What does everyone run for an air cleaner on their trucks and why?

Seems like a trivial question to most, but the newest episode of Engine Masters was somewhat interesting with evidence to back up buying specific stuff rather than the usual "go-to".


Check it out.

What is everyone running?

 

I think that test has been done time and again over the decades and written about in several books. The conclusion seems to be the same each time. Velocity stacks generally work, but a tall round filter will get the job done. But if you have a daily driver that needs to run in all conditions and rarely sees wide open throttle, think long and hard before you toss that factory air cleaner.

 

I'm not sure I understand your post.

Factory air cleaners are restrictive. They have provisions for the breather to be connected to them, but so do new style air cleaners.

Even as a daily driver, why would a person want to restrict airflow? Cold starts, hot starts, etc... it's the carb that does the restricting for airflow based on how warm the engine is.

Restricting it even further with a stock air cleaner seems redundant.

 

The problem with that test is that it is for one specific engine under a single set of conditions. It's also only really looking at peak power. It would have been more useful if they rated each breather by CFM as well. A factory setup will work fine under almost all conditions. It will cost you some power at high RPM but how much is not constant. It depends on the engine and it's needs. The numbers in this video would be only specific to that engine inparticular.


It'd also be interesting to see them run a car down the 1/4 mile with different breathers to see how much real world difference in performance it actually makes.

 

Agreed.

The steady-state and controlled environment under which they did the test isn't true for all scenarios. I would also add that it would be very interesting to do a test under varying temperatures (winter/summer) to see how the most favorable get altered.

 

Granted, mine is also for appearance, but I figured the increase in exposed filter surface area will also increase airflow over a stock setup. So far, Buford has been able to breathe just fine, but I'm sure there are more efficient setups if power is the only consideration....

 

Dang!

That's one nice ride you've got there Behemoth.

Thanks for the input. I just purchased a new air breather for my truck. Hope it works well cause those things aint cheap!

 

Good stuff, love that engine bay!

I'm using a fairly standard 14x3 setup on my Cleveland motor, but have it set on a 4" riser from the carb body to give the velocity stack effect. The carb itself is on a 1" tapered spacer.

It breathes well and going by the great Roadkill video it won't be hurting power any - although I could use a salad bowl... hmmm...

- boingk

 

I was playing with different setups and figured the more air coming straight down, instead of from the sides, would be better. Then I watched that episode and confirmed it. Before that, I was running a 15x5 filter with a 1" spacer. I put a filter lid on it and it went dead lean. Even backfired out the carb going up a hill. I ended up with a Spectre dual carb hat with 2" spacer and twin K&N cone filters. I had to rejet my Edelbrock 650 AVS to .101" in primaries, and .104" in secondaries, and set eccel pump to high. And I think it's still lean. I've got a ARF meter that I need to hurry up and install so I can tune it better.

Don't forget that carburetors don't adjust air/fuel mixtures on their own like electronic fuel injection does. With a carb, if you add air, you must add fuel. Otherwise you risk detonation

 

 

Motortrend yanked all of their free content on youtube in favour of having subscription content through the motortrend website.

I guess once they saw how many people watched their show (youtube views), they decided it was worth while to pursue everyone for $$$.

I do remember the moral of the story from the video if you're curious...
The key take-aways were:
1) keep air moving in as straight of a line as possible. No crazy bends or turns for the airflow to move through.
2) Stock air cleaners are brutal.
3) Round air cleaners are okay.
4) Round air cleaners with a vented lid are better.
5) Something with a conical shape like a salad bowl is the best (they literally used a salad bowl as an air cleaner and it increased the HP/TQ over all others) because it's pulling from a larger volume yet compressing it to a smaller volume (thereby increasing velocity) when it enters the carb's throat.

 

I figured that was the case as they had been leaning that way for the last few years, Almost 2 years back I did the subscription for 6 months or so and cancelled it. shame. I binge watched all the roadkill garages and engine masters, greatly enjoyed them. Not paying for any more.

BASICALLY the more under hood room you have, the better off you are with an intake that flows well.

So for our trucks maybe a stock air cleaner with fresh air vent, and a 14" lid with filter element in it?

Or standard 14" medium rise with filter lid, and ideally a sheet metal shield on front to deflect hot air from radiator?

 

This is the better option of the two, but you don't need the deflector. Air is air is air. I know someone will try to crucify me for this, but the temp of the air doesn't matter. What you want is volume + velocity. The more and faster you can push air through the carb, the more power it makes.

We all know this but engines are air moving machines. Making an engine breathe through a straw is going to kill power. Making engines breath through something with 30 bends before the carb will also kill power because there will be no velocity to the air (a fart in the wind).

That's why the salad bowl did so well in the video. It grabbed from a larger volume than the typical 14" medium rise would, and it yanked it from straight above the carb, and it had the shape of a V to compress the air as it came down to the throat of the carb (increasing velocity).