Originally Posted by viscous
Originally Posted by ZeeOSix
So using Fram's website, it shows that the ST4386 and the Bosch 3311 both cross over to the same Fram PH4396. So that means they are a direct cross over filters no matter the application is - car, truck, garden tractor, etc. Also, any other filter brand that directly crosses over to these three filters will work.
Thanks, that looks promising. However, can we be sure that Fram isn't just saying "Oh sure, just use our filter instead of that SuperTech or Bosch...it'll be fine..." without really caring about bypass specification, etc.? Maybe Fram doesn't have an exact match for either, so they recommend their closest option. Despite differences in filter design, I'm concerned, because the Fram PH4386 has a bypass specification of 14, which I assume is the
midpoint (is this accurate?) of the bypass valve range. For the Bosch, I've seen 14-18 PSI, so it looks like 14 may be where the bypass valve
starts to open. Are these different bypass settings just attributable to filter design, but yet yield the same performance?
Like I said, you can take 10 different oil filter brands for the same exact application and they will not all have the same exact bypass setting. I'm sure the Fram engineers have specified their filters with some thought, not by using a dart board. Go run your application through Fram's filter finder and see what it recommends. Of course it might have a slightly different bypass setting because it will be a different filter than the ones you are looking at.
You're way over thinking it. If you can't trust a company that's been making and selling filters for decades, don't who you're going to trust.