BIG Disappointment, New Koblenschmidt Bearings Made In CHINA |
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BIG Disappointment, New Koblenschmidt Bearings Made In CHINA |
914Sixer |
Jul 29 2021, 02:42 PM
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#1
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 8,989 Joined: 17-January 05 From: San Angelo Texas Member No.: 3,457 Region Association: Southwest Region |
I guess it had to had happen. Going looking for all the old German bearings for next engine build. These are new camshaft bearings. Do not know if they are steel backed or not. The Mahle bearings from Brazil are copper backed. Silverline is the only current manufacturer that are steel backed.
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davep |
Jul 29 2021, 03:08 PM
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#2
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914 Historian Group: Benefactors Posts: 5,195 Joined: 13-October 03 From: Burford, ON, N0E 1A0 Member No.: 1,244 Region Association: Canada |
Mark, that is VERY CONCERNING!
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mihai914 |
Jul 29 2021, 06:27 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 800 Joined: 2-March 05 From: Montreal, QC Member No.: 3,697 Region Association: None |
The bean counters at Kolbenschmidt must be having a ball.
At least Silverline is readily available, even Rockauto carries them if you search by part number. |
Mark Henry |
Jul 30 2021, 05:30 AM
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#4
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that's what I do! Group: Members Posts: 20,065 Joined: 27-December 02 From: Port Hope, Ontario Member No.: 26 Region Association: Canada |
Just got a batch of Bosch spark plugs...made in china.
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TomE |
Jul 30 2021, 05:57 AM
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 94 Joined: 17-January 20 From: Sonestown, Pennsylvania Member No.: 23,839 Region Association: None |
And who is surprised? Nothing but junk from that country.
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Freezin 914 |
Jul 30 2021, 06:10 AM
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#6
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 911 Joined: 27-July 14 From: Wisconsin Member No.: 17,687 Region Association: Upper MidWest |
Local Air Cooled Porsche shop prefers the Japanese bearings, not sure of brand name. They had mentioned they were precisely made and of great quality.
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Arno914 |
Jul 30 2021, 06:57 AM
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#7
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Member Group: Members Posts: 233 Joined: 13-May 20 From: near Frankfurt, Germany Member No.: 24,260 Region Association: Germany |
QUOTE And who is surprised? Nothing but junk from that country. Fully agree. Not only Porsche sells cheap chinese junk where the cardbord boxes are often worth more than the content. Same with Mercedes, for example. Germany is going down...but-uh-I shouldn´t get political here... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) Arno |
davep |
Jul 30 2021, 07:40 AM
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#8
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914 Historian Group: Benefactors Posts: 5,195 Joined: 13-October 03 From: Burford, ON, N0E 1A0 Member No.: 1,244 Region Association: Canada |
Not all Chinese make stuff is junk. I designed a heatsink for thermoelectric cooling, and only the Chinese could make it to specification. I tried North American aluminum extruders and none would consider the fins per inch I had designed (they wanted to do half), and the Chinese said yes right away. Plus the Chinese flatness was well within the required spec. So it may be a rarity but sometimes they do a better job that North American suppliers.
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mate914 |
Jul 30 2021, 07:45 AM
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#9
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Matt Group: Members Posts: 782 Joined: 27-February 09 From: Eagles mere, PA Member No.: 10,102 Region Association: North East States |
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mate914 |
Jul 30 2021, 07:53 AM
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#10
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Matt Group: Members Posts: 782 Joined: 27-February 09 From: Eagles mere, PA Member No.: 10,102 Region Association: North East States |
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dt4 |
Jul 30 2021, 08:33 AM
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#11
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 503 Joined: 26-May 19 From: England Member No.: 23,161 Region Association: England |
I started my working life as an apprentice tool room engineer for the UK's leading bearing manufacturer - RHP Bearings
One of the tasks I was given was to evaluate the quality of the Japanese bearings compared to our own versions, this was in around 1980. They were inferior but not by much. In 1990 we were bought out by a Japanese company - NSK bearings, by then their products were far superior to ours. By 1996 I was the Quality Assurance Manager for the plant I was based at and I was able to visit Japan for a number of weeks to see how they achieved the levels of quality that were beyond us. Training and investment in capable processes. Sadly we were unable to mirror their success, economics, politics and culture got the better of us and the factory closed in 2001 Around that time I was carrying out analysis of cheap Chinese copy bearings, the quality was poor then.... but thats 20 years ago..... |
dt4 |
Jul 30 2021, 08:34 AM
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#12
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 503 Joined: 26-May 19 From: England Member No.: 23,161 Region Association: England |
ps
NSK bearings had a plant at Ann Arbor, I never got chance to go, I hope its still there? |
914Sixer |
Jul 30 2021, 08:36 AM
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#13
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 8,989 Joined: 17-January 05 From: San Angelo Texas Member No.: 3,457 Region Association: Southwest Region |
My point is we do not know the quality of the backing other than that, other than that we should be good.
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930cabman |
Jul 30 2021, 09:00 AM
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#14
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 3,545 Joined: 12-November 20 From: Buffalo Member No.: 24,877 Region Association: North East States |
I can recall a story of the founder of Honda. Back in the 50's and 60's if anything (toys, cars, anything) broke for any reason it had to be "made in Japan". Mr. Honda set his life goal to turn that perspective around, and he has done (with the help from many) his job. Sure, not everything from China is junk, but the impact on global manufacturing is huge.
I am not interested in working in a communist society for a buck a week! |
Steve |
Jul 31 2021, 08:29 AM
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#15
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 5,687 Joined: 14-June 03 From: Orange County, CA Member No.: 822 Region Association: Southern California |
Not all Chinese make stuff is junk. I designed a heatsink for thermoelectric cooling, and only the Chinese could make it to specification. I tried North American aluminum extruders and none would consider the fins per inch I had designed (they wanted to do half), and the Chinese said yes right away. Plus the Chinese flatness was well within the required spec. So it may be a rarity but sometimes they do a better job that North American suppliers. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) Most major companies have there products made in China to a specific spec and the quality is as good as anywhere else. I used to work for Cisco Systems and most of there hardware was made there. That being said they do flood the market with crappier items. I just bought a Momo Prototipo Chinese copy. It’s obviously not as good, but looks good enough. It was only $60.00 on wish. Same thing with Harbor Freight aka China freight. There tools are great for the hobbyist. Thanks to the admins for deleting the political crap and not locking this thread. I do agree with most of the political comments, but it’s not constructive. We do need more product reviews and recommendations. |
Superhawk996 |
Jul 31 2021, 08:48 AM
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#16
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 6,469 Joined: 25-August 18 From: Woods of N. Idaho Member No.: 22,428 Region Association: Galt's Gulch |
I am not interested in working in a communist society for a buck a week! How about for $100k a year? What about $200k? $1M a year? $1B ? You can sell your body or you can sell your mind. . . Probably misquoted from somewhere that I don’t care to be bothered to look up. However, the point remains. Bottom line - it’s all about who’s name is on the box, the spec they are made to, and whether the name on the box is controlling the quality. |
willieg |
Jul 31 2021, 09:28 AM
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#17
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Member Group: Members Posts: 137 Joined: 13-August 18 From: Pleasant Hill Member No.: 22,389 Region Association: Northern California |
My sentiments align with 930cabman. In the 60s, the stuff from Japan was junk. But by the 80s, every business school was talking about Japan, their attention to detail and quality. China will spend billions subsidizing their manufacturing industry, to ultimately create quality products. Their stuff may be junk NOW but they are too big to ignore.
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horizontally-opposed |
Jul 31 2021, 09:55 AM
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#18
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 3,443 Joined: 12-May 04 From: San Francisco Member No.: 2,058 Region Association: None |
In the 60s, the stuff from Japan was junk. But by the 80s, every business school was talking about Japan, their attention to detail and quality. China will spend billions subsidizing their manufacturing industry, to ultimately create quality products. Their stuff may be junk NOW but they are too big to ignore. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) Not many know the best BBS wheels no longer come from Germany. The forged mag and other high-end stuff comes from BBS Motorsport in Japan. There aren't many printers who can do our product in North America, and many won't even bid on it when they get the specs. I have no doubt that there are printers in China that can match or exceed our North American vendor's quality, and for less money (and maybe a lot less). The shipping delay, and idea of shipping trees there and paper back doesn't sit well with me—but quality in this case may actually be in China's favor. |
Steve |
Jul 31 2021, 01:11 PM
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#19
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 5,687 Joined: 14-June 03 From: Orange County, CA Member No.: 822 Region Association: Southern California |
Sad but true. In the 60’s my dad would tell me “made in Japan” was junk and to look for “made in the USA”. Less than 20 years later the opposite was true. My kids work at grocery stores and they complain because of unions they can’t get fired and work with a bunch of losers.
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wonkipop |
Jul 31 2021, 06:34 PM
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#20
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 4,624 Joined: 6-May 20 From: north antarctica Member No.: 24,231 Region Association: NineFourteenerVille |
in the 19th century, "made in germany" meant junk. believe it or not.
after WW2, "made in japan" meant the same thing. whether china goes forward the same way remains to be seen. given they have successfully landed on the moon (ok a robot but...) and are chasing the usa to mars, i'd say there is a fair chance they can produce military grade quality when they want to and at least for their own consumption. i heard there were fake bosch spark plugs floating around a few years ago. the electrodes broke off and i leave it your imagination as to the consequences. |
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