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Quality of Aftermarket Components...

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A year ago I changed the motor mounts on my TR6. Recently I have noticed that removing the K&N air filter on my front carb (very close to wheel well) has become a chore. Well, the whole right side of the engine had dropped because the NEW engine mount had failed! Whew. Got a new set from a different vendor and noticed that they were of a much sturdier design, very similar to OE. The others were hollow. Makes me wonder how much quality there is in some of these components that we are buying. Especially some of the dash switches, etc. I have had three (3) overdrive switches fail. I know that many of the electronic parts are Asian. Things like rubber trim items just don't hold up. Changed my fuzzy door seals twice. Not only expensive but frustrating and potentially dangerous. Moral of this story might be to not assume because you have changed a hidden component recently that it is good for the long term. Bears looking into.

Bill
 
Amen! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
I think we've done this to ourselves in a way. There was a recent post where a forum member found a 20-year-old Vicky Brit catalog in the boot of his TR and commented how little prices have gone up in the ensuing years.

It's natural to price shop components from the Big 3 but in doing so we put them in the bind of finding ways to make repros cheaply. This can lead to poorer quality than original. The vendors (one anyway) feel as bad about this as we do but the reality is we want a good price and they have to make a profit to stay in business -- all the while production costs go up and the dollar (recently) weakens.

I like to buy original parts and rehab them when I can though in the case of perishables like rubber this isn't really practical.
 
"Quality aftermarket parts" is an oxymoron.......for the most part. Buyer beware, ask around(here) or friends, but dont buy cruddy parts, then they win.
MD(mad dog)
 
[ QUOTE ]
"Quality aftermarket parts" is an oxymoron.......for the most part. Buyer beware, ask around(here) or friends, but dont buy cruddy parts, then they win.
MD(mad dog)

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, so buy all your parts from your local Standard-Triumph dealer.
icon_rolleyes.gif


There ARE good aftermarket parts and there are bad aftermarket parts. You just have to decide whether the part is worth the price. You can't generalize and say that quality aftermarket parts is an oxymoron, because if it was your car would never run. Personally I buy all my parts from a single guy who is a dealer for TRF, Moss, VB, and a few other places. He has plenty of his own cars (even used to have a TVR) and takes the time to help me figure out what the best parts for what I want to do is. Plus if there are problems he takes care of me and then sorts it out with the distributor.
 
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