Beware China made rubber hoses!

[Bamamav]

I bought a set of the stainless radiator hoses for the Maverick a few years ago. They come with rubber ends that fit on your water pump and radiator, and chrome plastic covers that cover the rubber ends with the clamps hidden, also. They look good installed. I drove the Maverick this morning to go get a haircut, when I got out I heard the dreadful sound-pufft, sisssss......Turned around and looked, a stream of water pouring out. Raised the hood and looked, one of the rubber ends had gotten a hole in it. Barber is right next door to Orellieys, so after I got sheared, I took the old end off and walked over there. Had to buy a $20 hose and cut off the 5 inches I needed since they didn't have any straight hoses. My T Bird water pump is odd, too, the outlet is 1 5/8" instead of being 1 1/2" like most Fords, so I ended up buying a hose that had the big 1 5/8" end and necked down to 1 1/2". Good thing is I've got enough of the 1 1/2" section left to replace the rest of the ends on mine.
The apparently Chinese rubber end was cracked all the way around, and looked liked it was 50 years old, instead of two years old! It was also single ply, I didn't notice that when I put them on before. For the price of the stainless hoses, you'd think the rubber would be as good a quality as the stainless, but not so. By the way, these are Summit brand.

So if you are buying any rubber hoses, take a good look at them. If they don't say made in USA, they may be junk rubber!

 

[Willowbilly3]

Remember when rubber used to smell good? Now those chinese tires reek of some sour chemical. Just walk through the bicycles in Mal-Wart and you'll see. I had someone give me a box a pressure washer had came in and I had to stop and throw it out of my van it stank so bad of chinese rubber tires.

 

[donsrods]

It is also hard to find good V belts these days. The ones from Autozone and Advance Auto stretch out and start slipping right from the start. Good products in general are getting harder and harder to buy.


Don

 

[Bamamav]

I've been pretty lucky on v belts, the local auto parts is not one of the big chains, so they still get the better USA made stuff, although they do carry the imported "bargin" ones, too. They are good about asking if you want the best one or the cheaper one. I always get the best, if if it's double in price.

I hadn't thought about it, but willobilly3 makes a good point. I have always loved to go in a tire warehouse and smell the rubber. I bought an inner tube for my lawnmower a while back, and when I opened the plastic bag, it nearly knocked me down with the sour smell! On the bag it said, made in China, so it is probably something different in the chemicals.

 

[Old Iron]

I bought a couple 2 wheel dollies several year ago and 2 months later the valve stem, of the inner tubes fell off trying to put air in them.
When I pulled them out of the tire they looked like vinyl not rubber.
One of the wheels on my garden hose reel like to of broke my left hand when I was putting air in one and it broke the rim and blew up

 

[donsrods]

I sure hope the Chinese aren't making condoms !

Don

 

[Sniper]

I sure hope the Chinese aren't making condoms !

Don

They are....that's why there so many Chinese.

 

[Old Iron]

They're too small anyway [ddd

 

[donsrods]

[cl[cl[cl[cl

Don

 

[Bamamav]

They are....that's why there so many Chinese.

You may be on to something there![ddd

 

[Krooser]

They're too small anyway [ddd

The Chinese or the condoms?

 

[zzrodder]

Whaaa?? Low quality products from China?? Been burned many times by the lure of the cheap stuff from there, it's getting so there is often no alternative in stores since so many USA manufacturers have been put out of business by the cheap imports. (slow learner??)
In Canada we have the Princess Auto stores, practically every product in there is from China and it REEKS of that sour smell Willowbilly mentioned, I can't imagine working there... When something smells so bad it is obviously off-gassing some chemical, you have to wonder about the long term effects of exposure to this stuff....

 

[goose-em]

Dumbest export import story ever

I used to work at a large mining equipment manufacturer.

They had a certain part cast in China, 80 ton pour.

They then transported it to Seattle for machining.

It was then transported to India for assembly.

Then it went to Mexico to be put onto the vehicle.

Then it was shipped back to China where it had been sold. (some went other places but most went to China)

By the way some of the transport was by air due to time constraints.

All of this to save money when compared to making it in the USA.

Funny thing was 5 out of every ten was scrapped do to poor castings. When would they discover the poor casting, when it was in Seattle for machining and testing of course.

 

[Torch]

That's the way the Soviets used to run Russia.
in soviet Russia:
Industry does not make things that work
Industry works to make things that don't

 

[Torch]

Recycling Errors
While recycling is good for the environment, plastic types can become inadvertently mixed together during the process. PVC containers can easily contaminate a PET-plastic load during recycling. This results in products that are supposedly made with PET plastic containing PVC. While PET is the plastic of choice for food packaging, plastic bottles and other sensitive uses, most health experts agree that PVC contact with food is not advisable.

If a plastic product has any smell, it is best to avoid purchasing it. This smell indicates that the plastic is offgassing. Offgassing releases part of the plasticizer or stabilizer into the surrounding air, and into the lungs and eyes. It can also release onto the skin to be absorbed into the body.

Many experts agree that avoiding contact with rubberized plastics using PVC is a good idea, although it is not always practical given today’s marketplace. Because Chinese-made rubberized plastic goods may have used recycled plastics as well as rubber in their formulation, any plastic, or any goods from China should probably be given the “smell test” before buying.

From the first 2 pages of Google searching for "smelly chinese"

s.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=41435


http://dynamics.org/Altenberg/CURRENT_AFFAIRS/CHINA_PLASTIC/

s.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=41435

 

[sgtpontiac]

Not to indicate I am for Chinese Parts....

but, offgassing happens in all plastics and vinyls.....that haze on your windshield you always get even if you don't smoke in the vehicle....offgassing of the plastic vinyl parts....been doing that for years long before we jobbed parts to china....but, still don't trust the parts in general...just thought i'd throw that in for what it's worth.....

 

[zzrodder]

Dumbest export import story ever

I used to work at a large mining equipment manufacturer.

They had a certain part cast in China, 80 ton pour. ..................

By the way some of the transport was by air due to time constraints.

All of this to save money when compared to making it in the USA.

Funny thing was 5 out of every ten was scrapped do to poor castings. When would they discover the poor casting, when it was in Seattle for machining and testing of course.

Not doubting the story, but what airplane carries 80 tons ??

 

[sgtpontiac]

A big one????

Not doubting the story, but what airplane carries 80 tons ??

Sorry, couldn't resist!!!

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Not doubting the story, but what airplane carries 80 tons ??

Easy. Charter yourself a C-17 Globemaster. Max payload 170,900 lbs.

Next question:

How many chinamen does it take to carry an 80 ton ingot?

..

 

[zzrodder]

Oh yeah....
Or one of these would do, Russian Anatov 124, carries 350 tons!! I saw one of them a couple years ago here, it was carrying 3 helicopters. A Westjet (Airbus) parked beside it looked like a Cessna.
And they've built something even larger since....