the tube diameter was too small for the stock XJ rubber neck off the throttle body, I used some strap steel and bent it over the bumper of a CJ, then RTV'd and tec-screwed it onto the sawzall cut section of tube. I attached the muddy filter to the other end, and using my trusty pocket knife cut a piece of heater hose to reattach the PCV. Oh yeah, I painted it while holding onto the end of it with some Rustoleum that was laying around.
What you might not know about the new-to-me XJ is that it has an overhead console. In the overhead console is a neat little driver information center which, among other things, provides a fuel economy gauge. There are actually two fuel economy gauges. One of them gives the average for all the miles driven and all the gallons burned since you last reset the overhead console. The other one give immediate mileage. I'm not sure how it calculates it, but if I am going down a straight stretch of level road and swerve, my MPG dips.
Anyway, with my brand new shiny intake kit, I was watching mileage. Stretches of road I used to get 17-18 mpg just cruising on I now get 19-20. Up hill stretches I was seeing dips down to 11-13, I'm now seeing 14-15. Also, I drive with a lot of Cruise Control on, and hills that the XJ would downshift for before, it can now pull without downshifting and actually maintain speed, if not accelerate a bit.
Man, I forgot what a good feeling it is when you do something simple, it goes just like you planned, and you see an improvement off the bat. Yeah, I built it with tech screws, RTV, and duct tape. It ain't pretty, or legal, in some states. But I like it. If that makes me a redneck (on top of all the other things) then so be it.