Has anyone purchased a K&N Filter kit and was there much improvement if any.

 

The reusable filters are handy and economical. When it gets dirty just pop it out, clean it up, spray a little oil on it, and throw it back in. Do they filter as well? I don’t really know. There is a body of evidence on the Internet that claims this type of filter is not effective at filtering out fine dust which could damage your engine. Of course there is another body of evidence that claims the reusable filters are every bit as effective as anything else on the market. I’ve used them off and on for the last 30 years on everything from street rods to serious off-road trucks and I’ve never had any problems. Do they add more power? Not a chance on a stock engine. Your stock air box and filter easily flows adequate air to support the stock HP and anything you are likely to gain with simple bolt-ons. You have to add a lot of HP before the filter (as long as it’s clean) begins starving the engine and limiting further gains.

 

In my personal experience, it was a waste of $43. No improvement in mileage, or performance whatsoever.

 

Moved to proper forum.

 

I installed an Air Force One intake and reusable filter, and noticed a slight improvement in my mileage, but as far as horsepower goes, I can't see anyone showing any gains with just changing the filter.

 

Thanks for the imput and I have reconsidered buying one, sounds like I'd be throwing my money in the air !

 

Well the K&N FIPK with an exhaust helps!

 

I can tell a difference with my Bronco II.. I have a hollowed cat and Flowmaster 40 series. It's not a huge difference, but if you route the air to the outside of the vehicle you gain 1 HP per 7*F lowered. The more mods you put on your truck, and the more HP you release from your engine, the better the K&N will perform.

 

Triton -

Check out http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm; it may help you decide not to run a K&N on the street. Also, Sigma forgot to add that reusable filters need to DRY after cleaning before you can oil them; kind of a pain if you need to use your truck right away.

Steve

 

FWIW...from that site...
"For the record, the K&N was the best flowing filter. Of the 3 types of media tested, the cotton gauze type filters flow best. There are other brands besides K&N for sale, of which most are probably made by K&N for resellers. Foam air filters flowed marginally better than paper. "

 

$45 and I didn't get any stickers!?! WTF!?

lol, j/k. I noticed a lil better acceleration, but I have other mods too, though.

 

I WAS a big fan of K&N air filters, ran one for 45,000+ in my Ranger, and for 30,000+ in the Wife's Honda. I just had to replace my IAC to correct a low idle, because it was so dirty that I could not get it even close to clean. It seemed to me (after following many K&N debates) that the only thing that could allow dirt to my IAC was my air filter. I've gone back to paper, maybe high flow does equal poor filtration!

 

My experience is that the K&N filters increase potential airflow, which was noticeable to me when changing from a dirty stock filter. My concern is that K&N let too much particulate matter through the filter. It may be within manufacturer specifications, but I personally like to exceed the specifications on something like this. The cost of the filter for the small, if any performance gain, and the poor scrubbing capabilities sent me back to the paper based filters.

 

The whole thing about the K&N filters for the power, is it releases any restriction being held at that standpoint. The power difference of just the K&N is nominal because the restriction of airflow of a stock filter isn't much. But when you start adding power chips, headers, messing with your cam, and maximizing horsepower gains, then the stock filter isn't enough.

 

I have the drop in K&N in my '94 Bronco 351w. I replaced the stock air intake tube over the radiator with a '94 F-250 460 inlet tube that now forces air through the air box from the grill area. It was $18 at the dealer. Now on highway going up long moderate hills the engine sounds like it has a big 4bbl kicking in and rarely downshifts.