Paper filters actual flow considerably better then cloth. It's a proven fact. The only advantage to running a K&N versus paper, is the fact you only have to buy it once. However, the clotch filters clog up very easily. On a truck its worse, considering you'll be hitting alot of dust and dirt in the air. The tiniest gains do not justify the means to me. If it DOES in fact make any more power at all, it will be so small that I'll feel a hole in my pocket long before and differences in the truck. The intake is engineered to the truck from the factory. The last thing ford wanted to do was put duct tape over the throttle body to starve the motor, then market it. The idea of opening up the exhaust and the intake is virtually useless unless you have some serious restriction. I build race cars/mustangs/chevys as my main hobby. Putting headers, let alone a piece of tubing is useless aside from asthetics. K&N just makes money off of the assumption, not cold hard numbers. I've run stock tubing intakes more so then anything. The truck to K&N's cold airs, are that they clock the maf so that they make the MAF go lean, creating more power.