Living in the desert, we have dust unlike any other place on earth. It amazes me that engines last as long as they do because the dust is so fine that it passes through every brand of paper filter that I have tried. I have seen dust in the intake tube after the filter in Ford, Chevy, and Jeep engines when replacing every brand of paper filter on the market. I tried K&N filters, the guy that sold them to me suggested re applying the oil every 3 months because the dry climate and dust would dry the oil and reduce the filtering capacity, so I did as he said. I still found dust in the intake tubes each time I cleaned the K&N filter. 18 months ago I installed 2 Airaid CAI kits in our JK's. This past week, I cleaned the elements for the 1st time. 14k mile on mine and 21k miles on hers. I was amazed that there was absolutely no dust in the intake tract. This is the first time in 20 years living in the desert that I did not see any dust in the intake on any of the vehicles that I own. I wiped the first 6 " of the inside of the tube and there was no dust at all. Since so many people ask about different brands of CAI and aftermarket filters, I thought that this would be useful information. My own severe service duty testing results. It doesn't get more severe than driving in the Az desert all summer long.

 

So did you put in the JK "kit" by Airaid? Part # 310-208, retail price: $289.99?

And use their "filter tuneup kit" when you clean it? Or do you have a cheaper solution?

I was thinking of installing a CAI kit but have been talked out of it by old time Jeep friend of mine saying there really is no improvement in HP by going with one.

But I too have been concerned with the amount of dust entering an engine. Then again are we being too super sensitive about dust? I never really hear that people who live in Arizona or any other dusty location have more engine failures than other places. Do you?

 

That is good information to know. I too live in a severely dusty environment. I drive my pickup around 60K a year, at least 50% is on dusty dirt or caliche roads. I am a stickler for routine maintenance because of the dust. Oil change at every 4-5000 and air filter every other oil change. I once went 3 oil changes (about 15K) and the filter scared me. I don't really know how the engine was running right! During the worst time of the year I replace the air filter every oil change. I may be too picky on this, but I figure a $15 air filter is good insurance down the road. If I change the JKto a CAI, the airaid will be at the top of the list.

 

Yes, that is the kit and yes I use their cleaning kit. Their kit will clean the JK filter 4 times, so that is only $3 per cleaning and oiling.

I did notice an increase in my midrange. My wife noticed that her Sahara had more power and I did not tell her that I did anything, so that was a true blind test on her Jeep.

 

Nice to know I made one wise investment! Have had the AirRaid for quite awhile, but use the K&N cleaning kits.

 

Very helpful info! I don't live in the desert, but I wheel there. The dust gets into every nook and cranny of my truck. I worry about my air filter, so this looks like a good investment.

 

I know driving dusty FSR roads (Major Silt dust) in the summer I spent the extra $15-25 bucks and add a Pre-filter to my aftermarket highflow filters. The Prefilter makes a HUGE difference and reduces your cleaning intervals on the oiled type filters. Also, the pre-filter helps repell water! Used the pre-filter on my AFe CAI on my Diesel and before I got my snorkel I ran one on my Air-raid CAI system on the JKU both worked very well keep my intake tube clean and also, kept my filter cleaner! After a hard day of dusty roads I would slip off the pre-filter and give it a few bangs and slip back on the filter!

 

Thanks for the tip A/C Guy...!

I was just about to buy a K&N filter....

Great job...

 

You broke the code...The Prefilters are the key to keeping the TB clean in dusty conditons..I run a K&N with the Prefilter, Both in my Jeep and Can Am Outlander.

 

Glad to hear it since I bought the Airaid a few weeks ago.