So im looking for some performance, and i found what i think looks like a good intake for the ranger, the k&n 63 series. how is it? it says 14hp increace which is good. anyone have one that could tell me how it performes and sounds? i was also looking at the gibson dual extreme exhaust, it looks ok for a catback, but is there a better exhaust out there for the money?

 

What year and engine?

Gibson only makes street side sweep (or w/e) for my truck (2000 3.0). However it sounds good as hell, has given me a slightly noticable increase in mileage and a tad bit of noticable power.

As far as intake, custom built FTW!

 

If at all possible, wait for aem to come out with an intake for your truck, they use a no oil cone high flow filter. If you over oil an k&n, it can mess up your maf, and they don't filter as well as maybe they should untill thier dirty. AEM is a high quality product, that gives you hp increases closer to what they advertise than others do. When they dyno an intake(all companies) they tune the vehicle while on the dyno to get the best results with thier intake. I have a k&n 77 seres with a aem filter, going to switch to the aem intake like is on my focus st. The secert to getting performance out of an intake, and exhaust for our rangers, is a bama chips tunner. It's the different as night and day. The bama makes good power on a stock engine, and gets the most out of mods like, intake, headers, exhaust, and so on. With out the bama, you mostly just get sound, with the bama you get a kick in the pants as well. www.bama chips.com

 

Thanks for the info. The truck is is a 2005 ranger xlt with a 4.0 v6. i will look into those chips as well.

 

welcome to FTE made2go. Im glad you chose the best site on the net for ford trucks. See ya around!

Matt

 

Show me scientific evidence from a reputable source claiming K&N filters arent awsome filters and I will switch to AEM.

As far as oil "messing up" the MAF...once a month or so just clean the oil off of your MAF, and when you reoil your filter dont drench it, do it lightly and let the oil soak in.

Im not bashin AEM, I'm saying you shouldnt bash K&N.

 

There are enough "issues" amongst some of the members for K&N to be bashed. It's what made me to go AEM for my filter (Wendell's suggestion helped some too! lol).

The oiling thing is irritating, pointless, and causes more problems than it seems to prevent.

Scientific evidence? Please. Reputable source? I'd count FTE as one. K&N filters are alright, you can have your fun using them if you want. Others however like the oil-less AEM (or other brands) better.

 

If you are going to use K&N with most fords you need to relocate the MAF. It is as simple as that. If you do a drop in K&N expect problems. Why? The MAF is directly after the filter.

Fords are really the only brand that has any sort of problem at all with K&N that Ive seen.

 

RangerPilot
Most of the problem I have seen with K&N air filters are the people that clean then and then ues to much oil on then.Then they say that they are bad,when it's their fault.
I have run a K&N oil filter on my 96 4.0 Ranger since I got it.It was on it when I got it and now I have 157000 miles on it and NEAVER had problem with the MAF!!!I wash it every 3rd oil change, let it dry, then spray a light coat of oil on it let soak in ,replace it and drive away.NO PROBLEM!
I have had to clean a MAF on a crown vic that had always run paper filters in it.So that gose to show you that it can happin with any filter you use.A frind of mine had to replace his MAF when the Paper filter came apart and broke the wire.Now he runs a K&N and has had NO PROBLEMS.
I will not bash ANY typ of airfilter that you or anybody else uses as long as it is changed or cleaned an oil it right.They all do a good job,some better then others and what I have heard AME is one of the better ones.

 

ok someone asked for scientific proof the K&N isn't as good, and proof that it isn't just fords with this problem, well first go look in the diesel forums and search for dusted turbo chargers, the K&N is notorious for killing the turbo's. BTW this is also why i won't run a K&N except on the race truck and then only with a prefilter, I pulled mine off my PSD, adn you could wipe layers of dust off the inside of the intake tube, and the oil that comes from the crankcase vent was gritty as heck.
Second here is a link, it's a BMW site and talks about scientific tests done on the K&N.
http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Upgrade/Air_filter.htm

I found another one but the site with the specific data is not longer available, but the test was done for guys running in the desert in pakistan, they did testing according to ISO 5011 standards (one that K&N refuses to use since it doesn't help there cause and shows what happens after a short time, they only want initial air flow) the basics of this showed that the K&N filter allowed upto 400% more dirt through before it became saturated and reduced flow, it also reduced flow at a rate faster than a factory paper air filter. I found many, many more but I will not link to competing websites so do a google search on it, and dodge, chevy, nissan (which BTW will now void your warrenty if they find out you have a K&N air filter), and honda all have MAF problems when using the K&N filters so it's not just a Ford only issue.
Note I do still use a K&N on the race truck like I said, but A. I clean it after each race. B. I run a prefilter first. C. I don't have electronic computor sensors that can be affected by it. and D. I rebuild the engine every year (it will have less than 15 miles on it at that time) so it's not nearly as critical.

 

CBFryman, I love your series of posts surrounding mine. First you claim that it's the users fault if he overoils it, then after my post it's a Ford design problem and the MAF needs to be relocated. Who's going to bother with relocating the MAF for a filter?

Perhaps Bob Ayers will see this post, he had a link a while back to a website comparing all the major brands with the stock filter. Amazingly enough, the stock filter, while flowing slightly less, caught much much more dirt. It surprised me when I saw it, and now I can understand using only OEM filters. They do the job.

K&N isn't near what the company claims in performance gains, then again neither is any of the other brands. On certain vehicles yes, it can make a difference, especially with a full blown intake, but alone, the filter provides little to no difference. And don't give me that "butt-dyno" crap, it's not worth a dime. The price doesn't make it worth it, you pay for a filter that you have to maintain (re-oil) and may possibly cause problems. I can imagine the interesting claims a warranty department or service department at a dealership must get about lost engine performance due to a oiled-up MAF.

 

Over Oiling any oiled filter will kill a MAF.

Using an oil filter when the MAF is with in a straight shot of the filter will leave a deposit of oil no matter what. No way of getting around that.

If you are doing a drop in on a ford truck I personally would go with an oiless fitler (as I did). However, with a CAI which require relocation of the MAF (relocation of the MAF may actually give more accurate readings because you put it closter to the throttle plate) K&N and any oiled filter will do just fine.

And Im not saying you HAVE TO relocate your MAF, I'm saying if you dont cleaning your MAF GENTLY on a regular bassis will prove for better MAF peformance and more accurate readings.

 

I went with an oil-less filter as well, so no problems to be expected. I did however have to clean the intake tube out from the K&N I had had in there previously, and that was from the factory oil, not my own oiling.

 

Well You guys got me to check my intake tube.Yep you guessed it DRY as a bone and no dirt at all.I'll just keep useing my sorry ol K&N air filter.Works good for me.
NOTE its been 1 1/2 oil changes since I cleaned it {8500 miles}.

 

I used k&n for years, never had a problem, I just happen to like aem better, I don't have to oil anymore, and the quality is top notch. Ihave now used k&n intakes, and aem intakes, I perfer the aem, that's my story , and I'm sticken to it.