So here is my contribution to the tech articles. It’s a simple install but hopefully this will save someone from having to take their truck to a shop and paying someone to install a set of intercooler boots. Doing this install at night, with a small shop light in my garage with handheld tools AND doing a fuel plate change it took a little less than 2 hours to install my BD intercooler boots.

Tools Needed:
• Ratchet or Impact Driver (depending on how much work you want to actually do)
• 12mm Socket (stock boots)
• 14mm Socket (BD boots)
• Ratchet Extension
• 10mm Socket (Optional; Used to remove intake horn)
• Flathead Screwdriver (Optional; Helps remove stuck stock boots)
• Grease, oil, or other lubricant (helps boots slid right into place without too much hassle)

BD Intercooler Boot Kit
• 4 Boots
• 6 Small Spring Loaded Clamps
• 2 Large Spring Loaded Clamps (For Intercooler)

First thing I did was take off the stock clamps so that they would all be out and not have a chance to interfere with anything… The top boot clamps come off pretty easy since their on top and in sight, however to get to the bottom clamps, especially on the driver side, you have to get under the truck to get to them.

Secondly I got my BD boots set out and ready to install. I took each clamp and disassembled them as well, but be careful not to lose and parts. Each clamp comes with 2 washers, a spring, and bolt. At this point, with all of the boots lying out with the clamps disassembled, we’re ready to yank out the old boots.

For taking out the old boots, just for the sake of time and making the install as easy as it can be, I took the pipes out all together. On the passenger side, I first got the boot off the intercooler and with the pipe hanging down; I got up into the engine and pulled the boot off the turbo. To get the boot off the turbo, I had to twist from the pipe quite a bit to get it unstuck. This is where the screwdriver might be helpful by running it along the boot and gently scrapping underneath the old boot. When you take out the boot make sure you take note of how the stock boot was on the intercooler side.

The driver side was super easy, that may be because I took the air intake horn off, in order to get to my AFC. With the clamps already off, once I removed the intake horn, the top boot came right off. Now with the up pipe from the intercooler sticking up, go ahead and twist it to get it off the intercooler and it should slide right up for you but don’t just yank it out because the pipe is between some lines which I’m sure are important… If you remove the intake horn, remember to cover the grid heater with a clean cloth to insure nothing gets into the intake manifold.

With both pipes out, we are ready to put out new boots on. This is where I ran into a snag on the passenger side. I’ll get to this in a little bit.

I’m going to start with the driver side since I did that side first so I could close up the grid heater to lessen the chances of anything happening to it or the manifold. With the intake horn off, putting the top boot on is easy. It should slide right into place. Once the boot is on, take your first clamp and reassemble it on the pipe. Just put the very top clamp on that keeps the boot on the intake horn. Once we get the pipe back in then we will then put the other clamp on.

We’re going to do the same for the lower boot that connects to the intercooler. Start by placing the boot on the up pipe itself. Once the boot is on the pipe, reassemble the clamp on the top part. With the clamp we want to go ahead and torque it down while we have full access to it. Once the boot is on, insert the pipe back into the engine bay making sue to go between the lines, or carefully move lines so that you don’t accidentally damage one.

A little advice that help, take a small dab of grease and run it around the inside edge of the boot, about an inch from the top will do. This will help the boot slide right back over the intercooler inlet/outlet.

Back to the task at hand, make sure to line up the boot and intercooler outlet and slowly slide it over making sure a lip isn’t holding up the process. You may have to twist the pipe to get the boot to slide all the way forward. Once you have the up pipe on, you can attach it to the air intake horn. Same trick as before, add a little grease to the inside and it’ll slide right on. Once the up pipe is attached to the intake horn, add the lower clamp to the top boot and to the lower boot completely attaching it to the intercooler.

For the passenger side, I did almost the opposite of the driver side. First thing I did was attached the two boots, but did not clamp them just yet. I fed the pipe up from underneath and first connected it to the turbo. Once you get it on the new boot on the truck, go ahead and clamp the boots at the turbo and inlet of the pipe. We still want to wait on the intercooler side, to make sure we have all of the flexibility we need. So under the truck we go. This one, is what took me the most time. With a friend you can easily get this one, but by yourself it takes a little time but the key is not to get frustrated. Remember the grease, it’s your friend. The one may take a considerably amount of twisting to get the boot over the intercooler inlet buy once you get it over the lip, it should slide right on. One thing to note on my install, this boot, was longer than it needed to be, so once I got it on the intercooler I had to slide it up on the pipe a little bit in order to take out the twist/crimp in the boot. Once the boot is on, throw on the clamps and tighten them down.

Once all the clamps are on, and you are sure the boots are on completely, go ahead and go to each boot and re-torque them just for a little more reassurance. You’re now ready to go out and test out your new boots. On a side note, it’s a hard to fully believe the claim that they’ll hold over a 100psi but once you see these boots in person, you’ll definitely feel assured they’ll hold…


PICS WILL BE UP SOON.