Tempted to Cheap Out On Your Oil Filter? What’s your Engine Worth?

The temptation to “cheap out” is strong when shopping online, staring at the endless options of oil filters. There are so many choices. They all LOOK the same on the outside, but there are big differences on the inside. An oil filter doesn’t seem that important. After all, it’s not really that expensive and it’s such a small part. Do NOT be fooled! This little part is critical to the health of your vehicle’s engine and can lead to costly repairs if ignored.

Fortunately, FRAM has taken away much of the oil filter guess work. Read below to determine which of FRAM’s four oil filter lines is best suited for your vehicle.

Extra Guard: This is the basic Fram orange filter people have been using for years. It has the SureGRIP bottom for easy install and removal as well as the 95 percent single-pass efficiency, market-leading filtration. This means in a single pass, ninety-five percent of dirt particles that are 20 microns and larger are filtered out.

Tough Guard: This filter is designed for heavy duty, tough driving conditions. The Tough Guard filter has a dirt trapping efficiency of 99% and utilizes a silicone anti-drain back valve. Further, it uses a combination of cellulose and synthetic filtration fibers – giving you 6x more engine protection than the average leading economy oil filters.

Xtended Guard: When used in conjunction with synthetic oil, this 10,000 mile filter gives protection for the longer oil change interval. It features a higher percentage of synthetic glass fiber in the filter blend than Tough Guard. This means even more dirt carrying capacity (about 70 percent more dirt can be collected while maintaining filtration). Both the Xtended Guard and Tough Guard feature anti-drainback technology to keep oil in the top end of the engine. This protects your engine by retaining oil when the engine is off so your engine benefits from a full filter at start up.

High Mileage: This filter line is designed specifically for cars over 75,000 miles. The FRAM High Mileage filter packages a patented time-released gel additive that gradually dissolves over its life expectancy, balancing oil PH and maintaining viscosity. The treated oil flows back into the engine, protecting against corrosive wear, deposits and viscosity build-up. The HM filter delivers a 95% dirt trapping efficiency.

So what oil filter do I plan on using? I’ll be checking out the Tough Guard and the Xtended Guard. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at melissa@oilfiltersonline.com. Thanks!