I'm looking to upgrade my air-intake and wondering if anyone has knowledge on whats the best one out there and who has the best deals on them

 

Just the basic K&N filter will open your air flow really good, or you can get the entire cold air intake system.

 

AFE is by far the best in my opinion. K&N is dated and ruins the MAF sensors, which results in a decrease in performance and fuel economy. In contrast, AFE now offfers a ProDry line of filters. I replaced my K&N with a ProDry and I a never going back. The ProDry does not foul the MAF sensor, it is much easier to clean, and in my case, it was $17 cheaper. It also lasts longer between cleanings.

 

I've been thinking about changing to the AFE filter and getting a upgraded MAF sensor for my B3000. I've heard of some decent power and milage results. I've also heard that the K&N type of filter can cause the MAF to get fouled.

 

I know some people will argue in favor of the K&N brand, claiming that the people who have problems over oil them and such. The first time I had a MAF foul out was with a K&N, and it was with the factory oiling on the filter. While I wouldn't rule out that it may have been over oiled from the factory, my first impression is that a filter is designed to remove small particles from the air going into the engine, and if it fails to so, then it is useless. When I cleaned out my intake, there was more than just oil and dust on the MAF element, there was very fine grit. The best I can figure, that grit got through the filter.

I have had no subsequent problems with MAF fouling since I switched to the AFE filter, and it seems to have all the flow the engine needs.

 

I am not a big fan of the k&n drop in filter (for the stock air box) it ruined my turbo in my 7.3 power stroke but from what I understand the whole kit is much better.
Anyways I just ordered the AFE from autoanything and it was alot cheaper than the k&n and I think I will be happier with it , oiling and cleaning that oily/dirty filter was not a favorite thing of mine to do

 

Where can I find an upgraded MAF that wont hurt the pocket to bad?

 

The best is the AEM brute force, why besides superior quality you ask. It uses a dry flow cone filter that doesn't require oil. Ford mafs hate access oil on them. You can give it a quick cleaning by smacking it against your hand, or on a 4x4 it cleans it's self every time you hit a hard bump out on the trail. It has excellent filtering capabilities and flow, unlike K&N which has good flow but doesn't filter so well in independant testing. You can check them out at AEMPOWER.COM. I've had a couple of them, one on my ranger and one on my focus st, it's an excellent product. Your maf will flow all the air your truck can handle unless you have forced induction or major engine work. Your money would be better spent on a bama engine programer from bama chips.com. On my 04 ranger 4.0 4x4, I gains about 14 hp and 20 foot pounds of torque with bama, it will improve the shift points of an auto tranny and recal the speedo fpr different tire sizes and gear swaps. Each programer comes with 3 tunes of your choice at any of the three ocrane levels. Each programer is individually tuned to your truck and it's computer. You plug the programer into the computer port, push a couple of buttons and it down loads the new tune in a couple of minutes, it's that easy and just as easy to return to the stock setting. It can also improve mpg as it did on mine. Doug will help you select your tunes according to your needs and mods, cause if you were like me, you know nothing about tunes. Doug fixed me right up and the truck ran strong, you could really feel the difference and when driven right, you can get better mpg. The bama programer runs about 390.00$ with 3 tunes and great tech suport, it's worth every penny of it. Bama will really help you get full benifit from a new intake.

 

As far as K&N goes, they have the best flow in the business, but you pay for that on the filtering side as they let too much dirt pass. We use to have acouple of links floating around here with 2 different independant tests on intakes and filters. K&N ranked at the top for flow, but ranked at the bottom for filtering ability. AEM ranked at the top or toward the top in all area's as did volant, AEM gets the nod because of the dryflow filter that doesn't need oil.. Aimsoil filters got the nod for the best drop in aftermarket air filter. AFE also did well, airaid didn't do so well, but I forget why now, I believe it was some quality issue's, the important thing was that K&N did so poorly as I had used them for years. However I don't anymore. I never kept a truck long enough to know how much engine damage K&N could do long term. I now use AEM intakes, or aimsoil on my drop in's. One way or another, the paper filter has to go, I don't know how any engine can breath through a paper air filter. "O', which reminds me, the fram air hog didn't do so well either because of a bad seal.Anyhow, it's best to stay away from an air filter that requires oil on a ford or any other maf equiped vehicle. Dodge and jeep doesn't matter so much as they don't have a maf to foul out. I think maybe acouple of the other intake makers besides AEM are now using dryflow technology. We don't have enough oil now to make gas out of, much less waste on an air filter just to foul out your maf with hee hee.

 

I like the AFE ProDry because it uses a washable polypropylene filter element, which is the same stuff used in surgical masks and hypoallergenic filtration system. Only the smallest particles can get through them, but it flows very freely.

Air flow does not necessarily equal power however, which is why getting a complete intake is better than just a filter element. The intake is a system, and like all systems, it only functions as well as its weakest point.

 

I have what you guys will think is a dumb question but if I don't ask then I won't learn! Anyway, why would an air filter need oil? Right now, I just have your standard dry Fram air filter in my Ford Ranger. After reading through this thread, I definitely want to look into some of these other filters if it makes a difference in gas mileage. Before reading through this, I had no idea that there were air filters that needed oiled. I do have a lot to learn, but I've already learned a lot from this forum and it all helps my truck.

 

We prefer the AEM:

Air Intake Systems

 

The problem I have with AEM intake kits is that they are made of metal, which conducts heat. You want to keep the air as cold as possible as long as possible, and for that, plastic is much much better.

I can't really supply a link, as I don't know what year or engine you have.

 

I found this site, but the pocket book will take a good hit.
JET Mass Air Flow Sensor
I understand that Ebay carries some, but to tell the truth I was kind of hoping that someone on this site has tried changing the MAF sensor from the stock and give a review of the increases in HP and economy. With a B3000 both is needed.

 

AEM's aluminum tube doesn't seem to conduct anymore heat than plastic, you can cup the tube with your bare hand after dtiving without getting burnt, You will allways get some heat soak with an intake, more so at idle, while moving, the in comming air helps push the heated air from the engine torward the firewall. Anyhow, alot of highflow filters such as K&N use a coating of oil over the gaze filter to trap particles, it harkens back to the days of the oil bath air cleaners. When you wash your K&N filter, it washes the old oil off, so you reapply a new coating of oil before reinstalling it yo help trap dirt that passes through the filter. Some of this oil then can get blown back onto the maf contaiminating it. Thats why we don't care for oiled air filters on a ford which uses the maf system. So which ever intake you choose, we sugest you go with a dryflow style filter that doesn't require oil. AEM doesn't use oil and I'm sure there are some others now as well. If you can't find out yourself if the intake you choose uses oil or not, just ask us, we will find out for you. We know K&N uses oil as thats there trademark. I believe some of the others such as airaid, AEM, AFE and volant are moving toward dry filter systems. The biggest nod so far seems to be with AEM and AFE, so start there by checking out there sites. You can view AEM at AEMPOWER.COM, Bear River maybe able to provide you with a link to AFE.