Any recomendations on air filters or air filter kits?

[Sirhuntalot]

I have an 05 f250 superduty, 6.0 litter diesel and am looking for advice on which aftermarket air filter to go with. If you have one, let me know what's good bad and ugly about yours.

Thanks,
Chris

[Rodslinger]

WELCOME CHRIS! Glad to have ya here at Powerstroke.org - especially great to have a fellow hunter and Texan!
I'm looking into the same thing myself so I'm interested in seeing everyones responses.

[99Smokin73Stroker]

Chris welcome to the PowerStroke forum! I've read and heard nothing but good things about AFE filters, other than the cost. They are a little on the pricey side, but if you take your time and look around you will find a good price on one. It took me a few weeks to find one for my 7.3 for less than 400 bucks. But the power gains are supposedly very high for a filter, and filtration is excellent despite such high flow. Open up that backside (exhaust) too!

[Worm Drowner]

If you do go with an AFE or any open filter, you really should consider getting the pre-filter as well.

[overl0rd]

On my 96 7.3, I run a K&N FIPK. For my application it dyno'd just a little better than the AFE. The AFE for the 6.0 seems to have a little bit of an edge on the K&N, and will enhance your low end considerably.

[99Smokin73Stroker]

I don't think the pre filter is all that necessary unless you own a farm truck, work construction sites, or go through a certain area during your commute to work where the road(s) are being rebuilt/resurfaced.

[AK_6LPSD]

Hey all, I am new here but have been on another site for some time. This subject has been beat to death there for a couple years. If your dead set on doing this mod go with the AFE 2 with the prefilter. This set up will give you the best flow versus filtration compared to other brands on the market. The K&N has been shown to have the worst filtration.

Be forwarned, this is the number one visual mod to make your dealer unhappy. There are mod friendly dealers but you should check with yours first. As far as performance goes, unless your modding for 1/4 mile tickets or running a 100+hp chip, stick with the OE Donaldson filter as the performance gained to cost is steep. The OE filter is a very good filter and has very good flow. Many guys are putting their OE filter back on due to lack of performance perceived versus playing roulette with warranty work.

I have read the newer models, 05 and 06's if I remember correctly, have a changed mass airflow sensor. This sensor can be easily fouled up by excessive oil from the oiled filters found on the aftermarket setups, or course throwing PCM codes.

WIX is making a throwaway filter and replacement housing they call the Powertrap. The unit looks nice and makes changing filters very easy compared to the stock setup. I have read all I can find on this filter but no real data seems to be available.

[99Smokin73Stroker]

Thanks for the info AK! I didn't think the K&N was that good, but I didn't think it was that bad either. Since some of us don't have warranty coverage anymore we really don't give a darn what the dealers think! So we want air, air and more air...and some good filtration..

[AK_6LPSD]

Smokin, I hear you, the more air the better. It all comes down to one's acceptable risk. A good friend smoked his turbo (99 7.3) in Alaska in under a year. The ultra fine grit (glacial silt mostly) in the air here made its way to the turbo. He was using a K&N. There was evidence of the silt in the intake past the filter also.

Couple years later (03-04) I came across an independant study. Actually a regular guy who had access to the fandangled machines that measure restriction and particulate flow. He got fellow diesel owners to chip in for purchase of new filters and tested them. He used several size particulate materials down to something microns to document filtration. The stock filter flowed within a few % points of most aftermarket filters but had the best filtration. From memory, the K&N did flow very good. However, the filtration was horrid.

Me, I am going to bide my time and wait for the odometer to roll on 100k. At that time I will take another look at the aftermarket filters and see what advances have been made.

[mschn99]

Originally Posted by AK_6LPSD

Smokin, I hear you, the more air the better. It all comes down to one's acceptable risk. A good friend smoked his turbo (99 7.3) in Alaska in under a year. The ultra fine grit (glacial silt mostly) in the air here made its way to the turbo. He was using a K&N. There was evidence of the silt in the intake past the filter also.

Couple years later (03-04) I came across an independant study. Actually a regular guy who had access to the fandangled machines that measure restriction and particulate flow. He got fellow diesel owners to chip in for purchase of new filters and tested them. He used several size particulate materials down to something microns to document filtration. The stock filter flowed within a few % points of most aftermarket filters but had the best filtration. From memory, the K&N did flow very good. However, the filtration was horrid.

Me, I am going to bide my time and wait for the odometer to roll on 100k. At that time I will take another look at the aftermarket filters and see what advances have been made.

you hit it on the nose, the bottom line is to allow more flow the fitration CAN NOT physically be as good on fine particles, and the biggest thing that will hurt a diesel motor is dust.