My basic question is - are oil filters with the bypass valve at the base plate a better design than oil filters with the bypass valve opposite the base plate? My Ford F150 uses the Motorcraft FL-500S filter and it has the bypass valve at the base plate end. The majority of other filters I have found for this application have the bypass valve opposite the base plate. I suppose there are engineering reasons for choosing which bypass valve design, but I don't know what those would be. I'm interested in being educated on these designs.