No need to split hairs over which filter to use. Just stay away from Fram.

 

I disagree. Fram doesn't have the market cornered on crappy oil filters....

Buy filters from the folks who actually make their own...Wix.

Or from a company who has to stand behind a 36,000 mile or more warranty on their engines...Mopar.

 

Wix is good and they are made in my area of NC. I have a friend who worked there as a QA manager. They manufacture for many brands and private label companies. Fram is the only manufacture that I am aware of that has had catastrophic failures (and that has been over rated).

 

Good to hear about Wix.

Champion Labs will build filters for anyone, to any specs it seems, so they can slap a name on them. STP for example.

OTOH, Champon Labs makes Mopar, to Mopar's specs.

I guess to be safe, I lean toward Wix or Mopar. They have a vested interest.

 

dang, I wish other questions i ask would get this much attention haha. I stick with the napa gold filters for the wifes grand, and have switched to them on my xj. I was just wondering about the silvers because like someone pointed out, you pretty much get them free with some of napas oil change specials. Right now it is 5 qts of valvoline, reg or high mileage and a silver filter for 20.99. a pretty good deal if the filter is good. shoot, shouldnt have mentioned oil brand, now all hell is going to break loose :P

 

Why do people play Russian Roulette with a cheap filter on a $3,000-5,000 or more engine, just to "save" a few bucks?

 

Interesting you say that when I owned the towing companies in CO. and small fleet in the 3 companies of only 28 trucks from 1 tons to 4 tractors. My specialty was mountain recovery and the analysis on all of them except 2 of the tractors used for mostly longer runs all came back with 3000 mi changes being to long for them. It was severe duty most of the time idling/winching or running flat out from a cold start responding to LE Agencies where we had 15 min response time anywhere in the county.

I was advised to change every 2000 mi. or weekly for most of the smaller trucks running Denver metro and the Eastern Slope. All my oil was purchased by the drum and had a WIX Fleet vender in the area so used them there also, my oil Rotella T.

I don't know about others XJ's but I would have to consider the way I use mine as severe duty, would you not agree? Low RPM's, Idling, Dusty, some winching. I'm new to Jeeps but not upkeep on cars, trucks and race cars. But I need help everyday on my XJ as I bring it along to where I want it to be as far as upgrades and welcome any input.

 

They cooked up that 3,000 mile oil change interval way back in the 1930's as a way to sell more oil.

 

Most name brand (I said most) filters have similar flow rates and filtration effectiveness. The higher quality ones are built for high mileage so they contain silicon gaskets vs rubber, high pressure release valves along with the anti-drain back valve. You can't have your cake and eat it too,there is a fine balance point between filtration (micron size) and flow restriction.
If you change oil and filter every 3500 miles then the NAPA silver makes good economic sense.

 

I wasnt asking because i was trying to cheap out. I have no problem with spending the extra money. I was just curious what the difference was and if they were still better than most. i was a fram guy untill I saw the videos on here, so I dont change anything without research anymore. I just figured that some of the guys here might have cut one open and I could learn from them.
I am pretty religious on the 3k change. I know a lot of people say you can go further and that it is a crock, but changing my oil that way i have 3 vehicles so far that i have taken past 300k. its enough proof for me.

 

I am the same way as you and I have been driving since I was 15 and now I'm 50. Many have told me the same thing and I keep driving my vehicles while they have to rebuild there engines. Better safe then sorry.

 

RED4DR: I wasn't addressing you directly. I was basically referring to some of the previous posts in this thread, and many previous threads, about how ridiculous people can be by refusing to buy a quality filter.

 

Vehicle usage is a large factor in how often oil needs to be changed. Lots of cold starts, short trip driving, idling, and driving in dusty areas are factors that are going to require more frequent oil changes than someone who drives mostly long distance on the highway.

There are those that say they change their oil every 3000 miles and their engines are in good working order with 300,000 miles. There are others who use high quality synthetics and change every 10000-15000 miles and also have good working engines with 300,000 miles. There are still others who use synthetics and bypass filtration and change their oil every 50,000 miles and have good working engines with lots of miles...

One size does not fit all, and personal preferences are a factor. Some people like to change their oil all the time and others don't. The only real issue is when people who don't like to change their oil drive it too long for their operating conditions.

 

OCI's were 500-1000 miles back in the 20's and 30's...oil was pretty crummy. Kendall was the first oil to promote a 2,000 mile oil change in 1922 or so. Thus their logo, fingers making the "two" sign. The automakers balked at that idea though, too long.
Chrysler bumped it up to 2500-3000 back around 1938. The others followed shortly after and despite all the improvements in engines and oil additives, that's right where it stayed until automakers started installing Oil life monitoring systems.
DW's new Impala just crossed 8K miles and it's still at 35% life. I'll probably change it this weekend.

 

Wife's '01 Cadillac Seville STS typically goes about 10,000 miles before oil life monitor says change it.

The computer monitors engine operating temperature and crankshaft revolutions to determine when to change the oil.

I change it when about 8-15% remains.