I have a K&N intake on my truck and there is no end of people saying bad things about them,but what is the difference? I looked at the rest and they all look the same to me.Its hard to mess up a plastic tube,so is the filter no good? They all look like the same oil/cotton filter in a different shape.

 

I've used K&N drop-in on both Plymouth and Ford and neither one out of the package fit right in the stock air box which didn't please me. Cheapo paper ones always fit nice and tight, K&N fit loose. The Plymouth was my first use of K&N and over time I noticed the cotton thinning out in areas and actual small holes. I swore never to buy one again but someone sucker talked me into it saying his buddy had one and it made a huge power improvement and gas mileage go up. Stupid me ended ended up getting one for the Ford. It was maybe 4 months in and I checked on it and saw thin spots forming in the cotton so I bought a paper filter and just changed it. It sat in the paper filter box on the floor of the back seat of the truck for over a year until I traded the truck in. I left that worthless K&N in there too and won't ever buy one again. I wouldn't use it even if given to me. Sure it flows more air than a paper but more air is worthless without more fuel.

 

Thats just the drop in I have the whole intake,also I have never seen the holes and this is my second filter,the first was in my F150 no problems there ever.

 

I don't know if the intake is any better. I didn't see anything good out of the drop-in. No performance gain, no fuel mileage gain, wasn't going to be any cost savings either. The filter is cotton and depends on the oil to catch the smaller particles. With age the cotton will degrade. Environment may play a role with longevity of the filter.

 

I was thinking on this topic my self what i have come up with it the turbo is very sensitive to dust/dirt over a period of time vrs. a n/a motor so problems will show up sooner because the turbo is first in line. I did the zoodad mod and plan to keep my stock air box because i feel it flows more than enough air and has plunty of turbo noise.

 

i had a junk&n intake system and filter on my 2006 6.0 for 10000k and it totally dusted my turbo, so i put the factory back on before it did any more damage, sent the junk&n system back for full refund, this filter passes alot of dirt so if u like your diesel to breath alot of dirt this is the system for u, if i ever go aftermarket intake filter system again it will be an afe with pro guard 7, but i doubt that will ever happen the factory flows as much air as i will ever need .

 

did warranty cover it??

 

I could make another big, long post, but I'll just re-post this:

http://www.duramax-diesel.com/spicer/index.htm

 

Deluxe05, what's the translation to Fords?

 

If you look at the graphs the K&N did bad in all tests. The tests were organized by a Duramax guy but the employee of the testing place that did the tests owns a PSD. A filter is a filter, just in different shapes.

 

Unless you are makeing HUGE HP with aftermarket Goodies save your pennies.

 

Ran one on my old mustang and all my intake ducts were coated with dust afterwards. So if you really need the extra air i.e racing applications, then I can see a use for them. For everyday use not worth it for the small gain if any.

 

242,000 on my K&N Drop in and the intake tube is clean enought to drink out of!! You just got to be smarter then Dirt, I Guess!!

 

It all depends on how clean your environment is. But why risk it? Use the OEM paper filter, it is designed to flow all the air the engine will pull!

 

There is no direct translation, as the tests did not include the Donaldson filter used on our 6.0Ls.

Bottom line is that anytime you increase air flow through a filter, you have to give up something else. Basically you either have to make a much larger filter or give up filtration efficiency.

As others have pointed out, unless you are making huge horsepower--far beyond the usual performance trio of intake, exhaust, and chip/tuner--the stock Donaldson unit will flow more than enough air to feed your motor.



On a side note, I had a Shaker hood on a 2000 Dodge Dakota with a 5.9L (360 cu. in.). The guts in the scoop assembly were built around one of K&N's FIPK kits for an earlier model Dodge Ram. The filter was 14" in diameter and 2 5/16" in height...one of the old style "donut" filters. The longer I had the truck, the more I noticed a build up of super fine dust on the base of the filter assembly--portion that mated with the throttle body--the thottle body blades, and the visible portions within the intake manifold itself.

I added one of their Prechargers (filter wrap)--reportedly for use in dusty conditions--and it helped out a bit, but I was still seeing some build up of fine particulates.

Thankfully, it is someone else's headache now.