Parts were better back then? They sure were.

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TylerW

TylerW

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Before we were infected with Chinese crap.

I just removed what might be one of the original 41yo wheel cylinders from my '73 Plymouth that finally siezed up from non-use. Well, half of it did, the front piston still functioned.

I say it's the original, maybe not but it has a 358XXXX stamped into the back of it.
 
I have 3 examples of OEM gauges that should have never left the factory. Each has a different flaw. These were built in U.S.A. long ago. Just saying
 
just because a five year old Chinese boy made your car parts doesn't mean he doesn't take pride in his work lol
 
I feel the chinese crap parts are generally low grade crap. yes there are some substandard u s parts, and always have been,
perhaps we , the average purchasing Americans have been partially responsible, BUT I mainly figure its the large , overly wealthy, greedy, non taxed corporations to blame. problem is , we get what we pay for and now we generally have NO choice!!!??????
 
...sold (and manufactured) based on price point (and profit for vendor)....if there wsn't a demand for cheep parts, etc...
 
Parts were definitely better back when.

My '75 D300 still has all of it's original parts, except for spark plugs, brake pads, brake lines and wheel cylinders. Yes, even the Ballast Resistor and Ignition Box are original.

My '48 Dodge has pretty much all of it's original parts too (except for the parts I removed to convert to 12 Volt). Water Pump, Fuel Pump, Carb, Distributor, Spark Plugs, Plug Wires, etc all original. Almost all of the parts can be torn apart and rebuilt too. The fuel pump, water pump, etc can all be torn apart and rebuilt on it, with simple hand tools. The water pump also has a Grease Fitting to keep the bearings lubricated.


My Dodge Dakota? Well, it went through 2 water pumps (in about 12,000 miles), 2 Serpentine Belts, 3 Master Cylinders (the first 2 were defective/junk, right out of the box), 1 Coil (the original e-core coil fell apart), Shocks...replaced the front shocks about every 7 months (have a pair of 30 year old Air Shocks on the rear, they still work perfectly), the list goes on.

Not to mention the 5.2L Magnum in the Dakota was gutless. My D300 Dumptruck (original 318 with a Carter 2BBL) got better MPG than my Dakota too. I was getting 9-11mpg in my Dakota, the D300 weighs twice what the Dakota does, doesn't have Overdrive and it managed to get 14-16mpg. I bought a Turbo Diesel engine for my Dakota and threw the 5.2L Magnum in the junk pile.
 
I prefer to keep hard parts as original as possible. Much rather rebuild a factory wheel cylinder for $5 than to but a $3 rock auto cylinder.
 
my '95 ram 1 ton cummins, ( built in Meheco). at 100,000 the front wheel bearing went out ( all hiughway miles) ate up one spindle. mechanic said those years had bad wheel bearings!!!!! maybe I should have contacted ma mopar. maybe she would have made it good!!!???? LOL
had a 70 slant duster 4 speed OD, got 30 mpg highway (55-60 mph).
makes ya wonder why 35 today in lighter car with FI is so great!
!????
not to mention YOU could work on it and parts were and still are relitively cheap!??????
no doubt back in the day, you got more for your money's worth...
we now live in a " throw away world"?????
 
People are stupid and want things cheap. Nothing matters but the lowest price. At my family's auto parts store, we had to stock 2 brands of many parts so we had a good one and a cheap one to compete with the big chains. Guess what sold more? We have sold our souls to a communist country just to get a few bucks off the price of something. Now everywhere Americans are out of jobs. Now we don't have a choice where things are made. Pretty soon we'll be looking for a new place to live because everything will be foreign owned. Ask your representative or senator why a communist country has Most Favored Nation trading status with the USA. Didn't our fathers and grandfathers fight and die in wars over communist aggression? Now we're bending over backwards to buy anything they make and fuel their economy.
 
hemitheus said:
I prefer to keep hard parts as original as possible. Much rather rebuild a factory wheel cylinder for $5 than to but a $3 rock auto cylinder.
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I would do that in this case but the wheel cylinder is badly pitted.
 
65cuda360 said:
People are stupid and want things cheap. Nothing matters but the lowest price. At my family's auto parts store, we had to stock 2 brands of many parts so we had a good one and a cheap one to compete with the big chains.
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Yes and back when I dealt with this it was only like .75$ or a buck difference. Bearings metal cage or plastic. Plastic would win out most of the time.

And I don't even want to start on the flying public. If they only knew what that cheap airline ticket was actually paying for.
 
Dubob said:
Yes and back when I dealt with this it was only like .75$ or a buck difference. Bearings metal cage or plastic. Plastic would win out most of the time.

And I don't even want to start on the flying public. If they only knew what that cheap airline ticket was actually paying for.
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How 'bout the 27 million dollar bailout our government gave the airline industry after business slowed down after 9-11? Nobody handed me wads of money when my shop had a bad year.
 
Not here either. Then in 08 when the corporate market fell, I was on to my third job in a year and a half. Just the good old thanks for the help but.....
 
Oh I don't expect them to. I've always managed to keep my head above water. Been more fortunate than some. Just try to take care of what I have to. But I get your point. Tool box rolls both directions. Got wheels for a reason.
 
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