I have a 2004 ram 2500 CTD. It has normal airfilter in stock box. does it pay to change to one of those ram air or open cone shaped K and N looking filters? without doing anything else will it help or hurt my mpg or power? and are they good to run in winter?

 

It depends on what you want to get out of it. The only thing I have done is gutted the hard plasted tube in the middle and changed to an AFE drop in filter. The only thing I have noticed is the turbo seems to spool just a little quicker. Other than that, I doubt your going to notice any mpg or power difference.

Once you start going to performance add ons, you want a new intake system to help move more air.As more people chime in you will get a lot of other opinions and suggestions.

 

Whats all this about gutting the intake? I'm not following too well.

 

Following the intake path to the turbo, there is a section between the two flexible elbows that is hard plastic. Inside that hard plastic pipe is a fairly large set of cross hair baffles. If you take the intake apart and look down that tube, you will see a big X.

I took a long sawzall blad and cut the middle out. Basically in the middle of the tube where they intersect, just cut through so you can knock them out.

I don't know for sure what the design is for the 2007, but I'm pretty sure it's the same thing.

 

I've got a K&N and it seems to work really well for me, however if i had to buy a new air filter all over again I think I'd look pretty hard at those Amsoil "nano?" filters with the ice cube or whatever it's called airbox.

Someone here will know what I'm talking about.

 

A group of Duramax owners got together and volunteered the time to test various filters. Their long report is well worth studying:

http://home.stny.rr.com/jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

In a nutshell,
'oiled gauze cone filters'
start out very slightly lower in restriction (0.5%)
but then quickly clog up much faster
and don't filter out the smallest particles as well.



The original idea of the oiled gauze KN filter was to provide weekend racers with something better than running no filter at all during SCCA races. For that purpose it is engineered well.

For maximum hp gain, it is inferior to no filter at all.
For maximum protection of an engine's bore walls from wear, it is inferior to the best 'throw away' filters.
Even throw away filters can be cleaned a few times if you are intent on saving the maximum amount of money and put a low $/hr value on your own labor. Use a gentle detergent like Woolite, Simple Green or Murphy's Oil Soap.

 

Less than a year ago I read a diesel magazine article where they did some dyno testing before and after adding some aftermarket air intakes like K&N. (Sorry, I don't remember which magazine it was.) They came to the conclusion that on a stock diesel engine, a restrictive factory air intake is not a limiting factor. Basically, the expensive air intakes with the oiled cotton filters did nothing to increase hp or torque.

If you had some modifications that made use of more air, like a bigger turbo, then a less restrictive intake would probably do you some good in the power department. And hey, if you like the way they look or make your engine sound, go for it.

 

Where is the BHAF ??

I remember seeing this before and one of the Amsoil reps was saing that the Amsoil filter used in this test wasn't their new "nano" ( I know that's wrong ) filter wasn't used, it was their earlier version.

Take it for what it's worth ...

My Pop ( original owner ) actually installed the K&N in my truck. He said that when he did he immediately lost 1 mpg.

 

So I should just keep a regular filter unless I plan on modding the truck?

 

Based on what I've read here and other places, I don't think you can go wrong with the BHAF. There ARE some good write ups about the new Amsoil one that you lean with just air, but so far I haven't heard anything bad about the BHAF. That's probably what I'd go with.