how to remove a stock air filter?
 

ok my dad has a 06 f350 and we tried to change the air filter and it was a pain in the ass geting it out and back in is there any tricks or any way to make it easyer? :argh:

Repetition was the only thing that made my air cleaner box easier to R&R. It was harder than Chinese arithmatic the first couple of times.

I replaced it with a K&N

Stock > K&N.

You couldn't pay me to run a K&N on these trucks.

Mdub - not asking in an argumentative tone but why would you not run a K&N ?

I am new to diesels so I am trying to learn as much as possible and I really do appreciate all the input and info I get here.

Let me first say, I'm an advocate for dry filters on these trucks, I read a lot about the oil from the filters being sucked in and doing funny things to sensors in the intake tract.

Anyways,
Back in my day of racing four wheelers, I used to run K&N all the time. I started reading about K&N allowing small particles of dirt to pass through and thought, well certainly these guys just aren't cleaning their filters, or maybe they're not oiling them, or oiling them incorrectly. So I started doing some experimenting. I would clean the filter up, let it dry, oil it per the instructions, and install on my quad. (I wasn't running an air box lid either, so obviously this accelerated any testing). I could pull the filter off after a race or a day of riding, and take a clean white cloth and wipe it in the intake, and sure enough, I would ALWAYS get dirt on it. I must have tried 10 different types of air filter oil, I religiously cleaned and oiled my filters after almost every ride, no matter what I did, I always had dirt in the intake tract. I switched to UNI foam filters right after that, and never had an issue again.

Now obviously my open airbox on a dirt track meant that I was typically in harsher conditions than most of our trucks will ever see, however we are also talking a forced induction engine, meaning we're pulling a LOT more air in at a faster rate, so it is also accelerated in it's own way.

K&N filters are typically 5 layers... AFE uses 7... Again, I really like the dry filters as well. Stock filters on these trucks are actually one of the best you can get, I just got sick of buying them, and wanted something reusable. I use a stage 1 AFE, which is very close to stock, with an AFE proguard 7, dry filter.

While I didn't see the sense in $200 for a box that I already had (pick your favorite aftermarket air cleaner mfr, they all do it), I did put in an AiRaid filter and remove the front of my box/cut the fiberglas behind the grille. I haven't seen any oil in my box though. But to be fair, I never wiped it with a rag to check.

Now I have heard that the OEM filter is a great filter with minimum resistance, but $75ea versus $75 once for my AiRaid was the motivator for me.

EDIT: I never read anything about filters being sucked into the intake, I need to get out and read more. Although the AiRaid has a "cage" on the back side. These diesels suck air even with the CACs off! I thought I was going to lose a finger when I put my hand by the elbow during a post maintenance fuel leak check. Can you imagine what thats pullin at 28psi!

Because filter oil is extremely sticky, so it catches dirt. It sticks to EVERYTHING. It's a mess to clean up, it wont wipe away with a rag either. Obviously they can be used, I just prefer the dry setups. The oiled setups you just have to pay particular attention to how much oil you're using. Obviously letting the filter oil tack up real good on the filter first will help minimize any getting into the intake tract.

what i do is i wash and oil my K&N filter and hit it with an air hose. i have not had any problems with it. and it seems to be doing its job.

You're not really supposed to use an air hose on them either. I would always spray mine down with the filter cleaner first (loosens up the oil), then rinse it on a gentle setting from the hose, inside out, then wash the whole thing in a bucket of warm water and dish soap. Then air dry it in the sun, and re-oil, and re-install.