K+N filter and Gibson exhaust

I have been reading about this Gibson exhaust, searching and reading, searching and reading...It sounds like it is about the best available. I have a '00 SE and was wondering if there was any welding that needed to be done to install the Gibson exhaust? I have read plenty about it but only a few have mentioned some welding. Where can I get this Gibson exhaust and how much am I looking at? I am also interested in the K+N filter. I have seen that www.4x4parts.com has a Air intake upgrade kit that replaces the stock airbox and filter. Is this something I should consider, or is just replacing the filter enough? Icedog00

the jwt pop charger replaces the stock air box, it will improve throttle response & airflow but not anything spectacular...

I am not the guy to be asking about exhaust sort of stuff, but we put a K&N filter in our X and immediately noticed a difference in performance, and between 1-3 mpg increase in the past 2 months. I think that the replacement filter is a better deal than replacing the airbox with one of those pop charger kits. The box does help keep water out of the intake to a certain extent, and would rather leave that piece of my vehicle in there for cheap insurance.

Do a search on K&N and I'm sure you'll get plenty of information.

I'm really, really curious about these claims some people make about adding K&N filters to their trucks, with the alleged HP gains. You must all have super senstitive lateral movement detectors in your butts or something to actually be able to feel a HP gain or loss of what, maybe 3 or 5 HP?

I wish I felt a boost in power with my K&N filter. Maybe mine is defective.

Is it possible you noticed an increase in power because you just pulled out your old, crusty, dirt injected non-air-flowing stock filter? I did mine while it was still fairly new.

Edit: I still think the K&N is a good idea just for the money you save in the end.

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: superjens ]

I think you hit the head on the nail with that.

Sometimes it seems that I get more HP when I wax the X, I think its kind of a placebo thing.

But I do know that with a K&N airfilter/Oil Filter and Mobil 1 Synth in the engine. My Xterra takes off like a rocket (although it probably would anyway).

Plus its nice to know that you have the best in your vehicle.

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: Kerensky97/ NOXCAPE ]

Mine gets more power right after an oil change...almost like it's happier or something.

My X has an k&n in it there was no change in any thing.But I know it must help to breathe better it'll save me money and it gave the X a little louder growl on open throttle.
I like it.

I think you might have hit on something there. I changed my filter to a K&n pretty eraly on and haven't seen any noticible change in performance or mileage.I pretty much get the same 15.7 mpg in the city and up to 18 MPG on the highway as I did when I still had the old filter in it.

I was pretty skeptical on whether or not the K&N would make a diff., but I can say fer sure that the throttle is more responsive and it has made a very slight improvement in power (so much so I started wondering about the pop charger). But I too am not too hip on hydro locking the motor so figured it's best to leave the stock box in place.

Of course now that I've gone to 31" tires it's time to get an exhaust.


Beaker

there are a few "Cold air" box's out there that cover the k&n filter and also cool the air before sending it to the engine... i know SLR was making one and Stillen has one out... as does Calmini i think... that would solve the "Risk of Hydrolocking" issue

I'm not from this board, but I'd be weary of the K&N.. It does allow more air flow, but the K&N usually doesn't filter as well.. Just check out the box, nowhere on it does it actualy say it filters better, or even as good as a stock filter. In fact they go on to say that the K&N filters better as it gets dirty which is becasue the K&N's holes are too big and if you clog up some of them it actually filters better. If you take your K&N and hold it up to the light you can actually see throught the small holes.. and yes, the dust is smaller than these holes...

I've had a stock filter, I've had a K&N but found traces of dust behind the filter in the air box.. and now I use an amsoil foam air filter which seems to be the best of all... If something better comes out I'll use that, but there is no way in heck I'm ever gonna use my K&n again!!
-Chris

If you were to look at the up stream side of an K&N in the airbox it stays really clean. The bottem the side with the dirt onit and all that oil is what does the filtering. You buy it once and clean it when you feel like it. It saves you some cash. Thats about it.

The backside of filters never appears dirty cuz the dirt doesn't hit that side..

I and many others on my taco board have found a fine layer of dust all along the intake tube after the filter.. Some don't see it, some do, but it just wasn't worth taking any chances anymore so I just gave on it.

The real kicker is when you hold the K&N up to the light, you can actually see some of the holes in it which are only about 100x the size of dust particles. The oil traps whatever dust hits it, but if the dust don't hit the oil then it goes through the larger holes instead.

K&N filters are made so that they give you every last drop of HP you can get, these were made for the racing industry who rebuilt thier engines after every run. On the other hand, I'm an offroader and I run in dusty conditions and I care more about teh filtration than 3 extra hp. Now, dont' get me wrong, running a K&N wont' destry your engine, it will just be noted that at 100,000 miles you won't have as much compression that you would have had and so on.

I now run an amsoil foam filter which is about 2" thick. It's an oil type filter too, but it catches a lot more of the dirt and flows almost if not just as well as my K&N w/o letting in the harmfull dust.
-Chris