Daniel Marsh

Okay guys, I got the 8 big bushings for all the arms in the rear today from Moog and guess what? "Made in Mexico"

When everyone buys based solely on price quality goes down and manufacturing goes out of the U.S. So the next time you buy junk crap at a parts house that starts with A or off eBay cause it's cheapest just remember you are the problem. These cars were made in the USA we should keep it that way!

Rocketowner

It Was Not Altogether The Consumers That Started These Problems.Back in The 60's Ford And GM Started Buying Their Steel From China And Put Birmingham Steel Out Of Business,and I Would Imagine Several Other Steel Mills That Worked An American Workforce. Larry

D. Yaros

My brake rebuild parts (wheel cylinders, etc.) from OPGI I found to my horror were made in China!

69ishHoliday

A co-worker I had in the AV business would tell clients that every time they made a purchase they were casting a vote, and most of population votes for cheap. I've had a client come to me and say that he wanted ten rooms of his house to have audio and that he doesn't care how it sounds. Can't be too excited about the end product. People used to buy consumer electronics based on quality and now it is almost only price. - Steven

Jedidiah

Even though it is more expensive; I always try to buy American or from developed countries. Sadly, some parts like wheel bearings are solely made overseas--the best ones are from Taiwan I think.

MDchanic

Slovenia should be good for bearings, too. I've gotten good ones from there.
Lots of our best machinists in the 1800s and early 1900s immigrated from that area.

I have no problem with Mexican-made parts as far as quality goes, because the American car companies pretty much moved a number of their suppliers to Mexico after NAFTA, and their quality control is good.

As for American jobs, on the other hand... Well, those American car companies dumped their American workers in favor of Mexican workers.
Now, if they had expanded their operations to Mexico, leaving all of their US plants and jobs intact, I would have no problem with it, as developing Mexico's economy can only be good for us (imagine another Canada to the south - would we be so worried about the borders?), but the condition of Detroit and the rest of the Midwestern industrial belt tells us that's not what happened.

- Eric

redoldsman

I will probably catch hell for this but don't leave the unions out of this. I think their demands did a lot to drive jobs out of the country. There was a presidential candidate that I remember saying that Detroit would become the auto capital of the world. Strange now that they are in bankruptcy. I have one foot on the soapbox so I better turn around and leave before I get banned.

coppercutlass

I'm in the union but I agree. Not everyone can make 20 an hour. I forgot where I read this but people where bitching about walmart underpaying it's employees ., well guess what when a 15 year old can do your job and you are 40 don't expect to make a lot.

Mr. Goodtool

Whenever I shop online, Before I buy I always ask if the item is USA made AND assembled. The Chevrolet Volt is NOT USA made, just assembled here. Ross Perrough had it right when he predicted the "giant sucking sound" if nafta gets passed!

coppercutlass

Even if you buy a true American made product chances are their materials are bought elsewhere .

RetroRanger

True but we all have to realize its a global economy in many respects. My company makes parts that are used in every major and many minor car and trucks! Our part is often coupled w other parts from various manufacturers before it's integrated into the vehicles. The secondary suppliers we sell to are all over the world, so the final assembly could have contributions from several sources before it's complete and put into your Ferrari, ford Chevy BMW etc.

That said I try to source my products from us companies where possible and made in USA and Canada products get my preference.

coppercutlass

it's like the whole Toyota makes a more us. built truck than anyone else. WELL that maybe true but Toyota profits hand overfist on American workers and their products and the profit goes to japan.

I refuse to drive foreign cars but I refuse to buy current domestic so I drive older us. cars. The quality of cars specially domestic is junk imo currently that is.

Just fwiw the whole made in American thing isn't always good. For example I seen a post on facebook making fun of the Toyota Tacoma. Some of you may know toytota had a huge recal on their frames rusting out. Of course everyone said that's what you get for buying crapaneese WELL guess what dana spicer in Indiana made those frames. Just some food for thought.

Sampson

Here in North Cackalackie we are seeing some reshoring in the furniture and textile industries. One of my customers biggest clients makes furniture for Double Tree Inns. Doubletree refurbished their hotels about 5 yrs ago and all the furniture was made offshore. The life expectancy of the product was 10 years. Well guess what 5 yrs later the junk is falling apart and they are having to replace it at half life. Thus the request to bring manufacturing back to the US. Problem is when the factory gears back up for production they invest in robotics and automate the plants. The same process that used to employ 500 workers now takes about 20.

m371961

I decided to post once, I don't want to get political or in any argument, but I gotta say something.
Until all countries are required to pay equivalant salarys and benefits, follow the same regulations as to the environment and business practices, and recieve none or equal support from their respective governments, the US, Canada and similar countries can never compete in industries.
Done properly, IF we go back to using our respective natural resources, we can drop our energy costs which can revive cheaper manufacturing.
My .02

rustyroger

X2, not forgetting Europe too.
A young lad where I work just got a Blue Point wrench set from the Snap On guy, with a rolling tool trolley thrown in. The wrenches look fine, the trolley is a Chinesium pos.


Roger.

nsnarsk65cutlass

Ya,agree, we use our natural resourses corn for fuel what does that do to the cost for eating it? To many rules and regulations, taxes cost of doing business here thats part of the problem.When i see something now that says made in the USA i'm shocked.

pogo69

your lucky they are made in mexico and not by an over worked suicidal chinese worker

Run to Rund

When the politicians wrote NAFTA, they said, things will be cheaper to buy, and companies will make more profit. Now our glass is half full because the rest has gone to other countries with the "global economy." Greed for profits, greed for more pay, greed for votes and kickbacks. . .there is plenty of blame to spread around.

69ishHoliday

x2, I don't believe in using a food product for fuel. There is an opportunity cost associated with dedicating land to producing more corn rather than something else, plus corn depletes the nutrients in the soil more than most crops. It would become political to talk about NAFTA and for who it was implemented so I'll leave it at that. - Steven

Dead Reckon

All I have to say about this, is a friend of my fathers, a man whom I have known since I wasn't even as tall as the tires on my car, put a set of Chinese made bearings on the back of his '89 Dodge Ram D250 Rollback flat bed pickup, he uses it to haul scrap dumpsters mostly, sometimes cars. The bearings hadn't been on the truck for more than a month, and he was hauling about two tons. He came off the interstate one day, looked in his mirror, saw his passenger side rear axle had walked out after he put in the Chinese bearings. The bearings got so hot they disintegrated and caused the axle to walk out of its housing. It ruined the differential, and cost him a lot of time and money. He put in Tempkin bearings, which at the time where US made, and he hasn't had a problem since.

So yeah, I agree, stop being cheap, pay more for American made parts, give the Chinese the what for. Some Wagner brake components are made in the US, I managed to get calipers and pads a couple years back still made in the US. Even paid nearly 4x as much $10.99 vs $2.99, for American made battery terminals. I am getting really tired of inferior parts, when my father and I put rear brakes on my '86 Custom Cruiser, the AC delco wheel cylinders where not only wrong for that car (It had 11" brakes, they where for 9.5" brakes), they where Chinese! Got Wagners, they where made in the US at the time.

So yeah, stop buying cheap, get American made parts. That's half the reason I'm going with an Edelbrock Carb and Intake, they are still US made. And it's the reason I'm going with Cragar Soft 8 steelies, they are US made aswell.

Though we should not blame only the consumer, blame the unions too, they bled so many industries dry. You want retirement? Save for it yourself. You want insurance? Pay for it yourself. People ask too much, and want everything for so little. It really makes me angry, it's why modern cars are nothing but appliances, they know people can't be trusted. I'd like to see you stick most 24 year olds (People my age) in a 1977 Delta 88, (Not my car, I don't want it totaled) and see how far they get before they wreck it. Everyone wants everything to be cheap, fast, and simple. Because in the end, they are cheap, they live their lives fast, and they are simple minded. End (L)users I call them, can't stand 'em, they are the reason for many things wrong with society today. Them and their sense of entitlement. I work for a company that was started by two guys with a vacuum cleaner and a van that belonged to one of their mothers, it's now a multimillion dollar janitorial company. Sure it ain't glorious, but it's proof that people don't need hand outs to get ahead. I make $8.50/hr, maybe 40hrs a week, sure I can't live on it, but I'm not gonna demand money I didn't earn. I'm lucky enough to be able to live with my folks right now, so I can actually afford a few things I actually want, not just things I need. But don't get me started on the difference between wants and needs, that's another paragraph for another day.

To finish, I will quote my father, "I may not have bread on the table, I may not have a pot to **** in, I may not even have a roof over my head, but I sure as s**t don't want yours!".

coppercutlass

I have gotten parts from edelbrock with sub standard quality. I buy cheap on things that don't mater like, the aluminum pulleys from ebay I paied 80 bucks for they worked awesome , the 45 dollar billet hei. I put an advance kit on it and still cost less than anything else , it's also about being smart when buing stuff like that. Wheel bearings I never cheap out on , . I'm 24 got bills , 2 dogs a fiance. And a house whenever I can save money I sure do but half the battle is being an educated consumer.

droptopron

Bullseye - I had a liberal telling me about a living wage for McDonalds workers & if they paid everyone $12 a Big Mac would only go up $.60. Really, 20%? What if everything went up 20%?
Pay can't be based on worker need. It need to be based on value your production returns to your employer.
If you can't support yourself working @ McDonalds or Walmart you should aspire to more.

Mr. Goodtool

I purchased a pair of 8-lug rotors from "brake Performance"..Chatsworth, Ca. for my 3/4 ton 75' chevy pick-up. The cost was $151.00 AND the company makes everything in house. Alot of sellers I found on ebay, were selling cheap Chinese crap, for 1/3rd. that amount. I opted for lasting quality and stepped up!

Nilsson

Before China it was Mexico, I prefer Mexico over China. There is not a major manufacturer that has not moved all or part of their production to Mexico in the last 25 years.

1969w3155

Horses**t, I pay $200 a month for health care, I put 14% of my pay into a 401k...no one's paying it for me. the "import" car makers wages are on par with the domestics, quit using the unions as a crutch. How many companies moved production out of the U.S. that were not union...a ton! Feel free to buy Mahle piston rings that used to be made in Tennessee (non union, very good quality) now made in Mexico. Chrysler will not use any rings from Mahle that are made in Mexico, the quality is that bad.

Dead Reckon

That's exactly what I'm getting at, I plan to get certified as an unarmed security guard, it doesn't pay a whole lot, but it pays enough to live on. As I said, I make $8.50/hr, doing janitorial at the local UPS sorting facility. I consider it fair, even considering the building is not heated, nor air conditioned. And the level of dust you deal with on a daily basis could fill a car on most days. I may be getting a 25c raise if I get trained to clean the trash traps on the conveyors, added risk, have to lock out the machines so some fool doesn't come along and turn on a conveyor while I'm cleaning the rollers it uses out.

Let me ask whomever thinks a Mcdonalds employee should make $12/hr this; Do does the fast food employee risk loosing a limb, getting their fingers broken, running their head into some piece of machinery, have to crawl beneath conveyor belts with a leaf blower to remove dust and trash from beneath said conveyor belts, or do more than stand and flip burgers during a day? No, they do not. I have worked fast food, it is not dangerous, I am a firm believer in paying people for what they do, and fast food, it's a convenience service, a fairly safe job, it merits little more than minimum wage.

And yes, one could say that the danger my job involves is something I signed up for that, it simply does not merit more pay, but as I said, you should be paid for what you do. For example, I think that someone working night shift at a convenience store should make a little more than day shift, not a whole lot, but a little, simply because it's more dangerous at night.

My belief, as I have said, is that you work for what you get, and you get what you deserve. I do not believe in hand outs, I do not believe in entitlement, I believe in hard work, and earnings equal to the work you have done. Unions solved a lot of problems, but they have created many. But as I said, I was not blaming it all on unions, they are but a part of the problem, the biggest is people wanting things cheap. Look around the next time you go out, gaze upon the "Bargains" abound. Would the dollar menu exist if not for consumers not willing to pay more for a quality product? No, it probably would not. Don't get me wrong, I try to save money when I can, I usually get gas at the same Shell station because, if you pay with cash, you get a 6c discount, and it's usually already 30c cheaper on this side of town than across town. Is this the same as wanting the absolute cheapest product, even if it is inferior to something that costs marginally more? No, I don't think so.

I could go on about the reasons that this country has flopped for days, but none of them really matter, what does matter is that, ultimately, the human condition has ruined another society. Greed trumps all, doesn't matter if it's now or two thousand years ago, greed has always won, and it always will. When the only thing that matters is quarterly earnings, soon the only jobs left will be to service the machines that produce everything for us.

Mr. Goodtool

I used to have issues with labor unions when I worked in the supermarket industry. Mostly that union representaves still got a fat payckeck, while I was told to walk a picket line. I felt then, that they had served a purpose and that those days are gone...but I was wrong. All unions did was give the American worker a voice, plus the clout to back it up...BY VOTE. There's too many factors today to pin down any one thing that's to blame, so we each must be responsable for our purchasing power. Maybe in some collective way we can make changes for the better?

coppercutlass

I used to work at ups as a loaders it was union and part time I made. 8.50 an hour 8 years ago. Lexus so far is the job where I'm paid the most. I work my *** off and do quality work and I'm right under journeyman scale since technically I'm shy one cert for it. I have had a lot of jobs but I move to make more money. You can't be comfortable with mediocrity . When I don't make money I go find a place that will pay me what I want instead of complain. That's just part of the hustle that is life. 1.5 years ago I made 6 dollars less than what I make now it took me switching jobs twice but I'm at a place hat pays well and likes my work so win win there. Sadly as we are a capitalist country we have to hustle as the corporations job is to make as much money as possible on product and labor. If they make money I better make money. When I book a 20 hr job in10 and I'm hourly you better bet the they are making money hand over fist but I better get my share. But I also have to be profitable for them to pay me what I want and I understand that. When I apply for a job I present my self essentially as a buisness. I tell them this is what I want and this is why you can afford to do that and still make money.

jaunty75

Ross PEROT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Perot

Racer24ksi

I had this debate with myself, seeking US made parts to restore a classic US auto. I was trying to find US made steel and happened upon this thread focusing on a company that was beginning to make new patch panels that were previously unavailable for the mid-80's Cutlass. It's very relevent to this conversation:

https://gbodyforum.com/viewtopic.php...04a3e70c23388d