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Blankety-blank Cheap Parts!!

Anak

Stranger
NAXJA Member
:flamemad:


Last fall I went through a bunch of maintenance on my Cummins to get it in shape for another season of towing. Among the things I did was take care of some old vacuum lines and fittings, especially en route between the vacuum pump and the brake booster diaphragm. Well, today I try to pull into a parking spot and discover my brake pedal is hard as can be and I am getting virtually no braking for my effort. Nearly hit another car.


This was the culprit:


CumminsVacuumFitting5OPT.jpg



That fitting was new last October. That fitting was also a pain to find. I well remember the challenge. The parts clerk at Napa was of no use whatsoever. I wound up settling for a part I could find on a rack at Vatozone. I wasn't settling for that today.


This time I went to Napa with a box of another, comparable, fitting in hopes that would provide a clue. I got lucky and got an old guy who knew what a book was and could actually look for parts (those types are few and far between anymore). He found me what I wanted. Well, at least as good as I could hope for:


CumminsVacuumFitting7OPT.jpg



The "2-668" fittings are ones I bought for my XJ's vacuum lines 5 years or more ago. Then too I had gotten lucky and found someone who knew how to look up parts. I bought the whole box and saved it knowing a day such as this would come again.


Here is the bummer though:


CumminsVacuumFitting9OPT.jpg



Country of origin makes a huge difference. The old ones (5+ years old) are still pliable. The new ones from China are hard as can be. I had to use a heat gun in order to get them installed. That does not bode well for the future.



I have no idea how to get anything better. The last time I succeeded in getting anything from the stealership it was a thermostat for my XJ, and they had to order that in. Virtually everything I ever try to get from them is long obsolete. Junkyard rubber parts are not anything to put hopes in.


If the Chinese don't kill us with their virus they will get us with garbage parts.


:soapbox:
 
Garbage parts built exactly to the specifications, and tolerances they were given. AutoZone, Home Depot, Lowes, etc, etc, etc.

"Do what you have to do to meet our price point."
 
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