god bless the Chinese but...

[Keith True]

Interesting that this just came up about bearings,in the past week we have had a little discussion going on in my garage about them.A fellow I do some work for went out of his way to buy Timken bearings and hubs for his Caravan.He spent extra money,waited,and got Timken.He is a little upset after I showed him,made in China on the parts.If the picture is clear enough you will see,made by select manufacturers for Timken.The box is marked,printed in the USA.The price was double of the store brand bearings.The story used to be that the first three digits in a bar code told you country of orgin.Only partially true.The US,Aisa,and Europe all have different readings and applications of the bar codes.Some tell the actually country of orgin,and others tell where the company is headquartered.The parts rep gave us a little education last week of how the bar codes,and manufacturers can be very misleading as to where the parts came from.

[Bruce Adams]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

A common term for shoddy workmanship is "Gerrybuilt". Think about where that came from. After WWI, the Germans were not liked in most of the world and were in a bad way economically so to find markets, they had to cut prices. That meant poor quality, hence Gerrybuilt. No one now would call everything German made to be poor quality. They found markets and success and have moved on to making better products. The Chinese are no different. We are used to seeing rubbish come out of China and that is often because of poor control over standards by our businesses who buy over there and sell here. They will/are improving.
Just because something is foreign made does not mean it is rubbish.
America has about 5% of the world's population, I believe. That means that to 95% of the people in the world, Americans are foreigners and US made is foreign made.

Interesting to attribute it to pre-WW 2 German products. "Word Origins" says the phrase has been around since 1869. They go on to say the phrase's origins are unknown and list about five possibilities, such as a Liverpool building company called the Jerry Co., and Jerrycummumble, etc.

[ursus]

For a while I would search on E-Bay for the various part numbers applied to bearings sized for the Model-A and 30's era Ford cars and was able to find a lot of older NOS and NORS bearings made in the North America and Europe, the good stuff. Some businesses or government agencies would sell off whole lots of bearings that were obsolete to their purposes and often I was the only bidder. I no longer need to do this and, while there isn't as much of it showing up any more, it is worth a try if you want to avoid the worries concerning the Third World stuff in today's pipeline.

[Jason in TX]

Originally Posted by Keith True

Interesting that this just came up about bearings,in the past week we have had a little discussion going on in my garage about them.A fellow I do some work for went out of his way to buy Timken bearings and hubs for his Caravan.He spent extra money,waited,and got Timken.He is a little upset after I showed him,made in China on the parts.

So So So true. You can't just judge the name brand anymore. You have to do a little research.

I used to drive a Nissan Altima and my friends said I can't believe you are driving that foreign piece of crap........(Built in Smyrna, Tennessee)

Now I drive a good 'ole American General Motors Cadillac. (built in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico)

I'm happy that they did move the Cadillac plant back to Spring Hill, TN and create or retain 1,800 American jobs, but my little Caddy is from south of the border.

Oh, and 2 of the four wheel bearing assemblies on that cadillac went out at 60,000 miles. I bought MOOG on Amazon for $125 each, which is actually a subset of Federal-Mogul.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by forever4

SKF are some of the most counterfeited bearings available worldwide. Beware! In China SKF are everywhere and are suspect. The bearings originating in India now are maybe the worst.

Counterfeiting is driven by profit greed on the part of both producers and buyers. It has little to do with the actual capabilities to produce quality if necessary.

Also check the link.

http://www.skf.com/binary/21-252392/Counterfeiting%2Bbrochure%2B-%2B6940_1%2BEN_tcm_12-252392.pdf

interesting, the chinese are great at counterfitting everything to the finest detail. IF there is a market for it and a way to counterfit it, they will do it. Worst part is their goverment will protect them claiming they look nothing alike. (look at the chinese made cars)

[Dick Steinkamp]

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Originally Posted by SeaSlugs

... claiming they look nothing alike. (look at the chinese made cars)

Maybe it's just my old age, but I think ALL cars these days look alike...no mater WHO made them.

[SeaSlugs]

not going to argue against that either - all look like plastic easter eggs and sound like electric razors.

the chinese though will copy almost 98% of a BMW m3 or something then put different headlights on it and claim it looks nothing alike.

[Dick Steinkamp]

Originally Posted by SeaSlugs

not going to argue against that either - all look like plastic easter eggs and sound like electric razors.

the chinese though will copy almost 98% of a BMW m3 or something then put different headlights on it and claim it looks nothing alike.

BMW has been manufacturing cars in China for almost 15 years. They broke the 1,000,000 mark in 2015

http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/01/08/1-...chinese-plant/

The cars made in China for the Chinese market have some differences from the BMWs you see in the US. Could this be the reason for the different headlights?

http://www.bmw.com.cn/zh_CN/index.html

[Jason in TX]

Now to be fair, car makers have been copying each other for ages. They want to sell what the customer proves they will buy...




1931 Chevy




1931 Plymouth



1931 Fordor

[Synchro909]

I recall a commotion back in the 60s when it came to light that the Japanese had built a number of new industrial complexes, each with its own name. One was called USA. Anything made there was correctly labelled "Made in USA" People read it as "Made in U.S.A." and thought it was made in the North America USA. Cunning? YES, untruthful? NO.
There were also complexes called Sheffield, England, Birmingham and others.

[CarlG]

There is a town in Japan named Usa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usa,_%C5%8Cita

[Cornishman]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

A common term for shoddy workmanship is "Gerrybuilt". Think about where that came from. After WWI, the Germans were not liked in most of the world and were in a bad way economically so to find markets, they had to cut prices. That meant poor quality, hence Gerrybuilt. No one now would call everything German made to be poor quality. They found markets and success and have moved on to making better products. The Chinese are no different. We are used to seeing rubbish come out of China and that is often because of poor control over standards by our businesses who buy over there and sell here. They will/are improving.
Just because something is foreign made does not mean it is rubbish.
America has about 5% of the world's population, I believe. That means that to 95% of the people in the world, Americans are foreigners and US made is foreign made.

BMW use a lot of Chinese built engines in their motorcycles these days and they seem as good as any. My only first hand experience of Chinese manufacture is my saxophone and that hits all the right notes!

[Cornishman]

Originally Posted by tbirdtbird

have never had a chinese bearing hold up for long. they do not know how to make them.

their alloys are suspect. a knowledgeable person told me they just melt down all the different grades of steel that comes in from the scrap ships into one big pot and pay no attention to maintaining/making specific alloys. All the steel I have seen from there is very soft. Tom, I think you got lucky. I wish I could say I have had the same experience. I have had air tools disintegrate their bearings literally within 5 min.

Timken uses various overseas manufacturing but I have not seen once that their country of origin was china. I make it a point to track down Timken bearings for every purpose I encounter. Never had a problem

Bottom line , use whatever you want

Can you back up one word of this with evidence or is it just arrogant bias?

[Onebad56F1]

You buy import products you support them and put yourself out of business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[H. L. Chauvin]

With great respect for this subject: god bless the Chinese but ...

1. It is most difficult to actually "see" what "was" ......... and what "is" happening in our World with our so-called U.S.A.'s Free Trade with Japan & China. It is not Bert's fault, it is not Bratton's fault, not Snyder's, etc., fault.

2. It is also increasingly difficult to make predictions years ago that actually come true; however, one "Business Person" did it in 1988, (about 28 years ago), when he met as a youngster and interviewed with Oprah.

3. There is a .... "YouTube Oprah Interview Video Over 25 Years Ago" ... that is recirculating rapidly today; and, interestingly, this heartfelt prediction appears to be happening today as we speak ....... and ...... even with our most lovely Model A parts. LOL

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by Dick Steinkamp

BMW has been manufacturing cars in China for almost 15 years. They broke the 1,000,000 mark in 2015

http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/01/08/1-...chinese-plant/

The cars made in China for the Chinese market have some differences from the BMWs you see in the US. Could this be the reason for the different headlights?

http://www.bmw.com.cn/zh_CN/index.html

im not talking about legit chinese market BMW's

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/feature...ai-motor-show/

im talking about things like that ^^^

http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/12/19/bm...nese-x5-clone/
or that ^^^

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by Onebad56F1

You buy import products you support them and put yourself out of business.


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Actually if i didnt buy from them i would be out of business..to stay competitive with Joe Blows I'm forced to... MOST people only care about the price of the job, not the quality of the part being used.

[31 Model A]

When something broke down in the field and it couldn't be fixed properly on sight we "Jerry Rigged" it to get it back to have it properly fixed.

I'm sure other soldiers have heard that phrase before.

As for as Chinese products go, I visited Hong Kong back in the 60s for three days, I had no complaints about the Chinese ladies!!!!

[Michael M]

Originally Posted by Onebad56F1

You buy import products you support them and put yourself out of business.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ironic that the iPhone is made in China, huh?

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by Michael M

Ironic that the iPhone is made in China, huh?

My iPhone says it is DESIGNED in California; ASSEMBLED in China. No mention on the case as to where the components were made. Most probably a plethera of places.