airaid purchase

[digitaldrifter91]

well i am not a cheapo person no more and have done many things to my cars, especially my 1986 300zx. i recently converted to electric fans over the fan clutch system to find that i have alot more punch.

so i finally looked at my air filter box to find that the pleats were pretty beat up in terms of collapsing, and it was very dirty.

so i went and bought a new fram filter, after i went to the truck store and found airaid air filters. as a bonus they had the k & n side by side so i took the filters that fit my factory air box and compared them in terms of quality and in the lights.

the air aid filter ($45) has less holes that emmit pure light through...the KN filter had quite a few of those, and the oil on the airaid filter was far less than the k & n filter. u can see the oil accumulate on the k & n but the airaid was very minimal, i couldnt even get a good amount on my fingers.

the pleats are much thicker and deaper than k & n and the frame of it is very very sturdy. unlike k & n which is a bit on the flimsy side.

after driving it, it feels a bit better, kinda sensitive at the throttle, but of course i did change out an old filter.

i was going to just return the airaid filter and use my paper filter, but if i rememberd correctly, every fram filter i pulled out of my car has had the pleats collapsed, i do alot of WOT though. so i guess airaid is right for me?

i noticed that there wasnt many threads on airaid filters so i guess i can share.

....on a side note i also put some aluminum tape that i got from home depot under the metal air chamber that holds the filter and to find that inside is much cooler cause it sits right on top of the radiator.

i didnt want to go to a cone filter due to smog and emmisisions and cops in my area. they see that its a big fixing ticket, plus processing fee plus etc etc etc

 

[RedWolf4000]

Nice. Any cotton guaze, especially a stock replacment one will work in your vehicle, and you can see hundreds of thousands of miles on your engine with it. Figured I'd say you made the right move before a few old timers and over thinkers jump on and reply like "aint nothin beat a good ole paper air filter" and "gee-golly you gone done sand blast your engine son"

Good Choice.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

probably ill do an oil analysis as well.

 

[goodvibes]

Gee-golly, a used oil analysis a good idea and let the results guide your decision making. They seem fine in some apps but not others. If the oil is tackier and the filter less porous, your intake may stay clean. Keep an eye on your MAF if you have one. I hope it works for you. Some of us have had problems in use with K&N, it dosen't make us oldtimers. They've been around longer then me but many have had MAF issues. Whether the motor lasts longer then we keep them or not means very little when things become a hassle.
Wolf, The other side of that coin is gee-golly I bet you go lots faster with that K&N and get at least 10% better mileage son. I'm glad it works for you but take a pill.

 

[RedWolf4000]

LoL. I'm a trouble maker, what can I say.

 

[goodvibes]

I resemble that remark.

 

[RedWolf4000]

Alot of performance vehicles come with a AirRaid or a K&N stock. For example, the Mustang Cobra came with a K&N filter (as OEM)a few years back to free up any high rpm restrictions that the paper air filter was causing.

The special addition Joe Gibb's Silverado came with a K&N drop in pannel filter as OEM equiptment to prevent a restriction to the supercharger.

I honestly dont think you can go wrong with any cotton guaze filter.

For a site that looks at small percentages and studies everything down to the last micron this is not acceptable. In reality, there isnt a single tuner enthusiast that does not use a high-flow type filter. Sure paper filters may show slightly better marks on one of your air filter tests like the one from Spicer. But the K&N shows great results on that test as well. Plus, other sources show paper filters to filter as low as 93% with the SAE tests. Dont forget that many used oil analysis on this site dont show any difference from a K&N drop in to a paper in silicon or other indicators on the used oil analysis at all. Sure there may be a few bad ones, but I am sure you can find a few bad paper's too. It makes me a little crazy when i see people saying "change your Mobil 1 Extended Peformance every 7500k" to someone who is asking when it clearly will run 15k, guarenteed. The numbers that you guys think are high on a used oil analysis, are probabally just an obsession. The only way to test true wear is by measuring the internals againts original spec.

It should be easy to see that I cannot take it serious when someone tells me that there K&N let sand into there intake, thats just a joke. The product has never, in its history caused a single early repair. You can go and say that your dirt bike in the dessert needed to be rebuilt claiming it was the K&N but I would put my money that it would of needed a rebuild if you had used the paper filter too.

As far as I am concerned, higher silicon numbers simply show me that the oil is doing its job.

Remember, many car owners do not take care of there cars even as close to the point that some of the guys on this site do, and they still have them for many, many years.

Ive pulled ripped, oil saturated, super dirty paper air filters out of cars that were not doing there job for years, and never have seen a rebuild needed because of it.

Overthinking something often makes issues and problems that are not really there. This leads to feeling like your being tricked or decieved and makes you want to just put your mind at ease. I see it every week on this forum, a new post that says "went back to paper air filter" after they spent there hard earned money on somthing that actually does as advertised. You obveously bought a cotton guaze because you thought it could do the job based on what you have read. And it can! Dont let over analyzing somthing thats not really a problem get the best of you.

I think its great that this site can find out the differences between every oil, oil filter and air filter, a consumer that is educated will know what hes buying the next time he hits up the parts counter. But, dont fall victim to some of the over-analysis that goes on here. Even the cheapest card-board end cap FRAM oil filter does a damage free job, thats why the product remains on the store shelves.

DigitalDrifter, I hope that I dont see a post a month down the road that says you have switched back to paper. You have a good product.

It will not lower the life of your engine in anyway. Holes through the pleats are normal, the oil is spread throughout them. Wait until its dirty, you will see a few smaller black specs right in the middle of these "holes" and you will be assured that the filter actually works as its simply stated on there website.

This is the longest post I have ever done, but I feel strongly about the over analyzing I have spoken of, please dont be offended! Use what you want to use on your vehicle, after all, its YOUR vehicle!

Just my 2 cents.

 

[surfstar]

a used oil analysis is a good idea, as i was worried about all the Si paranoia. i have a K&N clone cone filter (say that fast) that was cleaned once and re-oiled. my used oil analysis a few months later had 6 ppm of Si. no oil on any sensors, no dust in the intake after the filter. be happy and enjoy the purchase.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

quote:

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Originally posted by RedWolf4000:

DigitalDrifter, I hope that I dont see a post a month down the road that says you have switched back to paper. You have a good product.

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haha i am not going to throw away 50 bucks just because of that!! unless it has a big hole in it!!!! lol

thanks for the post, i came to mostly the same conclusion as you, in overanalyzin, cause i did that before and it just kept delaying me of this

 

[oilcan]

I have run K&Ns,paper filters,(many brands) I looked into Airaid after having dirt problems with K&Ns, and I bought the Airaid Filter for my wife's 04 Trailblazer, that was 20,000 miles ago so far so go.

 

[Schmoe]

Got an AirRaid on my 01 F150 about two years ago, so far so good. Good used oil analysis too.