I own a 400 sportsman and i was wondering if it would be worth it to put a K&N filter in it. Will it help it at all? or is it a waste of money?

 

i got one for my 500 off of ebay. new for $35 with s/h. i havent noticed any extra power unless its only a little bit. but i only got it since it is cleanable/reusable. so if it gets crappy. all i have to do is wash and reoil. the kit is $12. if it was an oem one youd have to buy a new one. think there like $30 some. i kept my oem one just incase. but i dunoo yet. havent really heard anything bad about them. some people like'em some dont.

 

If you run the outerwear cover, the K & N is probably fine in most conditions. Keep a new OEM around if you plan on running in some really dusty conditions, or in deep water.

I don't think you will see any difference in performance. However, the OEM paper filters deteriorate so fast, that in a short time, they stop flowing a decent rate of air, and contribute to all the fouled plug issues. The K & N will continue to flow for quite a while... and you can clean & oil it when you think it's starting to get restricted.

 

I've been running a K&N in my machine since it was new. I really didn't see any performance differences but it is a lot cheaper to clean the K&N then to always buy a new one. I still run a prefilter over the K&N so fine dust isn't an issue.

 

Plus, if you get the K&N wet, all you have to do is clean it an re-oil. A paper filter is junk after it gets wet and will collapse under pressure. For real dusty stuff I run a Uni filter and a K&N all the rest of the time. Just don't run a oiled K&N in the cold winter. The oil freezes and does not flow well. I run my oem or un-oiled filter for the winter. And always use the prefilter from the oem.

 

I agree with using the K&N. You won't see a noticable power gain but as some others stated, if water gets in the air box the K&N will survive/function while the paper filter will become a soggy mess. I use them with the stock pre-filter and have never had issues(my wheelers spend a lot of time in mud/swamps).

 

I didn't notice any power gain when I went with a K&N. I went with it because it was cheaper than a paper element which seemed just too high.

 

If water gets in your airbox I myself would not be worried if the filter is K&N or paper!!!
You will have other issues to worry about?
.....Caper..........