Donaldson Blue 6637 air filter, better flow and filtration

lincolnlocker said:

correct. they are just slang terms now.

and like i have said before.. the donaldson paper filter is the only filter swamps uses when tuning a 7.3 on their engine dyno and have made over 800hp with it. so the flow numbers dont matter. if you are worried about it then add a second one like i did many years ago but it isnt needed.. or switch to the bigger 2790 filter only the donaldson version. that is what is on my 7.3s and what i have ran in my 6.7 since it went on jenny Craig almost 70k miles ago. it pulls the filter minder easier in the tube vs the end of the filter. it wont solve anything.. just toss the minder out.. lol.

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You say this all the time. I have no dog in this as i run no limit intakes on everything BUT... just because"Swamps does it" doesnt mean crap. Restriction is restriction and a good filter minder tells you just that. Maybe that filter wont affect power numbers that much but a larger one may help with response, opacity and mileage?

lincolnlocker said:

correct. they are just slang terms now.

and like i have said before.. the donaldson paper filter is the only filter swamps uses when tuning a 7.3 on their engine dyno and have made over 800hp with it. so the flow numbers dont matter. if you are worried about it then add a second one like i did many years ago but it isnt needed.. or switch to the bigger 2790 filter only the donaldson version. that is what is on my 7.3s and what i have ran in my 6.7 since it went on jenny Craig almost 70k miles ago. it pulls the filter minder easier in the tube vs the end of the filter. it wont solve anything.. just toss the minder out.. lol.

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Funny you mention that.

When I had my 6.4 I called AFE and spoke to a tech and gave him the low down on my situation. AFE flat out said, stick w/ your factory Donaldson and factory intake as it will flow more than enough air for the 6.4 twins even w/ maxed out fuel. The issues is not how much air it could flow but that the twins are the limiting factor. He said for just a tuner on factory turbos on a DD anything besides the Donaldson is not needed.

powerlifter405 said:

Funny you mention that.

When I had my 6.4 I called AFE and spoke to a tech and gave him the low down on my situation. AFE flat out said, stick w/ your factory Donaldson and factory intake as it will flow more than enough air for the 6.4 twins even w/ maxed out fuel. The issues is not how much air it could flow but that the twins are the limiting factor. He said for just a tuner on factory turbos on a DD anything besides the Donaldson is not needed.

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That's BS, sorry. Many of us have proved otherwise on our own trucks and there are plenty of dyno results posted on this site that prove my point.

sootie said:

You say this all the time. I have no dog in this as i run no limit intakes on everything BUT... just because"Swamps does it" doesnt mean crap. Restriction is restriction and a good filter minder tells you just that. Maybe that filter wont affect power numbers that much but a larger one may help with response, opacity and mileage?

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im not saying there isnt a better flowing filter but you cant beat the power and filtering of this style filter in a 7.3.. im all for the no limit intake setups on all platforms and tell everyone to go that route if they want max power out of their setups.. i have installed a couple no limit intakes myself and they are top notch.. i myself refuse to use a cone filter as i have said many times over..

and the comment about swamps just proves that it is good enough for that application. as in the 7.3s....

but, track times put my 6.7 at 450hp with one of those ****ty flowing paper filters. its clean non smokey power and where i have been told by numerous people that its at the turbos limit and hpfp limit anyway. I wouldn't gain anything by swapping and i still get 20+mpg on the freeway with it so it does work out..

sootie said:

That's BS, sorry. Many of us have proved otherwise on our own trucks and there are plenty of dyno results posted on this site that prove my point.

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doesnt the factory filter take out one of the turbos quicker due to the restriction of the filter when tuned and ******d in a 6.4?

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My point about your statement is that Swamps isn't a benchmark for everything 7.3. Physics don't lie.


And about the six fours, on a hot tune, they will literally start to deform a brand new filter from suction. Pull the filter minder in right away, weird boost surges, smooookey, and not enough power. Not sure about taking out a turbo-just that a stock intake provides NOWHERE NEAR THE REQUIRED FLOW!!

To add to that-even when the filter is large enough, the piping can be a restriction. That's above the tune only level though.

sootie said:

My point about your statement is that Swamps isn't a benchmark for everything 7.3. Physics don't lie.


And about the six fours, on a hot tune, they will literally start to deform a brand new filter from suction. Pull the filter minder in right away, weird boost surges, smooookey, and not enough power. Not sure about taking out a turbo-just that a stock intake provides NOWHERE NEAR THE REQUIRED FLOW!!

To add to that-even when the filter is large enough, the piping can be a restriction. That's above the tune only level though.

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yeah 10-4 man! understood!

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plus it was only a couple years ago that swamps was doing that... its not like they starting out with that right away.

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sootie said:

That's BS, sorry. Many of us have proved otherwise on our own trucks and there are plenty of dyno results posted on this site that prove my point.

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If you or others want to spend $ for 10hp and reduced filtration then more power to them. Any aftermarket system is several hundred including their unit, he could have talked me into it. And even when I ordered from Rudy's they told me the same thing.

At the end of the day spend your money how you see fit, if AFE says don't bother at X power level, wtf would I dump $400+ bucks down the drain.

sootie said:

My point about your statement is that Swamps isn't a benchmark for everything 7.3. Physics don't lie.


And about the six fours, on a hot tune, they will literally start to deform a brand new filter from suction. Pull the filter minder in right away, weird boost surges, smooookey, and not enough power. Not sure about taking out a turbo-just that a stock intake provides NOWHERE NEAR THE REQUIRED FLOW!!

To add to that-even when the filter is large enough, the piping can be a restriction. That's above the tune only level though.

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I ran my 6.4 on the hottest IDP tunes, never pulled the minder in all the way, never deformed a new or old filter.

I modded my box, used the Donaldson filter and viola, NO issues and factory filtration.

I guess results can vary, or maybe the tunes i ran were hotter than yours. Doubtful tho as I experienced what I stated above on h&s canned tunes long before going custom.

I can only stand by what I have seen on my own trucks

sootie said:

I guess results can vary, or maybe the tunes i ran were hotter than yours. Doubtful tho as I experienced what I stated above on h&s canned tunes long before going custom.

I can only stand by what I have seen on my own trucks

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W/o trying to muck up this thread I'll say you hit the nail on the head in that everyone has different results due to inherent variances. I wonder if the fact I modded my box helped any.

Either way it's all good everyone has to decide what road they want to take and then go w/ it :thumbup:

Modded box makes a huge difference. I think i could suck my minder in a half throttle. Pulled the lid off and left the filter in my version of modded box and it doesn't move. Not sure how old the filter is either.