Trailhunter Airbox Housing - hard to clip

[tacorancher]

Hey guys - when I picked up my trailhunter from the dealer for its 20K mile service, I noticed one of the clips on the airbox was unclipped. I could not get it to clip down. I called the tech out and he kind of forced it to clip.

I got home, undid all the clips and the filter appeared seated correctly. So, I re-attached the filter cover (using the slot on the bottom to guide it and secure the bottom part). And I still had a hell of a time getting the last clip to secure. I was able to do it, but something feels off.

I am wondering if anyone has had this issue or I’m doing something wrong.

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[tgrneal]

i'll check mine.

 

[tacorancher]

i'll check mine.

Thanks! If you get in there, you can close it but it does cause the plastic on one side to bend a little bit. But the filter on the inside looks flush and fine.

Second question - when you want to change the filter, do you pull the side closer to driver side up and out, to move it out of the way? I don’t want to damage the intake.

 

[jetengr19]

Mine was unclipped from the factory. I noticed it soon after I got mine. It was really difficult to get clipped but I managed to do it.

 

[tacorancher]

Mine was unclipped from the factory. I noticed it soon after I got mine. It was really difficult to get clipped but I managed to do it.

Ha! Same!

WTF!!!!

So, when you clip it, it warps the housing a tiny bit. Ponder whether we should maybe keep it unclipped. Either way, seems like a weird thing to fuck up from the factory.

 

[Andrace]

give these a try.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CT2FT8CN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
I ordered a trd intake, and it didn't come with clips, so I got these and they had very little tension in them. I had to bend them a bit to increase leverage.

 

[lauren01]

Those clips are finger busting pests in all our past and current cars and the truck. They were invented by sadists.
Some have an airbox that easily lifts away while the newer ones require a little wrestling to access the filter.

 

[tacorancher]

Those clips are finger busting pests in all our past and current cars and the truck. They were invented by sadists.
Some have an airbox that easily lifts away while the newer ones require a little wrestling to access the filter.

All true. But are any of your clips particularly challenging to attach? One of mine is. The filter and housing seem to be seated correctly. When I force it to clip, it bends the housing slightly. So I’m wondering if this is normal. It’s the fourth clip down low near the fuse box (closer to the cabin). Would you mind looking at that clip on your truck and just checking if it clips and unclips normally? All the other 3 clips on my truck attach on and off super easy.

 

[lauren01]

I will go check it out when I’m fiddling with the truck today.

 

[tacorancher]

I will go check it out when I’m fiddling with the truck today.

Thank you !!

 

[lauren01]

It’s the 4th clip that’s a mutha — the one hardest to reach in the tight spot near the bottom of the box. Clipping it first is the way to go. Had to pull it since a human hand butt can’t fit, lol. Might need to press the lid on either side before clipping it in.

The system won’t let me upload a video of the successful easy closure…but here’s a pic of the step used for leverage. If you want the video, be glad to shoot it to you, just DM me your phone number.

 

[tacorancher]

It’s the 4th clip that’s a mutha — the one hardest to reach in the tight spot near the bottom of the box. Clipping it first is the way to go. Had to pull it since a human hand butt can’t fit, lol. Might need to press the lid on either side before clipping it in.

The system won’t let me upload a video of the successful easy closure…but here’s a pic of the step used for leverage. If you want the video, be glad to shoot it to you, just DM me your phone number.

Haha, yeah I did the same exact thing. I got a step, got my hand underneath, and clipped it from the side. It clipped right on.

Was yours clipped already or did you find it open ?

 

[lauren01]

It was clipped but I’ve had the truck in for its break-in oil change at around 1K miles. The independent shop that I took it to did a full inspection with pics as a baseline. The tech removed the air filter and took a pic to show the amount of dirt, so had it open. I hadn’t opened it myself before then.

I’ll be doing the filter cleaning every few months or switch to a paper filter if it’s not seeming to do a great job. Have the K&N spray and oil since I’ve used it on my Hondas/Acura. It’s so dusty where we drive in California.

 

[tacorancher]

It was clipped but I’ve had the truck in for its break-in oil change at around 1K miles. The independent shop that I took it to did a full inspection with pics as a baseline. The tech removed the air filter and took a pic to show the amount of dirt, so had it open. I hadn’t opened it myself before then.

I’ll be doing the filter cleaning every few months or switch to a paper filter if it’s not seeming to do a great job. Have the K&N spray and oil since I’ve used it on my Hondas/Acura. It’s so dusty where we drive in California.

I’m at 20K miles and did the 20K service at the dealership .. when I got home I noticed that the paperwork claimed that my filter was “after market,” so they didn’t check it!! I called them and chewed them out .. knuckleheads … they apologized and said they have serviced very few halo models (despite that it’s Houston and we have them all over at this point — and they never claimed it was “after market” before so it must have been an inexperienced tech).

I don’t think it’s dirty yet, as Houston is not dusty (my ranch is but I’m there a relatively small % of my time). I have not changed or cleaned it yet. I’ll need to by 30K miles at the latest. If you’ve got a good how to video on the cleaning / oiling process let me know.

Also, I found it incredibly challenging to remove / inspect the air filter. I kind of inspected it from the side by pulling it out some, and it looked fine, but I could not remove it—not with the other half of the housing basically forced against it. How do you get the two halves of the housing far apart enough to pull the filter out? First off, they are jammed together like the devil. Secondly there’s a sensor wire that doesn’t let you move them that far apart. Any tips?

 

[lauren01]

I think it is better to be safe than sorry. My guess is that your filter is plenty dirty enough to clean. I clean mine in the Integra a couple of times a year, usually coinciding with an oil change. Just checked out these videos. Based on my long-term experience with flat filters, I was glad to see how to clean the conical type. These are the best videos I found.

K&N Cone type engine air filter cleaning videos





As far as getting the filter out, I will look into that and update us on what I find. Probably need to loosen the hose but will confirm unless somebody else chimed in with what we can do to make it an easy job.

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