AFE and whatever else

[Pigpen]

Ok, I am convinced that the K&N filter is no good after unhooking my stock air intake line and notice black oily crap on the turbo vanes. This upsets be because if the black crap is sticking to the vanes, what is actually going through the motor? Wow I just got the shivers again. Anyway.....



I have been doing some research on the forums and found myself getting more and more confused by the page. I heard of AFE and quite a few people seem to like it. Here come the questions:



- What is the difference between a Stage 1 and a Stage 2 AFE?



- What is the Scotty II?



- What cowl hole are you all talking about?



- Does the AFE come with a screen pull over filter that can be taken off and is this necessary to have?



Ok, I hope someone out there can help me because if not, I am going back to stock. I... ... . (shivers again) am not going to have that piece of crap ruining my power plant.



Thanks in advance.



Jake

 

[BrentKaiser]

Always try a search first. I found this for you

Search for AFE

 

[americana]

the members always come through

some members aren't so good with the search engine, like me. and some, like me, just go ahead and ask the membership, because some will answer and others will offer a link to a succesful site search like yours.



always... . the TDR members come through and that's one of the many reasons why the TDR (because of its members) totally kicks bu++!!

 

[Jengle]

FWIW, I bought an aFe just before Muncie, and haven't hit the mileage needed to clean it, yet. I did remove the filter and Tq Tube to get at the oil filter and both the tube and my turbo are as clean as the day I removed the silencer ring. No oil or dust in the tube or anywhere. I have the PG-7 filter and am happy with it.

 

[Ncostello]

I may get flamed... but I dont think the plain AFE is any better than the K&N. At least get a proguard7 AFE. Otherwise you'll be sucking dust through the holes clearly visible in both brands. Cleaning them and oiling them exactly as needed was basically impossible for me... and I'm very methodical and careful about my maintenance. Too little oil and you might as well run filterless (but it will always stop gravel ). Too much and you'll be pulling oil in the intake. I could not find the fine line between them. And I honestly don't think the factory put enough on my AFE to begin with. It looked very dry out of the box.



Just my opinion which isn't worth a whole lot.

 

[Gypsyman]

I've been reading the second gen forum and I don't understand. There seem to be no reports of dust in the intakes and I believe most of them had or have the standard AFE. I don't get it...



-Richard

 

[EBottema]

don't get the afe stage 2 since the torque tube hits on the alternator on some trucks. AFE doesnt seem to want to fix it. I was told they would call me back on the free filter cover i was getting for driving all the way down there. Guess what, they never called back yet. Customer service sucks so far!

 

[JDixon]

Pigpen - I still consider myself a novice here, but I'll see what I can do to help. I placed a K&N filter in the stock airbox as soon as I got the truck home from the dealer. I actually ordered it before I bought the truck and had it waiting for the truck to arrive. I used it for over 20,000 miles before I learned of the problems that others were having. I did not know about this until I was introduced to the TDR. I did some research here and decided to get the aFe stage 1 kit with the PG7 filter. I have before and after pics in my reader's rigs section. I am very happy with the system. Fortunately, I had no dirt or oil on the intake hose after those miles on the K&N. I cleaned the filter about every 10,000 miles. I plan to do the same with the aFe. I'll try to give an introductory answer to each of your questions.



- What is the difference between a Stage 1 and a Stage 2 AFE?



I remember reports from previous posts claiming 1200 cfm for the stage 2 kit. The aFe website claims 820 cfm for the stage 1. The PG7 filter is supposed to flow about 10% less for each kit. The stage 2 kit has a torque tube that replaces the stock intake tube which should provide smoother airflow between the filter and the turbo. Arguments have been made as to benefit of this increased airflow on a relatively stock engine. Below are links to each of the filters on the aFe website.



Stage 1



Stage 2



After I bought my kit, I stopped researching the filters. I did a quick search just before replying so I would have less chance of passing on bad information. I'm sure a search will do you more good than I can on a comparison of these two. The clearance problems with the stage 2 kit that other members mentioned also kept me from buying it. It will not fit with the Banks brake. I got this in an e-mail from aFe.



- What is the Scotty II?



The Scotty system pulls cold air from the cowl area into an enclosed airbox with a high flow filter. I believe that the aFe filters are available for these systems also. One of their systems can pull from the cowl and the hole in the fender that feeds the stock airbox. I have never seen one of these in person, so I can't help out too much with it.



- What cowl hole are you all talking about?



The one you will have to cut if you want to pull air from the cowl. I found pictures of other members' setups after a search using only the term "scotty".



- Does the AFE come with a screen pull over filter that can be taken off and is this necessary to have?



I think you are referring to the pre-filter. This is an additional layer of material that can be placed over the filter to remove larger particles before they get to the filter. Opinions vary, but if you keep your filter cleaned and oiled properly you won't need one of these. I know they are available for the stage 1 kit, but I do not know about the stage 2.





I would highly advise that you do some research before you shell out good money for any of these. Many people use them but many others don't. Another option is the BHAF (big honkin' air filter, I believe). It is a giant paper filter. Do a search on it and at least give it a look before you decide. If you go with the aFe stuff, consider buying it from Geno's. Their customer service is second to none.

I used the word "search" as many times as I could to give a subliminal message. I ended up looking for hours and hours before I felt that I had enough info to feel comfortable with my decision.



Good luck. If you have more questions, I'll do my best to help answer them.

 

[Jengle]

Just another quick note. I added the outerwear, sock type cover to my PG-7, since driving through some big bugs. The pieces find their way into the folds on the filter and it's a bear to clean them out. Outer cover fixes this, and will make it easier to clean the filter next time. I didn't notice any difference in the amount that the filter minder is pulled down, with or without the outer cover.