Baldwin Fuel Filter

[Spoolmak]

I picked up two more fuel and oil filters for my LB7 from the local Baldwin supplier. When I got home and looked at the boxes more carefully, I noticed the oil filters were made in USA, but the fuel filters were made in China. That's news to me. Should I be concerned???

[Runaway_Dmax]

My Baldwin Fuel filters say Made it China too. Haven't had any issues. At one time any Duramax filter you bought whether Baldwin, WIX, Napa were manufactured by RACOR. Don't know if that is true anymore or not.

[Spoolmak]

My Baldwin Fuel filters say Made it China too. Haven't had any issues. At one time any Duramax filter you bought whether Baldwin, WIX, Napa were manufactured by RACOR. Don't know if that is true anymore or not.

I suspect not. My worry was that every Baldwin filter I ever bought was made in the USA, and was painted, typically red. These new filters I got have no paint on them, but are a 'gold' metal colour. I immediately thought I'd got Chinese knockoffs.

Can anybody comment on that???

After posting, I found the earlier thread on 'Chinese Balwins'. Outsourcing offshore is a reality. Sadly the Chinese are renowned for taking shortcuts and producing knockoffs that find their way into the mainstream.

Take care,

Tor

[Kennedy]

It's unfortunate, but true. We've sold a lot of these filters with very good results. I use them on my own trucks. I did contact Baldwin and was told that these are made by Baldwin China and not purchased from another vendor if that is any comfort to you.

[chessy56]

I'm finding the same on the fuel filters: gold-ish finish, but still seems to be the same quality I've become accustomed to. I did find out from a gal at customer service that these filters supposedly have a "shelf life" of 5 years. If you've purchased a case of filters around 4-5 years ago, I'd call the factory and ask if they are still good. Cust Serv told me the filter media breaks down and could clog up the injector pump.

Anyone have any experience with that???

[Duraswede]

Is the Baldwin filters included in Kennedy's mega filter kit also chinese?
i just bought that kit for my GMC and i hope it's a quality filter, otherwise i'll need to change it more frequently.. or find another filter manufacturer that has filters that fit, and are made in europe (germany or sweden..) or USA..
i'll mount my filter after the stock filter and then it must be 100% good quality coz i really dont want paper debris in my inj. pump..
i havn't had any luck with any chinese stuff i have bought...:(

[DmaxMaverick]

Is the Baldwin filters included in Kennedy's mega filter kit also chinese?
i just bought that kit for my GMC and i hope it's a quality filter, otherwise i'll need to change it more frequently.. or find another filter manufacturer that has filters that fit, and are made in europe (germany or sweden..) or USA..
i'll mount my filter after the stock filter and then it must be 100% good quality coz i really dont want paper debris in my inj. pump..
i havn't had any luck with any chinese stuff i have bought...:(

You'll have to verify with Kennedy, but I doubt they're made in China. The Mega elements are proprietary, and are not in the Baldwin stock catalog, nor are they available through Baldwin distributors by the part number or description.

[Kennedy]

The original Mega uses the Baldwin BF7635 element. It's available from any Baldwin dist (your patronage is appreciated) but you won't likely find it on the shelf. It's not made in China. Last I checked it was USA. My Universal Mega kit and pump/filter combo use a different thread and filter spec as the Mega is just to long to mount in the aft position. This one is also made in USA.

[DmaxMaverick]

The original Mega uses the Baldwin BF7635 element. It's available from any Baldwin dist (your patronage is appreciated) but you won't likely find it on the shelf. It's not made in China. Last I checked it was USA. My Universal Mega kit and pump/filter combo use a different thread and filter spec as the Mega is just to long to mount in the aft position. This one is also made in USA.

That's good to know. It's been a few months since I've checked, but it wasn't available through Baldwin, nor was it cataloged. My uncle has an independent parts store, and he's a Baldwin distributor. I'll have him check again. It would be nice to source it locally. I usually buy them from Kennedy, but it's only an annual replacement (whether it needs it or not), so it's not such a big deal. What concerns me is not having a replacement handy, and have one damaged, or something. It hasn't happened, but Murphy follows me like a bad odor.

[SoTxPollock]

I purchased my last case of oil filters from Kennedy their nice and red top quality. I purchase the fuel filters direct from Racor(Parker Hannifin), probably have 3 or 4 more changes left.
I've nevery heard about a shelf life for a filter. That's interesting. I've had no trouble, course a case of filters won't last 5 years for me unless I slow down on driving a bunch.
I wonder if Racors are going to be made in China also? Anybody know?