Who Makes What Filter? - One more time.

[Nebraskan]

Filter guy: Hastings filters are now made in either Kearney or Gothenberg Nebraska. Talked with Baldwin engineer the other day and the Hasting Manufacturing plant in Hasting Mich. The Hastings Mfg. in Michigan makes piston rings. All the filters are now being made in Nebraska. Seemed like the engineer was also making mention of Luberfiner as well.

Pete C.... and Obiwan Kenobi: You were right... yes.. you were right. Where's my ceeeegar??

 

[Filter guy]

Hmmmm.. I asked an engineer at Champ and he swear the Hastings Michigan filter plant is still in business. Champ makes filters for Baldwin and Hastings. Maybe I should call the account manager..

Luberfiner is made by Champ. Probably 90+ % or so. The rest is sourced from various suppliers of which Baldwin is one. Primarily some heavy duty air filters. I believe those are made in Gothenberg.

 

[Nebraskan]

It may be reversed.... Baldwin making filters for Champion.

Consider this: Baldwin offers over 4800 filter part numbers ref: http://www.baldwinfilter.com/inside/history.html That's a lot of numbers!! B50 is a Baldwin number and the exact same is a LF117 Hastings, Same filter, but now 2 numbers..maybe more that I'm un-aware of. Would be funny if Baldwin was making the filters for Champion (and others).


Baldwin manufactures filter componenets rather than just assemble them. Ref: http://www.baldwinfilter.com/inside/man.html

In September of 1995 Hastings Manufacturing http://www.hastingsmanufacturing.com sold it's filter operations and assets to CLARCOR, Inc. of Rockford, IL. That sale included the plants of Yankton, SD and Knoxville, TN. Ref: http://www.hastingsmanufacturing.com/hastings_tradition.htm

On a corporate basis, Baldwin Fiters has been a part of CLARCOR, Inc since 1981, long before the sale of Hastings plants to the CLARCOR corporaton.

You can call Hastings Mfg at 269-945-2491, as I did the other day and ask if they make filters. The answer I got was NO.. we make piston rings.

Now if Baldwin is making over 4800 filter part numbers, that may just be a slick way of skirting around the fact that they make so many for so many other smaller companies that sell filters under a "brand" name.

I called and talked to tech at Hastings Filter (not Hastings Manufacturing), and they said their filters are made at Kearney at the Baldwin Mfg faciclity (along with some made at Yankton,SD). I call Baldwin and their key engineers tell me that they make their own filters, and of course Hastings, as well as others, but one guy was not at liberty to say exactly for "whom".

Vern

 

[Filter guy]

Champ makes filters for every automotive filter company in the US. Baldwin, Fram, Donaldson were my accounts at various times.

Wix, Purolator, Fleetguard, were someone elses.

I know of one or two on that list that won't buy from each other. Champ doesn't have that problem with the others because Champ mainly private labels and is not a direct competitor.

Like I said, Champ mainly buys some heavy duty air filters from Baldwin. No automotive ones or from Hastings....at least when I was there.

Champ makes around 500,000 filters a day...

 

[Nebraskan]

quote:

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Originally posted by Filter guy:
Champ makes filters for every automotive filter company in the US. Baldwin, Fram, Donaldson were my accounts at various times.

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They may make a lot of filters but I honestly don't think they make any filter for Baldwin. Baldwin/Hastings make their own filter and may also vend out parts to other filter companies that they can use to buid "their" filters.

I am pretty sure that Baldwin does not make filters for Champion Labs.. But even Champion labs is not the single company it was in the beginning. It to, has succumbed to the merging and the buying/accqusions of more deep pocket corporations.

 

[Filter guy]

Well you can believe what you want but a plant tour might open your eyes. As it did one of the Baldwin purchasing people, who I called on, and who went to work for Champ. He's since left to move closer to home, last I heard he was in Iowa.

I can guarantee you 100% that Baldwin buys filters from Champ and that Champ buys filters from Baldwin.

That doesn't mean loads of part numbers, just certain part numbers.

 

[Gary Allan]

Filter sales is mostly a service and you can't NOT have a part number for your customer ...and you too can be a customer of another filter company.

First rule in sales, keep the ball in your court as much as possible.

 

[Pete C.]

This whole idea of one company buying "fill" product from a competitor, seems to befuddle some folks here.

 

[Nebraskan]

FWIW this is a very good read on some oil filters and might be of benefit to those seeing some filter info. : http://www.shoclub.com/lubrication-oil/lubrication-oilpart5.htm

 

[Gary Allan]

Fair mixture of good info and unqualified speculation.

 

[sxg6]

4 years old as well.

 

[Filter guy]

They might find out that the minimum "spec" for burst is a lot less than the 200PSI used in the report...

As i've mentioned before..lol..

Consumers, if they do enough digging, can get information from various filter manufacturers.

Some want to see a test of the various brands.
No problem.

Just pony up $50,000 or so, maybe $100,000 depending on the number of brands you want to see results for--- per part number to be tested ---give Southwest Research labs in San Antonio a call and they'd be happy to run the full gamit of tests on various brands.

At Champ we used them for "independant testing" results to verify and double check the results Champs own labs were seeing on test data from time to time.

Other filter companies or OEM's have used SW Research as well.


Southwest Research has all the relivant SAE and ISO procedures.

Just show them the money...

 

[Gary Allan]

I guess it's like a hand of poker where everyone folds.

You have to pay to see them cards, partner.

Let me hit that lotto and SWRI ..here I come.

 

[Nebraskan]

I just wish that each filter site would have pdf of filters that they manufacture or carry with simple statistics, such as GPM flow, relief valve pressure, nominal micron rating + absolute if it applies, burst pressures, filter media. On the last, the filter media, I would think it would be safe to just say "cellulose" or "cellulose mix with synthetic resins" and still not expose their proprietary media.

What about ANSI standards? If someone can put out filters that are paper thin on the shell, with shoddy workmanship on the inside, shouldn't there be specs that provide the U.S. Consumer with that information?

 

[Gary Allan]

It's like batteries, Vern. You can get a cheap battery to show good performance spec's ..but it won't do it for very long. Hence we end up working on price and perceived value anyway

 

[LordAbbett]

Quote:

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Filter sales is mostly a service and you can't NOT have a part number for your customer ...and you too can be a customer of another filter company.

First rule in sales, keep the ball in your court as much as possible.

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Yeah. I'm looking at a Baldwin B1435 for my wife's lincoln LS (3.9 V8) And Baldwin sourced this one from a manufacturer in Germany. It's not painted the usual Baldwin red. it's plain white with no brand name except for the machine print on the bottem of the can that IDs it as Baldwin and the part # And of course the "Made In germany" proudly on the side.

I don't care if Baldwin didn't make it (I wonder who did??). It's probaly a very good filter.

 

[LordAbbett]

Also the motorcraft filter I removed from the car (dealer oil change) was FL-2021. It was made in the UK.

 

[AndyH]

Can a Mod/Admin please sticky this thread to the top of the Oil Filter forum?

 

[badbrad358]

Does anyone know the answer to this, I would like to know as well?

 

[badbrad358]

Quote:

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Does anyone know the answer to this, I would like to know as well?

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Sorry I'm new to the board and meant to hit quote, but this was directed to the question about who makes the Nissan filters. Does anyone know?