1 truck part made in USA, Canada, +++

[jimmyj]

I thought this was interesting so I'll share. I broke the front sway bar link on my truck (Dodge ram) so I bought a new one at the auto parts store. ($92 but that's another story).

Anyhow, the link itself was made in Canada, the rubber bushings and nuts were from the USA. The little washer things were made in "China or Taiwan" and the cardboard box was made in Canada.

It's bizarre to me that it is worth it to get two little washer spacer things from a different country than the other stuff. And that you can logistically put all the bits and pieces into one package cheaply enough to make it worth it.

Anyhow, fascinating.

 

[jinman]

I'm assuming that since you bought the part at an auto parts store, it was not Mopar. Mopar probably has the whole thing made in Mexico and some other maker might have it all made in China. :confused3:

 

[jimmyj]

I'm assuming that since you bought the part at an auto parts store, it was not Mopar. Mopar probably has the whole thing made in Mexico and some other maker might have it all made in China. :confused3:

Yes, an auto part store and not Mopar. The dealers were closed and I did not want to wait.

 

[JDgreen227]

I thought this was interesting so I'll share. I broke the front sway bar link on my truck (Dodge ram) so I bought a new one at the auto parts store. ($92 but that's another story).

Anyhow, the link itself was made in Canada, the rubber bushings and nuts were from the USA. The little washer things were made in "China or Taiwan" and the cardboard box was made in Canada.

It's bizarre to me that it is worth it to get two little washer spacer things from a different country than the other stuff. And that you can logistically put all the bits and pieces into one package cheaply enough to make it worth it.

Anyhow, fascinating.

Good thread, I just got a new trailer hitch for my Lesabre last week, the hitch itself is made in the USA, will have to look at the hardware kit enclosed and see what that says. Agree with you it's weird to get hardware packaged that way. While on the subject of packaging, the hitch I purchased for my car was packed in a box that was big enough to hold 3 or 4 hitches, and they used no packing at all to keep it from rattling around. Fedex delivered the carton with the sides punched out and the hitch beat up from sticking out of the carton. It amazed me, the hitch itself was well made, very solid, perfect welds, beautiful powder coat finish, and then they pack it in a box where it gets beat up like that...

I contacted the seller from Ebay, he agreed to give me a $40 Paypal credit when I agreed to keep the hitch and repair the paint myself. Sorry if you think I hijacked your thread...

 

[czechsonofagun]

In the shop we had Porsche 911 on the lift, that thing is amazing from the bottom - tons of plastic covers makes it very smooth. Anyway, on swaybars was a sticker Made in Czech Republic, it made my day back than

Porsche is part of the VW group and so is Skoda, all the cars share components.

 

[jimmyj]

JDgreene, how much do you tow with the Lesabre?

 

[JDgreen227]

JDgreene, how much do you tow with the Lesabre?

It's an '04, no factory tow package so the factory rating is 1000 pounds, I have a 6X12 Legend aluminum open utility trailer that weighs 740, have had up to a half ton of lumber in the trailer and you cannot even tell the difference while driving whether the trailer is loaded or empty. The hitch is a Class 2 but I will never approach the rating. I think the manual may list a rating for a tow package, will have to check. Nope, no tow package rating listed in manual...

 

[archerm3]

Not too terribly hard to understand if you think of it like this...

Option A

1 million washers on a container from China shipped...$100,000

Option B
1 million washers on a freight car from Stupidhicktown OH...$120,000

Possibly the purchaser makes a 5-10% commission on the money he saves....

Isn't it wonderful when you can buy products from a socialistic nation at a much higher discounts than in a free market economy...man our economies could do so much better if we just reinstituted slave labor.

 

[jimmyj]

Not too terribly hard to understand if you think of it like this...

Option A

1 million washers on a container from China shipped...$100,000

Option B
1 million washers on a freight car from Stupidhicktown OH...$120,000

Possibly the purchaser makes a 5-10% commission on the money he saves....

Isn't it wonderful when you can buy products from a socialistic nation at a much higher discounts than in a free market economy...man our economies could do so much better if we just reinstituted slave labor.

Agreed. I've always thought that some regulatory group should set a standard of human rights level for each country. Then, countries with a low score would be subject to higher tarrifs so they could not undercut places that treat people better.

Yeah, I can be a dreamer