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Originally Posted by ERA Chas
Since my gas filter thread is going all over Wonderland anyway-I welcome your experienced question about what is generally thought to be an inferior oil filter (meaning there are better ones out there-not that they'll kill you). I have seen a million threads where a perceived superior product is loved by a thousand guys and hated by a thousand others.
You state 'all your vehicles' use the Fram so I'm assuming you mean the race cars too. All the good evidence you give is long mileage street cars-a less demanding area. I used the AC you had difficulty with (with no such problem as yours) until the Mobil 1 was born. Been using those for about 15 years and am now about to try the K&N.
The evidence I saw was the major test by Bob the Oil Guy which revealed among other things the cardboard anti-drain valve which fails quickly and (I think) allows the filter to go to bypass full time. Other published tests I've read said that Wix, Hastings, Mobil 1 and K&N have superior construction and better elements. It's my understanding that the Frams used by the fuel teams in drag racing are completely different filters (HPG or HD?) than the street 'performance' type.
I worked for a major performance engine builder and the filtration of choice for break in and dyno testing was System One. If motors came back for warranty work the first question asked was which filter was used. They were largely Frams or worse yet no-name or offshore types.
Hopefully, ACK will give us the inside story on Fram pros and cons. |
I respect your opinion and thoughts, just wondering "why"....anyway, on my race car I do use the Fram HP something or other "large racing filter", I change the filter every other race/track day and add the needed amount of
oil and change the oil and filter every 4th race/track day, I use Mobil 1
synthetic oil in the race car and Shell Rotella T 15/40 in everything else, including my lawn mower......
My company car and truck are driven 90% hwy. and 10% city driving which is "easy" on an engine, so that doesn't hurt, my wifes car is just the opposite......
Once when the local stores were out of the fram racing filter I did use a Wix oil filter cause thats all they had and a number of my racing buddies use only that brand and swear by them, by the same token, a number of racing buddies use only the fram HP racing series filters, I guess it's a matter of choice....
I remember the thread about oil filters with Bob the Oil Guy and posed some questions to my cousin (in his late 60's now), he has been a certified aircraft mechanic in jet engine and piston engine, as well as being certified in piston engine, gas and diesel for about 40 years now. He owns 2 Dodge diesel trucks, 2 diesel engine tractors,one gas engine tractor, one diesel engine bulldozer and one gas engine bulldozer, he showed me the equipement and most all had fram oil filters on them......He said he puts more emphasis on the micron rating of a filter element than the amount in inches/feet of the element itself... If I remember right, the fram oil filter had one of the lower amounts of filter element in inches/feet, I don't remember the micron rating of the element itself....
Also, I seem to remember that most all the filters tested had a burst rate of something between 200 and 300 psi., certainly more than the pressure that any engine will create, so I didn't put much if any emphasis on the burst rating......
Not saying fram is the best filter, I'm not an engineer, but they have served me well for a long time, and I'm of the school of thought:"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"......however,if I had hard,proven data to the contrary or pointing to another brand filter, I'd certainly switch brands......
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Hopefully, ACK will give us the inside story on Fram pros and cons
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Agreed.........
David