Pre-filter on aftermarket air filters question

Id only bought oem since owning truck so had no idea what these were but we sell baldwin filters at our store so i grabbed one for my truck and noticed that extra layer on bottom of filter. Didnt think it was supposed to stay on there so i ripped it off. Now seeing where companies are using that now as an extra filtering layer. Wouldnt that restrict air flow more? Just curious if anyone uses these and have any issues i ended up just sticking the oem back in for now.

 

Depends. Generally they aren’t a very dense foam and are meant to catch larger particles. I run one on my rzr to help catch more dust.

 

In theory it would further restrict yes, but if it's only for larger debris it would be pretty negligible

 

i installed one with the layer of material before the filter, Wix I believe..no issue..

 

You can use screen material instead of foam.. just an option.. keeps large particles out of your filter but still fairly normal flow