From my personal observations and others it appears that parts made in China are always a question. Some seem very good and others not so good. For the present at least, I chose not to use Chinese parts in a safety area like brakes or in an area when the is extensive labor to change a part. Hopefully this with change in the future. Ed
Chinese made how bad can it be?
- Thread starter bigsplash
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If you are in a pinch, you are in a pinch.
At least you are buying them already skeptical rather than buying them expecting them to last the lifetime of your vehicle.
However usually, Hub assembly, tie-rods and tires are the last place I would cheap out on with a vehicle.
At least you are buying them already skeptical rather than buying them expecting them to last the lifetime of your vehicle.
However usually, Hub assembly, tie-rods and tires are the last place I would cheap out on with a vehicle.
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
. . . unless you are looking for parts for a GM LB8/LW9 engine. Then the dilemma becomes rather interesting.
Politics aside, with regards to quality, the manufacturer/brand is probably as important as the country of manufacture. An economy or generic no-name China manufacturer is one thing, a major first-tier parts brand may be another.
A "made in Germany" OEM-Bosch evap purge valve on one of our cars failed several years back. The replacement Bosch-branded valve was made in China, which annoyed me more than a little. But it is holding up just fine, and I suspect Bosch takes pains to assure that the QA is solid.
Similarly, a mechanic friend was very tight for cash about 10 years back, and opted for Chinese-made economy-grade NAPA pads on his brake service. They do squeal like a stuck pig, but have worn like iron and stop the car acceptably. Again, NAPA is probably keeping an eye on the QA (or has picked a factory that meets their QA standards) so that it is at least acceptable in service.
Companies like Bosch and NAPA have a lot to lose from poor parts quality.
Conversely, I've had some substandard US-made and even German-made parts over the years. Most bore more generic branding and were priced a little less.
Bottom line: you usually get what you pay for, regardless of where it's coming from.
That SKF bearing for the VW several posts up may have come from their Shanghai, China factory.
Now Chinese tires . . . that's another issue altogether.
Thanks for the open minded, lecture free, real world common sense answer. Actually, many similar open minded answers in this thread, rather refreshing.
. . . unless you are looking for parts for a GM LB8/LW9 engine. Then the dilemma becomes rather interesting.
Politics aside, with regards to quality, the manufacturer/brand is probably as important as the country of manufacture. An economy or generic no-name China manufacturer is one thing, a major first-tier parts brand may be another.
A "made in Germany" OEM-Bosch evap purge valve on one of our cars failed several years back. The replacement Bosch-branded valve was made in China, which annoyed me more than a little. But it is holding up just fine, and I suspect Bosch takes pains to assure that the QA is solid.
Similarly, a mechanic friend was very tight for cash about 10 years back, and opted for Chinese-made economy-grade NAPA pads on his brake service. They do squeal like a stuck pig, but have worn like iron and stop the car acceptably. Again, NAPA is probably keeping an eye on the QA (or has picked a factory that meets their QA standards) so that it is at least acceptable in service.
Companies like Bosch and NAPA have a lot to lose from poor parts quality.
Conversely, I've had some substandard US-made and even German-made parts over the years. Most bore more generic branding and were priced a little less.
Bottom line: you usually get what you pay for, regardless of where it's coming from.
That SKF bearing for the VW several posts up may have come from their Shanghai, China factory.
Now Chinese tires . . . that's another issue altogether.
Thanks for the open minded, lecture free, real world common sense answer. Actually, many similar open minded answers in this thread, rather refreshing.
Can you get the Chinese ones relativly cheap from a local auto parts store? that way when they fail over and over you can just keep returning them since they will have a lifetime warranty.
Originally Posted By: bigsplash
I am thinking about buying a couple of cheap Hub Wheel Bearings off Ebay, probably Chinese made. Right now I am very tight for money.
Am I making a mistake?
If you're going cheap at least purchase from a local place so you can return if it fails prematurely, or its not what you were expecting.
Bring the listing with you, ask if they'll match the Ebay price or offer a discount.
I am thinking about buying a couple of cheap Hub Wheel Bearings off Ebay, probably Chinese made. Right now I am very tight for money.
Am I making a mistake?
If you're going cheap at least purchase from a local place so you can return if it fails prematurely, or its not what you were expecting.
Bring the listing with you, ask if they'll match the Ebay price or offer a discount.
I am not so much concerned with the life expectancy of the bearings but rather the safety aspect.
As in my wheels coming off due to bad manufacturing.
As in my wheels coming off due to bad manufacturing.
My vote is for you to eat beans and rice for the rest of the month and get something better (not kidding). I would save money somewhere else. At least get name brand chinese parts from AAP or NAPA. Bad stuff can happen if it fails.
JHZR2
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Originally Posted By: bigsplash
I am not so much concerned with the life expectancy of the bearings but rather the safety aspect.
As in my wheels coming off due to bad manufacturing.
Can wheels actually fall off? Honest question.
I can imagine seize up. But if the outer nut is torqued to the spindle properly, can the wheel actually fall off?
I'd think the issue really is more about quality - you'll have a lot of loud, uncomfortable driving on a poor bearing before it massively fails. Maybe I'm wrong?
I am not so much concerned with the life expectancy of the bearings but rather the safety aspect.
As in my wheels coming off due to bad manufacturing.
Can wheels actually fall off? Honest question.
I can imagine seize up. But if the outer nut is torqued to the spindle properly, can the wheel actually fall off?
I'd think the issue really is more about quality - you'll have a lot of loud, uncomfortable driving on a poor bearing before it massively fails. Maybe I'm wrong?
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: joaks
My vote is for you to eat beans and rice for the rest of the month and get something better (not kidding). I would save money somewhere else. At least get name brand chinese parts from AAP or NAPA. Bad stuff can happen if it fails.
At least I didn't have to say it... It would be rude nonsense to some if I had said it.
My vote is for you to eat beans and rice for the rest of the month and get something better (not kidding). I would save money somewhere else. At least get name brand chinese parts from AAP or NAPA. Bad stuff can happen if it fails.
At least I didn't have to say it... It would be rude nonsense to some if I had said it.
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Companies like Bosch and NAPA have a lot to lose from poor parts quality.
I suspect someone at NAPA doesn't understand this yet.
Today I got parts for two cars from NAPA. The first car got brake pads and rotors all around. The first pair of rear rotors were unusable and exchanges for another two. These were also defective and returned. Happy China Luck brand from another store were just fine at 30% less cost. The second car got a pair of quick-struts. One of them was the first strut I've ever seen snap its rod. Quality welding there. It didn't even last long enough to bolt the wheels back on.
Brake parts other than pads: NAPA is junk. Water pumps: junk. Wipers: junk as of about a month ago. They've still got plenty of good stuff, but a lot of their lines have been switching to junk lately.
I'll buy more defective parts with no QC from NAPA tomorrow.
Companies like Bosch and NAPA have a lot to lose from poor parts quality.
I suspect someone at NAPA doesn't understand this yet.
Today I got parts for two cars from NAPA. The first car got brake pads and rotors all around. The first pair of rear rotors were unusable and exchanges for another two. These were also defective and returned. Happy China Luck brand from another store were just fine at 30% less cost. The second car got a pair of quick-struts. One of them was the first strut I've ever seen snap its rod. Quality welding there. It didn't even last long enough to bolt the wheels back on.
Brake parts other than pads: NAPA is junk. Water pumps: junk. Wipers: junk as of about a month ago. They've still got plenty of good stuff, but a lot of their lines have been switching to junk lately.
I'll buy more defective parts with no QC from NAPA tomorrow.
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I suspect there's some confusion here about "sourcing out" to Chinese suppliers. I doubt that happens frequently with name brand products, at least not yet.
BOTTOM LINE: Buy into a name brand, rather than buy into a country of origin (although admittedly I don't get a warm-n-fuzzy when I see a "China" stamp either). Purolator apparently sources out some of their VW filters to Mann. The Purolator oil and air filters I have appear to be Manns, but with Purolator ink stamps on them, something acknowledged by others on the message boards. If this is the case, Purolator is comfortable subbing out to Mann, which makes sense due to Mann's great reputation. But I doubt that either Purolator or Mann would be quick to source out to a Chinese firm, not when they want to protect their brand name.
On the other hand, if Purolator or Mann wanted to MANUFACTURE filters in China in THEIR OWN factories, that's a different story -- those filters would meet their internal quality standards, Chinese-built or not. Some posts here seem confused about "sourcing out to China." I'd suggest that, when dealing with name brands, they're primarily not "sourcing out" to Chinese firms, but simply building quality parts in THEIR OWN plants...which happen to sit on Chinese dirt. Big difference.
That said, South Korean tires provoked a "You're kidding, right?" response maybe 15 years ago. Today they make quality tires you could happily mount on most any ride, without apologies. I don't care much for China myself, but I suspect that as that country matures technologically, we'll see more high-quality parts originating out of Chinese-run firms there, evolving from a backwater, low-end supplier to possibly even an OEM supplier resembling what Korea is today. After all, the rear fuselage on that Boeing 737 you're flying in...guess where it may have been assembled? That's right....China.
BOTTOM LINE: Buy into a name brand, rather than buy into a country of origin (although admittedly I don't get a warm-n-fuzzy when I see a "China" stamp either). Purolator apparently sources out some of their VW filters to Mann. The Purolator oil and air filters I have appear to be Manns, but with Purolator ink stamps on them, something acknowledged by others on the message boards. If this is the case, Purolator is comfortable subbing out to Mann, which makes sense due to Mann's great reputation. But I doubt that either Purolator or Mann would be quick to source out to a Chinese firm, not when they want to protect their brand name.
On the other hand, if Purolator or Mann wanted to MANUFACTURE filters in China in THEIR OWN factories, that's a different story -- those filters would meet their internal quality standards, Chinese-built or not. Some posts here seem confused about "sourcing out to China." I'd suggest that, when dealing with name brands, they're primarily not "sourcing out" to Chinese firms, but simply building quality parts in THEIR OWN plants...which happen to sit on Chinese dirt. Big difference.
That said, South Korean tires provoked a "You're kidding, right?" response maybe 15 years ago. Today they make quality tires you could happily mount on most any ride, without apologies. I don't care much for China myself, but I suspect that as that country matures technologically, we'll see more high-quality parts originating out of Chinese-run firms there, evolving from a backwater, low-end supplier to possibly even an OEM supplier resembling what Korea is today. After all, the rear fuselage on that Boeing 737 you're flying in...guess where it may have been assembled? That's right....China.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I got a bearing for my Silhouette from "Detroit Axle" aka "Dearborn Axle". Seemed well machined; lasted until I sold the van which regrettably was not long enough to provide valid anecdotal data.
Was annoyed that the box and part had no country of origin whatsoever on it!
The real rip off is the layers and layers of wholesalers and middlemen. Something needs to add efficiency to these layers; ebay competition is as good as anything.
Dearborn Axle is local, we used to use their bearings a lot, but I finally stopped. They fail and fail and fail. If one last more than a few months, you did pretty well.
I got a bearing for my Silhouette from "Detroit Axle" aka "Dearborn Axle". Seemed well machined; lasted until I sold the van which regrettably was not long enough to provide valid anecdotal data.
Was annoyed that the box and part had no country of origin whatsoever on it!
The real rip off is the layers and layers of wholesalers and middlemen. Something needs to add efficiency to these layers; ebay competition is as good as anything.
Dearborn Axle is local, we used to use their bearings a lot, but I finally stopped. They fail and fail and fail. If one last more than a few months, you did pretty well.
The spark plug in my generator was originally a Nanjing Huade.
(yes, I bought a Chinese generator, but it was quite literally 1/3rd the cost of the "American" generator that was littered with Chinese parts. It just ticked over it's 300th hour)
When I went to get a replacement for the plug, I could only find a cross reference in the Bosch catalog. Found out why...Nanjing Huade Spark Plug is Bosch in China.
Bosch Supers work great. I'll have to look closer to see where they are made. Probably Hungary or Brazil, but I may have been putting Nanjing Huade spark plugs in every 100 hours.
(yes, I bought a Chinese generator, but it was quite literally 1/3rd the cost of the "American" generator that was littered with Chinese parts. It just ticked over it's 300th hour)
When I went to get a replacement for the plug, I could only find a cross reference in the Bosch catalog. Found out why...Nanjing Huade Spark Plug is Bosch in China.
Bosch Supers work great. I'll have to look closer to see where they are made. Probably Hungary or Brazil, but I may have been putting Nanjing Huade spark plugs in every 100 hours.
Originally Posted By: dave1251
Made China is not any more or any less than made in Germany.
While there are probably both good Chinese parts and bad German parts, many people will say that made in Germany (or USA, or Korea etc.) are frequently better than Chinese parts.
There are valid points in this thread about manufacturers producing quality goods in China, but buying Chinese parts often can be a gamble.
To the OP-
Many of the brands available at your local auto parts stores will probably come from the same Chinese factories, just with a different sticker on the box.
Do any of your local stores have lower priced bearings? Are there any stores other than Carquest in your area? If your Ebay bearing fails in 10k miles, I doubt an ebay seller would help you out. If you're going to go cheap, buying locally may be a better choice.
Made China is not any more or any less than made in Germany.
While there are probably both good Chinese parts and bad German parts, many people will say that made in Germany (or USA, or Korea etc.) are frequently better than Chinese parts.
There are valid points in this thread about manufacturers producing quality goods in China, but buying Chinese parts often can be a gamble.
To the OP-
Many of the brands available at your local auto parts stores will probably come from the same Chinese factories, just with a different sticker on the box.
Do any of your local stores have lower priced bearings? Are there any stores other than Carquest in your area? If your Ebay bearing fails in 10k miles, I doubt an ebay seller would help you out. If you're going to go cheap, buying locally may be a better choice.
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Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Companies like Bosch and NAPA have a lot to lose from poor parts quality.
I suspect someone at NAPA doesn't understand this yet.
Today I got parts for two cars from NAPA. The first car got brake pads and rotors all around. The first pair of rear rotors were unusable and exchanges for another two. These were also defective and returned. Happy China Luck brand from another store were just fine at 30% less cost. The second car got a pair of quick-struts. One of them was the first strut I've ever seen snap its rod. Quality welding there. It didn't even last long enough to bolt the wheels back on.
Brake parts other than pads: NAPA is junk. Water pumps: junk. Wipers: junk as of about a month ago. They've still got plenty of good stuff, but a lot of their lines have been switching to junk lately.
I'll buy more defective parts with no QC from NAPA tomorrow.
+1 I got a "NAPA" muffler, made in the USA no less, but they put a single spittely bead of weld on one side of each hanger... So 1 week after installing my muffler I see it drooping down when one of the hangers has snapped off. I didn't even think to look at the hangers when I put it on.
I guess now I will inspect even stupid simple parts from now on regardless of the country of origin.
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Companies like Bosch and NAPA have a lot to lose from poor parts quality.
I suspect someone at NAPA doesn't understand this yet.
Today I got parts for two cars from NAPA. The first car got brake pads and rotors all around. The first pair of rear rotors were unusable and exchanges for another two. These were also defective and returned. Happy China Luck brand from another store were just fine at 30% less cost. The second car got a pair of quick-struts. One of them was the first strut I've ever seen snap its rod. Quality welding there. It didn't even last long enough to bolt the wheels back on.
Brake parts other than pads: NAPA is junk. Water pumps: junk. Wipers: junk as of about a month ago. They've still got plenty of good stuff, but a lot of their lines have been switching to junk lately.
I'll buy more defective parts with no QC from NAPA tomorrow.
+1 I got a "NAPA" muffler, made in the USA no less, but they put a single spittely bead of weld on one side of each hanger... So 1 week after installing my muffler I see it drooping down when one of the hangers has snapped off. I didn't even think to look at the hangers when I put it on.
I guess now I will inspect even stupid simple parts from now on regardless of the country of origin.
Originally Posted By: DemoFly
However usually, Hub assembly, tie-rods and tires are the last place I would cheap out on with a vehicle.
DemoFly your statement made a lot of sense to me , in fact in scared the bejeebers out of me. What was I thinking cheapening out on safety.
I have given up on the Ebay route, went down to the local automotive chain store and bought, what I consider to be one of the better bearings "Good old Moog made in the good old USA" or so I thought.
Box says Made in China, eek!
Anyway, I think I made the right choice.
Hub Bearing Failure
However usually, Hub assembly, tie-rods and tires are the last place I would cheap out on with a vehicle.
DemoFly your statement made a lot of sense to me , in fact in scared the bejeebers out of me. What was I thinking cheapening out on safety.
I have given up on the Ebay route, went down to the local automotive chain store and bought, what I consider to be one of the better bearings "Good old Moog made in the good old USA" or so I thought.
Box says Made in China, eek!
Anyway, I think I made the right choice.
Hub Bearing Failure
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Originally Posted By: bigsplash
SKF Test conducted on cheap aftermarket Hubs
I wonder if the aftermarket company tested SKF hubs what result they would come up with...
SKF Test conducted on cheap aftermarket Hubs
I wonder if the aftermarket company tested SKF hubs what result they would come up with...
Originally Posted By: bigsplash
SKF Test conducted on cheap aftermarket Hubs
Sorry, but that is one of the most poorly written articles I have ever seen. Where are the photos, case examples or any other evidence other than them just saying it is bad?
Not denying their claims, but they are not making their case.
SKF Test conducted on cheap aftermarket Hubs
Sorry, but that is one of the most poorly written articles I have ever seen. Where are the photos, case examples or any other evidence other than them just saying it is bad?
Not denying their claims, but they are not making their case.
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