The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Rubber Products Fail on 1954 3600, Guess I wasted my money?

I replaced the clutch pad and the gas filler tube grommet 16 months ago and both have cracks in them now. The "original" filler tube grommet that I removed was in better shape than the new one is now. I bought them from a well known vendor, and each cost less than $5. These items if purchased from a "highly recommended" vendor cost 500% more than these did. I may have already answered my own question, but is my experience similar to what others have found?

Ronnie,

Why not tell us who you bought the bad part grommet from, and who you propose to buy the new grommet from?

Tim, I guess I was just reluctant to name names. I've purchased a lot of parts from classicparts.com that work great, but I think these rubber parts failed way too early. I've read over and over that Steele Rubber Products are of exceptional quality, but I'm on a budget, and paying 5 or 6 times what another vendor charges seems excessive.

I have found that you get what you pay for with regards to rubber products.😎

People might as well fess-up on what company shipped bad parts.

I have had excellent experiences with Classic Parts (Truck Parts), but they might have received a bad batch of parts.

Steele is almost always the best parts - you/we pay for it.

You are correct, and having feedback from others really helps. Thanks for your help.

You are right, Tim . Thanks for your help.

There is a thread buried deep in the Greasy Spoon (by cletis ???!!!) referring to a "wish list" for our friendly vendors as to what works and what has not, in hopes that they might look in and do something about it.
You can add to that list if you like, but since it is buried in a forum which can't be viewed unless one is registered on the site and logged in, I doubt if it will do any good.
Carl

The way things are now with most of the rubber products supplied by most vendors, {with maybe Steele being the exception} they have a built in demand for their product {most rubber items} they sell you a product today knowing in a year or so you will be back to purchase the same rubber product again on & on with no end in sight. I doubt if we will see anything change in that respect.

For what its worth. Steele does NOT make all its own rubber products but finding out who makes what is probably not going to happen.
You'll notice some Bolters have great luck with "some" rubber products and perhaps they just got lucky and bought from the same person that makes some of Steele's. I have been to Steele several times and what I'm saying was confirmed...well, it was probably 3-4 years ago. I do know one vendor that they "exchange" rubber products with each other..and has to do with a Ferd. Just saying guys....

If you can stand the cost I'd say go with Steele but you can't help feel like we're also being gouged just for the name sake.....and I have seen quite few complaints, here on the bolt, in the past on theirs. Go figure.

Every piece of rubber on my truck is Steele. I have written this before and will again, I've had Steele Products on my truck I bought from Mr. Steele when he still owned the business and they are still nice! That's right at 35 years ago!!
You know who I recommend. May cost more, but in the long run they seem to be the best, to me!

Ok, you got my attention Joe. It looks like I'm just going to have to budget for the good stuff! Thanks for the input.

There are so many issues with our era of aftermarket rubber. USA made. Foreign made. Good rubber. Bad rubber. Good fit. Bad fit.

Steele used to be 100% USA made in their fine molding facility. Most of it still is. Not all.

Most vendors buy from one Chinese company. "The Peoples Old Truck Rubber Company". There is no competition in China. Not allowed. They make the only weather strip parts for budget money and they wholesale to our vendors. Semi acceptable molds, process and quality control.

Steele makes the best. From precision molds/extruders, inspected by real inspectors.

Material: China, made with everything from old recycled gym shoes to tires to plastic toys.

Steele: Genuine rubber/latex blocks processed from genuine rubber trees.

The reason you can't complain about Classic is their return policy. Return for full refund "for any reason". No other has that. No restock charges. No minimum order.

Bartamos - that's some good information and puts things into perspective. Yeah, I get it - genuine rubber versus some hodgepodge of recycled "what-ya-ma-call-it". Ok, back to work to earn money to buy the "good stuff".

Sadly, we will never see the quality of your original filler grommet again. Many factors: Emergence of China, who were still hauling with oxen when your original grommet was being made in America. Now they make everything.
The old Stovebolt truck rubber market will eventually get fulfilled and the older generation, that makes up a large proportion of buyers, will fade. I.E. Not many left who want Model T's or A's.
Hopefully I'm wrong. I do see an encouraging amount of younger folks getting Stovebolt fever.

The fact that many people won't pay the price for Steele rubber does hurt them.
The early car market has way more interest than trucks. They sell car rubber also and they go back farther and newer than our vendors.

Steele! I purchased a rubber boot, from one of the major catalogs, and within 6 months had major cracks in it. Replaced it with Steele rubber and years later, it is still in good shape. Also, for all rubber products, I coat them with silicone grease for protection - something I learned in my earlier years as a SCUBA diver.

Bob

I have gotten lured into the trap of low prices for rubber parts. None of the experiences have been good, and I think the various vendors that sell that Chinese junk should be ashamed of themselves. In spite of the high cost, Steele is the only way to go. Hopefully Steele wont start sourcing some of that low quality import junk.

Too late.

Quote from Steele Rubber.

"Are your parts actually made in America? Yes, the majority of our parts are made right here in Denver, NC. We do have vendors that we outsource a few parts from that get some of their products from overseas. We do inspect these parts and make sure they meet the quality and standards that we have for our own American Made parts. We offer 100% satisfaction guaranteed on every part we sell."

Paul, our vendors are offering a lower price alternative. If they did not, we would complain about Steele's high prices. A monopoly! They would raise their prices. Everyone should know that a Vega is not a Corvette. EVERYTHING we buy all day long is Chinese. As I explained, the vendors have no control over Chinese suppliers. Classic does offer money back. What else can they do? The point here is for those who can afford it and are keeping the truck for their sons or daughters, Steele rubber is a better choice. But for many others, off shore products work OK. Keep in mind that many complaints about parts are the users fault disguised as "bad parts".

For anyone who does not already know: The classic 55-59 windshield rubber for $26.95 will probably not be the same quality as the Steele Rubber for $104.40.
There are some rubber parts from our vendors that will suffice. Not windshield rubber. Too risky, too much labor. Hood bumper, no sweat. Firewall grommet, no sweat.... I would have thought clutch pad and filler grommet would be OK from China. We don't know what parts Steele is selling are from China. The quote shows they are buying from a "vendor" who buys from China. What vendor? Classic? J. Carter?

If the choice was $5 for junk or $30 for good stuff, I'd go with good stuff. I know it adds up if you're buying lots of stuff, but if you need to go back and buy the good stuff after the junk fails, what have you saved?

..but when Steele buys "china" stuff it does not mean they charge china prices
....but they claim it meets their quality standard! Hmm, wonder if their standards are now lower?


EDIT: let me clarify my position. I DO agree with Steeles windshield and rear glass rubber. Now, I so not agree with some other stuff. I've been there several times buying rubber for other trucks and cars. I have, on more than one occasion, been less than pleased with their product, and I do buy the "other" rubber products from less costly vendors. Currently I have 3 vehicles running "other rubber" and have had no problems out of any of them....with the exception of the corners on my 52 windshield..thus my statement about buy Steele for windshield and back glass. Oh, the "other" rubber has been on my vehicles for several years. The 37 has been running it for going on 19 years...from JimCarter.

What I'd like to know is: I know they can spec a size and material to an off shore producer. I know they can "inspect" the rubber from a vendor for size and cross section, but do they take material samples and analyze the rubber compound? Probably they had to admit they are not all USA and are mitigating that with "meets our standards". Good to know your other rubber from another mother is good. All we can do is check members experiences and use vendors that have good refund policies. I'm really think that the rubber compound is not consistent with off shore parts. Hence: good reviews and bad reviews. Good/real rubber WILL last. The degree depends on it's day to day environment.

A good return policy is a lousy proxy for low quality. The cost to install many of these parts we are talking about way exceeds the actual part cost. There doesn't appear to be any quality control as far as the chemical composition of the rubber products coming from China, and that is the problem. Most of these anecdotal accounts mention non-steele rubber parts from decades ago as okay, but there are few accounts of good products in recent years. I haven't had much luck with any of the offshore rubber items.

Yep, I've learned a lot from this post. I'll be getting "significant" rubber parts from Steele. When I made my original purchase I didn't have the benefit of having good advice from experienced Stovebolters. I've learned to research the forums as I continue working through issue on my truck. Thanks, everyone. You've all been a big help.

I installed the door handles on my '49 a month ago. There are rubber gasket/seals under the handles and they are cracking already.
THE TRUCK HAS NOT BEEN OUTSIDE YET!!!

Ok, Carl, tell us where you bought them.

Probably the same place I got my steering box bellow, installed a couple months ago & have yet to see direct sunlight but already falling apart. Came from Jim Carter. Will see if Steele has the same bellow but probably several times the price if they have it.

In all fairness to an otherwise well-respected vendor who supports this Site, I would rather address this problem with that company personally rather than trashing them here.
All I will say is that it was not Steele.

How is describing the neg. results one had from any vendor trashing the vendor? I have attempted calling Jim Carter direct {several times} but always get Jim is not available from the person on the other end.

Obviously up to you Carl. Facts is facts. I myself would rather my fellow bolters not have the same bad experience. Maybe it's a one off for that vendor, but I don't want to scare folks off from sharing both good and bad experiences. Man do I hate doing something twice.

I am in the process of attempting to develop a relationship with the owner of this company through a friend of mine who grew up with the guy and currently is in touch with him frequently. If I were to slam his company here, it would likely jeopardize that endeavor.
One needs to ask oneself, "Who wants to deal with a guy who slams your company on an old truck forum which is visited by 10s of thousands of potential customers?"
Carl

OK, one more time. Until someone can prove me wrong. There is not enough demand for more than one Chinese manufacturer to make rubber for our trucks. Our vendors are buying from the same exporter. They may not even know it's the same exporter/same "The Peoples Old Truck Rubber Company". The point is you will get good and bad from all our vendors/Ebay. It is all the same as far as it's hit and miss rubber quality. It does not do any good to hear about all the good and bad stories. If you buy from Steele your chances are better. Your tolerances on your truck, the fact that glass thickness is different than original and Chinese rubber supplier has not compensated for that because they used the original rubber as a pattern to make tooling, the fact the some of us screw up the installation or are too ruff on it or damage it and aforementioned unknown rubber compound all contribute to problems now and then. Frustration, time and money wasted, anger.
It has nothing to do with our vendors. They have two choices: provide a product that is OK most of the time, take it back and giving you another or.... not offer it at all. They have no way of forcing "The Peoples Old Truck Rubber Company" to improve. What threat could they make? What threat can we make? Rubber is, and always will be, a problem. There is a GM authorized rubber vendor. I don't hear much about them? or know if it is just the same Chinese rubber in a GM package.
So there is no reason to single out one vendor. They all have sent out bad rubber and good rubber. We have discussed this ad nauseam and come to the same conclusion. Take a chance or buy Steele, for now.
If the "rubber" cracks in a short time without even being outdoors it is a bad mix of pencil erasers, gym shoes, chair leg tips, black ink and old basketballs. NOT latex from a rubber tree. But we all have "High Hopes...Oops there goes another rubber tree plant".

Well said bartamos!
Did you bump your head or get back on your meds?
Its scaring me that you are making absolute sense to me, and your prose, just now, was beyond reproach. You conjured up in me, visions of sweat shop slaves toiling away in oppressive heat in a poorly lit, dingy warehouse in Beijing. Barefoot of course, so as not to have their sneakers confiscated for my door handle gaskets.

As a matter of fact on Monday 27Mar17, I was letting a motor down on my cherry picker, was bent over twisting the pressure valve and I let the darn picker beam hit me on the head. Have you ever heard of this?-->I have a dent in my head, almost gone now. I thought you were supposed to have a bump? Any Doctors on here?
No apparent effect, no apparent effect and it had no apparent effect. But everything is orange now?

Do your gaskets smell like feet?

Whatever you do, don't go see the doctor. He will make you good as new, then we will go back to scratching our heads wondering what you're talking about again.
I will sniff the gaskets once it stops raining.

I tried to do better but it was too much trouble.

I have had the opportunity to have a product manufactured for me in China, though made of metal not rubber. I commissioned large cloisonne grill badges for a British sports car and was unable to find a manufacturer in the USA. The Chinese company that I ultimately used was a family business doing this specialty work for over 125 years.
It took oversight of each batch that they turned out, from prototype to finished product, to maintain the quality that I needed. They didn't like it much when I returned an order of 50 pieces but after the second return all the future runs were spot on.
Rubber production is probably more complicated due to the nature of the rubber itself but it ultimately comes down to not accepting out of spec products from the factory.
In the case of our trucks I don't know who is commissioning the production of the parts. It seems doubtful that the individual retailers are ordering directly from the factory but the bottom line is whoever is paying for the production has the responsibility to insure the parts are right.
In my experience the factory was very responsive to my demands and once we were all on the same page things ran smoothly.
One final thought is that the factory seemed surprised that I was willing to pay more to get the quality I needed. They are used to producing things as cheaply as they can, as big businesses grind them down to nothing on the price they will pay.
The old saying 'you get what you pay for' is as true in China as it is in America.

Thanks Jim, which should be the case for every other after market part. No reason rubber products should be any different. Are you permanently in Hawaii, if so we need to talk.

Maybe if Carl is successful and cozying up to one of our vendors he can get the straight skinny on difficulties of getting good quality rubber.

You know Eureka Jim, you might be on to something. We have almost 40,000 members. Collectively, I would argue that we have as much or more knowledge about old Chevrolet & GMC trucks as any other group. Is it out of line to think, we could start our own parts company? We have all had similar experiences with sub-standard parts. Mostly, made in China. For the most part, I think we are all willing to pay a little more, for quality and fit. I know that I would. That is why we buy from Steele. We know that the fit, finish and quality is there. I know that I have ventured way off topic. Probably have had one to many Scotches, but it is something to think about.

Thanks for humoring me.

Rugo

This is not directed at anyone, it's directed at the subject. There is a HUGE reason rubber is different. Not many complaints about fit because that's been debugged like Jim did it. But You can't cost effectively inspect the compound. You would have to cut a sample of each run of rubber IF they maintain batch records, which they don't. You would have to chemically analyze the compound. You would have to test it's strength, give it a 10 year accelerated heat, rain, freeze, UV and bending cycle tests or you could ask for batch certification. Which means they would do the testing and certify and track, with special markings on each piece. But they won't do that and you can't make them do that unless you pay 10X more for it which puts it higher than Steele. Everyone seems to think our vendors are Aerospace suppliers or Mil Spec suppliers. They are just old truck parts suppliers doing what Chevy does when you buy a new truck, give you a "guarantee". I know that is not always good because after you install and it fails in a year, you don't bother to remove rubber and so forth. and Chevy has to be on their toes so you won't buy a Ford or MoPar next time. Our vendors get customers from each other. When you get a bad rubber, you go to the other guy, but the other guy just lost a customer for the same reason, who went where you just came from. Same rubber, different day. Live with it.

I just got a backup Angle grinder while my Ridgid is being repaired. It's Chinese. It spins OK. Used the grinding wheel that came with it. The wheel will not grind. The metal grinds it!
This is another case of: The wheel fits good, looks good, is safe... but the compound/material is NO GOOD. Do you think Harbor Freight is going to call China and discuss grinding wheel material and spec it and ask for certification? Hell no. Do you think they will say fix it or we will start buying American? NO! It's crap. It's made from something the Chinese think is OK. I thru it away and moved on to my better wheel. Our Vendors and Harbor Freight and many businesses, eat the bad parts, give a refund or fix it and live on the 90% satisfied customers. Many other companies are able to control their vendors. Like GM, Boeing, NASA, U.S. Military.......
The weatherstrip/rubber parts are unique. They not only have "Form, Fit and Function" attributes, they have a perishable, consumable material "requirement".
This whole discussion has already been solved. No need to write letters or start a business. Just avoid the rubber at our vendors and buy Steele where feasible. The Chinese will continue to make a purse out of a sows ear. So live with it. Our vendors are just as good as any other store for any other thing in any other City.
Maybe we are about to see American companies start up again. Maybe we will see things being made here again. That would sure be nice but it will be very hard to do.
I would like to know who the heck makes what little rubber is used in a New Chevy Truck? Mexico? China? USA? Steele has accumulated all the rubber we use and has reverse engineered/3D scanned parts to make tooling. Many of those parts, suggestions and samples have come from Stovebolt members. China had to do the same. HUGE undertaking for a limited quantity. It is possible that Steele and/or China found/purchased old GM drawings. If a U.S. company could buy the drawings or CAD files, they could make our rubber great again.