K & N Filters

[cperky]

I am looking to improve mpg on my truck. Chevy 2500 6.0 with 4:10 rear. I know that k&n offers the cold air intake system or the replacement filter that works with my current intake system. Will the "filter only" improve my mpg, will the "system" improve my mpg more? is there a difference at all? I am looking to improve mpg while driving and while towing. Any one with experience with the K & N filters or cold air systems?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[workinallthetime]

99 6.0 2500 had one
04 6.0 deanli had one
07 6.0 v-max has one
08 6.2 deanli has one
Yes you may get a little more mpg, little better throttle response, and dont over oil them ir it will end up costing you lots of $$$$$. I have been running them for years because they save you money, never have to buy another gm air filter at 35 bucks. the last k&n i bought was 41 bones. the first one i bought was almost 70. On the trucks i have always had exhaust work done, I have had real good luck with the flowmaster mufflers. The combination of the k&n and the flowmaster is good for about 1.2 mpg increse if you can keep your foot out of it. If you have more than 30k miles on your truck i would highly recomend a fuel system service. Have a shop clean your injectors and induction system. Most shops use either BG or GM products to do this. I would stay away from the MOC shops, their products do not do near as good of a job. That is a service I do on mine every 25-30k religiously !!

ohh and i have never wasted the money for the "cold air" kits, they dont work unless you can figure out how to make them more of a ram air style. I had a customer chasis mpg and bout the gm kit for 400 bucks and was pizzed he got nothing out of it, tried to tell him looks good and thats about it.

 

[RollingsFarms]

I am looking to improve mpg on my truck. Chevy 2500 6.0 with 4:10 rear. I know that k&n offers the cold air intake system or the replacement filter that works with my current intake system. Will the "filter only" improve my mpg, will the "system" improve my mpg more? is there a difference at all? I am looking to improve mpg while driving and while towing. Any one with experience with the K & N filters or cold air systems?

Thanks,
Chris

i have experience with both acctually. i have a 2004 silverado Z71 and first used the drop in filter from k&n. didn't notice that much(if any) gain in hp and/or increase in mpg. decided to try the cold air intake system offered by them. i think i MIGHT have gained .2 mpg and alot more noise when i get on the throttle. gets dirty pretty easily, and while it only takes about 10 min to clean, it would be much faster to buy a drop in air filter and be done with it. if you decide to get one of these, DO NOT over oil the air filter, as it will collect dust and even bugs MUCH faster. they claim that the fact that the cold air intake is exposed to the elements(not secured in an air filter box) won't harm anything, but i can't see it doing much good really. if i had to do it all over again, i would have just kept the stock air filter setup and saved my $$$. not saying its a bad product, but i havent been the beneficiarry of all the promises they claimed. also, i have noticed my mpg hasnt been that great in the past couple of years or so. i dont know if thats attributed to the quality of gas we are getting or not, but i have heard this same complaint from many others as well. hope this helps, but its only my opinion based on what i've experienced so dont let it sway your decision too much one way or the other.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I put one on a F-150 and saw no difference but put one on all 3 of my Diesel trucks and saw a difference. I guess it had to do with it being a Turbo engine and it could suck air a little better.

Bottom line is its a gas hog of a engine in a truck with a low rear end. If you want good MPG'S get a Prius or Civic. Not trying to burst your bubble. I own 4 4X4 trucks now and just picked up a Saturn a few months back to increase my MPG.

Chris

 

[daBear]

Think of your engine as an air pump which it basically is. You can let more air in with a K&N, but unless you change your exhaust system you are not pushing more air out. Therefore, you haven't done much other than buy an expensive air filter. I stick with OEM or other premium paper filters and change them regularly.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

There are several sites with air filter studies, instumented lab tests, K&N didn't do that well.

That said I do have one on my Ford with a 460 engine the wife gave me. I'd not spend that kind of money myself.

The filter I have I can see voids in the filter media which means dirt can get through. And that is what the filter studies have said.

Do youself a favor and find, read, the tests and then decide.

Here is just one site of several. ISO 5011 Duramax Air Filter Test Report

 

[Skyco]

I had one on my 96' F350 PSD and removed it...they let WAY too much dirt through. This has been shown in many tests and many turbo diesel owners have found out the hard way. Cost me $500 for a turbo, if even ONE grain of sand gets through and hits a 25,000 rpm turbo blade you have damage.
Anybody wants to dust an engine I'll give them mine if they'll pay shipping You couldn't pay me to run another one, ever.

 

[Builder]

I am looking to improve mpg on my truck. Chevy 2500 6.0 with 4:10 rear. I know that k&n offers the cold air intake system or the replacement filter that works with my current intake system. Will the "filter only" improve my mpg, will the "system" improve my mpg more? is there a difference at all? I am looking to improve mpg while driving and while towing. Any one with experience with the K & N filters or cold air systems?

Thanks,
Chris

I wouldn't use any other air intake system than a stock one if you only want stock power out of your truck. If something goes wrong with your motor guess what? Warranty DENIED. They'll blame it on the aftermarket crap. I would think that GM went through plenty of trouble to design an air filtration system that will very capably allow your engine to intake all the air it needs. Buddy of mine put a K&N on a Powerstroke, DUSTED it, and his warranty was denied.

I would concentrate on other areas to improve fuel economy. Religiously check tire pressures or switch to a less agressive tread tire to reduce rolling resistance. Avoid excess idling or running AC when not needed and keep your foot out of it. Unload unecessary weight. You'll gain more that way than a new air filter and it costs nothing.

If you install a $200 cold air kit, how long will it take to "pay back". I bet longer than you think.

 

[ihookem]

I had a k&n filter and looked at the sun through it and took it off. No way is this a good filter. So I got the Amsoil 123 in the test for 38 bucks. I'm not too thrilled about the Amsoil filter neither, but it did ok. I will go back to the paper filters. Thanks for the info.

 

[ihookem]

This test was done 4 years ago and the filters may have improved though.

 

[RollingsFarms]

does anyone know or have a guess as to how much it would cost to switch back to the factory air box if you have a k&n?

 

[dmccarty]

I won't put a K&N on my equipment.

Go search the websites that support your truck. On mine there are discussions about trucks using K&N being entered into the Ford computer systems. Ford will deny warranty coverage if there is damage caused by air filtration. Ford is noting that the truck had a K&N. If the engine is dusted and you show up with a Ford filter, Ford will know you had a K&N.

I don't really know if this is happening but it has been discussed on the Ford related sites.

Just not worth it to me. The Ford filter works.

Later,
Dan

 

[Dargo]

After working on and around extremely expensive and large diesel machinery I noticed one common factor in the air filters. That was Baldwin or Donaldson air filters. If they trust them to half a million dollar V12 diesel engines that put out over a thousand hp and work in extremely dirty and dusty conditions, I figure they are good enough for me. I don't know what models this holds true for, but I did discover that my "factory" John Deere, Kubota and CNH air filters were all made by either Baldwin or Donaldson.

I too had tried a K&N filter on a vehicle many years ago. I took it out and pitched it after I had several engine builders tell me that, in their opinion, K&N air filters allow more air flow at the expense of good filtration and that poor filtration had been the direct cause for expensive damage. I don't want to reinvent the wheel nor be on the cutting edge of anything. I just want good performance, good reliability and good economy without taking any undue risks in achieving those objectives. Based on what I've been told, I view using a K&N filter system as taking more of a risk than I'm personally willing to take. I guess you could say that I don't view the potential reward to be near enough to offset the potential risk with air filters.

 

[Builder]

Totally agree. My IH4800 and my CASE take Baldwin filters about the size of a 5 gallon drywall spackel bucket and it moves some air.

The problem with the small trucks is they have little space under the hood for a bigger free flowing intake. The one on my DMAX is pretty decent sized.

 

[cperky]

wow! thanks for all the responses. I am glad I asked before I purchased the K&N products. I had really bought into their recent advertising. I guess I was really expecting good reviews from everyone here. I will just keep replacing my air filters as normal and do the other common sense things that all of yall have mentioned.

Thanks again
Chris

 

[Builder]

wow! thanks for all the responses. I am glad I asked before I purchased the K&N products. I had really bought into their recent advertising. I guess I was really expecting good reviews from everyone here. I will just keep replacing my air filters as normal and do the other common sense things that all of yall have mentioned.

Thanks again
Chris

Lots of snakeoil out there, ever with truck parts. I have no doubt the K&N might move more air, but the price to pay is probably more particles getting past your intake. I could be wrong, but I don't trust them.

 

[crashz]

I had a K&N filter on an F150 and could see a slight perfomance gain (seat of the pants) and thought the world of K&N products. Reading the studies about the fine particles passings untouched through them kinda of bothered me. But what really made me cringe (and vow never to use an oiled filter again) is the amount of dust accumulated in the pleats of the air intake. I was able to shake it out over a plain piece of paper and it was very fine dark sand. VERY gritty. No doubt that this was road dust because it was covering the filter too. I never experienced engine damage to the extent that I had mechanicl problems, however my oil analysis always came back with high silicone.

 

[Builder]

does anyone know or have a guess as to how much it would cost to switch back to the factory air box if you have a k&n?

You could probably find a stock air filtration system cheap if you go to a truck website and look in their classifieds. Lots of guys try to sell them after they install an aftermarket intake on their truck.

 

[WilliamBos]

I agree. They let more air through, but also let everything else through. And you will not see a return on investment for a long long time.

 

[RollingsFarms]

You could probably find a stock air filtration system cheap if you go to a truck website and look in their classifieds. Lots of guys try to sell them after they install an aftermarket intake on their truck.

thanks! yeah, that's what i've been doing. that and looking on ebay. my friend also has been debating about getting an aftermarket air kit. he has the same truck as mine, so i told him i wanted his stock air box if he decided to go through with it. if anyone hears of anything just send me a PM. need one for a 2004 silverado Z71 with the 5.3