6637- service life
 

For those running a DIY 6637 intake, how often (roughly) are you having to replace the filter? At $40-50 a pop for the filter I don't want to have to be replacing it very often if I put one on. Do the filter socks extend the life of the filter quite a bit, where can I buy one of those and how much $?
Before you tell me to check fleetfilter.com I already did :D $40 after shipping to my door for 1 filter, I can buy one at the local Napa for $47.89 and not have to wait for it to get here. The PMS is hitting full force, I need to start somewhere! :D

Personally, I change mine every 15,000 - 20,000 miles.

I'm not really religious about the change intervales, so when I see that it starts looking grungy, it goes.

I know some here like to run more miles on their 6637, but I would rather have several small charges for air filters (have been about $30.00 a pop when ordering 3 at a time), than one big charge for a replacement turbo (or worse).

JMO,

Richard

So one filter a year (or longer) depending on how much you drive and conditions? Sounds good to me!

I disagree. When the turbo goes this is what I like to call "a justifiable upgrade."

I just changed my filter this time after it being in use for a year. When it looks bad replace it. No worries if you go over, its only going to hurt your mileage.

Also, if you're paying more than about $35-$37 for the filter, you're paying too much. They run right at $27 each plus about $9 shipping from www.fleetfilter.com, and it's even cheaper if you get at least two at a time. Their delivery is really fast and reliable, too. Here's a link.
http://www.fleetfilter.com/SearchResults2.asp

Regarding the cover... the degree to which a cover can extend the filter's life will depend strictly on the type of dust and dirt the filter is exposed to. Super fine dust will pass through any cover moreso than will coarse sandy grit, leaves, bugs, or birds (don't laugh... I've already experienced the bird thing myself). Either way, a cover cannot help but help, as long as it doesn't create too much air flow restriction itself.

It's a balance of competing objectives, so to speak... the tighter the cover's weave/knit, the longer it will protect the filter but at the same time the more restrictive it will be to air flow. Personally, I've found that a dirty filter will hurt my mileage, even with a clean cover, and that a dirty cover will not hurt my mileage, even with a moderately dirty filter.

O.K. lets put this in perspective. A stock panel filter from autozone runs between $18 and $24 so lets just say you get one for $20. now if a fleetfilter.com 6637 runs about $35 (if you order two and save on the shipping) you are only talking a difference of $15 (over the stocker) for much better filtration, and more airflow. Change at a little longer interval than you would a stock panel (I run my 6637 about 25K when its just hiway driving) so at 50K miles you have changed 3 panels for $60, or 2 6637s for $70 the longer you stick with the 6637 the less it will be.

If you are driving in dusty areas then you should be using the AIS which is more expensive.

I could not believe the difference a "gray" (same as the metal webbing) filter made over a new one. I picked up three pounds of boost and could hear the turbo whistle as low as 1100 rpm.

I pay just under $28 for a 6637 at my local NAPA. I have to pay sales tax but no shipping.

My local Napa quoted me $47.89 for the 6637 (I live out in the sticks). I'll have to do more research on the AIS intake- the truck will probably spend most of its time in cleaner air, but camping/dirt bike trips and windy days will bring their share of dust.

Please tell us how many miles a year means for you. Inquiring minds want to know.

Oop's, Time to change my filter, and buy a cover from pete.

just my .02. i really think that the AIS makes that much difference in performance, i have run both and currently have the 6637 in one truck and AIS in the other. the truck with AIS has more pick-up than the 6637, but that is JMO.:)

Ohoh, you just gored a sacred cow Mike, better put your flame suit on. :-fire

Pretty soon you're going to have a title like mine in your signature if you keep this up. :-X03

hey clux i did say that i am running both, so i have nothing against the 6637. :-D just trying to stay honest here:-D

Although I don't have my boost gauge in yet, your story sounds a lot like mine when I changed mine out last Summer Kris. For those who want to see how I knew I needed to change at that time, with just a "gray" filter element, glance at the photos below.

the thread I started on the issue is linked here.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...t+filter+dirty

The NEW and CLEAN element is on the left, and the "gray" element is on the right. The bottom two have the exact same shoplight shining through from the inside.

And, "yes", I was running my cover on the gray filter for nearly it's entire life.

Now this is what I would call ONE informative post. Great photo's. I'm dragging my feet replacing mine, but am going to do it right after the first of the month now. I am on my second 6637 in the almost 2 years since doing the mod. Think I did it just before my trip to Alaska in '06 and that was in June. It still looks fairly clean, but that light trick convinced me. Time for out with the old and in with the new.

I think I will do the light test this weekend. My cover is just starting to discolor a little. But I do have a spare cover for this.


Thanks AGAIN Pete. And for the light trick. Reps to you.

I just plan on once a year along with my fuel filter. I put 20k on my truck in '07, but it'll by MUCH less this year because of my all-expense-paid tour of the Middle East.

Regarding the "Sacred Cow", I have no problem with someone else running whatever they want on their truck. These trucks are funny -- they seem to react differently to mods sometimes. Case in point is Dan's truck smoothing out on dino and running rough on syn. Completely opposite to most others. I do know that some of these filters were tested on a dyno and the 6637 did very well. Almost as good as no filter, and better than the AFE. I don't think the AIS was tested, but that's good enough for me. Would I run the AIS?? You bet! If I have to tow long distance with my family in the truck, I'll probably invest in one to keep them from griping about the "excessive" whistle. :)

IDK if you could claim the differance between the AFE and 6637 was statistically significant. IIRC it was only like three horsies at the most.

If they start complaining about the (excessive whistle isn't that like saying your trucks too fast ) roll all the windows down so they can really hear it .

Rick... yours is probably just fine given the short time you've been running it. When I did the above comparison last October (I thought it was in summer, but just checked my records and it was Oct), mine had been running for 9 months and had 17K miles on it... a lot of dry, dusty highway mileage, too, when we were getting absolutely no rain around here at all. At that time, I had already washed the cover once because it looked so bad, and washed it again in october... I have pics of how dirty the cover was in my gallery.

So, based on my experience above, I am currently planning on 12K-15K changeouts on my filters.

Ok, Pete, I didn't know it was that long ago. Make me feel better about mine.

Thanks.

Does anyone have photos of the AIC setup? I can't seem to find any. As I understand it comes from Ford, right? Is it similar to the 6.0 setup?

AIS? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...spagenameZWD1V

I meant AIS (I'm bidding on an AIC on Ebay right now too, hence my confusion). I'll have to dig around to see what the popular opinion is on AIS vs. 6637- naturally I want to go 6637 to save money, but if the AIS has some benefits I may go that route.

That's a cool picture but I'm not sure it indicates anything about the filter's ability to pass air. The dark dirt in the filter is going to absorb light, while in the new all white filter the light just bounces around in until it finds it's way out. Just like when I look outside it seems really bright right now, even though there is less light than in the summer, because there is snow on the ground. I'll bet if you stained the filter with some dark colored dye you would achieve the same effect without impacting it's restriction at all.

This light test is a time tested and true method of checking the ability of a filter to pass anything, be it air or light. I for one believe in it and trust it. There is absolutely no better or economically good way to get lots of air into these 7.3's. But anyone that cares to spend several hundred dollars on some fancy looking better named system, knock yourself out!

Can you vaccum a 6637 to get some more life out of it?
How bout blow it out :D (I already know the answer to that one, no need for :-X09 )

Vacumn, a waste of time and energy. Blowing it out not effective or a good idea. 40 bucks every 9 or 10 months is not all that bad anyway. I used one of those damn K & N's for years and thank my lucky stars everyday that I did not damage anything with it.

You have some valid points.

However, my original response to Kris' comment was that at the same time I made the change based on the "light test", I experienced a noticeable change in both when I heard the turbo whistle and saw an increase in mileage, so I have concluded that as faulty as the light test may be, it served me well on that first occasion.

Once I get my vacuum gauge installed in the intake line, I will have more conclusive evidence upon which I can make more quantifiably informed decisions. Until then, the shoplight will continue to serve double-duty for me.

Pete i need to buy one of you covers but for some reason it wont let me pm you?? But i just put my 6637 on today and i ended up having to use a piece of PVC on a 45* angle... i couldnt get the straight steel pipe to work.
Lloyd

Yeah F250_, that's why i replaced mine, because of your post.

Lloyd... might be because of your post count. I just tried to PM you as well, but it said that you had either elected to not accept PM's or were not able to receive them.

Anyway, you can email me at famisto8@yahoo.com.


Hey, Kris... how many miles did you have on your filter when you changed it and saw your boost increase? If I can ever get the time to do some gauges, I'm planning on installing a very low pressure ("inches of water clumn") vacuum gauge and start trackign the vacuum readings at different running conditions and over the life of the filter.

Being a tested and true method, perhaps you can share what the specs for light passage, and at what percentage light interception should the filter be changed, cause I can't find them anywhere. :-D

Your experiences may vary, but my experience with the vacuum gauge has been that filters that look dirty usually are not nearly as restricted as I thought they were.

That was what I was referring to when I said that about switching from the 6637 to the AIS. I was not trying to step on anyone's toes or give the impression that the AIS was a better setup, simply that my truck liked it better.:)

I expect to find the same thing to be true for me and my truck as well.

One variable in the mix that makes for significant differences in peoples experience with restricted/plugged air filters is the varying types of dirt/dust that each filter element contacts the most.

Great test with the light Pete. I was kind of hoping that a filter this big would last longer than the 15k - 20k that people seem to be getting.

Did you rotate the filter to look at all sides with the light in there? Since the filter is so large, I'm curious if the dirt is distributed (semi) uniformly or if it is clustered in certain (exposed) regions. Just wondering if you could extend the filter life by rotating it on the intake pipe 90 degrees every so often.

Chris, I did rotate the light and was amazed at how uniform the appearance was... pleasantly amazed.

I just tried the light trick. Only had one light so I had to do one at a time. But the difference was as night and day as the one in Pete's photo. My old filter was probably 8 or 9 months old and was not crusty in any way shape or form. But the lack of passing light told me all I needed to know. Cold weather is not the prime time for changing these filters though if you are using the OEM clamp right to the 6637 filter. I ended up bleeding before I finally got the damn thing on.