Ok so today i got my tubular LCA's and Panhard pan from Spohn Performance. I jacked up the car started taking the driver side LCA out, what a pain that ONE DANG bolt was! ( the rear attached to the axle, and that one i have had out the year prior. The front bolt(untouched since 1989 came out 100 times easier. Loosened and came right out. Anyways so i get the rear bolt done and take out the lower bolt for the panhard bar, and i double take on the bar.. Its bent right in the middle and on the axle mounted side it was bent near the mount. That's always nice to see! Looks like some idiot tried jacking it up on the panhard.... Bottom line, LCA's and Panhard done! And Spohn makes GREAT PRODUCTS! Take a look for yourself....

 

O and no that's not my Fram filter! lol I don't use Fram.

 

looks like somebody got stuck in the mud and pull the car out with the panhard bar.lol

 

Ill bet that darn Fram filter caused all that damage to the bar!!!!

 

Not a big surprise really, mine is bent like that too. I'm not really sure why but it drives just fine. Only reason I'm replacing it is I'm going with an adjust PHB.

 

My rear wiggled around some while going down the road... Feels like its gone now.

 

i also have spohn under my car , love it ,

 

whats wrong with fram? i run them. i even run the cheapo frams and the 3x frams.

ouch... not sure how u could do that could have run something over or as stated tried getting towed by it lol

i have UMI under mine. love it.

 

Fram are crap in comparison to what the commercials tell you. Fram has a cardboard filter....think about it, what happens when cardboard gets wet? I rest my case.... lol GOOD FILTERS have a steel mesh core. Like Purolator, K&N, and the new Bosch Filters( Not 100% sure on the Bosch though).

 

This may be true........but they still filter just as well as the rest of them.

 

Gotta wonder how bad the rear alignment was & how it affected tire wear.



And as far as Frams go......Wonder how I'm been SOOOO lucky to have gotten 210,000 miles out of my L98 yet still get 21mpg (brand new was 22mpg) & use NO oil between oil changes. I mean....If Frams are SOOOOO crappy, I must have a 1 in a million lucky car!

Nothing wrong with Frams. I've always used Frams since I started driving (39yrs old now) & never once had ANY engine failure.

 

Nice straight bar. I often wonder how those things end up that way, on seemingly ok cars.

As far as Fram, its not about the game of russian roulette, its about poor design that could lead to a problem. The last time I checked (~4 years ago), they were still using a filter element open on both ends, with a piece of stamped steel just set in place to close off the end opposite the filter mount. Having sold more Fram filters than I can remember, there were times I'd grab one off the shelf and you could hear the stamped steel spring (that is what it used to be, now its just a 'seal') floating around in the filter. This is just because the stamped steel is mass produced, probably thrown into a bin, and at some point dropped into the filter can. There can be gaps between that and the previously mentioned cardboard end of the filter, or the whole thing can be completely loose like hearing it rattle around in there. This can allow any dirty oil to bypass the filter through the gap left at the end of the filter element. Fram should have this end sealed, like everyone else does. They didnt the last time I cut one open and checked. Using one, you put yourself at risk in the game of russian roulette... is it ok, or is it not? Just as a guess based upon how many filters I knew were bad without cutting them apart I'd say 99% of the time the filter you are getting is fine. Then there is that 1%, that is something that is 100% preventable by not having a stupid design. They could have even glued the end in place with the same glue they used on the cardboard, but didnt bother to do that either. Lazy and cheap. I personally refuse to test my luck on not getting that 1%, and stick to better quality products.

 

Frams are garbage, As far as i'm concerned madmax is completely right. Possibility of a failure, me personally my car is worth more than a crap cardboard filter element which probably breaks down after 100 miles. I'll take my Purolator Classic over even a fram Tough guard. And the only fram that uses a steel mesh core is the Gold series which you really can't find anyways.... I don't want even the SLIGHTEST possibility of a filter failure..... take your fram i'll take my purolator, bet my oil stays cleaner longer and the engine lasts many more miles.

 

I'll take that bet.

I have NEVER had an engine failure in ANY of my cars since I started driving at 16yrs old. 39 now.

I change my oil ONCE A YEAR on my DAILY DRIVER 1987 GTA (actually my ONLY car so it HAS to last) & am pushing 210,000 miles. What you got?

 

http://www.corolland.com/oil-filters.html

guy opened up all the brands of oil filters and did a complete teardown of each. ALL the filters used paper filters. altho its for a corolla i doubt it would chance for other types of cars. Again all the filters used paper filters so i dnt kno where your getting your information from. alot of good info on the different types of filters here too.

ive always run fram without an issue. maybe u guys should tear your filters apart and look inside yourself?

here the purolator pure1 has a paper element
http://www.bestcovery.com/purolator-pureone-oil-filter

purolator classic is also a paper element shown here
http://www.bestcovery.com/purolator-...sic-oil-filter

 

Sure will at my next oil change. I'll even try to video it being opened, so that there can be no doubters saying I simply opened another filter & took pics of it, claiming it was a Fram filters guts.

 

Over 300K on an 86 Caprice 305 we used to own(friend owns now) Runs great, engine has NEVER been opened up. Never had a Fram either. AC Delco Filter or purolator. When i worked at Advance Auto we had a display that had all the filters we sold cut open. Fram was BY FAR the cheapest made and had the least filtering material. And a crappy design at that. None of those links show a Purolator cut open compared to a Fram cut open. I want to see a side by side comparison. Sorry your all brainwashed by frams commercials... They say they are the best filter and by god they are!

 

this thread is steering in the wrong direction lets keep it cool

 

If you wanna compare a TBI carb/TBI engine in a cruiser to a L98 350 TPI in a performance vehicle....Be my guest!

I'd get back to you in 100,000 miles. I'll be dead or pushing 54 by then. If I break 7,000 miles a year, I'm having to drive too much.

 

I dunno. We are talking about the quality of different brands of filters, to which the OP alluded of bad quality, before anybody else said anything.

 

lol... I'm glad to see this thread turn into a fram discussion. Post some pics of it all installed now. I'm currently thinking about buying UMI suspension stuff. Actually pretty much the same setup as Stephen has in his sig.

What are your future suspension plans for the car now? Did you just want to upgrade the LCA's and PHB, or is this only the beginning?

 

 

How about my 1961 belair I just sold?

130,000 original miles, drove it on 200 mile road trip, all original parts,

And chevy never installed an oil filter on it.

That's right, now oil filter, no place to put an oil filter.

You have to realize, even the "best" oil filter is still filtering oil that has already circulated through the engine.

The stuff it pulls out of the oil has already traveled through at least part of the engine.

It is not filtering the oil and atmosphere before it reaches the oil.

 

bingo! but this hasnt gotten outa hand btw... this is still civilized as far as im concerned. PPl should talk about oil filters as its a serious component that most overlook. the filter can save your engines life by trapping something that hasent ruined something in its first pass. as far as im concerned i would like to get to the bottom of this since i have too much money in my engine and i would like to get a good filter. ive been using frams and i havent had problems but i would also like to see a flow test of the filter material. oil filters can cost power depending on how much oil they restrict. sure this number will be low like 5hp buts its something to consider.

they did cut open a purolator and a fram.. actually 2 diff types of purolator and he posted his results in the first link. if your worried about pics of it being done and u wont believe it till then...then u got bigger issues about trust lol.

bloody blue bird. im also running all UMI stuff, double rod ended offset UMI LCAs, double rod end UMI panhard bar. i just recently got rid of the UMI LCARBS and made my own more adjustable axle LCA brackets. and i just finished up a custom shorty tq arm. UMIs stuff is great, good price and great quality, ull like it. also running J&M strut mounts, adjustable front struts. wonerbar, STB, SFC, 8pt CEE roll bar and every bushing that isnt a rod end has been changed to poly (front Aarm, sway bars/endlinks, engine mounts, trans mounts etc)

 

If your third gen rear is stock still, you have no idea what you are missing.

Even the cheap stuff, I had lakewood lcas and panhard first. Made a night and day difference.

Car rode better, handled better, was quieter and all around better!

It is truely one of the best bang for buck deals and should be done before ever going under the hood.

I now have jegs solid control arms and a founders perf panhard. Next is an unbalanced performance panhard drop.

I use k&n just because the nu helps in removal in tight spaces.

My autoshop teacher recomended changing filter with every other oil change!

Umi, spohn all make nice, if not identical hardware that, like sfc's, are so much better than someone with out them could possibly believe.

 

Well i was mainly on a quest to eliminate wheel hop(which was really bad with the original LCAs!) Saw the panhard wasn't too badly priced and figured i would do it too while i'm there. The front suspension is shot so it needs to be replaced anyways.... struts, springs and i want to to the LS1 brake swap while i'm doing the suspension too.

 

Yeah I have pretty much a stock suspension setup. Excluding struts and shocks. I really want to put welded SFC's on, but I'm debating whether or not I should sell my 3rd gen and get a 4th gen.

 

Ok, what I posted about the Fram filter was meant as a joke, and was not intended to be taken seriously. Its called having a sense of humor, pertaining to the comment the OP made.

Lets just leave it as that, please!!

I am starting to wonder if some people on here really think the filter caused the damage....Geezzz!!

 

Absolutely. It fell off the engine and on the way out the car smacked the panhard bar. Sheesh. Do I have to figure EVERYTHING out?