Cold air intake advice!! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Cold air intake advice!!

Chargers21

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February 6, 2013
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City, State
Missoula, MT
Year, Model & Trim Level
2001 Sport Trac
I'm buying a cold air intake for my 01 sport trac and I was wondering what's the best brand, I know k&n is a nice one and they've been around forever, but are they worth the extra money over specter or any other brand
 



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At the very least, get a genuine K&N or AEM filter, even if you decide to use the cold air piping from another kit. On the OHV you can get a cheap filter adapter on eBay that allows you to use the stock intake tube with a cone filter, I believe the SOHC would be the same.

A genuine K&N filter (RU-3130, 3.5" inlet) from Advance can be had for $26. It's not worth to skimp. (it's $36, -$10 with code ES123. It's generally a store-stocked item, so no shipping).

The adapter i'm talking about (just search Explorer MAF filter adapter) was $10.99 with free shipping.
 






Wouldnt the stock intake tube restrict the airflow? if so where could i just get the piping from another kit rather than buying the whole kit?
 






You can buy universal intake kits at most auto parts stores for a decent price that having the extra filter won't matter then you can give it to buddy like I do when I build myself intakes
 






K&N advertises a 3 HP gain from their complete kit.

Therefore, you're probably right - just a filter using the stock intake tube will be a little bit less, but either way, the gain is pretty small.

The net benefit is ~2 HP gain, reusuable filter, cool sound, and (maybe) slightly better fuel economy because the intake is now really a warm air intake which does improve efficiency a bit.
 






just get the MAC intake it is probably the best intake for the explorer
 






Personally, I don't see any difference over stock. I put the aftermarket intakes on, and all I gain is a cool little noise up front. You won't gain power without changes to the engine, and you don't gain any fuel economy in my experience. Besides, factory air box already draws in cool air. Any intake kit, unless you build a heat shield and a box for them, are going to draw in warmer air.

If you go with an aftermarket filter, don't get an oil one. If you absolutely need a "higher flowing" filter, get something like the AEM one or an Amsoil one. They filter a heck of a lot better than a K&N which relies on dust caught on the oiled gauze to filter stuff. Yes. That is how a K&N filter is designed. It is designed to filter the air using crap it filtered out of the air, and therefore works best when it is dirty.

That said, any time you increase the air flow through your filter by changing materials, you reduce its efficiency at removing particulate matter from the air. The OEM paper filter actually flows a bit more air than your engine can suck up except at high RPMs and WOT. Even compared to an aftermarket intake kit, except at higher RPMs and WOT, there is very little pressure drop between the filter and throttle plate when comparing a stock filter and air box to a cone filter.
 






I agree with FIND about the air filters. K&N's are JUNK! No matter how much money they spend on advertising or how many race car drivers they pay to endorse them or how many HP they guarantee. An air filters purpose is to filter air, and which ever does that the best IS the best, even if it robs a hp or two.

Stock paper filter or Amsoil EA.
 






So i can basically make my own warm air intake with the adapter, cone filter and the stock intake tube for around 50 dollars or less (dirt cheap).

I could get the MAC intake upgrade for 190 dollars with shipping which i cannot find any information on whatsoever, and that makes me a little sketchy to buy it, if anyone has some the specs feel free to share. also if anyone has one of these on their x let me know how it performs

Lastly i found the K&N 57 series intake for 211 with shipping. I dont have any problem throwing down the extra 20 dollars for the K&N if its worth it. K&N also provides a million mile warranty which neither of the others do.

What do you guys think the best choice is?
 






like everybody else said I have seen some bad tests on the internet from the K&N oiled type filter. The mac seems to only have good reviews. I would personally go with the mac (after the header group buy my explorer spending money from my next paycheck will go to buy a MAC intake I wish I could buy it sooner) if you are worried about allowing crap through even the MAC filter you can put one of those covers that all the Baja trucks use. Oh boy my cousin has them on his intake on his sandrail intake and yet I am brain dead as to what they are called. Some one please chime in and tell him what the heck I am talking about.

I am gonna up my tire size from 32 to 35 so I will need fiberglass fenders I think I will try and adapt or add a small piece to the MAC intake to get the filter into the fender. That might be an option for you if you really want to get some colder air. The 5.0 mustang intake have the filter in the fender well to get the filter away from the engine.

oops I didn't type that quite right I only meant adapting the filter to the fender not having to get the fiberglass fenders.
 






Some one please chime in and tell him what the heck I am talking about.

outerwears/filterskins/pre-chargers

I swear by them

regardless of if you believe an oiled-gauze filter won't filter (and if mis-used, they won't)

the pre filter allows much smaller particles than could damage an engine to be stopped, and just "fall-off" without being trapped in any pleats. not to mention water has a heck of a time getting through them too

whether you use a paper, or gauze filter, an outerwear is an awesome idea.

this will help:
http://outerwears.com/page.asp?region=17
 






outerwears/filterskins/pre-chargers

I swear by them

regardless of if you believe an oiled-gauze filter won't filter (and if mis-used, they won't)

the pre filter allows much smaller particles than could damage an engine to be stopped, and just "fall-off" without being trapped in any pleats. not to mention water has a heck of a time getting through them too

whether you use a paper, or gauze filter, an outerwear is an awesome idea.

this will help:
http://outerwears.com/page.asp?region=17





Thanks man I had a straight brain fart right there. Yeah I live in cali and most of us offroad guys here are more Baja style and the sand and dust out in the high deserts here are powder fine in some places and those outewears are freakin great.
 






That is exactly what I will be running: MAC intake and outerwears cover over the filter.
 






But... when you run the outerwear filter, you are restricting airflow to prevent the small particulate from getting through. Why put on a high flowing filter, just so you can wrap something around it just to restrict it to the point where it filters the stuff your OEM filter filtered out.

The only way to allow more air through a filter is to lower the amount a filter restricts particles to flow through, which means the filter filters less, or to increase the surface area of a filter.

Picture a filter like a colander. If you have a few big holes in it, it will drain super quick, but your noodles will all flow through as well. If you only tiny holes in it, the water will flow through slowly, but your noodles will stay in it.
 






outerwears don't restrict enough to notice.

I have used them on well over a dozen different rigs. this is based on my experience

a colander is "like a colander", this is an outerwear
anyone who has actually used them will say the same

here:

airflow1_zps847c15c5.jpg
 






And the laws of physics say differently. Then again, a standard paper filter doesn't really restrict flow all that much either. Restricted air flow is a myth created by people who want to sell you their product.

If you allow less particles through, you are restricting flow slightly. If you restrict flow less, you allow more particles through. Outerwear does not exist in some magical alternate world where that simple relationship changes.

Also, I have used them. On some of my modified cars, I have put big giant intakes with big giant filters on them, just because my engine was modified in such a way that they benefited from increased size of the intake system. However, the only way you get big filters like that is to use those big, free-flowing filters. Therefore, I put those types of things on them to keep them from sucking up everything they came across.

As I said before, the only ways to increase flow is to increase surface area of your filter, or to lower its filtering efficiency. The more something filters out particulates, the less air gets through it. Once again, I direct you to my colander analogy.

Even better, take a wire strainer. Swing it in the air and note the resistance. Then cut out all the mesh and string across only a couple wires, so you have big gaps between them. Swing it through the air again, far less resistance.
 






Find, something you're forgetting is those outwears are pretty large.

I'm all for a cotten filter and outwears. Assuming you have the mods to use it. Or you wanna save money by not buying paper filters
 






"on paper" the "physics" agree with you. in fact the graph agrees with you too. but the graph shows like I said, the real-world difference is negligible

i'll stick with using outerwears. they improve filtration, and aren't hurting my power. I really can't ask for more than that
 






Nah Colin, I'm not forgetting that. The cone filters you are putting them over usually have more surface area than the stock filters, so there should be a net gain in flow, unless you aren't using a typically massive filter. I'm just trying to point out that there is no gain unless you are using a larger filter.

B2, I'm not suggesting that they hurt anything. In fact, as I said, it is better to filter stuff out, and even the stock filters don't represent a significant restriction in your induction system. I was also just trying to say that the differences between a paper and "high flow" filter is fairly negligible as well. I still wouldn't recommend spending the money on a high flow intake system for an engine that is stock. The intake system is not really a restriction in flow on most engines that are stock otherwise, with few notable exceptions.
 



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Nah Colin, I'm not forgetting that. The cone filters you are putting them over usually have more surface area than the stock filters, so there should be a net gain in flow, unless you aren't using a typically massive filter. I'm just trying to point out that there is no gain unless you are using a larger filter.

B2, I'm not suggesting that they hurt anything. In fact, as I said, it is better to filter stuff out, and even the stock filters don't represent a significant restriction in your induction system. I was also just trying to say that the differences between a paper and "high flow" filter is fairly negligible as well. I still wouldn't recommend spending the money on a high flow intake system for an engine that is stock. The intake system is not really a restriction in flow on most engines that are stock otherwise, with few notable exceptions.



Ah who cares there will always be nay sayers. If you are interested in a intake get whatever your heart desires. Most of the hp gains that are noted by intake companies don't state that a cold air intake's hp range is at WOT when your engine is pulling in as much air as possible. So you wont really feel a difference than maybe a tiny bit at WOT. But who am I kidding I drive like a jack ass any way so I am at WOT throttle quite a bit.

s**t if it only makes my explorer louder and that's all then I am happy I have plenty of other plans for major hp gains but I also want my Xploder to be as freakin loud as possible without just going straight pipes and cheating.
 






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