Re: RE: RE: RE: Oil filters; $2 Generic vs $10 Premium

From: Bill Pitz (dakota@billpitz.com)
Date: Fri Nov 07 2003 - 21:02:57 EST


On Fri, 07 Nov 2003 20:46:35 -0500, jon@dakota-truck.net wrote:
> If it works like most things, I suspect K&N has probably patented
>that idea so most likely, nobody else could do it now even if they
>wanted to. As far as why it has taken so long for someone to think
>of that idea, that's a good question. There have been oil filter
>"wrenches" out for a while now which act like an adapter, that you
>use a wrench on to loosen the filter so the idea has obviously
>been floating around for a little while; maybe the oil filter
>companies thought people would use the nut to tighten the filter
>which would increase the liklihood of overtightening? A one way
>ratcheting mechanism on there would be pretty slick, but how
>much do you want to spend on an oil filter? :-)

That could totally work on a cartridge-based filter medium filter,
though.

I've seen the socket "adapter" oil filter wrenches, but they've never
appealed to me because you still need one that is the specific size of
your oil filter (which means I'd have to buy a few different sizes).
The beauty of the K&N idea is that it requires something that you most
likely already have if you're even pondering the idea of changing the
filter yourself.

I'm sure K&N patented their particular idea, but there are lots of
possible variations that would probably be able to slip through the
cracks -- such as just accepting an empty 3/8" ratchet like some of
our T-cases do.

-Bill



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