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I've been stocking Fleetguard filters for my vehicles for a good number of years now, I've always managed to find the upgraded media versions for my applications.
LF16104 is in question here, which is a tall filter for LS engines (with the original oil pan & filter boss thread).
I ordered online and received three filters that are slightly shorter, have a single dumbed down stick-on label and fluted wrenching end.
The originals have all the marking printed on the can and the end is smooth.
The taller one seems to have a better paint job and it was plastic wrapped & sealed as these filters usually are.
The suspect ones weren't-and were in plain white boxes.
The date codes appear to be:
2010, 61st day for the suspect one.
2013, 277th day for the known good one.
The suspect filter was opened by my filter cutter in three turns.
The good one was very difficult, I ended up needing to put it to the grinding wheel to complete separating the can from the base. The can material as well as the base and number of threads on the good one is thicker.
The bad one is well made inside like a Hastings but is just simple filter media. It sliced like paper.
The good one has the correct Stratapore filter media backed by a thin cloth mesh backed by a steel screen. The white filter media is cotton like and was difficult to cut, I needed to saw the razor knife through it.
THE VERDICT: The suspect one is certainly a counterfeit.
I purchased these from filterbarn.com. Never again!
I cant stand those &(*&%$# who steal intellectual property and load that trash back into the US. About as much as I cant stand the ******** who keep buying it from them.
fleetguard has had this problem as do baldwin filters for a while now, i use these types in heavy-duty truck apps. baldwin uses special stamps and lettering to decipher between fake and real. fleet may also be doing it too. thanks for the info!
What gets me about filterbarn is they sent me four filters-one genuine, three fakes. They had obvious external differences-including how they were packaged. This leads me to believe they don't care to even check if what they bought for reselling is the proper product.
Paul , have you found a reliable source to buy the genuine Fleetguard filters yet .
Your local Cummins Power Center can order whatever you want. Sometimes if I forget to order more filters for my truck I swing by and pick up a stratapore filter for it. Fleetguard is owned solely by Cummins. I think the company is actually named Cummins Filtration now and Fleetguard is just the brand. The one near me retails about 25% higher than online but you would definitely be able to guarantee they are genuine.
12-23-2014, 10:53 AM
Counterfeit oil filter alert! 
