Sorry American made parts.....

Helped a buddy change the clutch in his '92 2500 Chevy truck the other week. Even though we were working on the dirt and a piece of plywood (my concrete pad was occupied at the time), we had it done in a day....WHAT A PITA... The old parts were worn slap out, so everything was new, clutch, pressure plate, throwout brearing, pivot ball, pivot arm, master and slave cylinder etc, etc, etc. Got it all back together and the the clutch wouldn't release. The master/slave cylinder was bleed ten times over so that wasn't an issue. Still, no release.

Fast forward until this afternoon, when we both finally got time to jump on it again, and got it on the concrete. Pulled the transmission and left the flywheel housing, release arm, slave cylinder, etc all in place so we could see what it was doing. Hit the peddle and the slave was pushing the throwout into the fingers on the pressure plate but instead of pusing straight in it was pushing a little and then pushing off toward one side. So, we tore it all down to see what the problem was.

Checked the clutch, it was in the right way. Checked the pressure plate, no obvious problems there. Matched the two lever arms and they were the same length, had the came curve to them, and the pivot points, etc were all in the same place. We just happened to put the two pieces side by side and noticed that the new one was wider in the center than the old one. There was no way to change it without warping the piece out of shape, but was like the stamping machine that made it didn't follow through and flatten the sides like it should have, but instead left them spraddled out a bit. That bit was about 1/8 inch per side larger than the original or 1/4 total wider than the old one. Seems the wider shape in the middle didn't clear the area allowed for it inside the flywheel housing, and it was hitting it before the clutch could release. With it just sitting there in place it was all but impossible to notice unless you were actually looking for the problem, and didn't who up until it was all back together and nothing worked like it should.

We took the bad replacement part back and went to another supply house to get a new one. Got back, put it all back together with the newest lever arm, and it worked just like it was supposed to.

Now here's the crazy part. It would be nice to cuss and complain about those old, piece of junk, made in China parts not fitting and causing problems, but we couldn't. Saddly the part that was screwed up had a nice, higly visible stamp on it proudly proclaiming that it was made in the USA. It was one of two choices listed at the supply house it came from and my buddy was told the only difference in the two was the 'name brand', and therefore the price. Since the lower priced one was all any of their stores in the area had, and he needed it quick (at least at that time) that's what he went with.

Guess we can fuss about China, and other foreign made parts as much as we want too, but in the end, where a part was made is irrelevant as junk can obviously be made anywhere, even here in the US.

Yup. Common problem, lack of quality control. Why? Might have been made in the US by an illegal alien that didn't care or a union worker that didn't care or it might have been a worn out machine the company can't afford to replace because of taxes or health insurance costs. There are any number of reasons why, but "Made in the USA" doesn't carry the status it used to.

You can buy Japanese, and when you do you are thanking them for December 7th, 1941. Or you can buy Chinese and expect a piece of crap. There is higher profit selling Chinese, that is why it is hard to find American made anything.

That faulty American made part might have been because of the production pace the worker was required to maintain. The production worker could have tossed the part to the side and a supervisor,or shop owner could have came alone and put it in with the good parts. American workers are as good as they come when they are trained.

It doesn't matter if it's a WalMart, your big or small hardware store or you parts manufacturing factory, every body is short-staffed. It costs too much money to pay for all their wages and benefits. Looks like the final assembly inspectors weren't working that day.

I'm experiencing some issues right now with carburetor needle valves and seats. "Made in U.S.A." and "packaged in U.S.A." is printed right on the packaging, but the needles DO NOT fit into the seats, as in, physically cannot be forced in. Never had that problem with made in China parts.

Take a look at the people who work in the factories. That should tell you something. Stan

(quoted from post at 07:14:51 08/20/12) Take a look at the people who work in the factories. That should tell you something. Stan

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The people you find working in the factories today are there because they are willing to work for the LOW wages being paid. "You get what you pay for" has never been more true.

Wow, you complain about a Chinese product and everyone just says, "Yeah, they make junk."

Complain about a USA-made product, and out come 100 different excuses why the USA product is just as poor, but it's not their fault..

I thought the American worker was proud, slogging it out in the trenches, doing what they had to do to make a quality product even though the pay is low, the benefits stink, and the work is hard.

BTW, did you bother to check other pressure plates from the same store? Were they all faulty? Even the best QC lets a bad one through once in a while.

Yea I feel the same way when I see one of them Yankee license plates on a car down here,the Yankees stole my G-G-G Grand Daddys mules and tore up the place.No time limit on grudges(LOL)

Maybe the counter guy thought they were the same part, just 2 different vendors, but in reality they are different parts. Maybe there was a serial break and the parts guy didn't pick up on it, thus the part not working for you. Just a different point of view.

bob

Sometimes it is just the box that is made in the USA; the part inside was made somewhere else - maybe China, maybe Mexico, maybe ?????

I don't know if there are any legalities involved, but some companies used a USA box to mislead the customer. Lots of cheaters in the marketplace these days to grab your $$$.

Yeah right, so I must buy a low quality, over priced American made part to support the good old USA? Sorry, all I would be supporting is a union or a company that doesn't care about QC.

Made in America doesn't mean what it did once, and until American workers and companies start caring again, it won't.

It's simple: Manufacturers have figured out that we put price above quality. They will produce a product as cheaply as they can and still sell it. Of course that doesn't mean they sell it for a cheaper price that they would charge for a quality product; they charge whatever the market will bear and lower quality to maximize profit margin. You can see this phenomena in everything from apparel to auto parts to tools. Automobiles seem to be the exception, probably because when someone buys a car he sees it as a reflection of himself. But that doesn't mean automakers won't cut corners where there's no perception of lost quality.

It is the manufacturer who has the final say regarding the quality of products going out the door. Workers in the US are capable of making products that are just as good as those coming out of Germany or Japan. As are many of the workers in Mexico and China. But if the manufacturer wants to produce a cheap product, you can hardly blame its employees for giving their employer what it wants.

Well Rusty , I have to agree with Chief. I went to work in an "American" factory 9 yrs ago after a lifetime of being self employed in Auto Body/Paint/Collision. Talk about culture shock! I have never seen so many "idiots" in one place. The factory culture is to do exactly what you are told. No less , no more and no questions or suggestions! Idiots in management are very insecure in their jobs. I have heard so many times , "'taint my job , I'm here 'till 3:30! , that's the way we've always dun it? , " must have been the new guy" , "that's what the print said"! , these idiots have more excuses than Carter has pills and THERE AREN'T ANY CONSEQUENCES for screwing up whether intentional or not. You would think it was a union place because you can't get rid of the rif-raff. I'm a group leader (7 guys) and my supervisor tells me (reguarding my request to "move" one of them) I don't have anywhere else to put him and I am not going to fire him. It bothers no-one to have to re-do things 3 times. This place has over 400 employees. 300 are idiots. Been here almost 10 yrs , retire (from there) in 5 mos. Good ridens! Most of these people couldn't function in a normal job. If other factories are like this one then this country is in more trouble than we think. As far as wages , makes no diff. It's a culture born of lack of consequences for ones actions or lack of. Even the ones that hired in and were real go-getters at first , were company broken within a year. If China/Japan etc EVER decide to get into the market of the machines we build , we are toast!

(quoted from post at 18:58:34 08/20/12) Well Rusty , I have to agree with Chief. I went to work in an "American" factory 9 yrs ago after a lifetime of being self employed in Auto Body/Paint/Collision. Talk about culture shock! I have never seen so many "idiots" in one place. The factory culture is to do exactly what you are told. No less , no more and no questions or suggestions! Idiots in management are very insecure in their jobs. I have heard so many times , "'taint my job , I'm here 'till 3:30! , that's the way we've always dun it? , " must have been the new guy" , "that's what the print said"! , these idiots have more excuses than Carter has pills and THERE AREN'T ANY CONSEQUENCES for screwing up whether intentional or not. You would think it was a union place because you can't get rid of the rif-raff. I'm a group leader (7 guys) and my supervisor tells me (reguarding my request to "move" one of them) I don't have anywhere else to put him and I am not going to fire him. It bothers no-one to have to re-do things 3 times. This place has over 400 employees. 300 are idiots. Been here almost 10 yrs , retire (from there) in 5 mos. Good ridens! Most of these people couldn't function in a normal job. If other factories are like this one then this country is in more trouble than we think. As far as wages , makes no diff. It's a culture born of lack of consequences for ones actions or lack of. Even the ones that hired in and were real go-getters at first , were company broken within a year. If China/Japan etc EVER decide to get into the market of the machines we build , we are toast!

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I spent 22 years working in a ball bearing factory. We all made good money, we turned out a very high quality product, our product was in demand, and we were all very proud of our product. Quality control had the final word on everything we made, and if less than perfect bearings got shipped to our customers, somebody from the QC department was held accountable and the matter was NOT taken lightly.

Then corporate greed took over and those of us who were set to benefit from a decent retirement package in another 10 years or so started getting shoved out the door, and we were replaced with workers from a temp service, who were paid slightly more than minimum wage. Those workers had NO pride in their work, and quality control became nothing more than a name for a department.

There are still people out there who WANT to do a good job, and who WANT to take pride in their work, but corporate greed dictates otherwise, and yes, they get what they pay for.

I toured a ball bearing factory in India. It was exactly as you described in the first paragraph. Of course, it was a worldwide manufacturer of bearings who had a reputation to deal with. I have also dealt with no-name manufacturers. Things are a lot more sketchy in those factories.