Who makes Amsoil oil filters?

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Baldwin purchased Hastings years ago and kept the Hastings name due to the marketing and name recognition. So, Baldwin is the owner and Hastings also makes the Amsoil filters side by side in the same plant in Nebraska. Baldwin also markets its own brand of filters. Are they the same, only the people putting them together seem to know.

Hastings are realtively easy to find, many local outlets and on line as well.. I personally believe Amsoil and HAsting filters are one and the same with a different marketing logo printed on the canister. Balwin makes filters under many names and refuses to inform you which it feels are the higher quality brands as they do not wish to alienate any current customers they manufacture for.
 
A response from Amsoil was something like this: Amsoil manufactures their own filters right in their filter plant, and also uses some outside vendors. IF Baldwin happens to make a filter for Amsoil, it is per Amsoil's specs, and NOT a Baldwin filter. (Just 2-3 times the price IMO)
 
Yes, Baldwin makes Amsoil's oil filters. Some or all may be identical to Baldwin models. There's some uncertainty if the media is the same. Amsoil says not but that's our only source of information as yet.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Rebel Rouser:
A response from Amsoil was something like this: Amsoil manufactures their own filters right in their filter plant, and also uses some outside vendors. (Just 2-3 times the price IMO)

The line about their own plant refers to air filters only. All oil filters are outisde vendor-Hastings
 
Actually, Amsoil makes all their by-pass filter elements in their own plant up in Superior, WI. There are simply too many full flow filter designs for them to get into that business. So they developed the specs they wanted for these and have them made by Hastings. Even ExxonMobil doesn't bother making their own oil filters and they are a huge company.

TS
 
The question that received that response from Amsoil I posted above was indeed specific to oil filters only. That was a discussion from an automotive message board in regard to oil filters. The question that had been sent to Amsoil was whether Baldwin made their SDF oil filters. It illustrates how vague and illusive Amsoil's repsonses are to their marketeers.
 
quote:

Originally posted by TooSlick:
So they developed the specs they wanted for these and have them made by Hastings.TS

You are assuming the specs are different then a Hastings filter. No one has ever been able to show that!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is Amsoil stating this. Has anyone actually cut open the Hastings and Amosil comparable filters (and or tested them in some manner), say the LF 386 and the SDF 36 or the LF 420 and the SDF20 and see if there is any difference in construction and media???????????????/
 
My car takes the SDF-20, I have 2 or more and I also have 2 OEM filters, I am more than happy to donate one of each for any tests. (Who looks after that in Canada? Or should I mail them to Bob?)
I want the best filter, and want to know what others are merely very good for short durations or use of Auto-RX. The BITOG study of best filters will help me gain that info and that in part is why I donated the $50 to the group.
Thanks!
Rob
 
Thanks a lot for all of the information. I too have been trying to find the best motor oil, oil filters, etc., at the best prices, for my car. I have used the Amsoil oil filter and I respect it. According to Amsoil in some of their literature, the top three oil filters are the Amsoil, Mobil 1, and Hard-driver (which I believe is now owned by some company named Donaldson). Amsoil calls these the top tier oil filters. Amsoil also sells the Hastings oil filter which Amsoil says is the best of what they call the main tier of oil filters. They rate the Wix about the same as the Hastings. Surprisingly, for me at any rate, they rate the NAPA Gold pretty low, which is strange if that oil filter is basically a copy of the Wix (or the same filter). In fact, if I remember correctly, the NAPA Gold is rated below the FRAM. I have seen (and used) Amsoil, Mobil 1, K&N, Baldwin, Hastings, and Wix oil filters. There seems to be a similiar appearance for the Amsoil, Baldwin, and Hastings oil filters, but people would have to take them apart and examine them carefully to determine if they are the same. Somewhere in this collection of oil filters is the best oil filter at the best price. But which one is it?
 
Who makes the Amsoil oil filters? I have heard that Baldwin makes the filter, but I don't know for sure. I have heard that Champion Labs makes the Mobil 1 and K&N oil filters. I have heard that there is a company (I can't remember the name) that makes the Baldwin, Hastings, and a oil filter for locomotives called the Clark. Are Baldwin and Hastings oil filters nearly identical, or are they different? Hastings oil filters used to be made by a company called Hastings that makes engine seals and I believe piston rings. But the Hastings oil filter division was sold to another company. I have heard that Baldwin and Hastings oil filters are high quality, but these filters are (at least in my area) remarkably hard to find. In comparision, you can find FRAM oil filters everywhere (I used to use FRAM but I don't anymore).
 
Amsoil only sells those Hastings brand filters for which they have not applications. If a SDF filter exists then they don't stock nor can you order that application in a Hastings.

My info from Amsoil (dealer specific) was that all the SDf filters were made by Hastings to Amsoil specs. Major difference being the Amsoil design media and quality of components. e.g. The best on the market, not the cheapest.

Amsoil manf.'s the bypass oil filters and the TS air filters in Superior, Wisconsin (not outside of US) in one of thier owned plants, the A.J. Amatuzio Filter Co.

[ April 11, 2003, 08:55 AM: Message edited by: Mike ]
 
Spector,

My understanding is that the benchmark for the new Amsoil SDF filters (they were redesigned several years back) was the Mobil 1 oil filter. The goal was to at least match it in flow rates, filtration efficiency and total dirt holding capacity.

I think they have done that, if you review Bobs tests for pressure drop, and the comparative ratings in the SAE J806 test.

Ted
 
quote:

Originally posted by TooSlick:
Spector,

My understanding is that the benchmark for the new Amsoil SDF filters (they were redesigned several years back) was the Mobil 1 oil filter. The goal was to at least match it in flow rates, filtration efficiency and total dirt holding capacity.

I think they have done that, if you review Bobs tests for pressure drop, and the comparative ratings in the SAE J806 test.

Ted


Well, in terms of flow they did a better job than the Mobil 1 per Bob's tests. I currently have one on going on 8 months and 10,000 miles which I hope to change this weekend. (intent is to show that changing the filter at 6 months is useless and will not affect analysis) I did have one on a year (only 2100 miles) which seemed to perform okay.? Not enough miles even though it was on over a year.

Again, my premise is that filters are pretty much useless in todays world. Will see.
 
Amsoil full flow oil filters are made by Clarcor Corp. in their Baldwin/Hastings plant in Kearny, Nebraska. Clarcor also makes Facet, Purolator-Facet (not Purolator automotive), Air Guard, Air Technologies, Clark, Locker, and other brands of filters.

Amsoil claims that their filters have different media than Baldwin/Hastings filters, but do not offer positive evidence. Their diagrams of filtering efficiency are long on hype and short on specific test protocols and actual results. By the way, Baldwin and Hastings filters are identical except for the paint and numbers.

My beef with Amsoil is their short product line. They try to fit almost all engines with just a few filters. The bypass setting on the Amsoil filter they specify is half the pressure that Baldwin/Hastings specifies. I asked Amsoil the reason and got a really snotty answer, basically, just do as we say. That was my last Amsoil purchase.

So Smilin' Al owns the air and oil bypass filter company Amsoil buys from...he also owns Oil Analizers, Inc.

Ken

[ April 11, 2003, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: Ken2 ]
 
Ken2, if those Amsoil oil filters are identical to Baldwin-Hastings, then a person would be wise to buy the Baldwin or the Hastings, since they cost 5-6 dollars and the Amsoil is 10-11 dollars and more for shipping if you can't get it locally. The Baldwin may be a little different than the Hastings-I bought a Baldwin for my car and it was shorter than the Hastings. If it is in fact true that the Amsoil oil filter is at least the equal to the Mobil 1, and if the Hastings and Baldwin oil filters are identical to the Amsoil, than the Hastings and Baldwin oil filters would get my vote for the best oil filters on the market. Cheaper than the Amsoil and Mobil 1, equal to them, and inferior only to unusual and rare oil filters like the Donaldson. According to Amsoil, the Wix is apparently about equal to the Hastings, so the Wix would be a good alternate choice. People could buy Baldwin, Hastings, or Wix oil filters, and forget about the rest.
 
AMSOIL FILTERS ARE NOT IDENTICAL TO BALDWIN/HASTINGS FILTERS. WHILE THEY MAY LOOK ALIKE, THE DIFFERENCE IN DESIGN IS THE FILTERING MEDIA. YOU CANNOT GO BY LOOKS, YOU WOULD NEED A MICROSCOPE TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE.

[ April 12, 2003, 09:02 AM: Message edited by: Mike ]
 
Mystic,
I don't think you can make all those assumptions. Baldwin and Hastings filters are identical...one of those two filters you had was for a different application. Check Baldwin's and Hastings' on-line catalogs for the application and crossreference for your car.

Mike,
Just what is it that you're trying to say...don't beat around the bush!
grin.gif
I'm not saying that Amsoil and Hastings filters have the same media; I'm just saying that we only have Smilin' Al's word on it, no hard evidence.


Ken
 
If it is in fact true that the Amsoil oil filter is at least the equal to the Mobil 1, and if the Hastings and Baldwin oil filters are identical to the Amsoil, than the Hastings and Baldwin oil filters would get my vote for the best oil filters on the market.

This is not evidence. This is based upon spun, interpretted advertising hokum.

Equal how? Can size? Fact of the matter is we don't have any facts from the brand owners, or none anyway that can help us determine what makes for the "best" filter. Marketing is not fact. It is in the manufacturers' interest to keep the customers in the dark, and to distract them with slogans and diagrams and testimonials.

One fact that we do have, however, is that almost all of the filters in all of the various models are made by very few manufacturers. Why ever would a filter company want to reveal their specifications in light of this? We'd all just buy the Brand-X version of the same family of filters if we knew them to be constructed of the same materials. --That's why it is so difficult to determine those materials, and, it follows, how those materials perform. Those secrets are the bread and butter of the filter companies.
 
YZF150, I agree with you. I think that is one of the reasons that I like this web site so much-I think I can trust many of the people at this web site and actual testing of oil filters is taking place. Ken2, I probably did make too many assumptions. I do like the Hastings and the Wix, however. Heck, I liked the Amsoil, Mobil 1, and K&N oil filters, but they are expensive! Hopefully, the actual oil filter testing that is being done by people at this site will make it possible to determine what brand of oil filter is truly the best. I hope the oil filter that looks good is also reasonable in price! The one brand of oil filter I sadly do not trust is the FRAM; it is sad for me because that was my brand of oil filter for many years. I also do not know what to think of the Purolator-I think that the PureOne filters really good and has an all temperature gasket, but the Purolator Premium Plus seems to work better on my car. Maybe too much flow restriction in the case of the PureOne? When the oil filter testing is complete, would it not be great if we find out that Brand X is as good or better than the more expensive filters and available at a reasonable cost?
 
One thing I forgot to put in my last post-I think it is very bad that there are so few oil filter manufacturers, and apparently the car manufacturers no longer make their own oil filters. I can remember when a FRAM filter failed on the Plymouth Duster I owned, there was a Mopar oil filter available that would work perfectly. And when a FRAM failed on my Toyota Corolla that I owned, there was a Toyota oil filter available that would get the job done. Why did the car manufacturers decide to stop making oil filters? It still would not be bad, if the car manufacturers demanded a certain level of minimum quality. But do they? More competition from several companies would certainly help, as well. GM a while back came out with a real high quality oil filter (which was probably actually made by Champion Labs or Purolator), but it is no longer being sold. Maybe the oil filter makers and the car makers have a point-most people just do not care, otherwise the high quality GM filter would have sold.
 
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