Just installed an Airaid over the Christmas break, haven't had a chance to check if it improved performance.

 

I have personally checked the intake vacuum on that truck, before we dynoed, to make SURE we were getting all available horsepower out of it. There was none, even at that power output level.

I'm a sponsor and have an equal financially vested interest in selling products as much as any of the rest; and granted we carry aftermarket filters too. With that said, I will make my opinion as direct and forthcoming as possible-

Aftermarket filters for the 6.0 are a waste of time, money, and excess dirt. At no power output levels that 99.5% of the general public will ever see are they needed, warranted, or will do any good whatsoever. We have dynoed plenty of trucks and see NO feasible gain on mild to moderately modified trucks, and in my personal experience I have never gotten a mileage increase from one. Simple matter of fact is that not ONE single aftermarket filter that lives up to the filtering efficiency of the Donaldson. The AFE is efficient; the Donaldson is more efficient.

Spend your money and time elsewhere.

 

Excellent post Matt!!!!! We need more information like this to keep youngsters from throwing their money away on useless performance mods!!!

 

Quote of the day:

 

Matt,

Another great post as usual.

 

PSD 60L Fx4,

Ok if the test showed no gains can you explain to me how I got 2-3 extra PSI of boost pressure when I replaced the 1st stock Donaldson at 8000 miles to see what would happen with a new Donaldson. And then at 6000 miles on the second Donaldson I replaced it with the AFE Stage I and got 1-2 more PSI again.

Mark @ DPPI

 

Without knowing the conditions your Donaldsons were seeing, I most certainly cannot explain. For all we know, they were under dust and dirt conditions that most filters do not see. Simple matter of fact is that the Donaldson has more dirt holding capacity than any of the aftermarket filters- if you don't believe me, search this forum for more of these discussions- you will see links to solid independant testing, from people who have no vested interest in selling the product.

As far as the boost gain from the AFE, keep in mind that AFE relocates the Mass Air Flow sensor in the new tube. It is a well known fact that in the first stage two kits this sensor was located wrong and caused issues, to the point of setting the check engine light on some vehicles.

A Mass Air Flow sensor is calibrated to the diameter of the tube of which it is mounted (and likewise the position of the sensor mounting) and increasing the diameter of this tube like AFE does destroys the calibration of the sensor. Given that the tube is bigger, the velocity of the air at a given airflow is less, and the sensor would correspondingly read that there is less airflow than there actually is. The 6.0 uses this reading to determine a calculated Air/Fuel ratio; and correspondingly sets the duty cycle of the turbocharger to match the fuel delivery to obtain the correct calculated A/F. If it thinks it has less than the desired quantity of air, it will increase the turbocharger duty cycle to make up for it- which an increase in duty cycle will always result in an increase in manifold pressure.

This gain in boost pressure is NOT from "filter efficiency" as AFE and others like to claim, but because the truck is out of calibration and commands the boost increase. Until you can provide me with a datalog showing the boost increase at the same VGT duty cycle, I'll be sticking with my original statement.

 

Matt... great post above... tried to leave some + rep points... but had to pass some around.

What a great post and explanation of why some of the "overboost" issues and why some aftermarket air intakes do not operate well or why there are "just issues" or lack of documented proof.

May need to make your post above a sticky... as it would answer many other people's questions about intakes and their questions about them????

Again... great explanation and I believe very hard for anyone to refute your analysis and understanding... but hey... I am all ears for some to give a rebutal!!!!!!

 

FORD!!!

 

Yep, the one that came on the truck.

 

But they SOUND SOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!

 

ok so I'm looking into getting a cold air and going with bigger exhaust for my 07 f350 super duty. What would u recommend for both?

 

What Tim said. Unless making serious AM power the Donaldson can't be beat.

 

yup... the factory Donaldson is fine for all but the highest HP levels. I might argue the same for the factory exhaust so long as your cat isn't clogged. Unless you have significant mods, bigger exhaust just seems to add more noise.

Richard

 

Plus, think of all the neat things you can do with them after you replace them, you could gut them out, stretch some untanned leather across one end to make a set of bongos. Mount a 24” oval piece of glass on one end, stack on top of another, and you have a awesome end table or nightstand. I mean the possibilities are endless! 🤓