I have been researching a bit about the best kind of drop in air filter to get for my Ram. I haven't made up my mind about an intake yet, and if I do get one I will have my buddy that owns a performance shop make me one. He has already told me he wants to do it.

Anyway, I have been hearing for a couple years now that air filters such as K&N (where they are basically oiled gauze/cotton) aren't necessarily the best way to go. While these type of filters give great air flow (at least initially), they are actually bad at stopping the smaller particles of dirt. Not to mention when they become dirty, which will be 80% of the time while in the vehicle between cleanings, their flow rate decreases a great deal.

There are two air filters that are catching my eye at this point.

The Amsoil Ea Air filters look very nice and are the most appealing right now. They use nano fiber technology to catch the smallest of particles yet still flow extremely well. http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/eaa.aspx They also have them for the 09 Ram. From what I can tell though, it appears as though the same size filter has been used for the Ram (for the 5.7 anyway) since the 2003 model. http://www.amsoil.com/catalog.aspx?code=EAA176-EA

The second is the TrueFlow foam air filters. These are the same filters that are used in the XDi intake which is available for the 09 Ram. They claim their foam filter, while it doesn't flow as much initially, will flow the same even once it gets dirty, plus it doesn't allow anywhere near the amount of dirt through the filter as the oiled gauze filters. http://www.trueflow.com/premiumairfilters.php Here is a video demonstration of their filter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r8NajjYkFA

The filter # for them for the Ram's with the 5.7 is #30201.

So has anybody had any experiences with these two filters? Here is some kind of a test that someone performed on air filters with some interesting results. http://www.roadkill.com/~davet/moto/air.filters.html

 

I have to say that I've used K&N filters on on my cars for about the last 6 years or so. I also use them on my Yamaha Rhino 660 for the air intake and the trans intake. I have never had a problem with these filters ever! I clean and re-oil them when they get dirty but have gone up to 2 years without cleaning them and still not had any problems. I have to believe that the people having problems with them are just not following the proper proceedure in cleaning/oiling/installing them. I'm not saying these other brands or worse or better but I am saying I don't believe that K&N would have been around as long as they have if their filters didn't really work. Not to mention that they give a 1 million mile warranty on them. I always keep a factory paper filter on hand so that after I have cleaned the K&N I can allow it to dry naturally for a few days before I re-oil it. I do think it has to be completely dry or the oil will just get sucked into the intake. I have never noticed any performance loss with a dirty K&N either. My yamaha 660 is riden at our place in S TX which during the summer is hot, dry and dusty. I've seen this filter caked with dirt a quarter inch thick with loose dirt in the air box but the rhino starts and rund great everytime. I'm not advocating buying one filter over another I'm just saying my experience with K&N has to date been a positive one and I guess to a certain degree their competetors have done a pretty good job of spreading rumors about dirt infiltration that I don't really believe is true. My opinion, take it for what it's worth and buy the filter you feel most comfortable with. I will say any of them are better than the paper filters. I have had trucks that wouldn't start before because the paper filter was clogged. Jeff.

 

I have used K&N myself for years as well. They are a good filter, I just believe there are better filters out there today as technology has advanced. While K&N uses the same technology they have always used, their competitors have advanced beyond the oiled gauze/cotton to synthetic fabrics which do a better job of stopping dirt. I also want to get away from having to re-oil a filter as I think it's a pain. With the Amsoil filter there is no re-oiling to be done and you clean it simply by blowing the dirt out with an air hose.

AFE also makes a Pro Dry filter that doesn't use oil and is still washable for use over and over again. I'm actually starting to give this filter a strong look as well. http://www.afefilters.com/pressrelea...ProDrySOER.htm You can clean it one of 3 ways, but of course most would wash it for best performance http://www.afefilters.com/51cleaning.pdf

 

I just got in the XDI for my 2009 Crew. Another post here recommended it, seems like the quality is very good and sturdy. Plan to put it on over the weekend, will post feedback on it.

 

Sounds good, let us know.

 

how it go?

 

I was thinking about a dyno test between K&N and paper.

I cannot believe how many threads on this there are now.

 

This was actually an old thread from February. FWIW I went with the Amsoil air filter and am pleased with it. I'm not really worried if it gained/lost power as I don't believe the power differences between filters today is even worth mentioning.

 

Installed the XDI intake about two and a half weeks, here my results from factory to XDI.

Factory: I live in New Mexico which means there is a crap load of Sand, Dust, Silt, Dirt, and other crap blowing around in the air, born and raised in Chcago (the windy city) Albuquerque is MUCH windier than Chicago has ever been.
When i took my factory air filter off at 1000 miles I put a paper towel in right where the air tube meets the throttle body and rubbed it around the outside once. it came out DIRTY!!!!! not just black but grimy you could feel the dirt.

XDI: I took my truck on a few a long drives now the milage is 1925, I took off the XDI tube going into the trottel body to install the POwer aid throttle body spacer. I did the same test with the paper towel and the paper towel came out clean... that just about sold me on foam filters. Some will say that foam filters do not get as much air as K&N or others well this XDI is HUGE!!!! there is a monster amount of surface area for this thing to get more than enough air.

As for a power difference with the XDI i dont think it does much but it makes it sound MUCH better when you get on it, after i put the Poweraid throttle body spacer i think that gave it more power because i could feel it more, so the two together gave it a boost in my eyes but not the XDI by itself.

 

bjk112

I agree New Mexico is windy. I spent a year down in El Paso recently. I was watching the history channel one time and found out why they call Chicago the windy city and it is not because of the wind blowing. Many years ago a Democratic Convention was being held and one of the speakers would not shut up. Somehow people started calling it the windy city.

True story.

Kevin