Is there a difference?

[Mystic]

Is there a major difference between FRAM oil filters used on cars, light trucks, vans and SUVs, and those FRAM oil filters used on heavy trucks and construction equipment?

For example, I have heard that Mack uses FRAM oil filters on the trucks that it builds. Do these FRAM oil filters designed for big trucks and construction equipment have features such as metal endcaps, metal valves, superior filtering material, etc.?

 

[Mystic]

It just seems to me that Mack would demand high quality for an oil filter, and therefore the FRAM oil filters used on big trucks and construction equipment might be a lot better than FRAM oil filters for cars, light trucks, vans and SUVs.

If the FRAM oil filters used on big trucks and construction equipment can be used on at least light trucks, and if the filters are reasonable in price and high in quality, FRAM oil filters might be good as an alternative oil filter.

 

[timzak]

Sorry, but the thought of an oil filter used on "big trucks and construction equipment" brought to mind a giant oil filter that you have to bear-hug to screw on.

What do oil filters really look like on big construction trucks, semis, etc?

 

[Mystic]

Actually, some construction equipment requires oil filters about the size of the oil filters used on cars and light trucks. For example, the Wix oil filters that can work on my Saturn SL2 can also work on various types of small equipment-like maybe a Ditch Witch, to name one example.

Just wondering if FRAM filters used on big trucks and construction equipment are made better.

 

[timzak]

I just checked our air compressor here at work and it takes the biggest oil filter I've ever seen. It's about 6.5 inches long and 5 inches in diameter (about 15 inches in circumference). Not quite a bear-hug install, but definitely two-handed.

 

[mrchecker]

Timzak-
The filter on your compressor is about the same diameter, but it's a little short compared to a big diesel filter. Most are 10 - 12 inches long. They usually take 2 to 3 quarts to prefill.

 

[Mystic]

I guess this post was a bad idea. I was trying to say something nice about FRAM. I used FRAMs for so long that it became almost automatic for me to reach for that orange can. It has been a long time since I used them, but I still miss the old days, when it was a lot more simple-Pennzoil in the yellow bottle and FRAM in the orange can.

I did see a display that showed three oil filters that have been cut apart. One filter was a Casite (it had cardboard endcaps!), another a Hastings, and the other was a FRAM. The FRAM had metal endcaps and looked very good!

I have seen some pictures of FRAM oil filters used on big trucks and construction equipment, and the filters look different than the FRAM oil filters for cars and light trucks. They look like the FRAMs of old. I wonder if those FRAMs for big trucks have metal endcaps.