Thread: Fram (vs) Motorcraft

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I have always been a big Fram guy but I recently herd that Fram has changed their filters. I herd that they changed the paper so that it is thinner. Since the filter is thinner i was told that they clog up at 1500 miles and then your oil system completely bypasses the filter. I have also herd that Motorcraft makes good filters. I was just wondering if anyone has been informed of this problem and would you recomend Fram or Motorcraft.

Thanks for the reply. I really liked that first site. It gave a lot of good info. I have never used Wix filters in the past but i am going to have to check them out next oil change.

I like Wix, they're cheap and of good quality. I don't agree with all of the information on those two webpages, but that's just on minor details.
The first page complains about a metal to metal seat on the drainback valve for the Wix filter that allows dirty oil to leak by. Most valves in the world are of a metal to metal seat and don't leak by, why should this one be a problem? Even if it did leak by, it wouldn't necessarily let dirty oil past. The oil has to slip through a very tiny gap and most of the dirt particles wont fit and will get stuck on the outside of the gap. We actually use this principle for some of the self-cleaning oil strainers on the ships. It is a stack of tightly spaced steel plates and the dirt particles can't fit through the gaps. A squeegy of sorts runs around the outside continously, knocking particles to the bottom.
On the second web page, he has a typical american v8 oiling sysem with the connecting rods drilled for oil passages to lubricate the wrist pin and piston rings. On most american v8's, the wrist pin is press fit in the rod so it needs no lubrication at that point. It pivots in the piston and lubrications is provided by oil scraped off of the cylinder walls by the oil scraper ring. Cylinder wall lubrication is achieved by oil slung off of the connecting rod bearings. Also, the crankshaft is typically one of the last parts to get oil. The cam bearings and lifters all have priority while the crank usually gets what is left over from the cam.
I know most of that had nothing to do with your questions, but I had to get it off of my chest.

I use Wix exclusively.....Fram is rated very poorly by every resource I have found.

That is all intersting information. Thank you all for your replies. How did Fram become so popular if they have such a bad reputation?

Not everybody knows about their bad rep.

A big part of popularity is due to the POWER of advertising..

Fram is about the worst filter made. Motorcraft is among the best... Fram became popular just like Adolph Hitler did. Clever marketing and a catchy slogan... "Pay me now, or pay me later"...

You still remember that... More recently it's John Force's greasy hand print... Of course John Force replaces his filters every 1750 feet...

Ha Ha thats good!! Thanks for all your inputs. The funny thing is that Fram is so popular now, you can pretty much buy them anywhere!

I've seen them all cut open and WIX is the obvious winner
I used Fram forever because they were popular
if you cut one open it is a cheesy P.O.S.

My dad uses FRAM all the time and that is it. I told him one time I heard about this on the internet that they suck and he told me to shut up and that everything I hear on the internet is bullcrap. I use NAPA filters and whatever lol. I use different kinds everytime just to try them. I do have a new FRAM in the cabinet but after this I will use Motorcraft. I couldn't find them at Auto Zone though so got FRAM. Guys in my local hot rod club use Motorcraft and one of them NEVER uses anything else, espcially FRAM because he said he had a FRAME get sucked up into the engine or some crap like that. I don't remember the story I didn't listen to him too much but yeah that is what they all use.