The Truth About Filters – Finally

[Bschneider]

Since we started selling filters online, and I’ve tuned myself more into the filters market than ever before, I’ve been amazed at what I’ve read on the internet and in forums. Many of them have been about how Purolator makes MotorCraft, how Wix makes MotorCraft, how FleetGuard makes Wix, and even how nobody makes anything – that all filters are bought from one of three German companies. The last one is just plain insane – Wix, Purolator, FleetGuard, Baldwin, Fram, etc all have manufacturing facilities. Clearly they all make their own filters.

So I called Racor, Purolator, and Wix yesterday and talked to some techs about the filter business; here’s the truth confirmed by each company separately.

All filters are a hodge-podge: Wix, Purolator, Baldwin, Donaldson, FleetGuard, and Racor make their own filters, but they also buy filters from each other and box them under their own names.

Note 1: MotorCraft will buy from Purolator and box them as MC, but MC will also buy from Baldwin, Donaldson, etc. and do the same. Purolator admitted that occasionally they will close a plant and allow MotorCraft to come to their facilities and use Purolator’s equipment to make MC filters using MC employees. But MC will also buy filters from Donaldson, Baldwin, Wix, and FleetGuard and repackage them as MC. ACDelco and Mopar do the same as MotorCraft (well, AC doesn’t make anything anymore – they’re simply a re-boxer). With either MC, AC, or Mopar, there is no consistency to what filter you’re getting.

Note 2: Wix will buy filters from Baldwin, Donaldson, FleetGuard, etc. and label them Wix and put them in Wix boxes. Donaldson does the same. Baldwin does the same. FleetGuard does the same. Purolator does the same. They all mix and match from each other – they do this because each company wants a complete line of filters, and sometimes it’s more cost effective to buy from your competition than it is to make your own (such as if a re-tooling is necessary for a particular filter, or if there’s a patent on a particular filter-design). The only companies that do this type of trading are the ones that meet or exceed Original Equipment (OE) specs. They will not do this with companies that are not OE spec – Wix and Purolator said they would not and do not buy from Fram or others that are deemed non-OE.

Note 3: It is extremely possible that you could buy two filters with the same part number from the same manufacturer, and those filters may not be identical because they were made by two different companies. True for Baldwin, true for Wix, true for FleetGuard, true for Donaldson, true for Purolator. In today’s filter industry, all the filters are being shared and relabeled as their own so that company can offer a more complete line to their customers.

True, you could love Baldwin because you like the way their paper media is molded, or you could like Donaldson because their ratings for micron filtration are higher than another – but you might still end up with a Baldwin filter in a Donaldson box. In other words, you can love a certain brand, but you may not be getting that brand in the box you buy. It happens all the time in the industry, but it’s all at least OE-spec – they’re all quality filters.


PS – Feel free to call Purolator, Wix, MotorCraft, Baldwin, or any other and ask them what I asked them. They all have Tech Support numbers listed on their websites – that’s how I got their numbers. I found the techs were a joy to talk to and very honest about their industry.