Foam filters

[big_johnson]

Does anyone have any feedback on foam filters (as opposed to paper)? Some people have said that foam does not filter well and will harm your engine in the long run, while others say that a well oiled and maintained foam filter will last just a long, if not longer than a comparable paper filter. And yes 88, I already googled it, but found as many sites supporting foam as there were supporting paper.

[88pathoffroad]

Heh. No comment. No preference. No experience with anyone that's used one. Sorry, please drive through!

[KnightRyder]

My HKS filter is foam, seems to work pretty good to me as opposed to my old stock airbox.

[big_johnson]

How often do you clean it? Does it get dirty pretty easily, or is it not too bad? I'm thinking about the weapon-r intake, and that has a foam filter, but I don't to mess up my engine

[Diesel Boy]

I have some thoughts on this one:

Has any one ever owned a MotoX or dirt bike??

They are designed purely to be run in the dirt dust and mud. A pretty serious piece of machinary designed primarily for use in harsh conditions.

They all, i say ALL run an oil coated foam filter. That is because the the filter is prone to getting coated with serious amounts of mud and dust due to the conditions.

The reason they favour these filters is that one, the oil median is very effective at catching the smaller particles, and two, YOU CAN WASH THE darn THING!!!!!!!. They breath better as well.

 

They don't get dirty quicker. How can they??

There will still be the same amount of dirt going in your air intake weather you have a foam, paper or cotton element.

 

Just whatch the quality of the filter, make sure it is designed to be at least as good as the OE one. Some say they make your engine breath better. But at what cost??

By having bigger pores in the element??

Wouldn't that let more dirt through??

 

Oh, and if its a foam filter, make sure its one you have to oil, foam on its own won't filter sweet F.A.

You also have to by special filter oil to oil it with.

 

A good recognised brand of foam filters is "UNI FILTER".

 

Hope that helps,

Pete.

[big_johnson]

Yeah, I was reading about how all dirtbikes (and many lawnmowers too, apparently) use them, so those have to be designed to filter harmful elements well enough. Also, I wasn't asking if they got dirtier quicker, because that would be independent of filter type, but it seems to me that an open cone type intake would gather more debris than the protected stock airbox. I think the weapon-r filter is a 2 layer (or something to that effect) so its not just a cheap, thin piece of foam that will allow crap into the engine. And it has to be oiled separately, which I hear should be done every oil change, so no worries there thanks for the info!