So would you replace it at mileage intervals, by the filterminder, or which ever came first?

 

Personally, in this case I would do whatever Dodge recommends in the owner's manual and not try to out-think them, but that's just me I guess...

 

There are several companys that sell filter minders that MAY be better quality than the stock one. I am considering ordering a dash mounted one from FLEETGUARD.COM. It may be the extreme temp. changes under the hood that shortens the life of the stock one.
I had planned on using a dash mount vacuum gauge, but can't find one senitive enough.
I do agree it's a waste of money to change it before it needs to be changed.

 

I will address the 'overchanging' issue.

Mr. Miller is quite correct in that a new filter passes dirtier air than a dirty one, but that is not what they were talking about.

What they were talking about is that every time you change the air filter, you have an opportunity to mis-install the new filter, and a mis-installed filter is essentially the same as no filter at all. In some installations (mainly the inside-out versions), changing the filter is not a dead-nuts simple operation and the opportunity to get it wrong is very real and at present, I don't know of a way to detect a faulty installation. Therefore, the fewer times you put yourself at risk, the less likely you are to ruin your engine. I had a gasket fail on an inside-out filter and it only took about 1,000 miles of on-road driving to cut the rings out of a perfectly good Cat 3406B. (FWIW, Donaldson stood behind their product on this.)

OTOH, I had an L10 and a pneumatic blower running in such a harsh environment that at times you couldn't see the truck from 25 yards away for the dust. When the restriction gage said it was time for those elements to come out, you couldn't even see the pleats on the filter for all the dust. Never had a problem with either the engine or the blower (which uses FAR more air than the engine).

 

Personally, in this case I would do whatever Dodge recommends in the owner's manual and not try to out-think them, but that's just me I guess...

I agree, but what does that manual say? As a wannabe I don't know. I'm curious if they mention the filter minder..

 

Ooops, sorry. I don't have the manual in front of me (rode the RT today ), but air filter changes are in fact based on the filter minder indication. There may also be some maximum mileage figure mentioned, but in general you are supposed to replace it when the filter minder tells you to.

 

And that RT fits in the back of a SB 3rd gen Ram...RIGHT?

Tomeygun has one on order to my specs, house seems sold...stars are lining up.

 

Dunno about a SB, but plenty of legroom for any motorcycle in my LB...

 

Doh, it wasn't you, it was someone else.

Words to live by.