I agree somewhat, but in staying with the OPs spreader bar. To me a cheap overseas one might come is 26gauge tubing, vs what would be made in the US, I’d still expect the welds not to have pin holes. That said I agree on tools, we certainly can’t expect a 150$ unit to be the same quality as a 450$ unit. I figure with HF tools, if it saves a few trips to a shop, it’s paid for itself, any more is saving additional funds.
I wonder if the Chinese complain about cheap American crap. Is this a universal complaint? Everyone used to want American jeans, now made in Vietnam.
The Chinese are highly technical on par with the US--maybe more advanced. They have a Mars landing on their score sheet, too. I remember the US made cars in the 80s that were pure junk so spare me the USA chant. Folks here want quality parts and tools for Harbor Freight prices. I don't think you can have both. The Chinese are making parts, etc., to exacting specifications set out by American companies. In other words Americans are specifying the standard whether it be junk or best quality or somewhere in between.
I think, probably due to pricing pressure, that venders don't sell Speedway their best parts. I bought a Superbell axle from Speedway a couple of years ago and it was machined so far off that the axle has to be twisted about 3 degrees to get the caster close to the same on both sides. I had it painted and installed before I realized it so no return. Gary
I have to tell you, I am going to rewire my '48 and have no electrical knowledge at all. I called Speedway tech line and spoke to Jared. He asked questions, answered questions, explained procedures and used no pressure at all. Later in the week I purchased a 22 circuit wiring kit. It cost $241.99 and had free shipping. I ordered it Monday I was told it would arrive Friday. I showed up on my front door Thursday morning. This kit is complete with fuse box, wires, clips, basically all that was needed including a huge wiring diagram. It was also boxed very well. No complaints. I know that some fabricated parts parts are made in Vietnam, China, Taiwan, BumF**kd Egypt, or where ever and with regards to that, @stanlow69 said it best: quit buying crap based on price.
Rebel wire is USA made and has real I've tech support from the US. Plus they are an Alliance Vendor, last time I checked.
Calling us Idaho or Ohio... Iowans are used to it. And yes, Tanks Inc and Yogi's are a good place to buy parts from.
I will never buy any wire kit other than REBEL WIRE again. I have had several cars wired for me but I had never done one myself. His kits are built in AMERICA with AMERICAN made parts. I bought a chinese kit thinking I would save a $100 and was not happy ( yes I am a dumbass, I did know better but I did it anyway) there were no instructions. After installing and having problems I decided to tear it out and buy a REBEL kit, So after I did some research I called Jerimey at Rebel to order a new kit. I told him my plan, He ask if had pulled the other kit out yet I told I had not, he told me to leave it he would help me get it straightened out, HE spent at least 2 hrs on the phone with me at different times while I was working on the car helping step by step as I went back and forth getting tools and testing things and it wasn't his kit. I don't think you will ever get that kind of help from someone else. So the moral of this story is DON'T BE A DUMBASS LIKE ME. get a quality kit from Rebel made in the USA. This was not a paid advertisement and no was one injured in the writing of this post . Except my pride.
1980 American cars junk? My 1983 Olds 98 went 230,000 with one transmission rebuild, never gave me one problem ever in 30 years. It was parked outside and got sprayed with salt every winter.
Hilarious!!! Thanks for sharing a hard lesson learned and an extraordinary Rebel Wire tech story. My old favorite hackneyed phrase was "a picture is worth a thousand words" but this one is taking its place - “A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Only a fool insists on making his own.” I've made plenty of my own.
Speedway is not evil. But you have to pay attention to what you are buying. 20 some years ago, before I knew better I ordered a gas pedal based on price. It looked even cheesier when I got it than in the catalog. Total junk. caveat emptor
McDonalds didn`t give me my fries and left of my pickles on my hamburger. I was very hungry. I went thru the drive-thru and didn`t check until I got home. I`ll never go back. I called the 1-800 number and got a coupon for an ice cream cone. We will see when that shows up. I`ll keep you posted. They wanted to e mail one but my internet isn`t working today. Ice cream doesn`t agree with my stomach, so I`ll give it to a grandkid. Any ideas where I should go next.
^ That's funny! I've heard WAA has a 1-800 number. Some people need to add it to their emergency numbers list
See, I do Burger King, “they do it my way” But say I bought a burger from McDondalds and got home, say it was made just as I wanted but the bun and burger had hole in the middle of it. Did I get something I expected, or just something that worked?
Robert, you could have just written that the Rear Spring Sliders from Speedway were really well made and not included any pictures, and then gotten highly defensive and angry when some of us asked you to post some:
Speaking of Speedway..................I bought a brake/clutch firewall mount from them that provided my '34 Ford pickup with just a (ahem) little bit more of interior room. That combined with a low price made me happy. What could go wrong ??? The mount itself was simply two long brake and clutch arms that hung down from the firewall bracket. Things were great until I tried to attach the clutch pedal. I used the provided bolts/nuts and upon applying just a little bit of torque the end of the clutch arm where the pedal attaches broke off. It didn't snap off or give any indication that it was going to fail. it just sorta oozed off, like it was never attached to the clutch arm. The clutch arm was all one piece. There were no welds. I'm not a welder or fabricator by any means but I can recognize a turd in the punch bowl right away. I'd never seen or heard anything like it. Prior to purchase I ensured that the item was advertised as Made in the U.S.A. I contacted Natalie at Speedway who said that another clutch arm was on the way. She didn't want to hear about the danger of this problem happening on the road. She sorta blew it off and said that the breakage had never happened before. I insisted that they examine the clutch arm to identify the problem as the break should not have happened in the first place. I said that I would send her the clutch arm but she again wasn't interested. I wondered about the quality of the new and improved clutch arm that I was getting given Speedway's reluctance to examine what I thought to be a driver safety issue. While I waited for my clutch arm, I attempted to attach the brake pedal, and the damned brake pedal arm broke at the exact place that the clutch arm broke. Remember, there are no welds to break. Both brake/clutch arms are both continuous pieces. So I call them again and again try to get them involved but no. Nobody seemed to care. I couldn't believe it. I knew I had to do something to make others aware of what happened to me and to warn others to tread carefully with Speedway until somebody there gets a handle on what is a serious problem. I'm 75 and have a 6 year old hot rod grandson who usually drives me nuts in the garage wanting to know this and that. But to get on the road and put him and possibly others in danger because of Speedway's reluctance to face the facts was crazy !! I'm beyond being pissed. I'm so disappointed that, who to me have always been a trusted member of the hot rod world, has been so, so, so...........what ?? I don't know. Just by happenstance, I received a generic Speedway "How'd we do?" email that wanted an honest evaluation of my experience with Speedway. Well, I laid it all out and was later contacted by a worker bee who requested that I send the aforementioned broken pieces to them. I've not done so until and plan to give it more thought before acting. I've included photos for youse guys. Pretty self explanatory. A los caballos muchchos !!
What photos ,,,,,?,,,,,,I can’t see any pics ! And if you wanted them involved,,,,,and they request you return the bad part,,,, , why not send it back ? I would,,,,,they need to see it,,,,,,maybe they can contact the vendor and stop it from happening again,,,,? Tommy
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