I have used K&N filters for about 12 years in all my vehicles. 4 Ford 4X4s, An Rx7 Turbo and Mustang Cobra. I live in the Southern California desert (very dusty). Never had a problem of dust or dirt getting beyond the filter (unlike paper filters on new vehicles I bought). This info was brought to you by MSparks, who is by the way, an Amsoil distributor. This is BS put out by Amsoil. Anyone that uses a 4X4 in a dusty area, or any type of vehicle for that matter, should use an oil coated cotton gause filter (K&N). They are the best for stopping dust. I 4 wheel in an area that has dust as fine a flour and sand and I've never had any get by my K&N.

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99 XLT 4X4 Reg Cab, Sport Package, 4.2 with 5 speed, 265/70/17 tires, 3.55 axle, 4 wheel discs and 4 wheel ABS, K&N air filter, a Dynamax Race Magnum muffler and a Kenwood CD stereo system.

 

I have the Airaid system with a K&N filter and just got done installing a pre filter from Outerwears. You can get more information from Outerwears at the following web site. http://www.outerwearsracing.com/frames.htm


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97 F150 XLT, 5.4, EXTANG,SUPERCHIP, EDELBROCK SHOCKS,
GIBSON SPLIT REAR,
HELLWIG SWAY BAR,
AIRAID, SONY ES-CDX880 HEAD,
SONY ES-XM5046 AMP
BOSTON PRO'S 6.5 FRONT



[This message has been edited by INDY (edited 12-06-1999).]

 

Ron is right. I've had a K&N on my F150 since it was new and it works. I clean mine every 50-60k miles of driving (no off road).

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'93 Regular Cab XLT Shortbed, 5.0, K&N, Borla, 160,000 miles; Future Expedition owner.

 

To msparks i will buy the filter here is my e-mail rush@advnet.net E-mail me with a price

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2000 f150 4x4 offroad pkg, 5.4 xlt

 

msparks, I would take this comparison with a grain of salt. if you don't oil the K&N properly it won't work like it should. So first Amsoil would need to prove that the K&N was prepared correctly to prove their results to me. You stated that K&N was popular with F-150 owners, I you looked into it you would find it extends far beyond F-150s. I personally would not remove mine because of just one piece of info that you found on one of their competitors websites. K&N has been around for quite while now is a very respected company Other than the wire harness/FIPK problems for last year I can't remember anything negative said here about them. just my .02

 

As a former professional drag racer and having built our own motors, I would not hesitate to recommend using K&N air filters for your street vehicle. We use them in every one of our vehicles, with no detrimental effects whatsoever, no rough idle, no filter oil getting past the filter, no loss of compression, performance or fuel mileage.

Now, is an Amsoil air filter *better* than a K&N? I couldn't tell you, though Amsoil generally makes excellent products. I'd use their synthetic oil if I could buy it on the shelf of my local parts store, as Amsoil does make one of the best synthetic oils on the market. What I *can* tell you is that we will continue to use K&N air filters in every one of our vehicles. I think anyone will be just fine using either product.

Our bests to all,

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com

[This message has been edited by Superchips_Distributor (edited 12-06-1999).]

 

My family owns a Mazda rotary engine powered dune buggy. It is high performance and we only use K&N filters. We are always in soft sand and to help the filter do its job we use an Outerwear pre-filter. I don't know all the statistics on how it performs but our carb is always clean.
INDY posted a similar thing earlier. You can get more info from www.outerwearsracing.com

 

Superchip_Distributor you couldn't have made that point any clearer. Most of your main brands of air filters will perform up to the manufactors standards. For those of us who are wanting that egde or I should say extra performance the K&N is the wait to go WITH MORE AIR & NO EXTRA DIRT IN ENGINE. A friend of mind (dirt track racer) has used K&N for several years on all of his cars. Yes, this engines are rebuilt on a regular basis, but no highway vehicle can indulge the amount of dirt these cars see in a 100+ miles. Sure, the foam filtering system is also better than the factory but, as for as the filter life the K&N has proven to be "No.1".

I'm staying with the K&N filter, plus plan on installing the air box next year.

 

After all of this...I am keeping my K&N filter in my truck. I have not had any problems at all.

---------------------------------------------
2000 F-150 XLT, 4x2, 5.4L Supercab, Styleside, Black with silver two-tone, 3.55, class III towing package with heavy duty cooling package, overhead console, sliding rear window, keyless entry, dark graphite interior, in dash CD, Pendaliner bedliner, K&N air filter, cabin filtration system, Bugflector II, engine build 10/4/99

 

I WOULD NOT HESITATE TO PUT A K&N IN ANY OF MY VEHICLES. I DIDNT EVEN TAKE DELIVERY OF MY TRUCK AND I BOUGHT ONE. BOTH OF MY BIKES HAVE THEM TOO. ONE VERY IMPORTANT FACT THOUGH, IS TO MAKE SURE YOU OIL IT AFTER YOU CLEAN IT. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FILTER. ALSO REMEMBER NEVER TO USE COMPRESSED AIR TO CLEAN IT. ALWAYS WARM SOAPY WATER. IN MOST CONDITIONS, YOU SHOULD ONLY HAVE TO CLEAN IT EVERY 10-15000 MILES. WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY

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1999 F150 4x4 XLT BLACK ORP 4.6 5 SPEED 3.55
LUND HOOD SHEILD
K&N
FLOWMASTER SERIES 40
SUPERCHIP
PREMIUM SOUND W/CHANGER
PIONEER 6815's(for now)

 

Blackenedfrord,
you said
"YOU SHOULD ONLY HAVE TO CLEAN IT EVERY 10-15000
MILES. WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY"
It takes that long to load up with enough dirt to start being effective, please read your instructions carfully!!

When I bought my K&N it said to 50,000 between cleanings! I think if you clean it too often you will ruin it for sure!

[This message has been edited by msparks (edited 12-06-1999).]

 

I hope that the K&N keeps the dust out, because sometimes I am in so much dust that I have to turn on the lights so other people can see me. I go down alot of dirt roads and pick up alot of dust in the hay fields.

 

I think that K&N makes a great filter, I first used them in motorcycle applications and then I put one on my f150. I am just questioning there ability to filter dirt as stated by the K&N company here:

Dear customer,
Our filters are tested by an outside, independent laboratory, Motor Industry
Research Association (MIRA). They stop 97 % of particles on a SAE fine dust test.
This test uses mostly particles in the 0 - 5 micron range but up to 20 microns. For
comparison, a paper filter stops 98% on
the same test and the OEM minimum standard is 95%. Our filters do even better, up
to 98.6%, as they build up a dirt layer.

My question is how long does it take to "build up" a layer of dirt? So in the mean time that you are building up this layer you are alowing my dirt into your engine than you would with the paper, right?

A K&N Filtercharger can be washed up to 25 times before it is considered no longer serviceable. Even though the filter may
not show outward signs of deterioration, it should be replaced after 25 washings. Excessive washings will deplete the tiny
cotton hairs that crisscross the openings. The resulting damage will allow tiny dust particles to pass through.

The longer that you own the filter the less effecive it is a filtering the smaller particles--The cotton gets microscopic tears in it from the clean and it alows bigger and bigger particle of dirt throught-
http://www.knfilters.com/affacts.htm#PAPER

Here K&N shows how much more air they flow, where is the chart showing how much more dirt they stop????

If I were racing or didn't want my truck to last as long as possible I would not care how much dirt was getting into the engine,

K&N has been around 30+ years and Amsoil has been around 28 or so years, Why do we belive one over the other?

Go here and then to page 6 there is a better graph: http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g385.pdf

As you will notice that this is a standardized test (SAE TEST Method J 7263)

Also look at this site: http://www.uniflow.com.au

"So to compare a UniFilter with a conventional paper air filter, as mentioned, far less
effort is required to pull air through the filter - giving a performance increase particularly
when it comes to fuel saving (better air flow or what should be stated - less vacuum -
resulting in smoother running and therefore less fuel being sucked into the system).
Oust retention wise, a paper filter is in fact a sieve which must have holes large enough
to allow air to pass through. That hole size will allow dust particles of 35 to 40 micron to
pass - UniFilter's sticky oil catches everything above 4 to 5 micron. Given that engine
wear is caused by dust particles larger than 15 micron - UniFilter air filters are way out
in front when it comes to dust retention."

I am not trying to bad mouth any product, I just feel that K&N has its application, I don't think that race applications are the same as regular drivers. There are other competitors out there that might be better for daily drivers that we want ours to last a long time. I know that some of you are looking to get the most power out of your trucks, but at what sacrifice???

This is Fact Amsoil Traps more dirt!
K&N flows more air!

[This message has been edited by msparks (edited 12-06-1999).]

[This message has been edited by msparks (edited 12-06-1999).]

 

After reading the many posts on this thread..I looked at my K&N filter. Still looks brand new (4,000 miles on it now - 2,800 miles in my 98 F-150 and now 1,200 miles on my 2000 F-150). The tube leading into the engine past the filter was 100% dirt/dust free.

I had no problem leaving my K&N filter installed. It is working just fine.

---------------------------------------------
2000 F-150 XLT, 4x2, 5.4L Supercab, Styleside, Black with silver two-tone, 3.55, class III towing package with heavy duty cooling package, overhead console, sliding rear window, keyless entry, dark graphite interior, in dash CD, Pendaliner bedliner, K&N air filter, cabin filtration system, Bugflector II, Mobil 1, engine build 10/4/99

 

K&N, love 'em. On my third vehicle using K&N's. This one is by far the hardest vehicle of the three to notice any hp difference, the filter is no match for 5000lbs. But, if you've driven a fast car with one, you'll never buy anything else. As for dust, keep it oiled. Dust dries the oil, reducing it's effectiveness. My intakes have stayed nice and clean.

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99 XLT Black Ex-cab, Flareside, 5.4, ORP, 3.73, Gibson Supertruck, K&N, Superchip, Raised front 1", Modified Airbox, Slap-Free Motor at @19k