Fram/First Brands bankrupt....
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It's been a LONG time since Fram was any good. By the mid-90's everyone I knew was steering clear of them. Tissue paper in a recycled beer can is how one of the OG mechanics described them at a gas station I worked at as a kid.
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Can you reference one single documented catastrophic engine failure directly attributed to using a Fram oil filter.......or any oil filter brand for that matter?
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Looking online, I see Purolator is now owned exclisively by Mann-Hummel, as is Wix. Seems M-H bought them outright in 2013, when they bought out Bosch, who had co-owned them with M-H since 2006. I also saw that Purolator pretty much invented oil filters way back in 1923. FWIW....
Last edited by grinder11; Apr 6, 2026 at 12:09 PM.
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But, cutting open the filter, the differences in quality before pretty clear pretty quickly.
A bad filter is more of a cumulative effect how much crud does it allow into the bearings... Death by 1000 cuts if you will.
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What I'm seeing is that the Baldwin's are typical, if not slightly more 'fine' than other filters in the market. They don't advertise in the car world, so I'm not surprised if they are off the radar for people outside of commercial vehicles. Baldwin and Hastings have been the same company for a number of years.
I ask because I am considering trying a Baldwin oil filter.
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From: Dyer, IN
That's the thing about filters, it's pretty hard to tell if an oil filter caused an engine failure. I've certainly seen oil filters that ruptured, bled out oil caused engine failures. Couldn't tell you the brands on those.
But, cutting open the filter, the differences in quality before pretty clear pretty quickly.
A bad filter is more of a cumulative effect how much crud does it allow into the bearings... Death by 1000 cuts if you will.
But, cutting open the filter, the differences in quality before pretty clear pretty quickly.
A bad filter is more of a cumulative effect how much crud does it allow into the bearings... Death by 1000 cuts if you will.
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@lucky131969 I'm not sure what your trying to argue here
Evidence that having particulates in your bearings and rings causes damage?... pick up literally any engine book. That's the whole point of an oil filter, to catch those.
If you have a filter that degenerates, rips and allows stuff through - or worse yet comes apart and contributes to the contamination... that's pretty bad. If you have a filter that has a bad bypass circut and constantly allows unfiltered oil to circulate, that's a similar effect.
If you're asking what makes Fram filters lower quality, I don't have a scientific paper to cite. I have cut open a good number of filters and have to say Fram's construction was on the low quality side of things. Cardboard instead of steel etc.
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My point is the Baldwin is typical in it's specs, maybe on slightly on the finer particulate side of the scale. They are difficult to compare as many filter companies measure differently.
@lucky131969 I'm not sure what your trying to argue here
Evidence that having particulates in your bearings and rings causes damage?... pick up literally any engine book. That's the whole point of an oil filter, to catch those.
If you have a filter that degenerates, rips and allows stuff through - or worse yet comes apart and contributes to the contamination... that's pretty bad. If you have a filter that has a bad bypass circut and constantly allows unfiltered oil to circulate, that's a similar effect.
If you're asking what makes Fram filters lower quality, I don't have a scientific paper to cite. I have cut open a good number of filters and have to say Fram's construction was on the low quality side of things. Cardboard instead of steel etc.
@lucky131969 I'm not sure what your trying to argue here
Evidence that having particulates in your bearings and rings causes damage?... pick up literally any engine book. That's the whole point of an oil filter, to catch those.
If you have a filter that degenerates, rips and allows stuff through - or worse yet comes apart and contributes to the contamination... that's pretty bad. If you have a filter that has a bad bypass circut and constantly allows unfiltered oil to circulate, that's a similar effect.
If you're asking what makes Fram filters lower quality, I don't have a scientific paper to cite. I have cut open a good number of filters and have to say Fram's construction was on the low quality side of things. Cardboard instead of steel etc.