When I was there it was $0.25/hr.
Fram is one of the largest if not thee largest oil filter manufacturer in the world. If their filters were that bad weād see THOUSANDS of vehicles every year whoās engine died from using them. I use to use them for DECADES without ever having a problem. At least 2 vehicles used Fram exclusively for their 300k+ miles of ownership.
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I have several of those filter wrenches. But SOME vehicles Iāve worked on - those wrenches donāt work. You need this style wrench. Thatās IMPOSSIBLE to torque to a specific value.
I remember those days. My first military paycheck in 1971 was $111 a monthā¦ Minimum wage was $1.25. If I had worked a fulltime job at minimum wage, I would have made $50 a week or about $200 a month. My Air Force pay worked out to about $0.70 an hourā¦ So, that $0.25 was a big chunk of our pay back thenā¦ Most folks do not realize how hard we worked back then to scrap byā¦
Compare Craftsman tools from the 70ās to todayā¦things change. The cheap Frams arenāt going to blow your engine in 5 minutesā¦lolā¦but stacked up against others, theyāre not what you want to be using if you care about your car.
Note the tester said the upper grade Frams were much better filters. Iām sticking with Boss filters; best all around performance.
Also, look at Pennzoil, terrible reputation ādecades agoā while today the Platinum Plus is right at the top, the only clearly better oil is Amsoil.
On the other hand, in 1970, that $0.25 would get you a scotch at a base club, a double during happy hour.
In SEA, being 20 YO, I would hit the club at happy hour, order four double scotch&waters, if I finished them before happy hour was over, order four more.
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25 Cents in 1970 is equivalent to $2.02 todayā¦thatās was a bargain in 1970!
Back then, drinking alcohol at lunch at the club was acceptableā¦ There was an unwritten rule, up to two beers at lunch was OKā¦ Even in the 1980, when I was assigned to NATO in Italy, wine at lunch as acceptable. When we ate lunch at the Italian Carbonari Mess (they served the best Italian food), you had a choice of Orange Fanta, Mineral Water, or Table Wineā¦ Me, I liked that Orange Fantaā¦ L o L . . .
Whereās the proof. Fram sells MILLIONS of filters every year. When was the last time youāve seen or even heard of an engine failure due to a bad oil filter? Fram filters of 40 years ago are made EXACTLY the same as today. Using the same material. They do make different lines now. But the basic Orange Fram filter is EXACTLY the same.
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Whereās the proof?
I know we cut a bunch open back around 1989 and again around 2000 when I was telling my buddy about how there was way less paper element in the Frams then even in the cheaper lines and they looked the sameā¦ The basic Frams now have been opened up new and found rust inside of themā¦ Now the better (upper) lines from Fram look about the same as the rest of themā¦
I am gun shy of a Fram oil filter so I donāt use them, but I have no issues with the air filters, they all flow about the same, from a $1.99 Purolator to a K&N filter, drop in filters only hereā¦ And I am actually running Fram type F ATF in my hot rod and canāt feel any difference from Ford F ATF, time will tellā¦ And I like the Ford oil filter the best on my Moparā¦ lol
I have seen the basic Fram filters crack and leak under pressure before, but I donāt remember ever seeing one just blow apart and damage an engine, or fail internally and damage an engineā¦ I do think that they can stop up at lower mileage than a better filter and bypass the filter, just based on having much less paper element, so I would not run one more than 3K milesā¦ Just my and some others thoughtsā¦
BTW, I found that the MANN filters fit and seemed to work the best in the Euros cartridge oil filtersā¦ I have seen the cheaper lines come apart/deteriorate on the 10K oil changes and have to dig them outā¦
Only anecdotal evidence. I had a filter laying around that was used on my 84 GMC pickup. I opened it up and compared to another orange filter to compare. Exactly the same materials. Same end-caps.
I use Wix filters because I can them at a discount if I buy them in bulk. Everything Iāve read says they are a great filter and Iāve never had a problem with them. They may be better then Fram, but does that fact make a difference?
Everyone forgets,. most oil filters have by-pass valves. This means not all the oil flows thru the filter media 100% of the time.
When does the by-pass valve open? During cold starts in extremely cold temperatures. At high engine RPMās, And, as the filter media becomes dirty.
The by-pass valve prevents the engine from being damaged from the lack of oil under these conditions.
Iāve used Fram oil filters in all my vehicles for over fifty years. And never had an engine damaged caused by a Fram filter
Tester
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For the price, you canāt go wrong with OEM oil filters. Now that aftermarket filters have gotten silly expensive, it seems like OEM is the way to go. There is no logical reason to upgrade beyond the factory filter since you need to follow the maintenance schedule recommended by the manufacturer and that schedule is built around that OEM filter.
FWIW, I used the orange cans of death for many, many years and they never failed, leaked, or caused any kind of engine problem. Several engines went over 200,000 miles and never consumed more than a quart of oil in 3,000 miles (back in the 80ās). I highly endorse FRAM and I donāt believe any of those hacks on the internet who cut open filters. Those filter cutaway videos are the biggest bunch of nonsense I have ever seen.
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While I have never been on the ācut them open, see which one looks goodā school of filter choosing, I was surprised by the Fram test videoās comparison of dirt capture amounts, with the expensive Frams catching much more of each size category than the cheap one.
Dave why in heck are you using type āFā in a torqueflight?
Less slippage, firmer shifts, been doing it for over 30 yearsā¦
I have always run Type F in non lock up 3 speed (TF904/TF727) TorqueFlites, but only ATF+4 for 3 speed lock ups and 4 speeds FWD and RWDā¦
The Original B&M Trick Shift was nothing more than Ford Type F with blue die in itā¦
Here are the Direct Drum clutchās (fabrics and steels) out of my A904 based A999 that is about 30 years old, manual shifting & hard life, after I blew the stator up in the torque converter and tore down checking for metal shavingsā¦ I could have reused them as well as both bands and forward drum clutchās, but I was upgrading anywayā¦
Great shape running āFāā¦
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First off - NO manufacturer makes their own filters. They are made for them by one of the filter manufacturers.
Second - The Toyota/Lexus OEM filters are NOT cheaper than the Wix filters I buy locally.
I donāt know about Toyota but I buy six Honda filters at a time and with shipping pay less than $6 each. Maybe not cheaper than other brands but pretty close and never have to worry. Just what I do. Honda and AC filters.
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Made by Fram.
Tester