Ford Power Stroke Nation banner

K&N vs. AFE

5K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  MSW2506 
#1 ·
I would like to get you guys' opinion on something. my father just got his 2005 6.0L back from the dealer with his new "AFE" intake installed on it. come to find out, there's a K&N under the hood. i know that AFE is the popular intake and supposed to be better, but is it worth the hassle to get the K&N off and the AFE on? is it any better? no difference? the K&N seems to be a pretty solid intake and i wouldnt imagine there would be that big a difference. let me know what you guys think! thanks.

Mark.
 
#2 ·
i got an afe stage II love that thing was well worth the money in my opinion i havnt heard good things on the K&N but then again ive never used one
 
#3 ·
he was gonna get the stage II but i guess the dealer didnt feel like it:doh:. ive heard the same thing about K&N but do you think that theres much difference? it seems to be alright
 
#4 ·
ive never looked itno the K&N but the afe its kinda like a true cold air but when ive taken the filter off to clean it the inside looks just like the day i bought it, it filters great
 
#5 ·
ok, i was just wondering what would make the afe better and the k&n so bad. guess i'll just have to see how it does.
 
#6 ·
kool just take off the filter every once in a while to see if there anything gettin past the filter into the intake tube
 
#9 ·
K&N filters for these applications are only a 3 ply filter... the AFE is 7. Go with the AFE definitely!

I've used K&N's for a while on my four wheelers. Once I learned a little more and started knowing what to look for I quickly ditched them in favor of UNI's ( a foam filter). The K&N's always let dirt through. It was hard to notice but if I took a clean wipe and ran it through my intake boot, there was always a fine film of dust. I cleaned it EVERY ride and oiled it. I tried K&N's cleaning kit and I tried other cleaners/oils with minimal improvement.

Not a fan of K&N on anything, especially not on these expensive motors.

The problems of them are multiplied with forced induction applications.

I will say the K&N does flow more in most applications which is why drag racers and the like use them. You will notice a lot of dirt cars that use them usually use a foam wrap of some sort over it as well.
 
#10 ·
Theres nothing wrong with the k&n cold air intakes not saying there better then afe i havent used them but mine has worked great on my truck for over 100,000 miles and my turbo is in good shape and so is my motor!!:ford:
 
#12 ·
Just an idea, but leave the intake part on the truck and change the filter itself to a AFE Proguard dry filter. I have K&N on everything but the diesel, it has an AFE stage II with a dry Proguard filter. I will say the other vehicles rarely go into anything remotely nasty so it's not a big issue. I have had good luck with the K&N but due to the fact that a diesel and it's turbo seem to 'suck' more air I went with the AFE and so many people have warned against them on diesels, and as stated I wouldn't run a K&N at all on an ATV or something in dirt and dust.
 
#15 ·
Alright dude, i had a K&N for about a year on my truck and had NO PROBLEMS whatsoever out of my filter. S&B is what i have now and i like it as well as i liked my K&N
 
#17 ·
alright, thanks guys for the input! good filtration on this truck is a must, since it spends most of its day in a gravel bank with all sorts of dust flying around.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top