would you use a chinese part on your exped? (rear window strut)

[Ramon Triton]

my rear window is getting a bit heavy to lift. it still has the original struts from 1999.

part # f75b 7842104 ac

i prefer ford/motorcraft branded stuff but just couldn't find new ones online so settled on a chinese oem manufacturer.

it was just 30 usd shipped from china to philippines.

will review once it's installed.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

I did a whole set of struts, hood, tailgate, rear glass. A big improvement. Very inexpensive. However, I did have one make a strange pop while opening during cold weather this past week, so I am going to be checking them carefully. I dont want the glass to get stressed.

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[vincentrose]

Well since half the parts on most new cars (Expy's included) are made in China anyway, I dont think we have much of a choice, do we?

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

my rear window is getting a bit heavy to lift. it still has the original struts from 1999.

part # f75b 7842104 ac

i prefer ford/motorcraft branded stuff but just couldn't find new ones online so settled on a chinese oem manufacturer.

it was just 30 usd shipped from china to philippines.

will review once it's installed.

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but half the stuff on the truck is made in China. A couple months ago I picked up a Motorcraft pulley assembled in Germany with bearings stamped "China."

 

[Plati]

The strut (or whatever it's called) that holds the hood up in my 2003XLT is not strong enough to reliably hold it up. It can come "crashing down". I use an old antique square profile yardstick to hold it up if I ever need to work in there. I'm trying to avoid putting any money in the RUSTBUCKET BEATER that I can avoid. It's headed for the junkyard. The rear hatch is different, no good way to do that so a few years ago I bought FoMoCo parts and fixed that.

 

[mnachreiner86]

I’ve used them in variety of vehicles and they’ve been fine. It’s a non critical part so you can buy several of them for the cost of one OEM if they do go back snd they only take two seconds to change.


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[HighSierra49er]

I replaced both the rear glass tailgate struts as well as the hood struts two years ago with imported parts and everything has worked great.

 

[Trainmaster]

Some work, some don't. Like most China parts. It's easy to change, so you're not out hours of labor to save a few bucks. Hope it works out. Good luck.

Life's been good to me, so I support American labor whenever I can and spend the extra money. The better quality also saves me work, aggravation and usually money in the long run.

 

[Ramon Triton]

okay thanks, glad to hear i'm not alone.

 

[Machete]

I always research parts to find Made in USA.

Spicer suspension parts used to be made in US but I think they went to Mexico like Moog.

When I rebuilt my ok’d Shovelhead I used 100% made in USA. But then it’s a 1970 Harley and the Chicoms aren’t in that market.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

I always research parts to find Made in USA.

Spicer suspension parts used to be made in US but I think they went to Mexico like Moog.

When I rebuilt my ok’d Shovelhead I used 100% made in USA. But then it’s a 1970 Harley and the Chicoms aren’t in that market.

"Made in the USA" is very misleading. Manufacturers are allowed to use cost analysis to demonstrate that the product is mostly made in the USA (so they can use the "Made in the USA" label), but with the cost of US parts/labor being so much greater than China, for example, a product could have more foreign parts/labor and yet still have 75% of the total cost come from the US. As I posted above, I purchased a Motorcraft "Made in Germany" pulley and the main bearing in the unit was stamped "China." I don't know how much difference it really matters though anyway considering these Ford Expedition isn't very American at all. It ranked 20th in the 2020 American-Made Index with 8 Hondas and 1 Toyota above it.

Moog doesn't even make half their products anymore, so you never really know what you're going to find in the box. I purchased 3 Moog wheel hub assemblies with identical part numbers and received assemblies made by 3 different companies. This is the nature of the beast with a vast array of products these days.

 

[LAexpy]

I replaced my rear window and liftgate with lift supports from Amazon. They were inexpensive, easy to install, and work great!

 

[Ramon Triton]

as a purist/made in usa fanatic i really wanted to go all USA made but decided to go chicom just this once....a slippery slope for sure but i am wearing my best snow shoes.

 

[Machete]

Globalism. It reduces quality simply because quality is no longer in the equation to determine sales. The American consumer wants “cheap pricing”. So big business gives it to them.

What big business figured out is that they can make larger margins w cheap products.

And the cycle continues.

 

[Trainmaster]

What big business figured out is that they can make larger margins w cheap products.

You can write a book about this. And inflation, and debt, and consumerism...

 

[Machete]

You can write a book about this. And inflation, and debt, and consumerism...

...add central bank, federal reserve, and currency to the list.

 

[Bunky]

If I had the choice, I would not buy Made in Communist China parts. That is not always possible, for anything. Made anywhere else works for me, just not MICC. MICC is a last resort. And yes, I will pay more for Made in Anywhere Else than MICC

 

[haviland]

Many years ago 2 friends said they would never buy a Japanese car. After I saw the quality of a Yamaha dirt bike I bought a Japanese vehicle. One friend has driven his Honda Pilot to nearly 300,000 miles and loves it. The other is still stubborn and gets his Buick Roadmaster fixed regularly.

Not buying a superior product prolongs the process of getting the inferior products up to par. American auto manufacturers eventually realized that and began building a better product.

The issue of buying Chinese products is similar. I would not hesitate to buy one, but if unsatisfactory, return it for a better product.

In the long run, you do a disservice to American workers by knowingly buying inferior products.

 

[Machete]

Many years ago 2 friends said they would never buy a Japanese car. After I saw the quality of a Yamaha dirt bike I bought a Japanese vehicle. One friend has driven his Honda Pilot to nearly 300,000 miles and loves it. The other is still stubborn and gets his Buick Roadmaster fixed regularly.

Not buying a superior product prolongs the process of getting the inferior products up to par. American auto manufacturers eventually realized that and began building a better product.

The issue of buying Chinese products is similar. I would not hesitate to buy one, but if unsatisfactory, return it for a better product.

In the long run, you do a disservice to American workers by knowingly buying inferior products.

Huh? Makes no sense.

 

[Trainmaster]

you do a disservice to American workers by knowingly buying inferior products.

Huh? Tell that to the neighbor who loses his job because you're doing him a service buying Chinese stuff. Sounds like you're only thinking about your wallet. I really doubt you'll find ANY Communist Chinese ANYTHING that's better quality than its American original.