Fram Ultra - beating a dead horse.

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I'm dropping this in here for a very specific question. The latest thread I found on this subject was from early 2018 and a lot of that seemed to concentrate on the maximum extended oil change interval for a Fram Ultra filter and a bit of a referendum on the Fram Ultra itself.

But good Lord. You'd you think some people were looking at it like it's some sort of filter for a deep-space mission where resupply is not an option and a nanoparticle of contamination would be the difference between a successful mission or the ship blowing up.

And why would anybody want to run their oil or their filter to the very last mile of its useful life? To save less than 80 bucks a year on an oil change or two?

I'm looking for opinions on the Fram Ultra because I've seen some recent cutaway YouTube videos on it and it looks pretty darn good. Particularly if you compare the price to Royal Purple, which I generally use, along with the occasional Mobil 1 Extended Performance.

But if you change your oil and filter under 7,000 miles, hopefully UNDER 5.5K in my case, the Fram Ultra seems like a GREAT filter, with ALL the benefits of Royal Purple but without the price.

Anyone disagree with that? If so, why?

I'm not interested in getting a great filter that's good up to 7,000 miles because I'm not interested in cutting it that close. I like a decent filter with a good good buffer in it's service life, but I feel that I've really been wasting my money on the Royal Purple for oil and filter changes under 6k. And being old school I'm uncomfortable just changing the oil but not the filter.
 
No point spending top dollar on a filter to not get the full life out of it. Pretty much any filter can do 5.5k miles. The Fram Ultra is a top quality filter suited for 5 times or more the interval you do. You can use it if you want and toss it every OCI, but personally id use an OEM or Napa proselect for such a short interval or use same filter a 2nd change at least. 4-5$ vs 15$. Prove how the Ultra is far superior to any other when using for 5k miles. You cant. Id rather keep the 10$ extra in my pocket, but thats up to you.

Why is a filter rated to 7k miles "cutting it close"?! This doesnt make sense. Ive used Proselects to 8k miles with 0 issue...not sure what you think will happen if u run it to 7k...
 
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Quote

And why would anybody want to run their oil or their filter to the very last mile of its useful life?


When I buy a gallon of milk, I tend to drink it all, not pour it out after 1/3 is gone.

So using a filter 20K isn't for you? No worries. I don't have an issue running it that long; others don't either. Not a big deal if it is "not for you" Changing oil filters unnecessarily is "not for me"

Everything is good; happy holidays.
 
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Longer OCI within reasons moderate engine wear.

I've bumped our Subaru up to 9k miles from 6.5 K.

Runs fine, and oil checks out excellent even when that old and used.

But e drive over 22K miles a years so that is only 4 months in service.

Royal Puple doesn't make filters, and their passenger car oil is way down in the bottom third of the ratings

Those are Champ Labs the Maker of AC/ Delco filters and hundreds of budget autoparts store No-Name filters.

Good brand.
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
But e drive over 22K miles a years so that is only 4 months in service.



Well, that's the big argument for leaving the filter in, and why I was so pleased to go to the Ultra. I change the filter once a year and not three times (and it's annoying to get at on one of our cars, so a big bonus).

Like with the milk analogy above, change it after ~20k. I'm doing that now after working up to it (cut one open for inspection after 15k, again at 21.5k, etc).
 
I appreciate the top-tier construction and unrivaled efficiency. For the 3-4 dollar difference I'd rather have "way more than I need."
 
Many factory oil life monitors are allowing 9-10,000 mile OCIs-now, a lesser filter can handle it (PROBABLY), but why risk it? I will repeat my usual Ultra mantra of "keep an eye out for road debris damage"-THAT is the Ultra's one weakness! I actually don't run them on A/T tire equipped trucks in my fleet because of that potential issue.
 
The only gripe I honestly have with Fram, is the extremely thin steel the can is made of on the Ultra. I believe a top tier filter should have a tougher can. The same goes for Napa Platinum/Wix XP. This is one of many reasons I use K&N and Ford Racing Filters. The Ford Racing Filters check all the boxes for the Marauder and Torino, (600 psi burst, base end bypass, lots of blended media, silicone valve and seal, stupid thick baseplate) and my XTerra gets used for farm stuff. If something hits the low hanging, front mounted filter on the XTerra, it's less likely to perforate a K&N than a Fram Ultra. So it costs me $4 more. I spend more than that on Rockstars every morning, if we're discussing "wasting money".
 
And back on subject, Royal Purple filters check the right boxes also. You get what you pay for. Thick can, synthetic media, silicone, and the bypass is in the right spot on Ford applications (last time I saw one). I would use one, and pay the extra money, but around here you have to get them at Pep Boys, and that is not convenient for me.

Fram: if you charged a dollar more and made the can out of .020" steel instead of .016", I'm sure people wouldn't mind. That goes for you too, Wix.
 
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Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Royal Puple doesn't make filters, and their passenger car oil is way down in the bottom third of the ratings

What ratings?
 
Originally Posted by 69Torino
Fram: if you charged a dollar more and made the can out of .020" steel instead of .016", I'm sure people wouldn't mind. That goes for you too, Wix.

Are there failures of the Wix and Fram filters due to that?

You talk about penetrations but you don't know if any have happened do you? Or if a slightly thicker can would make any difference if they did?
 
And to the OP, yes this is definitely beating a dead horse. It is actually beating a horse that has been dead quite a while and has been subsequently beaten so much there's nothing left to beat. You certainly have drawn some of the usuals out of the woodwork and no doubt will draw out the rest given more time.

Where do you get any kind of connection to 7,000 miles with any filter? Isn't the Fram Ultra designed for much longer OCIs? Isn't any premium filter?

I guess I don't understand your question.
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by 69Torino
Fram: if you charged a dollar more and made the can out of .020" steel instead of .016", I'm sure people wouldn't mind. That goes for you too, Wix.

Are there failures of the Wix and Fram filters due to that?

I wouldn't call them failures, but I have taken debris to an oil filter off road (farm stuff) and perforated the can. STP filter on an Isuzu Trooper. Lost oil pressure and found a hole in the can. So I use oil filters with thick cans. One of those preventable things, ya know. The last time I changed the oil on the XTerra, the K&N had a dent, and I know that it was perfect when installed, so it took a hit at some point. Had it been a thin can, maybe could have perforated? Who knows. But it didn't.
 
Originally Posted by MichaelRS
I'm not interested in getting a great filter that's good up to 7,000 miles because I'm not interested in cutting it that close.


This is the oil filter equivalent of the 3000 mile oil change myth.
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Royal Puple doesn't make filters, and their passenger car oil is way down in the bottom third of the ratings

What ratings?



You know... The AP Top 25 oils poll. Or the other poll the USA/Coaches Top 25 oils....
lol.gif
 
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Originally Posted by 69Torino
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by 69Torino
Fram: if you charged a dollar more and made the can out of .020" steel instead of .016", I'm sure people wouldn't mind. That goes for you too, Wix.

Are there failures of the Wix and Fram filters due to that?

I wouldn't call them failures, but I have taken debris to an oil filter off road (farm stuff) and perforated the can. STP filter on an Isuzu Trooper. Lost oil pressure and found a hole in the can. So I use oil filters with thick cans. One of those preventable things, ya know. The last time I changed the oil on the XTerra, the K&N had a dent, and I know that it was perfect when installed, so it took a hit at some point. Had it been a thin can, maybe could have perforated? Who knows. But it didn't.


My son's K&N had a factory perforation at one of the spot welds on that bottom nut. Leaked like mad on start up. The can wasn't thick enough that day!
 
Just changed the oil in our 2014 Toyota Tacoma. After unscrewing the Fram Ultra filter, I noticed a black plastic piece in the oil filter housing blocking one of the oil ports. It appeared to have been mounted on the bypass filter. I took out a brand new Fram Ultra and looked in with a light to see the plastic piece mounted on the bypass filter. Threw on a Toyota OEM filter. Never again with I buy another Fram filter.
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite




Royal Puple doesn't make filters, and their passenger car oil is way down in the bottom third of the ratings.


Funny, I know plenty of people that have used Royal Purple including myself with no issues so I'd like to see these so called "ratings" that your referring to and I want solid data.
 
Originally Posted by CharlieBauer
Originally Posted by MichaelRS
I'm not interested in getting a great filter that's good up to 7,000 miles because I'm not interested in cutting it that close.
This is the oil filter equivalent of the 3000 mile oil change myth.
Yes, but old superstitions die hard. On an engine in decent condition, the perceived risk of not changing an Ultra before 7k is actually so slight that it's likely no greater than that of accidentally introducing a small clump of stray dirt to a filter outlet side while changing filters.
 
Originally Posted by 69Torino

I wouldn't call them failures, but I have taken debris to an oil filter off road (farm stuff) and perforated the can. STP filter on an Isuzu Trooper. Lost oil pressure and found a hole in the can. So I use oil filters with thick cans. One of those preventable things, ya know.


Then put the GD belly pan back on the Trooper and stop driving around with the filter hanging out in the wind. I have one and there's no way you can get debris to damage the filter unless you are were negligent and didn't put the pan and extension back on after an oil change or other front end service.
 
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