Which Fram Oil Filter.

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I believe Fram was bought or or purchased by Allied Signal in the 80’s. They sucked up I believe (don’t hold me to it) champion and a few others. It was that point Fram went down hill. As far as I am concerned. After that point the Housing was easier to crush taking off and honestly after watching a few videos on boob tube present day, I was shocked how after like 7-12psi most of the filters go into bypass mode anyhow. The filter becomes worthless. Most of the time your engine is at 30-60psi. So if oil is leaking by (or gushing by) for that matter… is no filter better for engine flow? The best filters are centrifuge style. There are racing high flow filters that catch like 90% of the debris. If a factory puts a screw on filter on a car and has to guarantee that engine for 30,000miles or more with just an oil and filter change every 5,000miles then I guess pick the filter you like.
 
No, Fram has always been junk. I've seen cut apart ones LONG before that, probably the first were mag articles in the early 70's, and first hand with a Wix rep cutting open several about 74-75
 
67Dart273 said:
No, Fram has always been junk. I've seen cut apart ones LONG before that, probably the first were mag articles in the early 70's, and first hand with a Wix rep cutting open several about 74-75
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We ran all Fram products back in the late seventies and early eighties without any issues. I've never had one crush on me either. I haven't used them in years but when I did they were fine
 
There are better Fram oil filters, but most fram buyers get what's in stock, which is the inferior filters. Just spend a tiny bit extra and buy a better OEM or equivalent or better filter.

I drive a Ferd
The Motorcraft filter costs 12.99
The Fram filter cost 10.99
That's a two dollar difference. If anyone needs to pinch pennies that hard on one oil filter, then they have some serious problems.
 
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I’m switching to the K&N filters. They’re much better made and I’ve heard that Wix is even going downhill
 
Oil filters are made for the OEM by the outside supplier who will be the cheapest and meet the OEM's specs for an oil filter. I spent 42 years in engine plants (non Chrysler) and we would see supplier changes on oil filers every year or two. And it was all based on the cost from the supplier. If Brand "A" can make the filter to spec if $0.015 cents less than Brand "B", they'll get the contract to supply.

It's like everything else in this world: Follow the money.
 
Late to the party, but Fram realized the entire internet was trash talking them and they redesigned their filters years ago. At this point, it's an internet rumor.
 
aaronk785 said:
Thanks. I use mopar on my small blocs and motorcraft fl1a on my big block but I paint it black. Would never hear the end from my ford buddies.
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I don't paint crap. I run the Motorcraft FL299 on my Valiant and my Ford truck. To heck with the haters.
 
AMC Diplomat said:
Late to the party, but Fram realized the entire internet was trash talking them and they redesigned their filters years ago. At this point, it's an internet rumor.
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What's the rumor? That Fram is crap or that they redesigned their filters? I ain't findin out. lol
 
Lol ,,,,

This always gets funny to me,,,,,,I laugh every time I see a post like this !

I have an old Toyota pickup built in Van Nuys California ,,,,,94 model,,,,it has 538,000 + miles .
I put all of those miles on it !

I drive currently a 2000 Accord,,,,,,it has 421,000 + miles on it ,,,,,,I put the last 125,000 on it myself after I purchased it from my daughter .
Runs like a champ,,,,the truck too !
I service them myself,,,,,oil and filters !

These vehicles have been run hard on the interstate,,,,,always at the max of the speed limit,,,if not a little more,,,,lol .

The things they have in common are Fram filters and Valvoline oil .
I use Pennzoil in the accord now,,,,,I use 5W20 ,,,,it gets a little better mileage and has a little more power .
None of these vehicles have ever had a bearing problem or internal component issue,,,,,none use any oil between changes either !

Use whichever filter you choose ,,,,,most are pretty good .
But I think I have real world experience in my examples,,,,and i don’t work for an oil company or a filter business .
I’m not pushing one over the other.

I don’t care really,,,I just try to make my own decisions and learn from them .

A lot of good oils,,,,and filters,,to choose from ,,,most are perfectly fine !
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet,,,,or even the videos,,,,someone might be leading you to believe that the sky is falling.

A good con man works at his craft,,,,he can make you believe anything !

Tommy
 
Desoto291hemi said:
Lol ,,,,

This always gets funny to me,,,,,,I laugh every time I see a post like this !

I have an old Toyota pickup built in Van Nuys California ,,,,,94 model,,,,it has 538,000 + miles .
I put all of those miles on it !

I drive currently a 2000 Accord,,,,,,it has 421,000 + miles on it ,,,,,,I put the last 125,000 on it myself after I purchased it from my daughter .
Runs like a champ,,,,the truck too !
I service them myself,,,,,oil and filters !

These vehicles have been run hard on the interstate,,,,,always at the max of the speed limit,,,if not a little more,,,,lol .

The things they have in common are Fram filters and Valvoline oil .
I use Pennzoil in the accord now,,,,,I use 5W20 ,,,,it gets a little better mileage and has a little more power .
None of these vehicles have ever had a bearing problem or internal component issue,,,,,none use any oil between changes either !

Use whichever filter you choose ,,,,,most are pretty good .
But I think I have real world experience in my examples,,,,and i don’t work for an oil company or a filter business .
I’m not pushing one over the other.

I don’t care really,,,I just try to make my own decisions and learn from them .

A lot of good oils,,,,and filters,,to choose from ,,,most are perfectly fine !
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet,,,,or even the videos,,,,someone might be leading you to believe that the sky is falling.

A good con man works at his craft,,,,he can make you believe anything !

Tommy
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I don't know how pennzoil is today but I remember my dad getting a letter on the problems that people were having with pennzoil, mostly lots of sludge build up. I think valvoline is good oil. Main thing is maintaining your equipment
 
I found loose metal shavings in the last 2 Fram filters I bought. That's as bad as a rattlesnake in a sleeping bag or scorpions in my boots. A do not proceed message if there ever was one.
 
I retired from one of the "Big 3" auto companies - worked on engines my whole life. We got our failed engines under warranty back for review to see what we could learn. Obviously you're looking for any type of mfg defects or concerns (typically debris if they were very low mile engines) so changes could be made as needed.

One thing we did was keep track of oil filter brand on the returned engines. There's no way to know the total maintenance history on the engine unless it was serviced at the dealer. So our filter brand sampling is not a perfect methodology for analysis. Nevertheless, when you plot up the failures, you see a natural curve of failures by brand. Let's just say Fram was over-represented in our samples. Leave it at that.

I've said it before that the aftermarket brands have no way to do all the testing and development the OEM's do for their filters. From oil pump relief valve interaction to bypass valve settings to system harmonics, etc, etc, they have no way to do this testing under all the various conditions the OEM's do. The aftermarket guys try to make as many "1 size fits all" as they can to cover as much of the market as they can and to keep costs and proliferation down. This is one reason they are typically way more represented in the failures observed. OEM filters were developed for and with the engines they go on.

That being said, what do we put on these old engines we work on? I'm not convinced all of the requirements have been kept intact for the last 50+ years. But I'm sure not going to use a filter that was over-represented in the failure pool!!
 
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Dan the man said:
We ran all Fram products back in the late seventies and early eighties without any issues. I've never had one crush on me either. I haven't used them in years but when I did they were fine
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So you never used one in years. But are you are going to comment on the the quality of them now? That makes total sense there Dan.
But is par for the course with you. Have no personal experience but are giving a recommendation based on NOTHING.
I have personally used them and seen a failure. As well as, lost a high dollar motor with the use of one.
Please stop giving advise based on nothing.
But please don't let me stop you from use of a PH8A on your dream 318 build that does not exist. I am sure it is just as Gud in pretend world.
My opinion is
We spend a lot of time and money to cheap out on such an inexpensive part. Especially when a good one is available. In the big picture it's not a place to save a few bucks.
Yes that's My Opinion was derived from the use of a product that failed.
But is still my opinion.
 
I've talked to people who think that K&N air filters are overrated. I believe that there's bad in everything. If someone was to have a bad experience with a particular filter
340six said:
So you never used one in years. But are you are going to comment on the the quality of them now? That makes total sense there Dan.
But is par for the course with you. Have no personal experience but are giving a recommendation based on NOTHING.
I have personally used them and seen a failure. As well as, lost a high dollar motor with the use of one.
Please stop giving advise based on nothing.
But please don't let me stop you from use of a PH8A on your dream 318 build that does not exist. I am sure it is just as Gud in pretend world.
My opinion is
We spend a lot of time and money to cheap out on such an inexpensive part. Especially when a good one is available. In the big picture it's not a place to save a few bucks.
Yes that's My Opinion was derived from the use of a product that failed.
But is still my opinion.
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You didn't read what I said, maybe you don't understand. I was talking about when I was using them.
 
I was selling Dodges when the Cummins came out and there was a rash of engine failures after a few years . The engineers couldn’t figure it out so they had us ship dead engines back to Detroit for autopsies. What they discovered was cheap oil filter fillament debris was clogging the oil galleys . They issued a TSB with a list of approved filters to use . They would void warranty if they found a non approved filter on a failed engine .
FRAM was NOT on the list . WIX was .
 
Ant said:
There better Fram oil filters, but most fram buyers get what's in stock, which is the inferior filters. Just spend a tiny bit extra and buy a better OEM or equivalent or better filter.

I drive a Ferd
The Motorcraft filter costs 12.99
The Fram filter cost 10.99
That's a two dollar difference. If anyone needs to pinch pennies that hard on one oil filter, then they have some serious problems.
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I agree. Not the place to save a few dollars
 
340six said:
So you never used one in years. But are you are going to comment on the the quality of them now? That makes total sense there Dan.
But is par for the course with you. Have no personal experience but are giving a recommendation based on NOTHING.
I have personally used them and seen a failure. As well as, lost a high dollar motor with the use of one.
Please stop giving advise based on nothing.
But please don't let me stop you from use of a PH8A on your dream 318 build that does not exist. I am sure it is just as Gud in pretend world.
My opinion is
We spend a lot of time and money to cheap out on such an inexpensive part. Especially when a good one is available. In the big picture it's not a place to save a few bucks.
Yes that's My Opinion was derived from the use of a product that failed.
But is still my opinion.
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If you re read what I said, I never mentioned anything about the quality of Fram filters today. You and others on here like to start trouble. Go back and carefully read what I said.
 
Dan the man said:
If you re read what I said, I never mentioned anything about the quality of Fram filters today. You and others on here like to start trouble. Go back and carefully read what I said.
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They have been cheaply made junk forever
You ever cut one open back in the day? I have after a brake in
 
340six said:
They have been cheaply made junk forever
You ever cut one open back in the day? I have after a brake in
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No sir I did not. Never had any reason to. I guess that we was lucky with Fram. Didn't you say that you lost a engine because of a Fram filter? I hate that happened to you. Since I haven't been in a classic car in a while now I use motorcraft on the wife's car and ac Delco on my truck. But after reading about the problems with them I won't be using them.
 
CFD, I had the same issue with my Wix on my 5.9 Cummins, leaking at the seem. At the time I bought two. The other one was fine. I have heard of this problem before during last year on other forums. I still will buy Wix, but if it happens again, I will jump up and down with them. I like to think I'm buying the best with them. As a comment to the OP question, is it not the difference in his two filters is the length?
harrisonm said:
I realize that Fram filters have a bad reputation. I have always used the Fram 43 on my barracuda because of a header clearance issue. The 43 is a little bit shorter than the 16. I bought several of them several years ago, and my car is due an oil change now. I am looking for a replacement for the PH 43. I have always had good luck with the Fram brand, but I trust my FABO buddies when they say that Fram is not as good as it used to be.
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I had to use the shorter filters on my van for clearance as you say because it would hit the frame. if not. On my 69' Dart, the adapter if set right, should give you room to fit a longer filter, along the exhaust. Note: The van also had headers.
 
340six said:
They have been cheaply made junk forever
You ever cut one open back in the day? I have after a brake in
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Question, if cut the filter open and it has metal shavings in it doesn't that mean that it's doing what it's supposed to be doing? I've read on this forum before about guys finding metal shavings in the oil, that's not a filter issue that's a engine condition. I've read on this thread about Frams poor quality but no one is giving any examples as to how their filter failed. I'm from missouri, the show me state.
 
Dan the man said:
Question, if cut the filter open and it has metal shavings in it doesn't that mean that it's doing what it's supposed to be doing? I've read on this forum before about guys finding metal shavings in the oil, that's not a filter issue that's a engine condition. I've read on this thread about Frams poor quality but no one is giving any examples as to how their filter failed. I'm from missouri, the show me state.
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Mine was a seam detachment, outside of the "O" ring, where it attaches to the outer casing. It was just a lot of drips, not a forceful flow. Enough to mess my driveway up.
 
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