Exactly.

Many years ago there was a TV show called Michigan Outdoors with Mort Neff. I watched when I was a kid. My dad and Mort were acquainted. The show was taken over by a guy named Fred Trost. I watched Fred, too, and like him a lot.

He did an "investigative reporting" piece on a company called "Buck Stop Lures" or something like that. They claimed - CLAIMED - that their buck scent lure was made from pure doe urine while the doe was in heat. The idea was that this would drive the bucks nuts. Probably would.

But...Fred bought a bottle and sent it to an analytical lab. The report came back...are you ready for this... ethylene glycol and water. In other words, antifreeze and water. Fred showed this on his show (I saw this episode) and told everyone, essentially, these Buck Stop people were BSing. I mean, forget about the chemical content, just imagine how you might collect doe uring in the first place. I mean, can you see these guys chasing deer around a paddock with a little bitty bottle and funnel. Too funny for words.

Anyway, to continue the story. Everyone stopped buying the stuff because it was snake oil. This got Buck Stop in a twist...so they did what Al Gore does when someone catches him lying...they sued.

Buck Stop won somehow - never heard why and in the end drove the TV show off the market, bankrupted Fred Trost personally, and sent him to an early grave with a massive heart attack.

The moral of the story is if it sounds like BS, it probably is. To me, K&N is kinda like Buck Stop Lures. A lot of strong marketing to an eager customer base of a questionable story. I wouldn't use K&N "filters" if they were free.

 

You know i can see a purpose for this kind of filter, allows more cool air to enter with a high performance engine on street cars. But for us, who play in dirt, water, mud, with a stock engine pushing maybe 200hp (idk the actual figure for stock hp) the effectivness if completely gone. Theres no point. It may allow more air but pulls in more dirt and water destroying your engine more then a stock filter would...

Just adding my $.02

 

Renix (87-90) is 177Hp and HO (91 and Up) is rated at 190HP

These figures are for the 4.0

 

So what then? Should I fab up something to get cold air in? A chip? Just a filter? Or what?

 

Depending on which side of the debate you're on, if you are going to do it, get the whole kit if you dont mind spending the money. If you want one and dont want to drop the coin, fab up your own isolator. If you really want to be cheap, just buy the filter and make your're own tubing and mount the filter as close to the from of the Jeep as possible preferrably in a spot that has decent air flow.

If you beleive its a waste of money and the minute particles of dirt that may or may not be getting into your engine are a deal breaker then that answers itself.

Never had a chip, heard mixed reviews on them.

I did have TB spacer but didnt notice a difference. With headers and bored TB already in place int may have or have not worked, it was 25 bucks so if it didnt work, no big deal.

 

FWIW, I have never had an issue that I know of from the "extra dirt" that gets past the filter. Im sure with some of the dusty trails that ive been on that the stock filter has let dirt through and that doesnt make me want to get an even more restrictive filter. Until there is solid proof that using a K and N filter is detrimental to my Jeep, i'll keep using them, if only for the increased airflow.

 

Mine is a DD, nothing really more. I just bought spectra parts and tubing and butchered the stock air box for better flow from behind the grille and to allow the metal tubing to run out the air box. Very nice and clean.. I even painted the airbox. And the filter I got is a shorty/wide version that sits high above the inlet so not as much dust runs in.

 

you can make your own . I went to may local scrap yard and got a piece of 3"od stainless steel. The local welding shop bent it on their tube bender for me. I cut off what I did not need. I bought a K&N universl filter(RB0910) i believe was the number for about $32.00. I dilled a hole in the side for the air line from the valve cover. I fabricated a cover to keep the hot air out.

 

Take it from someone who has all of these. Throttle body spacers are garbage. It just makes a whistle when you shift. Chips are a waste of money, very little to no gain in hp or mpg. And last a cai. Intakes help a little with gas mileage and a lot with throttle response. I wouldn't buy a k&n kit because they want to much money. As stated make your own. Its much cheaper and functions exactly the same. Just make sure you fab up a heat shield as well. Some people on here have fabed up cowl systems that suck in cool air from outside and will also help if you happen to go in some deep water.

 

There are some cheap CAI's on ebay but they don't have a heat shield. How would you make one?

 

I might just fab up my own then. Thanks for the advice.

 

HP gain is a joke. A certain amount of air and a certain amount of fuel are allowed into the cylinder each fire. If the stock intake was really so restrictive the jeep would stall or run lean. Which jeeps do neither.

And the cold air? Once it enters your throttle body its hot again.

 

I have a k&n cone filter in my jeep, havent noticed any hp gains. Just whistles when I give it gas.

 

I understand how more air and cleaner air is good, what I don't get is how colder air is supposed to be better. Colder air is densor therefore more oxygen content however the air still has to be heated. Seems like zero sum gain to me. I wouldn't worry about isolating it from the warmer, supposedly cleaner air under the hood, the filter is washable, just wash it or use a drop in filter in the factory box.

 

Whoo hoo, that is all the reason I need. But, then, so does a vaccum leak