Ask The Editors: Where Is My Air Box?
An aftermarket ATV intake.
What you’re describing is known as an aftermarket air intake. The principle here is an easy one – allowing the maximum amount of air into the engine should increase its performance over the restrictive nature of a choked up air box.
We say “should” because if the machine is bogging as you describe, it sounds to us like the former owner removed the air box but didn’t properly rejet the carb to accommodate for the increase in air flow. In which case, you’re right, returning it to the stock configuration would likely cure the hiccup.
As for whether or not that is the right thing to do – you get our vote if you’re planning on using the machine as intended – which is to say trails, mud, snow etc. The performance gains associated with ditching the air box for an after market intake are usually the domain of racers who use their machine only in ideal conditions on a properly-groomed track.
Also, the LT230 was around for many, many years. You should have no trouble finding a used box on the likes of eBay.
