I have to say that this one surprised me, particularly since the packaging said “See item for country of origin” which is usually a nice way of saying “HEY! THERE’S A THREE PERCENT CHANCE THIS WASN’T MADE IN CHINA! BUT YOU’LL HAVE TO BUY IT TO FIND OUT!”
But as we’ll see, oil filters make for strange bedfellows.
As far as I could tell, Mobil 1 oil filters are made by Champion, a massive multinational corporation that focuses on oil filtration. There’s no guarantee that your Mobil-1-branded filter will be made in the United States, as Champion has plants in Asia. With that said, the Internet seems to think that the vast majority of the filters are, indeed, made here.
Here’s the interesting part: Lotus tuners/fabricators BOE did a teardown on Lotus oil filters and found that the Mobil 1 filter was identical to the K&N filter. Is that the case in all situations? I wonder. The K&N filter for the Honda CB1100 is suspiciously similar to the Mobil 1 filter I just bought, differing visually only in the traditional twist nut molded into the body for easy removal.
One more surprise: Since I own the plain-Jane CB1100 Standard, I never thought to see if the twin-exhaust, polished-motor CB1100 Deluxe had a different oil filter. Turns out that it does! There’s a chrome K&N filter without external markings that you can buy for the Deluxe. It would fit on my Standard, of course, but it would look ridiculous. On the other hand, as they always say, “If it don’t go… chrome it!”
One cool thing that I’ve seen lately and considered is a metal, finned sleeve for the oil filter. Would act a bit like an oil cooler without taking up much space at all. They aren’t expensive and remind me a ton of the heat sinks we use in radio control cars. Then, you could pretty much use any filter because it would be covered up… assuming you like the head sink look. 😉
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/32777/257072.jpg
If you’ll recall, my CB550 has a finned filter housing that takes a cartridge.
I do. 🙂
Champion Labs, “one of the world’s largest suppliers of filters, filtration products and related services”, has a large plant located in Albion, Illinois. Weirdly, Albion is a small town and is not really close to anything. Anyways, this is not too far from where I grew up, and we took a tour of the factory when I was in high school.
The day we took the tour, they were packing up AC Delco oil filters. The tour guide told us they were shipping FRAM’s the week before. The guide was an older fellow, retired from working on the line. I’ll always remember his advice: unless you want to work here, stay in school.
Rob
The gold standard on oil filter comparisons:
http://www.gmtruckcentral.com/articles/oilfilterstudy.html
I’ve found that most of the Fram Ultra Synthetic filters are made here as well. No need to discuss whether anyone really “needs” these higher quality filters or not. Even though both low- and high-cost filters may come from the same plant, there’s no arguing that the high-end filters are made with higher quality components, and imaginary or real peace of mind is worth something. But it’s the knowledge that I’m supporting U.S. manufacturing in some small way that really drives my purchase decision.
The one thing I’ve learned about oil filters is “don’t buy FRAM.”
If you ask the parts counter guy to fetch an air filter for a 1976 Pinzgauer, his system is flagged to quadruple the price of an identical air filter out of a 1942 Ford tractor. Yes, I requested and paid for the latter before inquiring about the former.
At least Haflinger parts tend to be unique in their dimensional measurements, which helps me to overlook their occasionally jaw-dropping prices. That’s what I get for loving a truck whose mean production was fewer than 1,000 units per year.
If loving a Haflinger is wrong, who wants to be right?
“At least Haflinger parts tend to be unique in their dimensional measurements, which helps me to overlook their occasionally jaw-dropping prices. ”
I thought all vehicles used 19/38″ 7-point catheter truncheon bolts.
In the research I’ve done comparing filters (basically a lot of reading bobistheoilguy) - at present Mobil 1 and K&N are the exact same filters internally.
I pay the extra 2 bucks for the welded on nut. On my cars it comes in handy. (Limited hand access).
Nice to see this .
WIX , maker of NAPA filters used to be American made , I’m not sure any more .
allied signal bought fram long ago and ever since frams have been 1,000 % SHIT .
Interestingly , many of my Diesel fuel and oil filters are now made in Israel .
-Nate
WIX still seems to be making them in the USA. The Corvette-spec WIX 51042 XP synthetic media filter that I use on my Boxster (with LN Engineering spin-on filter adapter) is marked USA, as is the WIX XP for my ’08 Caravan and the “regular” WIX filter for my ’06 Legacy. They’re good stuff, and quite cheap if purchased from RockAuto.
Seen on Jalopnik this morning:
http://huckberry.kinja.com/save-25-on-the-original-casual-sneaker-59-1767760921
“Designed in California.” Made?
Eh, you know where they’re made.
BUT GUISE GUISE GUISE WE VISIT THE FACTORY AT LEAST ONCE PER QUARTER
https://seaveessupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205740498-Where-are-your-shoes-made-
Air and oil filters are things I can usually count on to be made in USA or Canada. I have used Chinese-made cartridge filters from both Fram and Supertech though, in order to avoid having to go out of my way to visit a dealership during their hours. I’m a little more comfortable with those because I can at least visually inspect the entire filter before and after use. Still, I’ll try to plan a little better in the future. I’ve already got my Made in USA cartridge filter from the Mazda dealer for my spring oil change.