You should also note that many of the cotton/gauze filters such as AIRAID, and K&N( which I believe makes the filter for AIRAID) allow more air but they also allow more dirt. I have had an AIRAID for a few months and I have liked the sound and the response seems to be better but its no drag racer.You will notice most of these offer prefilters. Now K&N is offering a supercharger filter much like the TRUE-flow and an airforce cloth type filter that covers their own gauze filters. Why would they offer a Pre-filter to a filter if it was not for their poor filtering ability. It would keep the filter cleaner longer but it would also in turn keep your engine cleaner longer. On that note; your engine can only suck in so much air in it's stock configuration Thus come in the turbos, and superchargers. And it can only release as much as it sucked in so even if you removed the filter completely your truck will only be able to combust so much at a time and even if you put double or quadruple tail pipes will only release so much. Also the factory air intake is bulkier and has a huge resonant chamber. I personally like the look of The AIRAID and it allows you to clean and work on your engine instead of all the plastic right in your face. I would probably do as you would and purchase a tru-flow replacement filter and put it on my intake and see how it goes. Good luck

 

My mileage has improved. But to be fair I did a major tune-up at the same time. I have 285 oversized tires on my truck so my speedo is wrong and can't say what the mpg is. I normally fill my truck when I have 260 miles on the tripometer and now I can wait to 290 miles before I fill the tank. I very rarely wait for the low fuel light to come on.

I put on the FIPK at the same time I put in Iridium plugs, 9mm wires, 2 new Accel coil packs, new oil in front and rear diffs, new hoses, belt, engine flush and new Prestone along with a synthetic oil change. At 150,00 miles my engine compression was perfect.

I was hoping for a little better mileage, which I got. And I was hoping for better acceleration which I also got but I'm sure that was mostly due to the FIPK.

 

I used QD40 as the MAF cleaner. Carb cleaner will eat the diode molding, not a good thing. I will try the 30 minute battery disconnect and do as you say above. I did replace both front O2 sensor, while I experienced easire starting, it did not appear to do much else. No codes. Thanks for the information.

Chris

 

Again, thank for the valuable information. I plan to at least try the True-Flow on the FIPK. If nothing else, just to make myself feel better for wasting money on the FIPK. Ahhh...the true way to fix a problem, throw more money at it :o)

Thanks,

Chris

 

I installed the 285 tires also. It definitely slowed down the engine RPM’s for a given speed, but did I move away from the torque curve? I installed new plugs (OEM), new wires, new front O2 sensors, new belts, new thermostat, cleaned MAF and a new K&N filter; I keep one filter cleaned and ready to go and change it at 10K mile intervals. The bad part is my mpg dropped from 12.3 to a solid 10 mpg… no towing with this truck and I drive sanely, although my husband might disagree ;o) I must have changed something, but what? I am still looking.

Thanks,

Chris

 

Chrishulgan
I put an FIPK on my 2003 Supercrew and felt that it made a difference in both the power and the mileage. I had previously added a SISO Magnaflow exhaust and I think the FIPK made more of a difference than the exhaust. Not sure how it would have turned out had I put the intake on first and the exhaust second.

Ron

 

Hi Ron,

Interesting point. I wonder what would have happened if the order of installation were reversed. Has anyone installed the FIPK first and then the exhaust mods? I have no mods to the truck other than the FIPK. I bought into the advertisement. I am not the type of person who changes cars/trucks every few years; I still own my grandfather’s 1949 F series. What I am concerned about is reliability and dependability. I thought the K&N did a better job of filtering, which was a prime selling point for me. Now, I have begun to reevaluate that information and my choice may not have been the correct one given my primary goals.

To put the question in the simplest form, what filtration system maximizes life span of the engines?

Thanks,

Chris

 

i did k&n fipk intake kit on my 2003 supercrew and without a doubt felt a huge difference, so anyone that didnt feel anything, maybe your truck isnt as good as mine, lol anyways it worked for me, hp gain, torque, and a little bit of gas mileage, but with any of these performance mods, it all depends on how you drive, with more power you'll tend to drive faster and have worse gas mileage but you drive normal, its even better, adios hope this helps anyone with doubts


then i added exhaust dual 40 series flowmasters and got even more of a boost, so dont doubt these performance mods, oh and a tonneau cover doesnt hurt,

 

WhitecoltF150,

My only question is if the K&N is doing a sufficient job of filtration. Recent articles and list member comments leads me to believe that they may not sufficiently filter the incoming air. I drive very conservatively, especially given the current gas prices. In addition, my desire is to keep the truck for a long period, comes under the heading of reliability and longevity. Do you believe it filters better than the stock AF or any other brand on the market? If not, which one do you consider provides the best filtering?

The K&N FIPK did result in improved throttle response and “feels” like it pulls stronger.

TIA,

Chris

 

Again CHRISHULGAN. Tests that I have looked at on the net through google and on this forum have stated that K&N does not sufficiently filter incoming air into your engine. It is impossible to have both more air with less dirt. Think of it this way. If you're in a room and there is a fire behind the door, You barely crack the door open (restrictive filters), less smoke gets in as well as some air and some heat. If you open the door all the way, even more smoke comes in as well as more air and more intense heat(less restrictive filtration).
I know this is probably a crappy way of putting it but the filter can't be selective about what comes in. thin filter bigger gaps in fibers, = more air/dirt, and whatever airborne particles can be sucked into the intake. Tighter fibers, thicker filters reduce air but also reduce what goes into your engine. The truflow has a good filter in my lowly opinion, and I believe these are used in offroad due to their thickness and ability to filter dust and dirt better. I have an AIRAID in which the filter looks like the K&N. I believe IT IS made by K&N BUT I used a pre-charger filter that is like a cloth that cover the filter for longer filter life and to reduce the amount of dirt coming into the engine. NOTHING is 100%. I like the AIRAID K&N also has a FOAM pre filter to help prevent dirt from getting in your engine and also helps keep filter longer increasing the time intervals for its next service. Good luck

 

 

I installed a FIPK on my truck, which is a 2001 4.2 5 speed with 3.55 gearing and 265/75R16 tires, which prior to it had a worthless K&N drop in (worthless performance wise), and a true dual exhaust. Noticed a nice increase in power, and 1 mpg increase in fuel economy.

 

Personally I use a K&N filter on the end of my home made air inlet tubing. After reading the test results in the link below I must state that I do not disagree with the test results. I actually think the results were correct and the conclusions drawn were the right ones. However I will continue to use my home made set up. The reasons are twofold. First, I feel that the power gain from the home made set up warrants the continued use of it. Second, using the K&N filter meets the minimum OEM requirements for filtration.



This is the only unbiased test of different filters that I have been able to find. http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm


JMC