Does air filter brand really make a difference?

I have about 43,000 miles on my truck and I think it's probably about time to change my air filter. Any brand better than another? Suggestions?

And what is this cabin air filter thing?

Thanks!

 

I use name brand filters.
Cabin air filter..... some of the newer vehicles have the cabin filters. Cleans the incoming air to the cab. Check your owners manual. My 2001 doesn't have one and I don't know when they started.

 

Hi,
" AFE pro dry " under the hood air filter - it is a lifetime filter , can be cleaned with a shop vac.

Also, cabin air filters are on 2006 to current model taco trucks and need to be replaced when dirty..
The filters can be found $ for cheap on the internet, all internal cab air goes through the filter before entering cab of truck.
The filter is located behind the glove compartment area. be very careful when releasing strut on right side of glove compartment as it has a spring effect and can be damaged upon removal. Good luck!

 

x2. I went with a TRD air filter in mine but just stick to name brand filters.

The cabin air filter is located behind the glove box inside the cab. You have to remove the glove box to get to it and, if you're at 43,000 miles, should probably get swapped out.

 

Actually, the cabin air filter protects the evaporator from dirt-laden outside air. A dirty evaporator is insulated, and an insulated evaporator will freeze.

 

Does not matter. As long as the one you get does the job.

 

Can't beat K & N quality for air filters IMO. And I just changed my cabin filter for a Fram Fresh Breeze w/ baking soda in it. Def freshened up incoming air flow

 

... Napa Gold, Wix, or OEM

Pro dry if you don't want replaceable.

Fram and the like are garbage.

 

I suggest Toyota {OEM}.I had a ford escort and went from motorcraft to frame and lost 5 MPG.I compared and the filter area of the frame was smaller.I changed back to motorcraft and got my MPG back.Less air,less mpg.

 

X2 on both, I would not go any other way...

 

I like WIX for oil filters so I ordered a WIX air filter last time I did mine. NAPA Gold oil filters are made by WIX, the air filters probably are too. I guess you could run a super cheap one but a good brand name filter is like $8 more. No big difference between out there in air filters I don't think except for the difference between a throw away and a washable. When you change it there's two filters in there, one on the fender side and one on the engine side. The engine side one stays in place and you only change the other one. There's a write up on here to pull out the secondary filter but apparently it doesn't improve power or mpgs and for myself it is a truck and I occasionally run it off road in dust and dirt so the last thing I want it to take away air filtration.

For the cabin filter, basically two options and lots of brands to choose from. There's just standard filters and then there's charcoal/carbon/baking soda filters than can deal with smells too in addition to dirt, leaves & dust. The area I'm in is rural and the farmers spread a lot of cow manure on the fields. The previous owner complained that the stock Toyota carbon filter would start to have an ammonia like stink to it and he'd have to replace the filter. Presumably the carbon absorbs smells until it's 'full' then starts to smell itself. I while after I got it I noticed a bit of a cat-piss reek in the truck and after some good cleaning and searching under the seats I changed the filter and it went away.

I went with the cheaper non-carbon ones, yeah, I smell stuff from outside now but I've done without smell filtration since I started driving so I don't really care. I got them on ebay from AirCabinMan because he had cheap shipping to Canada. There's cheaper options out there in the US but by the time you ship to Canada $10-$12 each is a pretty good deal. The dealer will want about $50. If you order them try and get a few at a time, you can save big on shipping.

 

Ya my friend was tellin me about those, but do you really notice a difference between stock and K&N airfilters?

 

They're overpriced for what you get in my opinion. For the money I'd just get a TRD filter or AFE.

 

amsoil ea. filter

absolute efficiency.

yeah.

 

Lot's of write ups out there from professionals, even some independent studies, showing that oiled ie: K&N type air filters only provide very minimal flow and for a very short amount of time before they lose any advantage and actually start to lose flow compared to OEM filters.

Also, they show that the short lived minimal flow gain isn't enough to increase HP in today's new motors. Especially the 4.0 V6 in a lot of our Tacoma's.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html

http://www.dieselbombers.com/chevrolet-diesel-tech-articles/16611-duramax-air-filter-testing.html