Why do Fram Filters have such a bad rep?

[majesus]

I'm not going to install one in my Jetta. I prefer OEM for the piece of mind, but Canadian Tire gave me a free FRAM oil filter yesterday with my 4L bottle purchase of GTX 20W-50.
So that got me thinking... why does FRAM oil filters have such a bad rep? I did a search on google, the VWVORTEX forum, RFD and others and I've read many members saying it is "poor quality.” I've read that the filters are glued together so they aren't dependable. Also lots of people mentioned that FRAM destroyed their engine, caused pressure drop, etc. However, if Fram does have such a bad rep, why are they so popular and many manufactures rebranding their product? Mastercraft, Quaker, even HONDA OEM is a rebranded FRAM extra guard.

Is Fram crap, or just poor marketing, a bad rep and lots of opinion/personal preference?

If it is an opinion/personal preference then that's fine (similar to which brand of oil you use, or which company offers better gasoline?) Myself, I just prefer to pay the extra few bucks to have an OEM VW filter on my car. An oil filter is cheap, cheap, cheap when compared to your other car costs. So does it make it better or worse? Well, if something happens to my engine, I can't blame myself for using an inferior oil filter to save a few loonies.

[astroboi]

http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilters.html

[majesus]

http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilters.html

WOW, what an awesome page... Thanks a lot!
That is exactly what I wanted :)
(A little outdated thou: 09/07/99, just FYI, but still awesome info)

EDIT: Found this page... seems to be the same page, but he changed address (As well, seems to be a bit more recent: 2003)
http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

[ViperZ]

Great page for sure! But filter design could have changed significantly over the span of 8 years.. I have mostly used FRAM (tough guard, and other brand names) and Napa Gold, but now will definitely look at other available brands.

[majesus]

Great page for sure! But filter design could have changed significantly over the span of 8 years.. I have mostly used FRAM (tough guard, and other brand names) and Napa Gold, but now will definitely look at other available brands.

Great! I'm glad I posted the question. ;)

[myapple]

I use mostly purolator pureone and premium plus filters. Too bad they are hard to find in canada. I pick up a bunch every time I go cross border shopping. They cost about $3-4US.

At canadian tire stores, you pretty much have a choice of:
1) fram extraguard
2) fram toughguard
3) fram synthetic X2
4) fram doubleguard, with useless teflon additives
5) motomaster (made by fram)
6) quaker state (made by fram)
7) valvoline maxlife filters (made by purolator). Only model not made by fram made, but they are very expensive....$10 for a paper filter. Very occasionally on sale for $5-6.

[majesus]

I use mostly purolator pureone and premium plus filters. Too bad they are hard to find in canada. I pick up a bunch every time I go cross border shopping. They cost about $3-4US.

At canadian tire stores, you pretty much have a choice of:
1) fram extraguard
2) fram toughguard
3) fram synthetic X2
4) fram doubleguard, with useless teflon additives
5) motomaster (made by fram)
6) quaker state (made by fram)
7) valvoline maxlife filters (made by purolator). Only model not made by fram made, but they are very expensive....$10 for a paper filter. Very occasionally on sale for $5-6.

Interesting... Yeah when I was at Canadian Tire yesterday:
The frame was 5.xx plus tax. I can get a Mahle oil Filter (which is what I use on my Jetta.) Highly recommended (from the VW community), even the webpage said they were good for 6.50 (tax included) from my local VW distributor: VM Autohaus Inc. The filter is two or three dollars more. Very much worth it. :)

[ES_Revenge]

I will say this... (This applies only if you have a normal metal cased filter though. If you have a filter-cartridge type filter (where you simply change the cartridge and the metal housing is a permanent part of the car) this does not apply.) Not all Fram filters are bad, but due to them having some bad filters people tend to badmouth them overall.

-Orange Box Fram, which is the Extra Guard or has the "PH" prefix on the part number = garbage and deserves it's repuatation. The fact that these are only like $4-$6 for most of the applications should tell you this. Poor filter, poor build, poor design, etc.

-Dark Grey/Silver Box Fram, which is called the Tough Guard or carries the "TG" prefix on the part number = okay--these filters are alright, not the greatest but they do an okay job. Tough Guards have been reported to reduce oil flow rates but otherwise do a decent job at filtering. These are medium-priced, usually around $6-$8.

-Light Grey/Silver Box Fram, which is called either "The Synthetic Oil Filter" or "X2" (the former name used in Canada, the latter in the US), having a prefix of "XG" or Extended Guard = a very good quality filter. The fact that it costs $12+ CDN. should clue you in. The X2/Synthetic/Extended Guard filter is well made, has a very good filter medium and is up there with other premium filters like Mobil 1 filters.

Other Fram filters...

The "Double Guard" or "with Teflon" filter (I believe these have a "DG" prefix). Do not buy these. These are exactly the same as their Extra Guard/Orange/PH equivalents except they have a Teflon additive. Teflon additive is controversial/debateable, but the filter is still garbage.

Fram also has a new "TRT"/High Mileage filter out. I have no idea/information about this one, however. It has some "TRT" additive that is supposed to be for high mileage engines or something. I don't know anything about it (I'm not even sure of the prefix they use for it).

All that said, the only Fram filter I would buy is the X2/Extended Guard/Synthetic Oil Filter. It is a good filter and is worth buying. It costs a bit more but so do all oil filters that are worth buying.

[seftonm]

As mentioned above, some FRAM filters are good and some aren't. For example, some of the FRAM filters for TDI's are pretty high quality and some are very low quality. Unfortunately, they're all sold with the same name so the only way to tell is where they are made and by looking at the filter. My background is TDI's, but I would stick with the Mahle in your position. They are good filters and reasonably priced. Mann filters are also a good choice.

[B0000rt]

All that said, the only Fram filter I would buy is the X2/Extended Guard/Synthetic Oil Filter. It is a good filter and is worth buying. It costs a bit more but so do all oil filters that are worth buying.

Buy a 4.4L Jug of Castrol Syntec (Made in the USA kind) and get one free at Canadian Tire!

[majesus]

Thanks for your input guys. Awesome info :)

[abstract808]

Or you can get a NAPA-branded Wix-made filter at your local NAPA. Make sure you get the ones with the Wix logo in the lower right corner. These are also excellent filters at a reasonable price ($5-$8).