AFE or K&N for the?

That may be true, but I am not going to gamble my engine over it! Not trying to change your mind Janster, I am just glad you posted so we can give people looking for information both sides.

 

Thanks Janster

I looked on the package and couldn't find the instructions. But I'll follow your instructions when I clean both our K&N's next time.

As for the effectiveness of the filter and letting by more pariculate than the OEM filter I'm sure dgerm is right! How can a filter let in more air without letting in more dirt?!

However, I religiously change my oil long before OEM spec's thereby minimizing the side effects. While not perfect the cost per OEM filter replacement vs the minimal effect with frequent oil changes is probably the same as following Toyota's oil and filter change recommendations! I just put my money into better oil (synthetic) instead of regular (dino). I'm always asked how do I keep my cars running so long? My answer is "change the oil often"!

 

That's not a fair statement to say - although many people would agree.

I don't agree with that statement and haven't had problems with mine when I had them.

The 'oil' that you spray in there IS the filtering agent. The oil traps the fine particles. These filters are not designed for dusty dirty conditions and when used in those conditions, must be kept clean and cleaned regularly. Once the oil is saturated with dust, it can't filter anymore and will allow dust through. The idea is to keep it clean. I cleaned mine every 6 months.

 

Actually, has the filter becomes dirty it filters better. This is from K&N's wedsite.

4. How often do I need to clean my K&N air filter?

If you have not experienced a decrease in mileage or engine performance, chances are your filter is fine and does not yet need cleaning. To be more specific, the filter does not require cleaning if you can still see the wire screen on the entire air filter regardless of how dirty it may appear. When the screen is no longer visible some place on the filter, it is time to clean it. When used in normal paved road, street or highway conditions, our replacement air filters that fit in the factory air box should require cleaning every 50,000 miles and our large conical filters on an intake system should require cleaning every 100,000 miles. When used in dusty or off-road environments, our filters will require cleaning more often. We recommend that you visually inspect your filter once every 25,000 miles to determine if the screen is still visible.

 

IMHO, I've used the KN in many sports cars and V8 trucks and the drop ins added 1+mpg and I also believed the HP gains - how ever so small they were. The KN (Autozone) intake systems are the bottom of the barrel to what is out there now for any car or truck for the price as they seem to be just be bolt on and not take into consideration the MAF sensor positions and tube sizes to maximize leaning conditions to increase HP and MPG per most Dyno results, AFE, AEM, S&B, Volant are all better options for the price.

My personal experiences with my current taco, have been- AFE dry drop in, then AFE Stage 2 intake (lost 2+ MPG but gained upper rpm 10+ HP) but it was noisy, now I'm back to AFE dry drop in +.5 mpg (some slight 2-3 HP probably) because that is where I do most of my driving, its quite and easy to clean and pays for itself in 30k miles, its the non-oiled filters I like on our pickey MAF sensors that seem to not like oil on them....

To each their own, a good oil filter will catch most of the crap that gets by and if that small particles take 500 miles off my 300k mile engine...its not the end of the world because I will have sold the truck by then.

 

Yeah, I know you test your oil. You've mentioned it a gazillion times!

I have nothing againest oil testing, but I personally don't have the time and I don't see the need for it. The oil will get dirty. Change your oil & filter every 4500-5000 miles and you get rid of 90% (or whatever) of that dirt.

Having oil tests done would ultimately mean that you're spending way too much time & money trying to figure out which air filter, which oil filter, and what oil to use to get the perfect results. What exactly - would be the perfect result to an oil test - from oil that's been in your engine for 5000 miles? After after all that effort...does it really & truely make your truck last that much longer? Hell, the body & frames rust out long before the engines do!!

Sorry, couldn't help myself.