[Cliff R]

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