best intake for 7.3???
 

is the banks the best intake or the Donaldson?

Generally the Ford AIS and Tymar/NAPA 6637 are the popular intakes for the 7.3L.
The Bank's Ram-Air intake is basically a Tymar intake with a shroud and a smaller filter @ ~$340 vs. ~$45 for a Tymar style intake, not to mention you hear more turbo whistle without the shroud covering the filter element.

air intake or air filter?

never mind the the1laf got it right.

Thanks 97cummins, I'm new to this forum but I've been around the 7.3L for a long time.

i run an AFE stage 2 but if i had to choose between the banks or the tymar. i would make my own for half what the tymar cost and have the same thing.

Im going to put in a stage 2 S&B cold air intake, it looks really clean and is lots cheaper than an AFE.

I am running a K&N cold air at the moment which I just got the aFe stage 2 so I will let you know how that goes, in your case I would go with the Banks. If you have not done so already, I would also change the intake manifold and exhaust body from the stock 1 piece to a 2 piece from aFe or CFM, the only real difference is the manufacturer. I installed the aFe 2 piece and saw an increase from 15psi-22psi on the street and a slight increase in fuel economy.

the only reason i would buy an AFE Y is to waste money or make it look prety. they are a joke.

Numbers don't lie and since everyone is entitled to their opinion, for some that think they know it all, they are a joke. So just a suggestion before doing anything at all is to do the research on the numbers and manufactures of the parts.