454Luvr

A set of Chinese brake shoes from O'Reilly has just ruined the rear drums on my wife's Ford Escape in less than two months. That was after two sets of the same part from NAPA and Wagner, also Chinese, couldn't even be physically installed on the vehicle due to manufacturing defects. So, what should have been an hour plus a trip to the auto parts store has now turned into 8-10 hours, and the brakes still aren't fixed.

I know this isn't a Corvette issue per se, but it's taking up a lot of the time I need to finish the work on my '82. I couldn't be more PO'd about being put through this crap. I'd give anything for ten minutes alone in a room with the first corporate pinhead who said Chinese manufacturing would save them money.

Sorry, had to vent...

Luce

I'm going to say you should be blaming Ford. They're the jack holes that change parts in the middle of a production year. I just had the rear Caliper on a ford truck seize. You have to have the vin to buy brakes. On the same year F150, they have a 5 lug, 6 lug and 7 lug rotor. A friend with a 3/4 ton van found mid year they went from a SAE 6 lug wheel to a metric 6 lug wheel, and they are so close the only way to tell if it'll fit is try to mount it. WHY!?!??

Alwyn678

I have bought parts made in China that do not work straight out of the Box. I will never buy anything made in China given ANY Alternative

mikem350

You are not alone. Brake parts seem to have a higher degree of variability than other parts. Maybe safety or running changes due to the companies wanting to consolidate parts among platforms....

Have had problems w Hyundai and Ford among others....

454Luvr

Just to be clear, this problem has nothing to do with the OEM. These same shoes were used for four or five years running in this model. The failures are solely the result of poor Chinese manufacturing quality and processes. The first set had a post pressed into the shoe crooked. The second set had the same post machined incorrectly so that the shoe couldn't be installed. The last set appear to have contaminants in the linings, and they've gouged deep grooves into the previously pristine drums. What a pain in the azz.

wombvette

Two Chinese well water pumps in 6 months, the last made it four weeks.

Luce

Agreed on one front. I won't buy anything chinese with a critical seal. Things like water pumps or AC compressors or swivel AN fittings. NFW. They're guaranteed to leak within 6 months. Some thinks like a cheap throw down air compressor, while it will start leaking, doesn't make it non functional.

doorgunner

FYI..................Japan had the same problem in the 1960s.......the U.S. sent engineers to japan.......Problem solved!

NOW we have to live through the same "Junk Parts" production with China--------Defective-----Car parts/Wallboard/Dog food/People food/Central air & heating relays (don't ask!)

How do their missiles get off the launch pad without exploding? (Never mind---Black Market U.S. components)

ted13b

Remember, all the TV's and iPhones come from China as well, China can build quality when they need to. The problem is they are giving us what we insist on, the cheapest product possible. When people insist on quality, and pay the higher price, that is what they will get. Buy OEM and you won't have this problem, but it will cost more.

ronarndt

Go to the instructions for the parts and check the English translation. If the translation is poorly done- with bad grammar and spelling- you can bet they did not spend a lot of money on the actual parts quality either.

croaker

Aren't they all?

diehrd

Maybe a few US welfare people could make the brake parts better ?

I would stick with China ...

Scottd

Get back to work!! Your taxable income is being dolled out as we speak! Besides, Governor Cuomo AND President Obama have stated it is their RIGHT to collect ALL the public benefits they want!!!

SH-60B

China was #1 in ISO 9000 quality certificates in 2009 & 2010. The USA was #9.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...kQqlJOi_qdCrhg

454Luvr

Following my last post, I decided to replace the shoes and drums with new, then deal with the defective parts and damages later. I won't bore everyone with the reasoning for this, but it has to do with downtime of the vehicle and O'Reilly policies that will require me to lose time from work. Needless to say, the new parts will be purchased elsewhere.

Some brake shoes are still made in the West, although I'm not sure about drums. In an effort to take care of this with a minimum of effort (e.g. online purchase), I e-mailed RockAuto. The exchange that followed was typical of about half the vendors I contact on this issue. Here's how it went:

Me:

I need brake shoes and drums for the rear of a 2003 Ford Excape V6. Looking through your online catalog, I don't see any notation for country of origin. Can you tell me which of the shoes and drums you sell for this model that are not made in China? I've just had a very bad experience with Chinese parts purchased locally, and don't want to repeat it. Any other country of origin is OK, including other Asian countries such as Taiwan.

RockAuto:

The manufacturer always lists the details that will be important to determine if the part will fit your vehicle. Unfortunately, country of origin is rarely provided. Most manufacturers have multiple locations so it is something we cannot provide and guarantee.

Me:

I can't afford to send parts back when they're made in a country with no quality control. A set of Chinese brake shoes from O'Reilly has just ruined my drums in less than two months. That was after two sets of the same part from NAPA and Wagner, also Chinese, couldn't even be physically installed on the vehicle due to manufacturing defects.

Contrary to your statement, country of origin is marked on the product carton in almost every case, and the people who ship your parts do know where they're made. In fact, suppliers like Amazon list this for many automotive products. A generic source wouldn't ordinarily be my first choice for auto parts, but I won't purchase these parts blind.

I would have thought an online vendor would be more sympathetic to this issue. You've lost my business.

RockAuto:

Yes, you are correct. The country of origin is listed on the box. We just unfortunately don't have the parts here so I can check stock for you. I'm sorry to heat that upsets you so much.

I could have replied that RockAuto's lack of customer support doesn't impact my emotional state, or a number of less cultured remarks, but why bother? The priority is profit, not customer satisfaction or parts quality, so it's wasted effort.

This morning I ordered the parts from my local Ford dealer. Prices are not unreasonable, and I'm optimistic this will be the end of the problem. I want to stress that not all vendors take the RockAuto approach. Most of the Vette suppliers and other specialty vendors that I've dealt with are glad to help. So are many other general vendors. I've learned a lesson from all this, and I intend to send more business to folks who earn it in the future. There's absolutely no reason to buy important parts from people who don't care, or from local parts houses that sell mostly junk.

Rescue Rogers

Dont try and buy a wiper switch. The one for my 68 wore out and broke while I was trying to repair my motor and door. That was about a dozen cycles. I ended up.buying an old original.
Works great. I got it from 1960fi. Great guy to do business with. Got an actuator as well that was awesome too

Luce

Discs, drums, shoes and pads are disposable wear items and they run the spectrum of qualities, and paying more doesn't always equate to better quality. House brands are almost always chinese, and usually just barely good enough to make it past their warranty.

I have a short list of parts manufacturers in my head I will buy, and I don't pay attention to country of origin. Timken or SKS can make bearings in Mexico, Germany, Korea or where ever, I trust their quality controls. If they put their name on it, I feel OK putting it on my car. If it's some brand I've never heard of being sold on ebay, no way unless it's totally non critical and easily changed, like a LED replacement 1157.

AND, the O'Riely's near me is the only parts store left where you can ask for wiper blades and the dumb s o b behind the counter doesn't ask if it's an automatic or manual transmission. They even have the 5' tray of books and the older guys sometimes will even look in them for you. But they have to keep in business against autozone and the like, so they carry both the Raybestos pads for us and for a few dollars less the Superstoppers SX10,000 to keep people from driving down the steer to the autozone.

So don't slag on O'Riely's! And I bought all of my new MOOG suspension parts from Rock Auto because it cheap and easy and I know Moog is for the most part still made in the USA.

7T1vette

I agree with the general assessment that many Chinese produced parts are JUNK. BUT...you must realize that American greed is driving this whole process. Aftermarket parts vendors are demanding lower costs, so they can make more profit. And they don't really care that the customer has problems 'after the fact'. Oh, some do...but most don't.

So they have a 'sample part' which they send to foreign manufacturing shops to "copy". The parts they make LOOK like the real thing; but the materials used, dimensional quality, and hardening processes used are NOTHING like what produced the OEM parts.

The vendors are happy because they get parts that are less costly than what competitors have. Their quality program might be "Send the part back and we'll send you another one just like it." What a deal!

WE are the test bed for how these Gypo parts work. And, because they are so much lower in cost, it drives the vendors selling GOOD parts out of business. Then, there are NO good parts to buy.

It's a viscious cycle that is generated by greed. And most of that greed is located on U.S. soil. Chinese factories just do what they are told.

redvetracr

I find it interesting none of you guys blame the consumer who (in many cases) wants cheap parts more than he wants quality, no one will admit to it but how many WTB ads have you read here at CF that start out with "where can I buy XY or Z the cheapest?"

Rescue Rogers

After my wiper pain in the a## I went through, I look for remanufactured or used old stock. Some stuff will have to be new manufactured but it isnt going to be the cheapest, its going to be the best that works for a decent price.