I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed with my "True Flow" brand air filter when I got it. After I installed it, I could barely get the lid filter housing lid closed....I got the lid closed by pressing down real hard and the freaking filter barely fit....Now I'm starting to question wheather or not the "foam is better" school of thought is a bunch of BS....? marketing hype?
My god, they couldent even design this thing to fit right....?

-QUESTION to all: How well do you think the "True Flow" air filter does at keeping dirt out of the engine?

Is it better than paper?

In other words, is the True flow air filter "marketing Hype"?

 

Honestly.. I don't think anything beats the OEM filter. Toyota engineers went the route of maximum filtration, so it might be slightly restrictive, but the difference between other filters is negligible.

 

It's not a marketing hype. I've had all 3. Stock, K&N, and TrueFlow. TruFlow is by far the best at letting air in but keeping dirt out. I washed my Truflow after 15K and a butt load of dirt came out. I checked my MAF sensor ans throttle body expecting them to need a cleaning pretty bad. They were both a clean as a whistle. I also felt a gain of power and an improvement of MPG. Also, at WOT you get that "whistle" noise!!!

It is definately NO MARKETING HYPE!

 

I think better filtration is the way to go too. Good filtration will make your oil last much longer (less dirt accumulation) and more Importantly good air filtration will make your engine last longer....Tell me how else can dirt enter your engine...? The air filter is really the only way.

 

How do you know it filtered better? I mean how do you honestly know? Used oil analysis might help show cleaner oil, but driving conditions would skew the results. How much dirt comes out of the filter is not an accurate test.

 

I do agree with your statement about UOA's comparisions... yet, on the other hand, he did say that the Maf and Air duct was very clean downstream from the true flow.

I just question why the hell does the filter fit so tight to where I can BARELY get the filter lid shut...?
Seriously the metal tabs are about to break when I try to close the lid....WTF?
A 55.00 FREAK'IN filter... and I can't close the lid.....?
Now that pisses me off....

Any one else have this issue?
Is ONLY my filter designed poorly?

 

My Tru Flow was a tighter fit than the OEM one but nothing i had to force, it still fit fine.

 

i have a TruFlow now, and it fit really tight like you mentioned. i also had the Amsoil filter, same thing, pretty tight fit. i don't think it's just one brand, i've never tried a K&N though so i don't know how they fit. i'll keep using this one and recharge it. i didn't notice any improvements in gas mileage or "power", but then again my engine has always been a pooch no matter what i do.

 

I can't say that I had this problem. I installed my True Flow without any problems. It fits in there perfectly, and I don't have any issues closing the lid.



This picture doesn't show it too clearly, but the clips are in place.

 

do you have UOA's to prove this?? just bc your intake is clean after using it really doesnt say much.. i change my oem filters every 10k miles and mine stays clean too... silicates are at a very very minute stature so just bc you look at something and assume its clean doesnt mean dirt (silicates) are not getting in your motor.. only UOA's show this on that scale..

btw, any air filter you have to charge with oils to filtrate is crap and will only hurt you in the long run..

personally ill stick with oem and change it out every other oil change and NEVER NEVER have to worry about it.. its that simple and no air filter will give you added HP just sound. so if you are on that maturity level then knock yourself out lol

 

Yes it is a very tight fit, I found the same tight fit for the factory filter, but yes you should be able to close the clips. Make sure the lower metal piece-inside the airbox is not restricting it also. I had to bend mine a little bit to get some more "slide" by it.

 

I will have to see about a test. My wife is an environmental engineer responsible for maintaining air and liquid quality inside a semiconductor fabrication facility. She has access to instruments capable of detecting colloids in the air down to fractions of a micron. I will have to talk with her and see if we can set up an experiment to test the filtration difference between True Flow and OEM.

 

I was having this problem when I first got my true-flow. What I didn't realized was i had to slide it in (down) and push the drivers side edge of the filter towards the cab of my truck and it kind of "clicked" into place. Once I did this my lid shut without any resistance. Give it a shot.

As far as the filter being all mighty I didn't feel a power increase but I love that I don't have to go pay $25 a pop for the OEMs anymore.

my $0.02

 

I was having this problem when I first got my true-flow. What I didn't realized was i had to slide it in (down) and push the drivers side edge of the filter towards the cab of my truck and it kind of "clicked" into place. Once I did this my lid shut without any resistance. Give it a shot.

As far as the filter being all mighty I didn't feel a power increase but I love that I don't have to go pay $25 a pop for the OEMs anymore.

my $0.02

 

More dirt out the filter, and a sparkling clean MAF sensor and throttle body vs. when I had my K&N...sounds like it filters better to me...but, it is my opinion.

 

25$ a pop for a filter?? they have purolators for 13$ or so at AAP or auto zone....

 

that would rock! let us know what happens if you can get it going.. i wouldnt necassarily go with OEM. try purolator instead bc its cheaper and just as good..

 

The only advantage of True Flo over OEM is the fact that you can reuse it. As far as filtering, it will filter about as well as the OEM unit (if not, worse). Look at it from a logical point of view--Given the same intake design (diameter, length, etc.), how can one filter bring in MORE air without bringing in MORE dirt? You either sacrifice air flow or filtering capability. You can't have both.

Personally, I stick with OEM. $15 per 15-20k miles is nothing. If you save all the change for the time it takes you to rack up 15k miles, you will have more than enough for an OEM filter. It's such a nice feeling to put in that brand new filter. Like putting on a brand new pair of socks...

 

dude a used rag would filter better than those crap K&N's and what you saw that was building up was the oil used to charge the filter gathering and collecting dirty air that was seeping in...

 

Actually, this is possible. However, history tends to favor OEM designs over aftermarket. The issue with flow is increasing the surface area over which air is drawn. The reason we have pleats in our filters is that it increases the surface are vs just having a flat filter media. As the filter gets clogged, air will still take the path of least resitance. By having extra surface area, areas that are clogged can be bypassed in favor of surfaces that are less clogged.

Most aftermarket filters, across the board, have less surface area than original OEM filters. This is a broad generalization across a lot of car models, manufacturers, and filter providers, so please don't point out exceptions; I'm sure they exist.

Now, if a filter is claiming to let more air through, and it has the same or less surface area than the OEM filter, the ONLY way it can let more air through is to filter less.

MadCityRich