Junk Chinese part stories
 

I'm sure everyone has a story with currently produced/available off-shore auto parts. I've noticed in the past decade or so that just about every auto part that you buy has a country of origin other than the USA. Specifically drivetrain and chassis stuff.

My junk story starts a few days ago, needed a transfer case mount for my Z-71 Tahoe. The only store even showing a listing was NAPA, so I ordered it in. What a bargain, dirt cheap at $15.

Looked fine at a glance, so I get the Tahoe on the lift, trans jack lifting up the case to change the mount, should be a ten minute job if things go well. Fit is fine, installed the trans bolts finger tight, then the nuts on the studs of the new mount, finger tight as well, let the weight down on it, all good.

Tightened up the trans bolts, then one of the stud nuts, then the other. It starts to turn a little hard right before it's pulled up tight, no big deal....then.......SNAP! Took about 25ft lbs to break the darned thing off. Nice black spot like a chunk of carbon got in the mix when they forged it. It's close to 7/16" diameter, so should have taken 60-70ft lbs torque even after it was snugged down.

Now my ten minute job turns into a total disaster, as it's 2-3 days to ship in another mount. Found one at a NAPA store about 30 minutes away, got less than one hour to get there, so there is a good ending to the story, the second mount went in fine, but I made sure to chase the threads on the studs first and only torqued them to about 25 ft lbs, and very gently at that.

Does anyone really care about quality components these days? Do you get tired of a simple $15 repair part turning into a complete disaster where you find yourself stuck on the lift and having to drive to town like a maniac to get another junk-ars part? I could tell at least 50 more stories very similar to this one, dealing with this CRAP we get from SE Asia, South of the border, and from the Middle East, etc.

Do you think we're in trouble in this Country from letting cheap non-USA sources for auto parts take over this industry?

What's your latest story?........Cliff

I try to always buy parts that are made in the USA. I will even pay more for USA made parts when available to help keep Americans working. Chinese tools like screwdrivers, sockets, drill bits and taps are not worth a darn. Soft as butter steel and no hardness. I have not seen anything made in China that is worth a darn. They can keep their junk.:mad:

Indeed.

Simple repair items such as tie-wraps are becoming of such low quality that they are unusable junk...

There is not enough room on the internet for all the stories on this topic. I try to avoid them on auto parts, buying only old stock or used for my cars. But, doing electrical work, it has made life a lot more expensive for both me and my customers. There is no practical way to count the times we have been betrayed by junky fixtures and components. The problem is that you can not always tell the country of origin for sure BEFORE you have the item in your hand. So much of the time you get the item at the time you need to put it to use, making it difficult to make the choice. I always assume that whatever I get to produce light is going to at least in part come from China.

Motor mounts separating.
Shawn

A resounding YES !!
Went to a large box store to get some electrical goodies for the house during a remodel. Looked at what they had,several bins of differing priced stuff. I was looking for US made products, found a bin that had an electrical switch tacked to outside that had "madein US" stamped on part ,excellent! , grabbed a half dozen. Got to the house ,ripped the little baggy open ready to install GGGRRR made in china..Well I won't go back there, just because they don't sell what they advertise...AND TIRED OF CHINA JUNK !!!!

As a side note .. Stopped by your restaurant and wine shop on our way to Dayton this year, Great meal ,great wine, and a great time. Was a pleasure to meet you and lovely wife. Thank you. :usa2:

I've had several bad experiences over the years with cheap foreign made auto parts. These days its hard to tell where something is made. You can't go by the name anymore. Something may "sound" American. Then you open the box and find out its made in China. Lately I've found myself looking for parts online and when I think I find something I'm interested in, I google the company name to get more info on them. If a company is based in the US, you have to dig even further and find out if their parts are made here or shipped in from overseas. I also search for reviews of companies to see if they are any complaints about inferior parts.
But I admit, I still buy the Chinese stuff. Sometimes, I just can't find a made in the USA part. Or there is such a huge difference in price, I'm drawn to the dark side. Just being honest here. Maybe one day they will strike my final nerve and I'll swear them off for good.
This reminds me of one of my favorite comedies. Here's a youtube clip from it. The quote at 1:33 pretty much sums up my opinion on cheap Chinese auto parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEB7WbTTlu4

Bought a "NEW" master cylinder for my 70 GTO from Auto zone, figured the New one would be of better quality than a remanufactured one, after 2 weeks noticed fluid leaking down my new plated booster, removed the master and fluid was leaking right past the piston. Took it back and exchanged it for a remanuf. unit, and it actually had the bleeder valves on it, not sure if this one is gonna crap out either but they are all made in China crap.

Just the other day I went to Advance and ordered all new bearings and seals for the front end of my 1980 F-250 4x4. Asked for the best they had which was "National" brand made by Federal Mogul. All were made in China. Cost around $80. Went home and thought about how I really didn't want Chinese bearings/seals in my front end so ended up finding USA made Timken bearings and seals online for $57. The guy at Advance sure wasn't happy when I brought them back, but oh well. He's not the one who will be changing that Chinese junk back out when they go bad.

yup..i just bought motor mounts for my lemans..got the napa ones..even tho they seemed good price wise, i figured they were made in usa..nope..korea..almost everything is made overseas..and i mean everything! i would pay more for a quality american made part, since what cliff ran into is worth extra $ not to have happen to you. its crazy that they have sold this country down the river and flooded it with foreign junk! i dont think it would be as bad if the stuff was actually quality made---it would still piss people off not to employ american workers, but at least your $ wouldnt be going to buy junk out of the box.

the only thing that i can say is the motor mounts did fit ok..we shall see how they hold up.

Food for thought.

What if there was a supplier that ONLY sold USA parts. Seems like there would be a market for that and the success or failure would really tell a story.

House lighting, small appliances, kids toys.
:censored: junk!

Wal-mart got their start touting American products, then they went chasing the almighty offshore dollar.
I noticed that since their sales have fallen way off they're once again touting American made products.
Bunch of hypocrits now trying to "cash in" on made in America.

I should have made my point a little clearer. I was thinking of an online auto related supplier.

Harbor Freight stories...... have a store local here, I've bought furniture dollies, stuff like that. Hand tools are generally junk, I prefer Kobalt at Lowes, they may even be made offshore, but at least more quality is there.

Surprisingly, HF electrical tools are pretty good, for infrequent use; I'd certainly prefer domestic stuff, but for infrequent use these are low cost. I love Milwaukee tools...you need something reliable Milwaukee is the way to go, obviously more $.

Back to HF......one of my trips they had their nut splitter "on sale" for $2 or such...tried it sometime later, the splitter shattered, first try, seems it was a cast piece.

Another one "on sale" oil seal remover...screwdriver handle thing with a steel hook plate at the end. I was replacing an axle on the GTO a few weeks ago... and had the removal tool for several months...snapped the handle off first try. It was made of some white metal, zinc, aluminum whatever. Finally made an attachment with the steel piece for a slide hammer, worked well.

Yep, sad state of affairs, a lot of replacement parts are offshore made, we don't have a good choice anymore, rotors etc. are all offshore, only good thing is they are $ cheap such that few places will turn drums and rotors anymore, buy new offshore and scrap the old......... I'll still take mine to a local PEP boys, they still turn them last time I was there.

Pipe fittings are terrible....usually overtapped or overcut such that the fitting bottoms before the threads lock up, then they leak. Had some copper unions that had a burr ridge on the male half....wouldn't seal up...had to file the ridge off to get it to work. PITA after it's all soldered up. Never had these issues years ago, now I just expect them.

George

There have been books written on the topic. We have had niche stores here that have tried it. The problem is that not enough is still made here to stock the shelves. The vast majority of customers are price based, so there is not enough business to keep you going.

It will all change back in our lifetime. Cheap, plentiful energy and pressure on labor costs to the upside in Asia and downside in US will bring Manuf. back here. It takes a long time for market forces to work with so much push-back though.

Here's a great opportunity for someone with money to open a parts plant in Sandusky OH and brand their parts "Callahan".................;)

Cliff, as always, it's a pleasure to read your posts. Informative as always. Yes, this country is in a world of hurt, and it's getting worse. I've gotten to the point of scrounging original or good used parts, and it's not easy. I've got a '15 Ford as well as my old GTO's, and it's the same story. Even original used 95 year old parts outlast brand new China junk. Ok: Harbor Freight hand winch: pawl was made out of pot metal, broke on first use. Repop rubber items (shift boots, tie rod ends, ball joint boots) these split and fall apart after 6 months, with vehicle not even being driven. Cure was to re-install cleaned up 30-40 year old Moog parts. Repop throttle cable: so rough it was like a cable saw. Re-used 45 year old one. Repop convertible top switch: wired backwards, so that up is down and down is up. New rear wheel cylinder for the '65: no flare in the brake line inlet. Line wouldn't seal. New rear wheel cylinder for the '67: bleeder hole not drilled out or seated....no way to bleed. And on and on and on. And we'll keep on getting these parts as long as we keep buying them. The only cure is to boycott this CRAP until it improves. And oh yeah, HF wood screws: broke off in doug fir using a hand screwdriver not even seated. I now get my fasteners at garage sales in coffee cans. I get my taps, dies, etc. used, too. 1950's USA made stuff beats new China stuff every day. As long as our country is saddled with regulations and restrictions that keep our hands tied and keep us out of playing the manufacturing game, we are, indeed doomed as a nation of powerless consumers. JMHO.

How about when you just need a common new dipstick and all they have is the cheapo Mr.Gasket or Spectre type chrome ones. You figure .."Heah its a small block Chevy, it will be easy and work" WRONG.. the damn thing was probably in spec as bare steel when it was made to the prints but then it was chrome plated (not stock) and it now has too big a O.D. to fit in the damn hole... Crap like this is VERY frustrating

I've also been bitten by the repop throttle cable. A fly trap should be so sticky. Ended up spending big bucks getting a new old one.
Replacement power window switches? Crapped out in a few months. Found a used one at the Pull-a-Part.

Not China, but I did get a reman power steering pump with Mexico stamped on the box. Noticed the backside looked kind of funny under the shiny black paint. Took a screwdriver and starting digging out caked in red dirt that they just painted over. Some rebuild job lol.

Pretty bad when they can not even make a plastic sun visor bushing correct .

I'm not sticking up for foreign garbage but a large part of the blame lies with the consumer. I work part time at an auto parts store. Most of our business is with garages. The callers don't ask about quality, they are shopping for the lowest price. All the parts with our brand name are made outside the USA. When I need a part for my personal vehicle I usually try to avoid our brand knowing what crap it is. But again, simply supply and demand.

This is maybe true to a point, But it should always be the responsibility of the manufacturer or distributor to not sell something completely inferior just because its cheaper. I bought a brand new repo power brake booster, started to have a whistle under the dash when brakes where applied , took it apart and found a rubber part that cracked and was leaking, I took that rubber pc out of a 40 year old part I had and it was so much more significant it was unbelievable, I installed the old gm part and good to go for probably another 40 years.
I have to many stories, Like the hood rubbers that can't even survive the install.
The can opener that you bend the handle on long before it will ever puncher the can,
Its a sour subject for me because I believe half these items sold are sold knowing full well that they suck and they are passed on with the "Give it to Mickey and see if he eats it" mentality.
I have had issues, and reported issues about inferior parts, and returned items. rightfully complained about the way they where represented and guess what. They are still out there unchanged, represented the same way, wasting peoples valuable time, and making money for the USPO.
OH see now you got me started

"And oh yeah, HF wood screws: broke off in doug fir using a hand screwdriver not even seated."

+2 on wood screws, and drywall screws. The offshore screws in the longer lengths will break off just about every time if you are driving them full depth. Difficult to find American made fasteners these days for that sort of work.

I can look right at them and tell if they are imported, as they will have a "rough" finish to them, like they were bead blasted with coarse sand during the manufacturing process.

Same deal with their drill bits, WAY too brittle and snap off easily, at least the smaller sizes......Cliff

1 beuatifuldaughter I agree with you 100% and I apologize for getting your day off to a bad start.:jumping: My point is basically the consumer is in control. If we buy by price instead of quality than we will continued to be bombarded with junk. I think we all know when it comes to the almighty dollar you have to be your own watchdog,

Well put, I understand your point of view. Specially about the " All Mighty Dollar", root of all evil.

A great deal or will it be another buyer’s remorse?
 

Agree with the point.

IMO the tide has turned - as illustrated here - due to "the watering down of quality" of all items and parts imported from China etc.

Specifically, I've noted the cheapening of new China imported items...several year old items mfg in China actually of a better quality and lasting longer than new junk.

...to the point that most here will/are like myself simply declining to buy the new POS parts, fasteners, items, etc. and will rebuild and repair older parts and items for all of the reasons below and due to the cheap metal used to mfg items.

On topic:

• Recently purchased a spare "engine storage dolly" from Yellow & Black box co. With the mail out $ discount card attached IIRC it was less than $30. Problem is, it's still in the box, the metal is so lightweight that not sure it will ever be used as intended to hold a 400+lb engine...weight of item is less than 1/2 of same type purchased from a Pontiac vendor in the '90s for $99.

• While I was @ a Batteries+ customer was seeking a battery to replace a HF LED Work light...which not available...throw that away...cheaper to do. Some lights last only a few uses before intermittent operation.

• Tools & Fasteners are a simple no thank you for me...why even bother - when they will fail/snap in ½ as discussed?

• Lawn furniture that has lasted outdoors 24/7 for over 10 years still in service and excellent condition vs. items purchased wi past 3yrs that hollowed out metal that has disintegrated and crumbled into powder.

• AC/Delco, etc. new & reman. parts mfg in MEXICO I pass on…such as Starters, Wtr Pumps, A/C Compressors and repair items. Ex: GM A/C Compressor replaced x2 due to improper “air-gap” on “Clutch Shoes” which burned up wi a few minutes rendering compressor INOP. I purchased and installed new “Clutch Shoes” set proper gap…and good to go.

Personal Lesson: Just pass on items that will be a waste of time and money – that will cost you twice as much in the long run.
Is it really: A great deal or will it be another buyer’s remorse?

On another forum one of the posters was assigned to China by GM. While there he saw that, according to him, they could could produce to exacting standard IF the customer was willing to pay for it. It appears that the suppliers that shop for price only are prevalent over there. Maybe, with enough returned parts, they will get the picture.

I have a few wheel studs that I have to replace on my 69 and I bought them at NAPA. I figure I have one chance in three that they will work and hold the torque required. NAPA "used to be" the auto store to go to where all others were getting on the China crap wagon but no anymore. NAPA is as bad as they are selling out their name.

As for tools, if I am not in a hurry I go to Ebay and buy old school Craftsman "Forged In USA" hand tools. I still have the old tools my father gave me back 35 years ago still going strong. Sometimes I'll even buy a tool or two that I don't even need at the moment just to finish out a set or "just in case" I might need it in the future.

Do you know what NAPA stands for?






No
American
Parts
Anymore

And its not just the average consumer buying the cheap foreign junk. At work a multi-million $$ repair was made twice because the higher-ups decided to go with cheaper than manufacturer's spec'd materials. We were told they reimbursed us for the parts, but we still had to pay labor costs and also eat the loss from being offline while the repairs were made AGAIN. It wasn't hours or days. It was a few weeks. The sad part is it wouldn't surprise me if they tried to go the cheap route again.

There is nothing inherently evil in money. It is merely a tool in the hands of men acting with good or ill intentions.

...and this is why true NOS parts command such a premium and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

repair costs
 

Several times I tried to save a few bucks here and there. Almost every time
it ended up costing me more in the long run. This was a lessoned well learned
and now do it right the first time and save myself the heartache of doing it over.

Yes NOS items cost more because it's the right freakin part and it works correctly.

Heck I just spent 9 bucks on a NIB NOS PCV because it was an original AC Delco part
on ebay that was NIB(MADE IN USA). no more annoying PCV rattle and idle is
smoother. Threw the two dollar fram replacement as far as I could in the woods.
Lesson learned!!!!!! More often then not the older parts work right.

Gerry

I got lucky yesterday. bought a new coil from autozone for my 89 mercury G/M .the box says made in the USA

Same junk up here on the north side of North America! And, just like you guys, it is not just the automotive stuff. Had to paint some wooden windows on the outside of my garage. Went to a local "dollar" store and bought three small paint brushes with the intent of throwing them away. Well, the first brush coughed up about ten strands within the first ten minutes. After picking them off the windows ............all three met the throwing away event early! All these "dollar" stores and flea market tools (hammers, screwdrivers, wire brushes, etc.) are PURE junk. I think they are made as toys!

I have a friend that imports fishing tackle from China,when he specs out a reel they quote almost every component,he has the option to use stainless ball bearing or non stainless etc.Depending on the price point he if looking for he can upgrade or down grade.THEY do make and offer very good stuff but usually the buyers spec down.Tom

Imagine if there was another World War how scrod we'd be here in the US. We couldn't make an 1/8th of the war material we made for WWII. It's sad when you really stop and think about it. And we did it to ourselves.

We used to buy electronic measurement instruments from China. When we complained about the high failure rate, they said "No problem, we'll just send 10% more products on you next order to cover the failures. We do that all the time.":old:

Everyone on here seems to think the consumer has the power to change all this china junk we have to buy, but Sorry your/were the reason we have all this cheep junk. That & our mothers & fathers demanding cheeper item all the time, but the real fault is GREED & our goverment GREED. All the people who have the money have the control & they allowed the people who make all this junk ship it overseas to be made because it could be done cheeper there. Now all the junk we buy it made somewhere else & our GREEDY goverment allows it to happen every day in the name of free trade. All it wwould take is our gov. officials to say if you don't make it here you can't sell it here, or if you make it somewhere else you'll be charged a tax equeal to or more to ship that junk back into the states for sale. Then when the people who make this junk find it's cheeper to bring it back to th states , make it here & sell it here then we will once again be the power we once were & we will again control our own futures & become a mgfing country again which will give us the control we don't have & haven't had since 1973. Yes 1973 it started with GM buying that **** steel from japan that was prerusted because it was stored IN THE N.Y. harbor under water becasue it was cheeper then storing it in a wearhouse. It started the ball rolling with buying junk overseas because they were sure it was cheeper, but didn't realize it was the start of the end of mgf. in AMERICA.

The box is made in the USA but is the part? ;)

:"Is it really a great deal or will it be another buyer's remorse?" Alvin, brilliantly stated. Bravo. Says it all. Thank you for making my day. I believe we DO have control over this, but it takes effort. STOP BUYING Chinese crap. PMD1969, if it were me, and I needed studs for my '69 Firebird, I'd seriously think about taking a trip to the boneyard and pulling the studs there or buying a junk axle for cheap and pressing the studs out later. USA made, and guaranteed to last the rest of your lifetime...and hold the wheel on the car, too!! 40 year old used oem trumps China pot metal every time.

So what are the people of China dealing with? Do they only export the bad stuff? Or is that whats on their shelves too?

As said before they CAN produce a quality product IF specified. Their other problem is the conversion from the metric to inch and how many decimal places to bring it out to. To answer your question I would assume good enough if OK for them.

What they do to their own food supply may give you an idea: http://www.theguardian.com/world/200...death-sentence

Caveat emptor
 

Good luck buying non-Chinese or other overseas made parts regardless of the name on the box.

My work brings me into contact with many OE suppliers, and where their components come from is often a "Global Supply Chain". Case in point, a local source (well known US based company) got the business for a key assembly. More components come from overseas (China, India, Korea) than the USA, assembly is in the US so it's "made in America".

The Chinese have some of the most modern steel-making equipment in the world ( I think Bao Steel is the largest producer globally), but for any part it comes down to what their customer specs, inspects, and pays for. Many times in steel-making heats, bars, coils get downgraded because they don't meet the target, so that's what gets sent to steel warehouses etc. you have to buy a lot of steel to deal directly with a steel mill. Otherwise you're at the mercy of the warehouse for what should work for your application.

And at the discrete electrical component level, almost impossible to find US made resistors, caps, etc.

Not disagreeing, but the complaint should be for stores who stock the junk, they need to find sources that can provide quality (and we have to accept prices that we probably won't like).

Put two stores side by side. One selling high quality spec'd goods at a premium price the other selling cheaply made goods at a much lower price. My guess is store number two is going to move inventory at a much higher rate. Examples, Harbor Freight and Wal Mart. Now store number one see's this, guess what they will do. Bingo garbage in garbage out. I myself and what seems like the majority of this board are willing to pay for premium parts. But we probably do more of our own work than the average consumer who relates lower cost to bigger bargain. Hopefully I'm wrong but I don't see change on the horizon. I'm sure any country can produce high quality item's but there has to be buyer's. Again supply and demand.

Use the dealership and buy OEM parts.

Check this: OEM coil for 2.4 MOPAR, cost is $56, list $73. NAPA Echlin "made in USA" coil, cost $77, list over $100. It pays to start checking on OEM parts from the dealership as you know what the quality is and if it is less cost than aftermarket, why not?

A cheap chinese coil? I have no idea as I'd not use them.
Tom