I have a 92 f-150 that i do alot of highway driving and country driving. i was wondering if the KN air fliter is worth having. 1 reason is that i dont have to replace for a long time, and it increases the mpg a little bit. ive heard alot of people say that they do not stop dirt that much at all and i like 10 miles out in the country with thick dirt roads. so the dust come up easily. so is it worth getting or not.

 

No, run and run fast from K&N, air flow through a K&N like haveing no filter there, thats good, but then so does dirt, thats bad. Try the AEM dryflow, it flows well, filters well and requires no oil to gum up your maf www.aempower.com.

 

This would be the only reason to get it:



Ain't it purdy?!?

But in all seriousness, I do drive on back country roads, a lot of dusty gravel ones, go mudding a little, etc. I haven't had a problem yet and I've had it on since spring.

There have been people that complain about dirty although I haven't had any problems as of yet. They do make a prefilter that will slip over then end of the filter which will trap even more dirt. You may want to think about that "upgrade" to the k&n.

All in all it was basically a mod done for looks. I can't really hear the sound over my glasspack, although I heard it sounds nice (LOL). Gl!

 

IMO Yes, cost about $50 for 50k miles. Or $10 per filter every 6k miles that's 9 filters or $90. You'd save $40. I've had a K&N for 65k (same filter still looks good) miles on my 01 F250 PS and have not had a problem. Also had them on my previous two trucks without any problems.

 

Ihave the K&N 77 series intake as well, but I run the AEM dryflow filter on it. The damage that K&N does will be over time, they've done alot of independant testing and K&N ranks at the botton as far as filteration, but the rank at the top for increased airflow. Alot of desert racers use K&N, but they overall thier engin after each race, alot of them are starting to switch to AEM. I'm no saint, I ran K&N for years, but after reading alot of data and testing, I got soured on them pretty fast. The last test I read was in jp magazine a few months ago. If you trade trucks alot, I guess no harm no foul, but if you keep trucks like an old pair of comfotable shoes, you might want to think about it.

 

Gotcha, tried to look up some test results online but didn't find much. I probably will switch just to be safe. I'll check and see if AEM or AFE makes a filter for the stock air filter box. I'm making double mortgage payments-lol. Once I get passed that I plan on buying an AFE Stage II. Thanks for the info.

 

i put an afe cold air intake on my 98 expy and it is well worth it...k&n ,afe, products are excellent filters..they do thousands of hrs over and over for making the best product..

 

K&N does flow verywell, but there is a price to pay for being able to flow that much air, it lets particles of dirt through. Also ford mafs do not like to have oil on them. The AEM dryflow filters require no oil, flow and filter verywell, there's just no good reason not to use them over K&N. K&N is old school, the dryflow is new tech.

 

You can yell at me if you want but i think the KN's are overrated. I really don't think that the whole (never replace your filter again)is true. Granted you wash them and it is supposed to clean them but how musch dirt is actually washed away. For those of you that have a K&N system do guys really feel the horespower gain that they claim.
Just wondering if these things are true to what they say.

 

In my opinion stay away from K&N air filters. There are numerous documents to support that the biggest difference if air flow occurs at wot, not during normal driving. Also the oil that you spray on the filter is known to destroy the maf sensor in gm vehicles.

 

how about a ref, to some sites with tech information,on KnN filters letting in dirt?..thanks.....

 

i think there might be some difference if what type of system you have in relationship to the k and n debate.
i have used one for over 10 yrs in my f-350 460 but it is not MAF.
111,000 miles . truck is like new still.
did the same thing in my wifes 98 cobra svt and have had "check engines lights" ever since. went back to motorcraft.

tried one in her 06 exp. for a year. not sold on it. so have also went back to motorcraft since it is maf.

but i think i will leave the 460 alone with the k and n. seems to be fine.

 

well i myself work at oreillys and every day i sell at least 2 and everybody i have sold one to has been very pleased with the outcome and i also have one on my 89 ford f-150 its the oem replacement kind but i just recently got the whole tub and kit for my 88 i cant wait to see what it does for me its suppose to give me an additional 15 horse power plus cut down on fuel millage

 

Ran across your post and thought I'd repsond.

I think, next to conventional oil -vs- synthetic oil, the K&N -vs- paper element filters is one of the most debated issues around.

Here is a thread I posted in the Oil and Lube forum some time back.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...-n-filter.html

Take a look - there is concrete data there to support my preference for the K&N type, oiled media, air filter.

The data above was from my 2000 model. It was sold at 173,000 miles. Still using the K&N filter. Still running fine and burning no oil.
I now have a K&N filter on my 2005 model. I installed it pretty early (20,000 miles I think).
I now have 113,000 miles on the truck and all continues well.
I like the convenience and it has already paid for itsself several times.
I always look inside the air intake plenum when I remove the filter for cleaning, looking to see if I can see any signs of dust.
I'm still using it, so that answers the question of whether or not I have found dust.

I am a strong believer in "It is your truck, use what YOU want". This included everything from stereo speakers, to oil, to air filters, to tires, and the list goes on.

For me, the K&N oiled media filter is a good investment and has proven -for me at least- to be more than sufficient in my application.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

edit to add: regarding the oil and the MAF sensor. I have never had a problem - not one. I suspect, but can't prove, problems might be related to application of too much oil to the filter. Filter oil can't get to the MAF sensor unless it is "blown off" the filter. If that happens, there was too much oil on the filter. (Just more of my $.02 )
And, I saw no real change in HP or MPG. But neither of those was really expected by me.

PS: Wendell, good to run into you again - same subject - a few years later, different forum here at FTE. When are you going to cross over and join me?

 

several years ago, I worked for auto zone and had a lady come in w/ a WSX TA and we got to talking about the k/n filter, and she said that she had used one but CEL kept coming on

so, she went to the dealer and they said that it flowed too much air, and that she needed a chip to take advantage of it, and that would cure the CEL.

granted it's all hear say, but see any reason that she would lie.