The Ford Barn - View Single Post

jeepguy1948 · 01-31-2023, 12:20 PM

My only real issue is with crap made in China. Even if their part looks like a perfect match their metallurgy is terrible. Of all the things I deal with, good trustworthy bearing on my car hauling trailers is at the top of the list. You cant tell how good the metal is by looking at it. I have heard importers say that the customer is their quality control. A friend of mine owns a hardware store that sells Milwaukee tools. You know how expensive the dang batteries are? A battery from China costs them $5 to make, they sell it to their retailers for $50 and the retailer sells it for $100. Here is a fact about Chinese culture that people are not aware of. In China they believe that to copy (we might say knock off) something made by someone else is the highest form of flattery. But heres the rub, they feel absolutely no need to match the quality, only the appearance. In the case of Milwaukee, it was not a case of moving production to China to survive it was to make massive profits. At 500% mark up do you think that they can deal with some defective product? As said above bearings should last forever if maintained. But when you buy used, who knows about how its been maintained? But, my original post was not about all this crap, I was simply asking if anybody knew of a source for USA made bearings? And if not new manufacture, a source for NOS bearings? Nobody yet has actually answered that question. I know that if a person does not know the answer to the question they may not bother to post dont know, but I was hopeful someone might know of a source. So far, I have been told how to figure out what bearing I need (I already know that), where to buy the bearing i need (I already know that too), if properly maintained bearings last forever (yep, know that too but if you buy used who knows if its been properly maintained?) As I said at the beginning, although I would prefer new bearings, if I cannot find bearings NOT MADE IN CHINA I will re use what I have. I feel that I am better off with the used than with new Chinese crap.

01-31-2023, 12:20 PM	#9
jeepguy1948 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2022 Posts: 739	Re: Trailer bearings My only real issue is with crap made in China. Even if their part looks like a perfect match their metallurgy is terrible. Of all the things I deal with, good trustworthy bearing on my car hauling trailers is at the top of the list. You cant tell how good the metal is by looking at it. I have heard importers say that the customer is their quality control. A friend of mine owns a hardware store that sells Milwaukee tools. You know how expensive the dang batteries are? A battery from China costs them $5 to make, they sell it to their retailers for $50 and the retailer sells it for $100. Here is a fact about Chinese culture that people are not aware of. In China they believe that to copy (we might say knock off) something made by someone else is the highest form of flattery. But heres the rub, they feel absolutely no need to match the quality, only the appearance. In the case of Milwaukee, it was not a case of moving production to China to survive it was to make massive profits. At 500% mark up do you think that they can deal with some defective product? As said above bearings should last forever if maintained. But when you buy used, who knows about how its been maintained? But, my original post was not about all this crap, I was simply asking if anybody knew of a source for USA made bearings? And if not new manufacture, a source for NOS bearings? Nobody yet has actually answered that question. I know that if a person does not know the answer to the question they may not bother to post dont know, but I was hopeful someone might know of a source. So far, I have been told how to figure out what bearing I need (I already know that), where to buy the bearing i need (I already know that too), if properly maintained bearings last forever (yep, know that too but if you buy used who knows if its been properly maintained?) As I said at the beginning, although I would prefer new bearings, if I cannot find bearings NOT MADE IN CHINA I will re use what I have. I feel that I am better off with the used than with new Chinese crap.