ADVISORY on buying cheap knockoff parts
12-05-2017, 11:46 AM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
ADVISORY on buying cheap knockoff parts
Hi all,
Often when shopping for parts, or anything really we tend to look for the best bang for the buck. Sometimes this works out really well, but as some of us might know this is usually not the case with car parts. I'm sure most of us have came across cheap ebay headers for a third, or even a quarter price of the brand names like ARH, Kooks, Stainless Works, Corsa, and so on.. We usually advise against anyone on buying these, because we hear of them cracking or fitment issues, and all that not so fun stuff. Not to mention, I think we should all be supportive of the big companies that invested a lot of time and money doing the R&D to develop these awesome products that we have available to us, while giving Americans jobs at the same time. I want to state that the focus of this post is not to bash the choice, but to instead bring awareness to everyone because it is likely we've all bought something because it was cheaper then later on regretted it.
We recently had a client bring his car to us for several upgrades. We installed the headers that were supplied to us by the client. The car was picked up after dyno and drivability tuning then later we received word that the car was acting up. After the car was brought back we started it and immediately confirmed that the issue was a pre o2 sensor exhaust leak, caused by the header warping. The pre o2 exhaust leak caused the PCM to interpret that the car was running lean because it was not reading the correct air/fuel values through the o2 sensors, in result the PCM commanded more fuel and actually caused the car to run excessively rich fouling the spark plugs. We did a compression check and leak down test and luckily there was no damage done besides the fouled plugs. In hindsight, I'm sure if he could go back and purchase brand name headers he would, these cheap chinese knockoff headers ended up costing more in the long run and now the car is back to stock manifolds.
Below I have pictures of what caused the issues and wanted to share them with everyone to prevent this from happening to anyone in the future.
Often when shopping for parts, or anything really we tend to look for the best bang for the buck. Sometimes this works out really well, but as some of us might know this is usually not the case with car parts. I'm sure most of us have came across cheap ebay headers for a third, or even a quarter price of the brand names like ARH, Kooks, Stainless Works, Corsa, and so on.. We usually advise against anyone on buying these, because we hear of them cracking or fitment issues, and all that not so fun stuff. Not to mention, I think we should all be supportive of the big companies that invested a lot of time and money doing the R&D to develop these awesome products that we have available to us, while giving Americans jobs at the same time. I want to state that the focus of this post is not to bash the choice, but to instead bring awareness to everyone because it is likely we've all bought something because it was cheaper then later on regretted it.
We recently had a client bring his car to us for several upgrades. We installed the headers that were supplied to us by the client. The car was picked up after dyno and drivability tuning then later we received word that the car was acting up. After the car was brought back we started it and immediately confirmed that the issue was a pre o2 sensor exhaust leak, caused by the header warping. The pre o2 exhaust leak caused the PCM to interpret that the car was running lean because it was not reading the correct air/fuel values through the o2 sensors, in result the PCM commanded more fuel and actually caused the car to run excessively rich fouling the spark plugs. We did a compression check and leak down test and luckily there was no damage done besides the fouled plugs. In hindsight, I'm sure if he could go back and purchase brand name headers he would, these cheap chinese knockoff headers ended up costing more in the long run and now the car is back to stock manifolds.
Below I have pictures of what caused the issues and wanted to share them with everyone to prevent this from happening to anyone in the future.
The following users liked this post:
Billy@MTI (12-06-2017)
12-08-2017, 07:11 AM
#3
Eddie, thanks for showing what can happen... I do have a question... can this happen to any of the headers out there? the pic's look identical to the other headers I have seen, is it the type of metal used?
12-11-2017, 04:47 PM
#4
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
You're welcome! The design is going to be very similar from header to header because they all have to fit in the same area. The headers in the picture above failed do to poor material choice, and poor design. By design, I mean the tubing and probably the flange too were not just a lower grade stainless steel, but also the thickness of the tubing and flange were thinner making the header much less rigid under a heated environment.
12-12-2017, 09:47 PM
#6
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
100%
12-13-2017, 08:44 AM
#8
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
03-19-2018, 01:24 AM
#9
Instructor
I want to say this: I have empathy for the guys getting burned by buying knockoffs as they really did not kniw they were getting cheap crap! Then I feel even more sorry for them when they end up with either major problems or worse could be a blown engine but they hv to now go spend real money to make it right! For all you guys out there shopping for the deals! The rule of thumb is “If it seems to good to be true then its likley not true!” Our forum vendors will attest to this that no vendor can sell brand name parts at more then 10-15% off unless the manufacturer is discounting the prices to the dealers! If the dealer marked it down any more then 10-15% hes giving them away. And when the manufacturer is discounting you usually see the same price drops at all of our vendors!
Your safest bet is buy from one of the Forum member vendors!! If you find a better price outside Im sure our guys will match the outsiders price! If he cant its likely because the parts might very well be knock offs!
Buyer beware!!
Your safest bet is buy from one of the Forum member vendors!! If you find a better price outside Im sure our guys will match the outsiders price! If he cant its likely because the parts might very well be knock offs!
Buyer beware!!
