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DIY Washable Cabin Air Filter

51K views 49 replies 21 participants last post by  twisk 
#1 · (Edited)
With all the driving on dirt roads (off-roading, cutting firewood, etc), I was getting tired of having to replace my cabin air filter once a month. As many of you know, I was making one from a cheap home filter and the last one went from being white when new to dark brown when I replaced it.

So I got to thinking, why not make one that lasts forever and can be washed? We use one of the washable filters inside our home that never needs to be replaced. So I purchased another one this weekend (The Web Plus washable electrostatic air filter for $19.97 plus tax) and modified it to fit snugly inside the slot for the cabin air filter. Make sure it's the adjustable filter.

BEGIN EDIT:
So many still have questions, so I'll try to answer them right here.

Q: Where did you find this filter?
A: I found mine at Home Depot.

Q: What other parts do I need? (plastic clips, c-channel plastic, etc)
A: Assuming you buy the Adjustable filter like I did, all the parts come in the package. Other than the tools, EVERYTHING you need is in the filter package. The filter is an adjustable 20 x 25 x 1 Electrostatic Furnace Filter. Here's a link to the filter at Home Depot:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
Lowes link: http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=rel&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1
END EDIT

Instructions:

Remove the glovebox, open the filter door, and remove any old filters.

Cut out an 8" x 8" section from the middle of the filter (Use the middle because the center filter material is attached there with a plastic rivet. The squares are each 1" to make it easy.)
NOTE: You may want to measure the inside dimensions of your air box first because some have found that they had to trim this a little more so the finished filter was 8 x 8. My finished filter fits snugly at 8 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches!


Trim up the sides until they fit around the new 8" x 8" center piece. (NOTE: You must use the smaller sides because the height of the larger sides will not fit...the smaller sides are a perfect fit)


To cut the sides, I used a box cutter. Just apply a little forward pressure to slide the blade while putting a lot of pressure downward.


Once both side are trimmed down, use pliers to bend the piece back and then easily cut it with the box cutter.


The areas circled in red are what prevent you from using the larger filter sides.


Put the pieces together tucking in the corners so they overlap. Then try it out to make sure your filter fits.

Next, drill holes in the two unconnected corners to the same size as those already in the filter sides. Use two of the four white plastic rivets to connect it. The finished filter should look like this:


Now just slide it into the slot! You'll want to slide it in with the white rivets on the downward side (toward the floor and fan) because that leaves a very flat side upward which helps complete the seal above.


That's it! When it's dirty, hit it with the hose or just wash it in the sink then let it air dry.

Cheers.
 
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#6 · (Edited)
If yours came with either the filter or the tray that holds the filter. Not the case with the '05.

Do find that your cab starts to smell funny if the filter hasn't been changed?
No. If I did, it probably would have been changed more often. Now I can just clean it around the first of every month as a routine.
 
#11 ·
That is such a great idea, Moose! And there is a variety of filter media you can cut up as well.

I went this way: http://forum.ct4wd.com/showthread.php?t=952
Next time I'll order 20 of them, as the shipping was the same regardless. I don't even bother washing them, at that price.

Either way, no need to pay $33.00 for the OEM filter! :thumbsup:

Did you know they charge another $22.00 or something, just to install it! Hahaha :lol::lol:

$56.00 for a cabin air filter change - And people pay that willingly!
 
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#12 ·
That is such a great idea, Moose! And there is a variety of filter media you can cut up as well.

I went this way:
http://forum.ct4wd.com/showthread.php?t=952
Next time I'll order 20 of them, as the shipping was the same regardless. I don't even bother washing them, at that price.

Either way, no need to pay $33.00 for the OEM filter! :thumbsup:

Did you know they charge another $22.00 or something, just to install it! Hahaha :lol::lol:

$56.00 for a cabin air filter change - And people pay that willingly!
Still too costly for me. When out cutting firewood and driving on those dusty logging roads, I can get a filter looking almost black in a month!
 
#13 ·
Yeah, for high-dust environment, washable will save you a lot of $

How does your engine filter hold up?
 
#14 ·
Believe it or not, that one doesn't get as bad looking. Could be how the dust goes out the fender when moving forward and comes up and around onto the cowl and gets sucked in (forward movement must keep it from traveling through the shark gills in front of the passenger tire)? It's always warm out when we've been firewood cutting where the windows suffice, except when we have to roll the windows up for the dust. Then the fan goes on, and the dust gets sucked into the filter. I should say that the windows also have to go up because we'd be collecting tons of branches inside the truck. Most of these logging roads are waaaayyy overgrown! I'll have to snap some pictures from inside the cab this summer. It looks like we're in a car wash with the bristles cleaning the windshield.:lol:
 
#29 ·
Let me just repeat what your avatar says...WTF? With all the people that have done this on both this and other forums, there was one person on TW that had to go slightly smaller because the 8x8 wouldn't fit (and I think there's been at least 2 or 3 dozen that have since done this mod). Now I'm thinking that when Delphi made the molds, some were not quite up to standards.

I will say that the 8x8 is a very snug fit (but I think that's more due to the riser plastic tabs in the air box than it being snug due to width). And since you can't even get the 8x8 grid part in, then yours must definitely be smaller inside. Maybe I need to measure the width of my box inside and change the instructions to say that if yours isn't this wide (and variations have been observed) to reduce the width accordingly. Do me a favor and measure the width inside your box and post back. I'll do the same when I get a chance and we'll see how much smaller yours is.
 
#31 ·
I did mine too a couple of days ago (thanks Moose!) and it too was a little too big on the first try. Even though I had the grid at a perfect 8x8, trimmed neatly with an exacto knife, when adding the edging, they were cut just a little too big by less than an 8th of an inch and as you figured out, too big is too big. Trim the two opposite corners just a little more and you'll be good!
 
#33 ·
Another satisfied customer. I too had to trim up the grid to be on the inside of the 8x8 square. I then had to trim up the outside u channels to get down to the 8x8 outside/overall dimensions.
I liked the filter so much I bought two. One for my house hvac system since it has an oddball size.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Well, I finally got around to measuring the filter (I was out there rotating my tires since it was time and BTW I hit 100K miles yesterday!).

My finished filter measures 8 1/8 inches across each side near each corner. So we all must have different size air boxes!

I added an edit in the first post to warn people about the differences. Hopefully, that will save others some time.

EDIT: I should have also mentioned I measured the opening in the air box for the filter. The inside width is 8 1/8 inches on mine.
 
#35 ·
Well, I finally got around to measuring the filter (I was out there rotating my tires since it was time and BTW I hit 100K miles yesterday!).

My finished filter measures 8 1/8 inches across each side near each corner. So we all must have different size air boxes!

I added an edit in the first post to warn people about the differences. Hopefully, that will save others some time.
Moose - when was your truck built? I have the same setup as your truck. My truck was delivered to me in Sept of 05 and I think built the last week of August 05. I too had the smaller air box and had to cut down the filter.
 
#38 ·
It seems the mice like to move in and start building nests in my cabin air filer. How do they get in there? And if any one has an answer, how can I keep them out? I obviously have 2 useless cats!
Install a screen over the air intake box. I can post a link with pics where someone did just that next time I'm on the computer if you want (on Ipod now).
 
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