Classic Industries Steering wheel

[kwmech]

Finally got a hold of somebody at LMC with knowledge. they said there has been quality issues with the steering wheels. I've got a wheel coming from them that has been through QC and are saying will work. Thanks for the dimension of the ring. What I have from LMC is the same. You wouldn't believe what I went through putting the battery tray in..geeesh, same thing. Bending, twisting chasing the thread holes. Most of the stuff now-a-days is just absolute junk for quality

[custom10nut]

Originally Posted by kwmech

Finally got a hold of somebody at LMC with knowledge. they said there has been quality issues with the steering wheels. I've got a wheel coming from them that has been through QC and are saying will work. Thanks for the dimension of the ring. What I have from LMC is the same. You wouldn't believe what I went through putting the battery tray in..geeesh, same thing. Bending, twisting chasing the thread holes. Most of the stuff now-a-days is just absolute junk for quality

The direct result of sending manufacturing Overseas.
The “accepted tolerance” parameters are getting more sloppy every year.
Also, the parts are made with such quality, that you’re going to be replacing them in short time, forcing you to buy another piece of junk.
Not a “Political” statement, but just the truth.
Finding quality working/fitting parts has become a “Crap Shoot”.

[kwmech]

Working on a customers 2wd toyota pickup. had to 'special order' a center link and an idler arm. Got pieces from NAPA... the only ones in the state! Yeah, they didn't fit. The center link was too short and the idler arm was locked up. I put them on the truck without looking closely, the center ling towed the tires in about 3 or more inches. The holes were off 3/4'' being too short. I had to order the part off of Rock Auto----Beck Arnley part. Better than a chinese made Dorman I guess. Now I wait for a week or so for them to show up

[jumpsoffrock]

Originally Posted by kwmech

Most of the stuff now-a-days is just absolute junk for quality

Originally Posted by custom10nut

The direct result of sending manufacturing Overseas.
The “accepted tolerance” parameters are getting more sloppy every year.
Also, the parts are made with such quality, that you’re going to be replacing them in short time, forcing you to buy another piece of junk.
Not a “Political” statement, but just the truth.
Finding quality working/fitting parts has become a “Crap Shoot”.

China builds spaceships, surgical equipment, and has some of the most sophisticated engineered hardware and software in existence next to USA.

It is not "China's" fault.
They make stuff using specific parameters set by businesses here in the states. Those parameters are quality and cost.
They can only build something so good if you want to pay X for it.
If you want it any better, you'd have to pay more; I'm taking a wild guess that the marketing departments of these USA companies who order these parts from China did research before they made multi-million dollar orders of thousands of parts.

Their marketing and sales people said: "If we make a battery tray that fits like a factory piece it will cost the consumer $200. Nobody in our study group would buy it. So we'll make it for sale at $40 a piece and it will fit 3/5's of the time"
I know this sounds odd but marketing and sales are in charge--not hobbyists.


If the products are getting worse, I'd say conversely: These USA companies marketing teams are finding people want greater value and more parts offered. "We can do that but there will be a cost to pay in terms of quality or price, the consumer will decide."
There are lots of parts available today that were only a pipe-dream 15 years ago. This doesn't happen by magic, it happens by careful economic-driven strategy(and in this case that means give people lots of diverse stuff for affordable prices; and all of it will be low quality)