Who Makes Fram Oil Filters?

The company that originally made Fram Oil Filters was created by Frederick Franklin and T. Edward Aldham in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1932. They create their company's name by combining the first two letters of Franklin's name with the last two of Aldham's name. Fram created an easily replaceable oil filtering element for automotive engines. Prior to this development, oil filters were tough to remove and replace. The first Fram oil filters were hand assembled, later being produced by mass production techniques, and today are made internationally, with some filters being made in China and Mexico. Today's Fram filters do not rank very highly when compared to other filter brands, but the role of the oil filter is an important one as far as your engine is concerned.

The most recent owner of Fram Oil Filters is First Brands Group, which acquired Fram, along with Autolite spark plugs, from the Rank Group Ltd. in 2019. The company is privately held and solely owned by Patrick James, a Malaysian national who built a huge business empire by acquiring a new automotive-related company every year before declaring bankruptcy in September 2025. Some financing schemes involving factoring led to a November 3, 2025, lawsuit against James, alleging that he "diverted hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars from the company to himself, his trust, and related entities," and "secretly pilfered some of the Company's assets to fund his and his family's lavish lifestyle." As of this writing, a U.S. bankruptcy judge has ordered an investigation into the First Brands situation.

During most of its 93-year history, Fram was a responsibly-run company with a notable list of accomplishments. In 1936, Fram filters became original equipment on the 1936 Studebaker, with additional manufacturers Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Cadillac, and Graham joining Studebaker in 1938. Fram was branching out into heavy-duty gasoline and diesel truck filtration at this time, while also building its first plant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1939, close to the Motor City. Ten years later, in 1949, Fram revealed their "engineering research dust tunnel" as a way to help them develop better air filters. A year later, Fram introduced a line of water filters, gas filters, and air filters for a wide variety of road vehicles. In 1951, Fram's replaceable air filter became original equipment on the 1952 Studebaker. This was followed in 1956 by Fram's creation of a new type of oil filter, one which combined the filter and the housing in a single piece, permitting much faster filter installation. This was introduced in 1957 as the 'spin-on' oil filter we are familiar with today, which should be changed at every oil change.

Some additional Fram highlights since then include its 1967 purchase by Bendix, the 1973 opening of Fram's research and engineering facility in East Providence, Rhode Island, its 1975 heavy-duty air filter plant opening in Nevada, Missouri, and achieving original equipment status on 40% of heavy-duty diesel engines in 1994. Several corporate mergers later, Fram became part of Honeywell in 1999 and was sold to Rank Group in 2011.