The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Chinese Junk

and I am not talking about ancient Chinese sailing vessels. I am in the process of doing a frame up restoration of my '52 GMC 1/2 ton and wanted to give a heads up on some quality/fit issues with a couple of our parts suppliers in case anyone else has ordered these parts.

I ordered new spring shackles and spring eye bolts from Classic Parts of America. No problem with the shackles but as I was in the process of torquing the last of four spring bolts to 80 pounds of the 60-80 foot pounds recommended in the shop manual, the bolt head snapped off. In looking at the bolt where it broke off, it had a very grainy appearance which leads me to think it was cast rather than machine from a billet or bar. These bolts are Classic part number 74-057 and have a raised heart shaped leaf on the head of the bolt. They were $30 each. As I contemplated what to do about it, two more broke off overnight without me even touching them. I contacted Classic about the problem, and they offered to send me four more, but after considering something as important as this critical suspension part, I decided to go with bolts manufactured by Rare Parts that I found through O'Reilly Auto Parts. At over $45 each I hope these are better quality. Classic said that had a report of the same problem a while back but thought it had been corrected. They are sending me an RA to return these parts for credit.

I also ordered a completed new braking system including master cylinder, stainless steel lines, hoses and wheel cylinders from Jim Carter. As I installed the master cylinder, lines and front hoses and wheel cylinders everything appeared to be fine. I can't say enough about the good quality/fit of the stainless lines. They came in a box labeled Inline tube. As I got to the rear of the truck my problems began. The single brake hose from at the rear would not screw in brake line running down the side of the frame. The steel line has a 3/8 X 24 male fitting which is correct; however the hose had 7/16 X 20 male and female fittings on both ends. I compared the new hose to the original that was on the truck and the original had a male end fitting that was 7/16 X 20 and female fitting that was 3/8 X 24. I am not sure the country of origin for this hose (it didn't say) but it is definitely manufactured incorrectly for this application. This is Carter part number ME136 which based on their description is correct for my vehicle. When I tried to install the rear wheel cylinder (their part number ME323) the wheel cylinder block attaching bolt would not screw all the way in. The packaging for the wheel cylinders stated that they were manufactured in China. With the two copper washers installed it still lacked almost 1/16 of an inch from tightening all the way. The bolt bottomed out in the wheel cylinder before tightening. These were new bolts from Carter, but I compared them to the original and they were the same length as the original so the problem was definitely with the wheel cylinders. I talked with Jimmy at Carter and got a RA to return the hose and wheel cylinders to them for a refund. I have since located these parts also at O'Reilly and they are manufactured by Wagner - hopefully here in the US.

Long story short - on something as critical as the suspension we are better off buying from name brand US manufactures than than no-name Chinese junk.

Thanks for the heads up...

Well, not all Wagner products are US made just like most large suppliers these days, but they do have a pretty decent quality control rating system, so hopefully, what you buy will fit.

my local NAPA stocked those Chinese wheel cylinders when they first showed up because they looked right and were about 1/3 the price .... in less than a year they had delisted them because of the number of defectives returned [one from me ] by now ALL the vendors should be aware of the numerous problems with them and have returned them, even if they fit properly they do not las long before leaking

Bill

Handcrafted by Sum Ting Wong. Someday soon they will get thier quality control issues resolved and give domestic manufacturing a good spanking.

I often wonder why vendors of "after market" parts do not offer a choice of suppliers (USA or Tiawan for example) for parts that do have that option. Maybe it is too much of a hassle - or maybe holding too much inventory. I think if most of us Stovebolters were given a choice - we would willingly pay more for higher quality components. Maybe it is time for UNITED STOVEBOLTERS to demand that our vendors give us an option when possible - or our dollars will go to their competitors that have optional suppliers !!!!!!!!!!!!! Whew - now I can get off my soapbox. Thanks for letting me vent.

Id GLADLY pay more for USA parts.

Its funny im doing an ignition upgrade on my Jeep Wagoneer and I ordered a WELLS part online because I assumed it would be made in USA. Turned out it was chinese, but it was that wrong part anyways. Went down to advance and they had the part I needed, cheaper, but it was a generic. Well guess what, it was made in the USA. Sometimes things just work out.

Well I agree with some of the china junk. I hope those people read these forums.
Problem is it doesn't matter what auto parts place you go to they all have it. The big difference is the price paid. You will get a deal in one outfit and get ____ in another. The problem with the china stuff is, the ones here that are having them make it need to clamp down on them. The outfits here will get the returns and law suits not china. Remember some years back the tire deal, that cost some lives and lawsuits.
I guess the one thing to remember is if its a critical bolt, try to get a good quality grade 8, problem is that maybe made in china too, even if its from a good ole usa bolt outfit. Scary stuff.

I remember how products made in Japan were considered "junk" back in post WWII through the 60's.

Which tire deal do you mean? If it was the ford Explorer/Firestone deal, those tires were made in the USA. Decatur, Illinois to be exact.

I agree, I wish there was a U.S. company that offered aftermarket body parts. I bought steel rear fenders and they are so thin, I painted them with por-15 and laid fiberglass cloth in the wet por-15 then another coat of por-15 then spray on bed liner, I hope there strong enough now that I wont get stars in my paint from gravel. With this added expense I could have paid what a U.S.A. manufacturer charged.

I hate to say it but we all need to own up to the fact that we all contributed to the amount of imported stuff / crap we have now. We all got into the cheaper the better, just buy more and throw the old one in the garbage. Don

I find that the Chinese parts are great! If you have a trailer queen. But I expect to use my truck. I much prefer good used or NOS parts.

Its pretty hard to even git USA made anymore, like was said - spooky. Most all the chinese stuff I have seen had or used, might of looked good - but it was junk, would not hold up at all. Better American used than brand new Chinese stuff, but it's doing nothing but gitting harder to aviod it. I do my best to do just that for all my stuff.

I once tried too Ride a 1970's Japanese motorcycle with its original Firebridge slippy slidy wet roady Tires/ Tyres on it, still remember my bum nearly biting chunks out of the saddle, So not all Nos parts are good Either. In plumbing I have the choice in Iron pipe of domestic or China fittings, I allways choose Domestic , Better made and will last my life time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/26/business/worldbusiness/26iht-26tire.6331500.html

http://www.suite101.com/content/chinese-tires-recalled-a29988

The real pig thing they did was killed peoples pets. How wicked.

Honestly! Of all things why buy chinese tires! I saw an ad once for $29 tires. I couldnt believe it, but then I read the price was for tire fit for a late 80's honda with a 14" wheel! Bet they were chinese too, cause id never heard of the brand.

I kind of figured that was the tire deal you actually meant.
As far as seeing a cheap price for a tire, it's not an uncommon practice to publish the price for the smallest tire in a given line, regardless of where it was made. That $29 tire very well could have been made in the US, probably by Cooper or Goodyear, and rebranded under a "house brand" for whoever was selling them.

What's real scary is my parts man mags are telling stories of semi-truck wheel studs/hardware-China made-labeled Grade 8, but snap like twigs, most are not even Grade 2-some people have already died from wheels leaving the truck!

I think the vendors should at the least indicate if a part is made in the USA or not. Best thing would be to indicate every country of origin. I recently bought wheel cylinders from 2 different vendors at different times, one front one back. The rears came from Argentina. Haven't installed yet - time will tell.

My FLAPS guy told me a couple of years ago that Moog (makers of steering and suspension parts) was now producing off shore. He said the jigs and dies were old and the parts produced under the Moog name weren't as good as they used to be.

Not Firestone--There was a number of brands imported from China but the case that got the most publicity was an importer in New Jersey. Why is the importer important-- because our laws do not permit us to sue foreign companies for defective goods. Our only recourse is to sue the importer. The company in N J was small with very limited resources.They filed bankruptcy and left victims of accidents caused by the tires completely helpless.

To me it seems most stuff you buy now is junk. I hate to say it, but I've seen some junk with "made in the USA' on it as well. I put a new USA made flexplate on my daily driver and found out the ring gear was welded on crooked. I can only get about 3 zips out of the zipper on the USA made safety vests I wear at work, before they start coming apart at the bottom. I've also had some made in China stuff that was decent quality. I guess it's not the country of origin anymore as it is the quality control end checks that are done (not done) before the part goes out the door.

It would be nice if we had a section on this forum dedicated to user reviews and ratings of various parts.

The other scary parts are wheel cylinders. I have had several new ones leak when bleeding the brakes. Others in a matter of months. The old mfg had the size and some numbers or code stamped into the rubber, the new ones are blank. The metal parts seem OK, on some I put in some wc cups from my collection and they were fine. These parts came from Napa, Auto Zone, Truck Shop, etc. It gives me concern about liability.
Fred

I haven't had any trouble with hard parts from Napa, but the repop stuff from all the venders is garbage, choke/throttle cable inner wire that is too small and brittle, instruments that work a short time and then quit, I really love to get behind the dash of the early 50's cabs and remove the cluster and then the instrument to replace garbage, I (complain) to these people every time I order about the quality and they say they hear it from everyone.
Dennis Carpenter's Ford parts have been real good many of his parts are made useing Fords old molds, and many other parts are made using Ford licensing, too bad some one couldn't have done that with GM.

...and for today I put the emblems on the side of my hood. Well wouldn't you know, one of the "stems" on the emblem was bigger than the other end. I thought it was maybe the hole in the hood, NOPE, both emblems were the same. Rather than try trim it down some I just ran a bit that is a little bigger through the hood hole so it would fit.
It really gets me riled up to pay good hard earned money for something and its a sorry piece. And, of coarse, this is just one of many situations you and I incur due to greed, lack of attention to detail or just plain don't give a rip. VENDORS could expect/demand better goods. BUT, they have someone to blame it on so wonder if they care?
I better stop before my BP goes up....again.

ya know Chip, that makes me think of the fact that many of the repro parts are patterned on "good original" pieces, rather than engineering specifications, and considering these are/were cheap consumer work trucks, and were never the greatest quality from the line, it wouldn't be suprising if some things were copied from original parts that were "incorrect"

I have heard from a number of sources that on the line a part that didn't fit well enough [maybe after being tried on 2 or 3 trucks] was mixed into the service parts system for use as replacement parts, where someone might take the time to fuss over the fit .... no doubt some dealer bodymen back in the day got as frustrated as we sometimes do!!

Bill

Ive heard the same thing. Think next time I buy ball joints or suspention bushings I will stick with Raybestos Pro Grade.

The reason some of the USA stuff is junk too. Is sometimes because it comes from china and is just stamped US, everyone importing knows most all us are getting fed up with the junk.
On another note, yes some things from china are okay. A few of the harbor freight things work and work good. I think the key word is few.

....even buying BRAND name is no gurantee. Moog, as many know bought out TRW and there was a time when TRW was well respected.

Now, move forward after moog bought them out. Just three months ago I purchased two new tie rod ends for the stang front end under the 37. Well, the MOOG were 40 plus if I remember correctly. Well, TRW's were at least 10 bucks cheaper and since I had used TRW for many years without any problems I decided to use TRW.....well, wouldn't you know, I opened the box and the "cap washer" of the tie end rod had Moog stamped on it. Maybe they're just getting rid of the TRW boxes rather than throw them away..yeah, right. No box cost 10bucks!!
So, for the time being it seems they are trying to catch both upper and lower price brackets with the same product. For now anyway.
And its not just tie end rods..... I open a lot of Moog/TRW boxes that I deliver for Advance Auto. For the most part I don't think any of you would be surprised at what I hear and see concerning "marketing" of parts and other products. Just change the paint on the same product and there is a $5 difference!!

I must say this to my Canuck friends. The stuff I see from Canada sure does look good compared to the china stuff I see. Their's is well made of quality material. The last product from Canada that I purchased was shackle kits. Best I've seen the past 10 years!!! So, someone is doing it right.

I agree. It is hard to find any quality in the stuff arriving from China.

I tried to find an American made bath towel today without any luck... I tried four stores including Sears before quit looking.

It is sad to see this happening to the American workers and factories.

Just to give everyone an update, today I received my parts from O'Reilly Auto Parts that were ordered as replacements for the subject of this thread. All the brake parts (rear wheel cylinders and rear hose) were manufactured by Wagner and came in boxes marked made in the USA. The interesting thing is that the prices were actually cheaper. The hose was $11.35 from O'Reilly/Wagner vs $17.50 from Carter. The wheel cylinders were $22.83 each from Wagner/O'Reilly and $34.50 from Carter.

The spring bolts manufactured by Rare Parts was also USA made according to the package label and was $29.95 which was the same identical price as the ones that failed at 80 foot-pounds of torque from Classic. One look at the bolts from Rare Parts and you could tell that they were a superior product. They are now installed and torqued without any problem.

I have to say that both companies were prompt with their credits with Classic actually sending a pre-paid UPS mailing label. The point is though that they should not be selling this junk to begin with and even charging the same as what appears to be superior quality, made in the USA parts.

Thank you for the update,Huck. I wish there was an easy way to have a list compiled of parts we can get in USA and posted for future reference. I've experienced the same thing on some of the parts I get to. Its surprising what a good parts man can get you.

You are right. In fact the manager of this O'Reilly's is real car guy. He is into 60's and 70's muscle cars and has built what sound like some monsters and has offered his help in finding anything I need. I wish there was some way we could come up with recommended replacement sources, but I know we are looking at a constantly moving target.

We do this to ourselves. We don't want to pay for good quality!
I found the original parts from my truck were still good. I did not allow them to retire! Parts 50 years old and still working say something about US quality!

Jon

Well said Jon!

I'm still on a roll guys so let me rant one more time.

Pulled out the new Hood Emblem today that I've had stashed for over a year. The "bow" in it was pitiful to say the least. The holes did not line up no matter how much I,actually my friend, pushed it to try take some of the bow out and make it line up. The gasket was just plain punch wrong. What should have taken me 10 minutes ended up taking 2 hours. Had to drill out the hood holes to 3/8" and had to cut the holes at least 1/8" bigger and it was still tough to get it all in place.... and of coarse in order to see and work with it I took the "panel" off so I could see into the holes.
What a pain. I'm still ticked about it.
I know I know, but guys, I have been around a long time and its just plain what this thread started about. Overseas CRAP.... yes, it even had the little gold Tiawan sticker on it. I'm going to write a letter to the vendor but do you think it will do any good..... no, they'll say "well, we haven't been having any complaints about, and you did use it".... arrrgh!

Yep, I used the thin piece of crap. Not worth the postage to send it back. $46 for a piece of tin..AND it had two HIGH and SHARP points on one end of it. I took a pair of needle nose pliers to tweak it a bit and you should have seen the "Chrome flakes" falling and poping off. Looked like it was snowing and I barely tweaked it. I ended up filing the tits off and the cheap stuff still flaked bad. I make sure I didn't get near the face edge and put it on.

Looking at the picture sure don't show what it really is!

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r19/LutherParris/52Panel/000_0256.jpg

I think the original example in this post is a very serious problem. It amazes me that the vendor just offered another one or refund. I would guess that the same part may be sold elsewhere. There must be some way that we can have this removed from the market.

Now to add to the rant! I was using one of my Chinese body hammers yesterday and the head flew off. Upon examination I discovered that it was glued together with no wedge or anything. There was a little blck dab of something on the top to make it look like a properly constructed hammer.

Your local FLAPS counter person usually will have a handle on whose products are MADE in The USA. Try to buy those whenever possible. Actually that goes for everything you buy. As noted we, the American people, brought this upon ourselves because we look for the best price and not always the best quality. Maybe we can begin to turn this around especially in the case of critical parts. This forum could help by identifying products we get for our trucks that are USA made.

Does anyone know if Raybestos brake parts are made in the USA??