The Dissection Of Fram & Super Tech Filters!

[someguy]

Thanks again for another great writeup. For the last two years I have been looking at various websites and cutaways of filters and if you must buy Fram the Toughguard or Xtendedguard always look much better in quality than the OCOD.

Honestly in almost every case the factory filter always seems to be best in price vs quality and I'm just going to stick with factory on my vehicles in the future. Thanks to ebay a pack of factory filters for any vehicle can be at your front door for a decent price if your dealer is inconvenient, expensive or both.

[Smoke1991]

well in terms of oem filters, believe it or not Hyundai probably has one of the best OEM filters. ask the people on Subaru forums about there OEM filters. there blue ones are made by Honeywell and are complete **** (paper end caps...etc)

[Fox Mulder]

Originally Posted by Smoke1991

well in terms of oem filters, believe it or not Hyundai probably has one of the best OEM filters. ask the people on Subaru forums about there OEM filters. there blue ones are made by Honeywell and are complete **** (paper end caps...etc)

Great I just bought one for the next oil change in my Subaru. Oh well not going to worry about it, it's already got well over 100K and I use synthetic so it's not likely to get clogged. AFAIK the OEM Subaru filters used to be made by Purolator and they changed a few years ago when they went to a smaller size.
At least I can be happy I bought a few of the Hyundai filters.

[Smoke1991]

here is the link to the next set of filters!!!

The Dissection Of Bosch Premimum, Distance Plus & Purolator Pure One Filters!

[motorking]

Originally Posted by Smoke1991

To see the other tear downs:
The Dissection Of Mobil 1 & K&n Filters!
The Dissection Of An Oem Hyundai Filter!

This time around to took apart a Fram Extra Guard PH 9688 and a Super Tech ST3593A. Both filters are similar in price and I would consider value line type. The Super Tech is a Walmart filter and costs less than 3 dollars




The bottom of the Fram is completely different compared to the other filters I have done so far. The Super Tech bottom looks identicle the Mobil 1 and K&N filters.



Shot of them cut open.



As you can tell from this shot, both filters share nothing similar in construction.



As you can see, both filters have a different spring setup to retain the internals. Also the fram incorperates there pressure valve in the leaf spring. the valve it self is a peice of brittle plastic with a coil spring applying pressure. The Super Tech filter has no form of bypass valve, unless the retainer it self somehow works as a bypass. It does have a hole in it.

Both filters use a rubber anti drain back gasket, the Super Tech's gasket fit snug against the filter, while the Fram was very loose.

Below you can see how the gaskets are assembled on the filter media.



The filter media on the Fram it self is thicker compared to the Super Tech, but is held together by Cardboard end caps. It is complete sh*t IMHO.
The super tech filter has many more uniform folds but the media is much thinner than the Fram. One plus is that it has full metal caps like a filter should have.





Cutting open the Fram filter was a joke. I actually cut one side of the filter media and the metal support on the inside fell out. Complete crap...
The Super Tech filter came apart with the same difficulty as the previous filters I have done. Once I got it apart I actually had to Dremel out a center support to get a clear view of the internal folds.






The thickness of each fold is on par with the other after market filters I have done. Both filters have the pros and cons.

The Fram has thicker media and has an actual by pass valve. The Super Tech has metal end caps, better fitting anti drain back valve and is overall better construction.

I would recommend everyone to stay away from both of these filters (and just stay away from Fram in general). For a value line filter I would recommend a Purolator. And for a few dollars more, get an OEM filter (which I still consider being the best of all the filters I've done so far).


Special thanks to Aquafresh94 for covering the cost of the Super Tech filter. I hope you show this to your old man and rub it in his face.

I still have to do the following filters:
Bosch (black Standard)
Bosch Distance Plus (premimum)
Purolator PURE ONE
WIX (black one)

If you would like to see a specific filter dissected, shoot me a PM!

Good day,
I would hope you could take the time to learn a little about filters before making comments. I am giving you a link to some educational video that will show how filters are made, how they are tested and what is important in filtration.

OIL Filter testing and engineering FRAM Filters - YouTube

OIL Filter testing and engineering FRAM Filters - YouTube

and this one

The truth about oil filter end caps FRAM Filtration - YouTube

The truth about oil filter end caps FRAM Filtration - YouTube

[motorking]

Please take the time to learn. You cannot tell anything about a filter by cutting it open! How does that tell you how well it filters oil?

[Fox Mulder]

Motorking do you work for Fram? If you do we should know that.

[fatabbot]

Originally Posted by Fox Mulder

Motorking do you work for Fram? If you do we should know that.

Read his prior posts, sure appears like he does (or fram's parent company).

Sent from my LG-VS700 using AutoGuide.Com Free App

[destro]

Originally Posted by Fox Mulder

Motorking do you work for Fram? If you do we should know that.

Wish he would learn not to quote such a long post, with pictures and such. Added to that, most of us would rather see actual tests than the guy wearing a FRAM shirt telling us why they are good filters. You insult our intelligence and bring dishonor to yourself and the entire automotive community. Shady product pushing that you have done, ( Along with the company you have hooked yourself in with ) are yet another reason why FRAM will continue to be the filter of Walmart shoppers for their '86 Honda. You will never live down the "Orange Can of Death" title you have received.

While looking over the intial post, I was hoping he wasn't going to post that the SuperTech was better than the Fram, because they both are trashy. For a "cheap" filter, Purolator is good.

[Mikemu]

Engine Oil Filter Studyi wonder though if any of this really matters if you change every 3k or so. My neighbor drives a Dodge Caravan as a messenger truck. His current one has 365k miles original engine and trans. He changes every 3k and uses Supertech goods. Go figure.