TRD Air Filter: Good or Bad Idea?

After just picking up my 2013 Tacoma Prerunner V6 DCSB, I'm looking to pull out the stock filter and put in an aftermarket, less restrictive re-usable type. I notice most of the threads on here are comparing K&N and AFE brand filters. Is there any legitimate reason not to go with the TRD filter(P/N: PTR43-00070)? I'm sort of leaning towards this option since the vehicle will be under warranty for the next couple of years and it seems to me that this would avoid any sort of confrontations with the dealerships about replacing something with a non-toyota part.

FWIW, in purchasing the new Tacoma, I traded in my 1999 Tacoma V6 Prerunner, in which I ran a K&N filter for the better part of its life (traded it in with ~155K miles). I did have a MAF sensor go out at around 100K miles, but I never was able to directly correlate that to the use of the K&N filter, but it does make you wonder...

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

main thing, stay away from oiled filters.........they can kill the MAF sensor, properly oiled or not.

back in the day I had them kill 2 celica MAFs and 2 maxima MAFs

if u wanna run something, try the AFE prodry S

just keep an eye on the intake tract after the filter for any dirt debris.

cost of replacing the factory filter is pretty low to be honest (ask the dealer for a deal on 3 or more), they cut breaks and u dont have to change them as often as some claim if u dont drive in the sahara or arizona.

seriously, the cost savings is pretty low on a reusable filter VS factory.....I think Rich did the math a few times.

 

If oiled properly and the MAF is cleaned regularly, there is no danger.

 

What did you decide? I have the 2013 and want an answer to the same? Are they worth the $$$, which is the right one/type, Someone in one of these threads said if you don't change the exhaust for balance then why change the filter. New to this and just trying to learn. I am gonna baby my new truck and get as good a mpg as possible so any info is appreciated.

 

Careful.....that's how it starts.

Why change filter without the exhaust, then y pipe, the headers....its a snowball really

Also, trd doesn't make filters anyhow.....they have manufacturers like k&n or afe bid for projects/contracts.

So in the end, there is only a handful of filter manufacturers

Filter or absolutely no filter, its been measured with no increase of hp on a dyno.

The filter isn't the issue, if u wanna break it down, its the kinks in the piping of the stock system according to gadget. Factory filter vs no filter at all showed zero gain.

 

I ended up ordering the TRD filter. I ordered it off Amazon, although it wasn't any cheaper than what the parts dept. at the dealership was offering. I just happened to have some Amazon credits laying around so I figured I'd put them to use. It's scheduled to arrive this week. Before it gets installed, I plan on documenting my current mpg's and then after the install, I can do some before & after comparisons and post 'em on here.

Honestly though, I'm not expecting to experience anything earth shattering with it (or any other filter for that matter). Main reason I was looking to put one of these type filters in was because of the fact that they're re-usable. And maybe I'm also a sucker for the marketing BS. It sounds good, right?!? We'll see how it works out...

One last note, the guy at the parts desk at the dealership did say that going with the TRD filter while the truck was under warranty (as opposed to a K&N or AFE filter) would more than likely keep me out of a bind if by chance something screwy happens with the new truck and fingers start getting pointed at an aftermarket non-Toyota part being installed. That, for me, was really the main selling point for going with the TRD filter.

 

That is some good advice (I hadn't thought about the potential warranty issue) Looking forward to your mpg postings. I only have 950 miles on my truck so I don't need anything yet. I'm going to keep reading to see what is working and what's not. I tow a small 3,500Lb travel trailer into the Sierra's so the extra mpg's power etc, would be helpful. But like the one guy advised be aware of the $$$ snowball. Most of my driving is putting around.

 

Comically, ill bet 10 bucks its either k&n or afe.......iirc TRD doesn't have an air filter plant. That's just 1 reason they give contracts to afe and k&n if I heard right

But yeah, it would be hard for toyota to not honor warranty on an item with their name on it for sure.

Clean ur maf, clean ur maf, clean ur maf.....and u should be ok

 

Does the TRD filter even use oil or is it a dry filter? I'd have thought they'd use a dry one...even so, that is specifically one of the reasons for the MM act. Changing of air filter brands, oil filter brands, oil brands, and other replaceable items like brake pads and such. It (the MM act) wasn't actually to protect us against the big bad dealers when we change out the design of the vehicle by going with different suspensions, or make changes to the drivetrain or boost the engine.

I'll use a re-usable filter later on because it's reusable. That's the only reason. I'd I'll likely use Afe's dry filter.

 

The TRD air filter to fit in the stock air filter box is made by aFe.

The aFe equivalent is the Pro5R filter, 5 layers of progressively finer cotton gauze and blue filter oil.

The TRD is the same thing with red urethane instead of black and it uses gold filter oil. I actually made a TRD filter on one of my visits at aFe.

aFe also makes the same filter in their ProDryS filter media that does not use oil. That is my preference. URD stocks a LOT of aFe intake kits, but pretty much only stocks the intakes with the ProDryS filters.

Over the years we have seen problems with oiled filters especially the ones from K&N so we try hard to talk people out of oiled filters. Never seen a problem with the dry synthetic filters.

http://urdusa.com/Intakes-Air-Filters/c151_165/index.html

G