im not basing my claims off of what ive "heard" or off of what happened 2 decades ago. im basing my claims on what a guy who sees a lot of oil filters in a day (and has for 6 years now) has noticed over the years.
They are the same price as Motorcraft at my Chinamart.
when i said cheap, i wasnt referring to price...i was referring to quality. just like if i said "cheesy" it wouldnt mean the filters were indeed made of delicious sharp cheddar.
How much should it have? What is the criteria?
there is no "criteria" for filter openings and media surface...but anyone who isnt just looking to argue knows more is better (more media means the filter will not plug as quickly, thus reducing flow, bypassing, or allowing crud through the media).
Do you have verifiable evidence of this on a large scale as to cause massive problems.
when you spin a filter off of a vehicle and shake it and the media rattles around inside the filter, thats a bad thing...and ive ONLY seen this on fram filters...a dozen times over the coarse of several years. sure its acceptable in any mass produced item to have a few "bad apples" (again, i dont mean actual apples)...but it happens more often on frams than other brands.
you can visually see that the drainback valve is not sealed on many used fram filters. the valve is distorted...even on some right out of the box.
Other filters bend just as easily when using a filter wrench to remove them
ive bent fram filter cans by hand while
installing them. ever give a fram a little squeeze? feel the metal bend and warp under your fingers?
im not spouting half baked claims to the public shadey. im speaking from experience. so youve had good luck with fram filters, im glad for you. i havnt. personally if i hear negative things about an item, i try to steer clear of it...especially when there are higher quality options for nearly the same price.