Is the K&N FIPK worth it?

[GroundAssault]

if your spending that money then save a little more and get a snorkel!!

[702Jeep]

Originally Posted by tjwoo

Yeah, save your money. If you combine CAIs, chip, and other performance parts together, you're bound to get some gains but definetely not worth the money. You're in LV where Im guessing it's pretty dusty. K&NFIPK has a crappier filteration rate than the stock ones, so unless you're okay with more dust getting into your motor, I wouldn't do it.

What people do for performance gains is regear.

Wish I could but I dont have the money to do so. I'm not enough of a mechanic to trust myself with the transmission of my jeep. would love to go to 4.11 but cant seem to find the cash.

[SecondTJ]

I had a K&N FIPK.

After 6 months i took it off and sold it. It didn't help anything, and was a waste of money. Performance did nothing, and it hurt my mpg.

[dspgajeep]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

Not only is the K&N FIPK (or TB spacer) not worth it, realize too that a K&N filter is probably the worst at filtration you could possibly choose. Tests show just how bad at filtration it is. In one ISO test, a K&N air filter passed 18X the amount of dirt an AC-Delco paper air filter did.

I didn't think K&N filters were that bad. In the past I used them in my family cars becuase of modest horsepower gains due to lower airflow restrections. I put one in my jeep becuase it was shown to have the highest dust capacity.

Here is a link to the Jeep Magazine Article that I read before I bought the K&N filter. It definately isn't as efficient at stoping the dirt, but it does have the highest capacity.

http://www.jpmagazine.com/shop4parts/154_0611_jeep_air_filter_upgrades/test_results.html

[tjthorson]

I used to be a BIG K&N fan as well. Some dust in the intake tract of my old Turbo Regal was enough to freak me out about it - I used to clean and oil that thing monthlyafter I saw that, as options are limited and the stock airbox on THOSE cars is not real good.

Ask yourself this - MAYBE the reason the K&N is so good at capacity is because its letting a lot of the small stuff through! Those tests seem to talk about efficiency - but what size dust did they use? (How fine?) The interesting part is how much dirt they can handle before clogging. I bet your dust capactiy goes WAY up (for a while ) if you just took the air filter off completely!

Its the small stuff that clogs up the filter. Picture a piece of pipe - fill it with bog rocks, and then fill it with sand. How much air is going to flow through that pipe?

Now picture the same pipe with just the rocks, but the sand can flow through. How's the capacity now???

Stick with the stock stuff - its a Jeep. Work on lifts, tires, gears....

Originally Posted by dspgajeep

I didn't think K&N filters were that bad. In the past I used them in my family cars becuase of modest horsepower gains due to lower airflow restrections. I put one in my jeep becuase it was shown to have the highest dust capacity.

Here is a link to the Jeep Magazine Article that I read before I bought the K&N filter. It definately isn't as efficient at stoping the dirt, but it does have the highest capacity.

http://www.jpmagazine.com/shop4parts/154_0611_jeep_air_filter_upgrades/test_results.html

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally Posted by dspgajeep

I didn't think K&N filters were that bad.

Of all the air filters tested in a very scientific (ISO) study, the K&N proved to be the worst of them all. It passed an alarming amount of dirt in the study, one reason I stopped using my K&N air filter. Even before I saw the below test results, I had noticed a lot of grime and crap was getting past my K&N which is why I ended up installing a K&N Outerwears pre-filter. When that wasn't quite enough, I then added a second-prefilter on top of the Outerwears, a foam Unifilter. I eventually removed my K&N air filter, it just wasn't an adequate air filter for the dusty desert conditions I wheel in.

Here's one just one of several charts from that ISO 5011 (International Standards Organization) test of air filters at http://www.duramax-diesel.com/spicer/index.htm

Quoting from that report for the below chart...

"In the chart above it’s important to note the different test durations for each filter. The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before exceeding the restriction limit while the AMSOIL and K&N tests each ran for 20 and 24 minutes respectively before reaching max restriction. In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms. Compared to the AC air filter, the K&N “plugged up” nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt."

[claytonandson]

went w/ the aem brute force on mine along w/ tbs. makes a neat diesel sort of whistling sound now, sort of like the batmobile. i think it goes faster...but i did eat a lot of shrooms in the 70's.geez jerry,there you go w/ those scientific chart things again. i got a neat one from BG about oil and oil filters if ya ever wanna see it.

[BYuen]

Got an AEM sounds cool and I notice a bit better performance by the seat of my pants compared to a stock intake. It really picks up after 2000 rpm. But yes, my advice is to spend the money elsewhere b/c the gains just aren't worth the cash. The only reason I got mine is to replace the beat up AirRaid the guy before me put under the hood.

[tomsv700]

buy a snorkel kit, you know how hard it is to get mud out of a k&n? i do and it sucks. i like the fipk on mine for the street and it goes well with the edge trail jammer but when that fan catches hold of some water or mud it's gonna get on the filter.
p.s. anyone wanna trade a snorkel for a k&n fipk?

[dspgajeep]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

Of all the air filters tested in a very scientific (ISO) study, the K&N proved to be the worst of them all. It passed an alarming amount of dirt, the main reason I stopped using my K&N air filter.

Here's one chart from an ISO 5011 (International Standards Organization) test of air filters at http://www.duramax-diesel.com/spicer/index.htm

Quoting from that report for the below chart...

"In the chart above it’s important to note the different test durations for each filter. The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before exceeding the restriction limit while the AMSOIL and K&N tests each ran for 20 and 24 minutes respectively before reaching max restriction. In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms. Compared to the AC, the K&N “plugged up” nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt."

Well, that is some pretty hard data. I will be picking up an AC Delco air filter tomorrow during lunch.

[mrsnicks]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

Of all the air filters tested in a very scientific (ISO) study, the K&N proved to be the worst of them all. It passed an alarming amount of dirt in the study, one reason I stopped using my K&N air filter. Even before I saw the below test results, I had noticed a lot of grime and crap was getting past my K&N which is why I ended up installing a K&N Outerwears pre-filter. When that wasn't quite enough, I then added a second-prefilter on top of the Outerwears, a foam Unifilter. I eventually removed my K&N air filter, it just wasn't an adequate air filter for the dusty desert conditions I wheel in.

Here's one just one of several charts from that ISO 5011 (International Standards Organization) test of air filters at http://www.duramax-diesel.com/spicer/index.htm

Not to be a nay-sayer, or beat a dead horse, but currently I drive my Jeep as a daily driver strictly on the highway. I do not encounter any dusty/dirty conditions, so is it that the K%N is crap, or it just doesn't pull it's weight under certain conditions?





Patrick

[SJP]

Originally Posted by mrsnicks

Not to be a nay-sayer, or beat a dead horse, but currently I drive my Jeep as a daily driver strictly on the highway. I do not encounter any dusty/dirty conditions, so is it that the K%N is crap, or it just doesn't pull it's weight under certain conditions?

You certainly encounter dirty/dusty conditions, but you may not realize it. Think of things this way: you don't see airborne dust in your house, but it ends up on the furniture anyway. Similarly, you don't see airborne pine pollen when driving, but you know it's there when your parked car is yellow from being covered in it.

[SuperWade2]

I would gladly trade someone my K&N FIPK setup for a stock box/tube/filter, etc....

I sold my stock one not too long after I installed the FIPK....

SW2

[fatfreddy]

Originally Posted by 702Jeep

Wondering if anyone who has put the k&n fuel injection performance kit on their tj can tell me how well it actually works and if i should grab one. im a poor college student so i need to invest my money very wisely. thanks guys.

Go for it.I have run K&N filters on every jeep I have owned for the past 17 years and never had any problem with dust ingestion.I put one on my 2003 Rubicon 4 years ago along with catback exhaust.Also augered out my throttle body to 62 mm.Fuel milage went from 15 to 19 miles per gallon.This is real world driving results calculated properly.You have to do a cat back to get full effect of FIPK.Air is getting in much easier so exhaust has to get out easier.I am so tired of guys cursing these and other air filter kits.If they were as bad as everyone says you would think you would be hearing about law suites about engine failures all these guys think will happen from useing them.I spend lots of time on gravel roads up here in Canada.Very fine dast and dryer than a pop corns fart.The dealer replaced my hydaulic lifters a while back under warranty recently and I had a look at the cylinders and stuff with the head off.No sign of pre-mature wear from dust they say these filters let in.Anybody that thinks a a stock air intake with small diameter tubing and 2 90 degree elbows and an acordian in the middle of it needs to buy a new calculator and redo there volume calculations.

[Rush1184]

What do you all think about running a K&N on the road and putting a paper one in before hitting the trails, or not worth it?