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Tue May 18, 2010 9:03 am

I have seen many posts by people asking for advice on air filters for their off-road rides, bajas and rails. Many times people respond that the stock oil bath air filters work better than the paper, gauze or foam air filters. I have zero experience with oil bath air filters as the only ACVW's I've owned were sandrails. I do not see where an oil bath air filter would be a logical choice for an off-road VW because of the oil sloshing/coming out of the filter housing from bumpy/rough roads, steep hills (ascending or descending), jumps, etc. I have never seen a stock VW oil bath air filter on an off-road VW either. What are the real off-roader's ideas concerning stock oil bath air filters for off-road use? Anyone have any pics of Bajas or rails with these installed?

The responses are usually, "the stock oil bath air filter will work better than any paper, gauze or foam air filter". That may be true for a street ride but for off-road? Come on, let's get real.

Tue May 18, 2010 9:20 am

The stock oil bath air filters do have baffles inside to keep the oil from sloshing.
But the sloshing is one of the things the filters depend on. The filter medium is kept wet with the oil. The oil catches the dirt, and the sloshing washes the dirt back into the bottom of the air filter pan. Up until a few years ago most farm equipment, and construction equipment used oil bath. It was a way cheaper and mor effective way to filter the air under extreme dusty environments. Yes, the equipment manufacturers have gone to the paper filters, but I would like to see their markup on the replacement cartridges. They made no money on the oil bath filters, as you can use waste oil in the oil bath with no downside.
I live in a farming area, and the farmers much preferred the oil bath.

Tue May 18, 2010 12:32 pm

I think looks are what turns most people off though. They don't look cool on a tricked out Baja or rail. If they function so well I wonder why aftermarket manufacturers don't come up with a "good looking" oil bath air filter for off-roaders.

Tue May 18, 2010 5:12 pm

I ran the stock oil bath on several of my bajas over the years, and they were just fine as far as performance. One of my last cars I modified two single snorkel units into a dual snorkle that I really liked the looks of. My only problem ever was with having them work loose over time on long outings. With a little creativity you can manage to make ways to keep them in place though. Sorry no pics that I can find*#&!!!

Tue May 18, 2010 5:27 pm

Better think of a way to keep it from falling off in the rough stuff. The stock clamp won't be enough to keep it on.

Tue May 18, 2010 5:37 pm

I think there was a thread on the thing/181 fourm about making a dule oil bath

Tue May 18, 2010 6:45 pm

i run a oil bath on both my baja and truggy. areas where i live have that fine powder red sand. we have found that the oil bath keeps it out of the carb. i dont do alot of jumping but inclines, rough muddy trails and weirds angle are the norm. no problems here. i also have it on the baja for the preheat. i did shorten the horns on them and they might not look as cools as real off road filters but the work for me. i mix a little marvels in the oil in the filter.

Tue May 18, 2010 8:12 pm

A class III hitch on a bug! you are an optimist, and it looks cool as heck.

8)

Tue May 18, 2010 8:16 pm

adams77 wrote: A class III hitch on a bug! you are an optimist, and it looks cool as heck.

8)

I will have one on mine, and a push bumper.
I use it to move trailers and cars around.

Tue May 18, 2010 9:05 pm

Russ Wolfe wrote: adams77 wrote: A class III hitch on a bug! you are an optimist, and it looks cool as heck.

8)

I will have one on mine, and a push bumper.
I use it to move trailers and cars around.

Russ, i thought you had it for the bumper dumper.

not a optimist. i needed a rear bumper and had it laying around and it fit great between the stock brackets. i use it to pull a little trailer around the lease moving hog traps.

Fri May 21, 2010 11:00 am

I've always run oil bath filters on anything I have that spends a lot of time on gravel roads or in sand. I actually had an 85 ford that I specifically tracked down a 1960's era oil bath for because I was finding dust inside the filter element and on the neck of the carb after a couple days worth of running.

With the oil bath, i never got any more dust on the wrong side of the filter.

Problem with an oil bath is that it's maintenance intensive. In really nasty conditions it won't let anything through, but you may have to change the oil every week or even every day.

The oil bath operates under the same premise as some of the most effective stationary filters, it's an inertial filter. The air comes in the top, drops down, and then has to make a 180* turn UP. At this turn, the air makes it but the heavier contaminants have too much inertia to make it and keep going straight into the oil.

The oil is just the media that the dust attaches to and is kept segregated by, the oil itself does no filtering.

Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:49 am

Sounds like people don't have trouble with dirt roads, but what happens when you start hitting rocks and whoops? Does the oil stay put? What happens if you corner to hard?

I recently picked up an 1800 Type 4 engine for my buggy. The stock oil bath air cleaner for the factory dual Solex 34 PDSIT 2/3 carbs came with some boxes of parts. I originally planed on converting the oil bath canister to hold a cotton gauze filter element, but now I am having second thoughts. Maybe I should keep the oil bath filter?

Mon Jun 30, 2014 8:51 am

Vanapplebomb wrote: Sounds like people don't have trouble with dirt roads, but what happens when you start hitting rocks and whoops? Does the oil stay put? What happens if you corner to hard?

This is what I was wondering, and how is the performance compared to a centrifugal filter?

Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:20 pm

pkdmslf wrote: I think looks are what turns most people off though. They don't look cool on a tricked out Baja or rail. If they function so well I wonder why aftermarket manufacturers don't come up with a "good looking" oil bath air filter for off-roaders.

It is all a mater of opinion. Personally, those big 60's and 70's vintage air cleaners with the snorkels are pretty dang cool. Reminds me of the muscle car era and big Chrysler v8 engines. Granted, the bug oil bath air cleaners are small and kinda silly looking, but the ones used on dual carbureted type 4 engines are beasts. Type 3 engines had pretty cool oil bath air cleaners as well.

Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:25 pm

lustig69 wrote: How is the performance compared to a centrifugal filter?

I guess that they would be relatively similar as far as their ability to deal with large amounts of dust in the air without loosing significant efficiency. I don't think either of them get any bonus points for free flow designs. They both rely on air rapidly changing directions to do the dirty work. :lol:

Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:36 pm

Vanapplebomb wrote: They both rely on air rapidly changing directions to do the dirty work. :lol:

Now if only we could combine the two... :D

Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:59 pm

Heavy equipment manufacturing companies have been putting cyclonic pre-filters on oil bath air cleaners for decades. It is the only way that some of the machinery can breath in the environments they have to deal with for hours on end. The heavy machinery could last a few days before needing to service the air cleaner where pick up trucks paper filters clog up in a matter of hours.

Crazy, hu?

Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:31 am

Anyone else run oil bath air cleaners off road? Experiences?

Sun Jul 06, 2014 1:30 pm

I just posted a question up about this particular oil bath air cleaner in the Bay Window Bus forum. Maybe they would know something...

Sun Jul 06, 2014 2:50 pm

I think it would be fine, and if it was too much sloshing, foam.

I'd be curious to see an upright with this configuration: