Paper vs Foam Air Filters for UTV

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My UTV- Sees alot of dust, dirt, silt..offroad use. My oem paper filter gets very dusty and dirty after each ride..unless it has rained recently.


I am an avid facebook group reader due to forums nearly being dead these days.. seeing debates nearly every other day on air filters.. paper vs foam.

OEM Paper- you have a choice of either cleaning the filter and risking damage to filter or passing fines through the filter or buying a new one after each weekend of riding, or running a dusty filter. No aftermarket support- so have to buy the dealers paper filter or buy online. $40/air filter.

Aftermarket Foam- Designed to be washed and oiled. About the same cost as OEM but you shouldnt have to buy another one again, just air filter oil.


Valid Points- Dirt bikes are nearly all foam filters, yet atvs and utvs are nearly all paper filters from the factory. Off road equipment such as dozers, tractors, rock trucks etc...are all paper filters and seem to be designed for that usage.


So if you planned on hitting the milestone of 10000 miles on a UTV would you go with paper or foam?
 
I'd go with paper and vacuum it out every couple weekends. Foam is good for storing large amounts of dirt but still flowing well, but I assume it lets more very fine dust through.
 
Having been a small engine mechanic for over 40 years, and used both, in your case I would probably opt for the foam. Oiled PROPERLY, foam is an excellent filter.
 
Both, desert racers have been putting foam socks over their paper filters for decades. Foam prefilter, paper for fines.

Blow paper filter out from inside so no fines passing through.
 
An oiled media filter is going to do well to filter out dust but it is not going to filter sand at all, if you want both and be able to clean it get a k&n type filter with an outerwear.
 
Just foam it with nylon drycharger from AEM,Injen, or K&N. If you cant get exact size,take pantyhose and double over with rubber band or zip tie
 
Foam is better for this application. It holds alot more dirt before flow is restricted and water splashes wont bother it. I run foam on my cars and I use BELRAY filter oil. Which is one of the best oils out there. Do not use motor oil, it just does not work nearly the same. The BELRAY oil so tenacious with its stickyness. Wear gloves haha
 
Get on the UTV forums. Nobody runs foam or oiled gauze filters. They let way to much crud through. Way to many rebuilds because of this.
Paper or synthetic only.

IDK what kind of UTV you have but there is quite a few UTV forums, especially RZR, Ranger and Can Am.
 
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About the same reaction here as I have seen on Facebook Group Forums.

If you own a dirt bike you get a foam filter oem

If you own an atv you get a foam filter oem.

If you own a UTV you get a a paper filter oem.

I went ahead and bought a foam filter to try it out, there is at least a half/half bias everywhere i read that foam is better than paper and paper is better than foam.

I have yet to see a dirt bike or atv post that said get rid of the oem foam filter and put in a paper filter..which has me leaning towards foam.
 
Toys vs tools, I think. Big expensive stuff(tractors, construction eqp) get paper filters with centrifugal prefiltering. High performance toys get foam filters so they won't loose much hp as the filter fills up. UTV's are a spectrum so I guess its up to you to decide.
 
I am surprised nobody in this thread has mentioned Twin Air air filters.

I ran these for years in my dirt bike-Moto X bikes and my Grizzly ATV. By far, imo, and others, you will not find a better filter.
Clean and re-oil regularly and you'll never have an issue. One trick I did, was run a thin bead of grease on the mating surface where it joins/mounts. My friends said I was crazy but being in a hurry most of the time to catch the next moto, I thought it was a great idea.
https://www.twinair.com/
https://www.twinair.com/air-fuel-oil-filtration-products.html
 
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I have had dirt bikes and ATV's that used a foam filter.
Last one I bought was a UNI filter brand. I am please with it's construction, it uses 2 layers of foam, a courser layer on the outside and a fine inner layer. I am pretty confident, that when properly oiled, it filters quite well.
Paper or synthetic filters are tough to beat on filtration though.
My guess is the paper probably does a better job of filtering out fine particles, but a good quality foam filter will remove most particles large enough to cause engine damage.

The main thing with foam filters is keeping them maintained, they will not filter fine dust well unless properly oiled.
 
My 400EX uses oiled foam filters. I would think they are better at trapping finer particles than paper. I change mine once a year, not worth messing with cleaning and re-oiling it when it's only a $12 filter.
 
Originally Posted By: jongies3
My 400EX uses oiled foam filters. I would think they are better at trapping finer particles than paper. I change mine once a year, not worth messing with cleaning and re-oiling it when it's only a $12 filter.


Replacing a filter once a year, without cleaning it, on an atv no less, is asking a lot of that filter and imo is doing harm, likely, to your atv.
I assume you don't ride in very dusty areas, or your filter isn't the best at filtering, or you don't ride much, or you do a fair amount of engine work?
When I rode, which was also the norm for guys I rode with, we cleaned our filters everyday we rode. Yeah, it can be labor intensive, but that depends on how you look at it? I would much rather have a clean/oiled filter in there knowing my engine isn't starving and is down on power and quite possibly causing engine damage as well.
Each to their own.
https://thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/703078-how-often-do-you-clean-your-air-filter/
 
Mine actually has both. The upper foam filter is meant to catch the larger stuff. the lower filter is paper and catches the finer particles. the area in front of the paper filter has a fine layer of dust on it. the intake tracts are completely clean after the paper filter.

to each his own.
 
A test was posted in the air filter forum where an Aussie mag put a UNI foam filter up against a Toyota OEM paper filter, and a cotton gauze. UNI defeated the OEM paper filter in filtering efficiency by a good margin.

Dirt bikes are not less prone to filtering issues. They are more prone. I've seen bikes need a valve job in hundreds of miles because of poor air filtration.
 
Originally Posted by Srt20
Get on the UTV forums. Nobody runs foam or oiled gauze filters. They let way to much crud through. Way to many rebuilds because of this.
Paper or synthetic only.

IDK what kind of UTV you have but there is quite a few UTV forums, especially RZR, Ranger and Can Am.


That's mainly because RZRs had a monopoly on sxs for a long time (still do but lesser extent) and they used paper. Everybody else seemed to think that if Polaris does it that way, then it must be the way to go. Unfortunately, that company does some of the most boneheaded engineering known to man. Example, there were lots of RZRs made with the airbox directly in front of the rear left tire. Every bit of dirt and dust that tire picked up ended up in the paper filter. It soon got so packed with so much dirt that when you took it out, it was impossible not to dislodge fine dirt into the intake. Lots of engines got destroyed. There's a machine shop near my house that did all types of valve and headwork on all brands for twenty years. Starting in 2011, they switched over to being an exclusive Polaris machine shop. RZRs have kept them busy and very profitable for almost 7 years now. They have thrashed Polaris heads and valves literally stacked to the ceiling.
 
Originally Posted by krismoriah72


yet atvs and utvs are nearly all paper filters from the factory.


Most atv's still use foam filters. All the Japanese ones do.
 
A properly oiled foam filter does what it's supposed to. If it didn't, they would not be used on dirt bikes. Dirt bikes are, and have always been the test bed for nearly all offroad powersports.

I have an atv with two carbs and two intake boots. Everytime I clean my foam filter, I always disassemble the entire intake tract and inspect for any sign of dirt getting past the filter or getting by the intake boot hose clamps. In 16,000 miles, I've yet to see anything in there.
 
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