Are any oil filters NOT made in China?

650ed wrote: Here's what I have found. The K&N filters made in Thailand (see 1st image below) each have 61 pleats and the ends of the filter media are clamped together tightly with a steel piece. The K&N filters made in China (see 2nd image below) each have 57 pleats and the ends of the filter media are glued together (just hope the glue never fails). Also, while the height of all the Thailand made filters are exactly the same, the height of the Chinese made filters vary by 3/16". I'm sure machines are used to made all the filters, but the Chinese filters contain less filter media and apparently their machines are not all calibrated to consistently produce identical filters. Ed

China is the world leader in manufacturing. They make a lot of very high quality goods, and some junk.

Many foreign companies have gone to China and set up factories. When they do this they bring their specifications and know how with them and goods manufactured in those plants are generally as good as those produced elsewhere. In the case of K&N it would be interesting to understand if they set up their own factory or if they are using some contract manufacturer to make the filters. In either case I'd blame K&N if the quality is poor, not the Chinese.

I think where you need to be very careful is when purchasing generic Chinese goods. Stuff like Harbor Freight sells. Some of these products are fine but there is also some crap too. Hit or miss and the company proper has no real concern with their reputation as it relates to long term success. These companies are out to make a buck in the short term, not long term.

As an aside, China is in trouble these days because their economy relies too much on manufacturing goods for export. They have way too much capacity and some of these businesses don't understand the realities about pricing in a way to assure their own survival. Case in point is a friend that needed some shoe strings. He saw on ebay where some Chinese company on the mainland was selling two pairs for $.99. He order them and received several messages from someone that was processing his order. In the end he received the shoe strings for less than it cost to mail them, not to mention all the time of the person that processed the order. Just amazing.

I certainly agree that responsibility for the problem lies with K&N. If they wanted the Chinese manufacturer to make the same quality product as the Thai manufacturer they would insist upon that being done. Instead, K&N clearly decided to accept the manufacturing of filters with less filter media since the reduced number of pleats was the same in each of the 6 Chinese filters I measured (K&N may even have specified the reduction). K&N also must have approved the glue method of joining the ends of the filter media rather than insisting on a metal clip since that change is obvious even to the casual observer.

The Chinese factory that now makes the K&N filters apparently also makes the Mobil-1 filters. I very recently compared the two and found them to be identical in every way except for the color of the filter media (K&N is red; Mobil-1 is yellow). The rubber o-rings on the filters even have the same number molded into them. I guess one day every bike oil filter on the planet will be made in that factory. Ed

Kind of ironic in a way.
We came from the old toilet paper roll filters "back in the day" to apparently crappy made in China filters today.
More things that make you go "Hmmmm?"

Many Chinese manufacturers are completely unscrupulous. An old business acquaintance of mine who made limited runs of high end and custom equipment decided to move down market a bit with some mid-priced models. He made the designs and prototypes, but British labor and tax costs made domestic manufacture too expensive, so he contracted with a Chinese company to make the parts which would be assembled in England. The quality of the parts was wildly inconsistent, and within a year, some of his competitors were selling his equipment with their company logo. The Chinese manufacturer was selling his parts to anybody and putting their company logo on them.

There is a local store that guarantees their products. I broke and returned every Chinese piece of crap that I bought there. I also don't see as many Chinese products for sale there anymore.......coincidence?

Hmmmm.... Ok, here's my two worthless cents on this.... :whistle: :ohmy: :laugh:

Any longer, it's 50/50 crap-shoot regardless of where it was manufactured/buy it from.... China, Japan, Europe, USA etc....
Hell I've (we've all) received some real crap craftsmanship/parts over the years from right here in the ole USA, I mean some truly BS garbage.

Example: 4.5" angle grinder (HFT) I've paid higher $$$ expecting better quality, longevity, craftsmanship etc... 1-2 years POS died on me.... Turned out no better than the harbor freight tool @ $9 I bought 7 years ago at the start of my build, still have it, have beat the piss out of this over the years and it still grinds metal just as it did brand new....

So, again 50/50 crap-shoot.... Just the way it is.....

One more reason that nearly all my tools are 40 - 60 years old. The old Porter Cable; Milwaukee; Disston; Dewalt; SK Wayne; Ridgid; etc. tools were REALLY well made, rugged, professional level tools that would last more than one's lifetime. So much of the new stuff, much of which has plastic housings, etc., simply does not compare. Ed

650ed wrote: One more reason that nearly all my tools are 40 - 60 years old. The old Porter Cable; Milwaukee; Disston; Dewalt; SK Wayne; Ridgid; etc. tools were REALLY well made, rugged, professional level tools that would last more than one's lifetime. So much of the new stuff, much of which has plastic housings, etc., simply does not compare. Ed

I agree , they don't make things like they used to,
Pete

Cheap tools are dangerous.
Steve

I buy cheap tools (or used) if I need it once but buy the best if I use it all the time.....and I'm in the business! :dry:

TM

:lol: :lol: :lol: