Hello all,
I recently purchased an 03 Crew Cab F350 7.3 liter 4x4 and it has a Volant Cold Air intake kit. The previous owner had a K&N filter on it and I know that most people feel like they are the devil. I cleaned it an recharged it just for the simple fact that it was extremely dirty. However I am looking to replace it with a better product. Given that the filter is completely enclosed, what would you guys recommend? I see a lot of references to using a 6637 and I know that RiffRaff sells a kit with the 6637 and a dust cover. I would appreciate any and all of your inputs. Thanks!

 

I decided to go with the AIS from Rock Auto. Quality product and very happy with how it looks and performs.

 

I love my AIS ( thanks Tug for the sweet deal) as well, quiet and great filtering.....and lasts a long time.

I had a k&n cone filter and never had any issues with it, got tired of cleaning it and went to the 6637. Both of them were extremely loud and after a couple hundred thousand miles of that I grew weary of the racket.

 

IIRC Volant is uses or can use a Donaldson powercore filter. Donaldson makes a great filter and the powercore design is similar media to the ford AIS intake and the 6.0 intake... personally I would keep the Volant intake and change the filter.

 

Plagiarizing myself, I covered this question recently:

Dirt load, initial purchase price, ease of installation, and sound level - those are the differences between the 6637 and AIS. Some will argue whether the Intake Air Temperature is a factor. I've seen studies made on YouTube and I've taken air temps in and out of the filter box. I believe the air temp argument is moot. What little difference I saw with IAT is more than compensated for with the intercooler. If one can make a solid case to the contrary with data on our trucks (comparing MAT numbers), I'm all eyes.

Dirt load... let's talk about that for a sec. Take the 6637 and add oil vapor to dust - that will load the filter quicker. Go ahead, look under the hood and tell me that stuff on the boots won't load a filter up pretty good. The AIS sucks in fresh air from the road, not the hood. I live in the desert, with a lot of agricultural activity on the roadside (tractors, sprayers, wind, helicopters, etc...) - very dusty. My AIS took about 20K miles to load up, but my S&B (another Cold Air Intake) goes about 10K miles and it's due for a swap.

The AIS is also significantly quieter - on the order of "Oh my gawd!". While my S&B is louder than the AIS, it's still much quieter than any 6637 I've ever heard.

AIS is a hearty Buck$Zooka "thwop" when you first get it, but the refills can arguably be about the same or cheaper than the 6637 when you compare dollars per mile.

AIS is clearly more involved at install... no getting around it. I think keeping that stock-ish look has a better appearance when the hood is open - but who the hell drives with the hood open?

On the subject of appearance - who else is ever going to see under the hood if we're not bragging to friends, relatives, and neighbors? I feel appearance is among the weakest of cases to make for either unit. If you want to put money on appearance - rims are a lower target, but take a much higher Buck$Zooka caliber.

To add to the above:

AIS will handle anything stock injectors can throw at it, even if the truck is chipped. Once you cross the threshold of bigger sticks, the AIS throws up the white flag, and it's time shop for a bigger intake. I chose the S&B for my 160/100s because it's the quietest big breather I could find.

 

Just a note on under hood appearance. If you live in a state that requires smog inspection you need to get a system that is CARB (in CALI) approved. I have been told in the past that an air filter should not make any difference either way as far as smog is concerned but the AFE system I have is certified. I don't know why they would go through all of the grief if they didn't need to. Just had my truck smogged last week and they wanted to see the CARB documentation for the air filter and "spider" replacement. Passed just fine.

 

Really good point there.

 

Let's make clear that there is a different between how CARB interacts with consumers and businesses.

In most states (CA being one of them) your choice of air intake has NO say on your smog check. The EPA and the CARB both have no interest in air intakes on the consumer end.

However, many aftermarket air intakes do carry CARB numbers as a requirement placed on them as a manufacturer. It's a regulatory and fund generating thing.

To clarify, in most states, including California, you can run what ever air intake you wish. I can provide documentation of this for CA if requested.

 

This truck was a Nevada vehicle for most of its life. I did have to get it smogged for California and it passed with flying colors so the complete Volant Air Intake did not make any difference as far as passing smog in California. I like the looks and functionality of the Volant system, I was mostly wondering what a good replacement filter would be for that system considering the previous owner used a K&N. I was thinking of using a Volant filter but wanted to probe the minds of all of the more experienced owners before I do.

 

Can you please provide the documentation for CA?

I live in LA, and my smog tech told me that he can not pass a diesel smog check with an aftermarket intake that is not certified by CARB. He needs to see the CARB label with the CARB ID approval number on it.

 

Just to add that I had my truck smogged at my local dealership and there was no issue with the Volant air intake system.

 

I have an S&B CAI on my 7.3L, and I passed CA smog without issue. It's possible he looked for and found the CARB number on the intake, if it has one.

 

I had a MAC CAI the last time I smogged, and it had no CARB sticker. I know that it used to be intakes and exhausts were exempt; but if you had a CAT, it damn well best be there!! (I don't have one). I changed earlier this year to the S&B, and they do NOT have CARB sticker...yet....


Trey:


If you can share the info, I would appreciate it much!!!

 

Below is the info from CARB on what is legal and not legal. I believe it is most current info. But if someone wants to drill down in the CA DMV website as a public service, I'm sure the Diesel Deities would smile upon you.

See chart on last page of PDF. Lots of it is either genius or idiocy; why does an intercooler need a CARB #? Does a bigger IC cause more pollutants?

And some manufacturers (cough cough Banks) get CARB numbers for everything simply because it will sell better than a competing product without one. And they can charge more. Heck, Banks can turbo charge you.

Any air cleaner is ok. If you can hook up a Donaldson on there, I'd do that.

On edit: lots of smog techs just do not know the rules for diesel trucks. Print that PDF and take it with you.

 

David: Reps to you for posting that up!! I appreciate it! I won't need to see the smog people again until next July (I hope I remember where I saved this by then!!