Is it just me

Ordered an aluminum fuel cap the other day, when I got it the threads were not deep enough for the fuel tank it goes on. I had to chuck it up in my lathe and re do the threads. The company promised to make it right but at 100 bucks for the item I just wanted it right to start with and not have to spend two hours rethreading it. Or sending it back and waiting. Maybe its just my luck with things lately, but it sure seems like quality control has vanished from the marketplace and everything I get. Oh well at least I got some more fab time in...................
I did notify the company and the said they will check on this for future use and were sorry and will make it better. I'm just making a comment on my luck lately.................

 

gotta keep letting them know.

 

Carl, No it's not just you. Quality control and making it right the first time are slip sliding away. It's great you had a lathe and the know how to fix it.

 

quality control cuts into profits..which do you think they'll go for?

 

Prime example of non-American companies (or once american companies) making parts for true american cars (late '70's and back) that have no idea what their producing parts for. Sometimes I think it's better to use a old original steel part than it is to use a "new fangled" aluminum part...lol

 

I can do just about anything on a lathe.... But cut threads with a carbide insert!! I have no problems using a tap to do i.d. threads though...

 

It happens Carl, It happens. It would be nice if everything we ordered came just the way we expected.

 

I work as a manufacturing engineer, and often times your assumption is correct.

At one company I once worked for, I recommended making a jig to test-fit parts before they were installed in an assembly. This would make sure that we wouldn't have problems later down the assembly line when the parts were installed in a larger assembly, and also assured that the customer wouldn't have any issues with the parts when they installed said assembly in their units.

Nope, upper management told me it wasn't worth spending the 10 seconds it took to load and unload the part from the jig, and that if anyone had any problems they would just send it back and we'd send them a new one. Granted, on a high volume line 10 seconds is a lot, but this wasn't a high volume assembly line and its better to catch issues at the beginning of the line and not the end, or worse yet have the customer catch the issues.

I think business school has courses designed to suck out your soul before you graduate.....

 

no, it's not just you, believe me.

 

Lets place ourselves 20 years down the road, when all design work is done in India and all manufacturing is done in China. This will be acceptable quality at that point. People with independent machining skills in this country will be very, very few. If you cant fix it yourself you wont be able to find anyone to do it. As a person with nearly 40 years in the tool and die trade I have watched the skill level of the next generation not just slip away, but for the most part completley disappear. If you have a lathe or Bridgeport and know how to use them pass that skill on. Thats what I am doing with my sons (ages 29,31). They will most likely never as proficent as someone who has worked the trade from a full time basis, but they will have some very valuable skills in an age of programmed button pushers.

 

Im in upper management and all we preach is top quality at any cost.One thing that will drive a customer away quick is not being able to produce good parts.Unfortunatly some of the younger crowd we have had to hire due to some downsizing and market changes do not have the best attitude and work ethic.Not trying to pick on the younger crowd but i see it allot.Point is with everything going on were losing alot of quality and work ethic.

 

profit above all else, it's the new American way.

 

Well, nobody forces their children to take the garbage out or do chores any more. The younger crowd thinks something is owed to them for the most part.

 

Yeah, not just you unfortunately. I'm shocked anymore when I buy something and it fits and works like it should without any modifications... including hot rod parts, household stuff, home repairs, etc.

 

I'm sure you mean the Near East, which is India. The countries of the Middle East can't rub two brain cells together and manufacturer anything. They bring in everything from outside.

 

I just had that same problem with an aluminum cap on a brand new Snap-on brake flush machine.

 

Hire the older workers with more experience and better attitude and you wont have any problems.

 

It's cheaper to replace the 20% (arbitrary number) of the parts that don't work than test 100% of the parts to make sure they do. It all comes down to dollars and cents.

 

Good for you, Im only 21 but Im not like most 21 year olds and its obvious in 20 more years we are gonna be completely SCREWED. Nobody my age knows how to do anything if its not computer related.

 

are we talking about a Billet cap?

 

Na a cast cap

 

Or place yourself 20 years to the left (20 years ago ya jackwagon ) and drive yourself out to the local salvge yard and hope one of the vehicles out there had one on it that will fit what you are needing.

I do agree thats its insanely frustrating getting parts that should fint and do not when you are paying hard earned money.

 

well than, that sucks

 

i dread buying anything new, it seams every time i do i spend time fixing, finish building or looking for the hardware i thought would have been included. i've also make improvements . it's the way things are going these days and it sucks... hang on to all the old quality, repairable stuff we are going to need it in the future.

 

tb33anda3rd, you are right on about dreading buying anything. I will not buy a repop part no matter what. They either don't fit or are inferior in quality. I only use OEM parts, at least you know they will fit. Recently did some decision making on buying a Mooneyes made in China tach and bought it anyway. Fortunately I lucked out and it works fine. Thats the exception rather then the rule. Neat dog in your Avatar, it looks just like my best buddy a yellow Lab. Buy American if you can. Thats becoming harder and harder to do.

 

So, your attitude sucks too...it's okay for billet parts to be poorly made, but not cast parts?

Get real.

 

Wow, somebody got up on the wrong side of the lake today... It was a JOKE. Like, "Who cares, if it's billet?"... get it?

 

I sure feel this way today. Helping a buddy with his "street rod". He wanted a banjo style steering wheel for his Ididit column. First wheel (internet purchase) was a no show, cc got billed but then the guy dissappered. He's still waiting for the cc to be refunded. 2nd wheel from another vender was poor quality and the splines wern't cut deep enough, wouldn't go on. Returned, still waiting for a refund. 3rd wheel showed up, looked good. Went to bolt it on, the supplied screws didn't fit. No big deal, just a trip to the hardware store and 5 bucks for some shorter metric screws. Just seems like for the $300 he spent for the wheel they could of sent the right screws! Turned a 5 minute job into an hour counting the trip to the hardware store.
I told him it was his fault for wanting this billit crap anyways!
More and more places selling junk these days!

 

Maybe this is the backlash we "hot-rodders" get for the fact that so many parts are available for purchase nowadays. To "make it work", you literally have to...make it work.

And yes, it sucks...and it's getting worse. Some of us are still fighting the tide though.

 

50 Years ago we didn't bitch about it, we just made it ourselves.
Maybe thats the problem today.