Man, American Racing Wheels has this long patriotic video on their website about how proud they are to make their wheels in the USA. Made me want to stand up and salute the flag. Then my 200 bucks per pop TTO wheels come into the tire dealer and they are made in China. One had a big holiday (welder term for a place where there's no metal and there oughta be!) in the polished part of the rim lip. The tire dealer said they'd get that one replaced. I told him to send them ALL back. Not paying 200 bucks for a chinese wheel. Nope. I had taken the time to talk to the tire dealer about the fact that I will not run chinese tires due to safety, quality and patriotic concerns. He agreed with me and we found that Yokohama (!) are mostly made in the USA. Well, at least it provides some decent jobs. OK, but we found it ironic that Yokohama was made in the USA but "American" Racing Wheel was made in China. Damn. The 4th was the 25th anniversary of the Tianenmen Square Massacre. Remember Tank Man? I'll bet the guy is STILL working at the American Racing Wheel factory for a bowl of rice per day! Not trying to be a nut, but if we all buy REAL American made products just 5% more it will add over a million manufacturing jobs. I bought USA-Made Boss 338's for 20 bucks less. Not exactly what I wanted but 17" 5 on 5 rims are hard to find. BUY AMERICAN - while we still can. It takes a little effort to find out where stuff is made and a little extra coin to buy USA but remember: The job you save may be your own. Rant mode OFF. Hunter
Yeah, but I found out through this whole Scarebird front disk brake project that you can buy a LOT of USA made parts IF you look for them. That's what I would ask everybody to do: Look and ASK for USA made parts. You'll be surprised what you'll find! :beer H.
I just bought a set of 15" X 8" Corvette wheels for the Skylark because the 7" inchers just didn't set the tire tread all the way flat on the ground. I don't have the car to look at, at the moment, since one of my sons is using it. But I believe that the tires are 245-60X15s. I bought the wheels from Summit, and they are made in America. I'm really disappointed to see that ARE makes their stuff in China, now. I really would have liked to have a set of 15" X 8" 200S wheels. I'd've been really annoyed to pay the kind of money they want for those wheels, if they had come from China. I don't believe that quote "built to manufacturer's specifications" when part come from China. I've seen too many cases where there was a "misunderstanding" about the spec, and the parts were garbage. The USA is "reshoring" a lot of products because of "misunderstandings", time lag on shipments, insistence on payment before goods are received, and the long time delay when the product is made wrong and has to be returned and reshipped by slow boat. That and product substitution issues like melamine in dairy products, sulfur in drywall, ethylene glycol in cough syrup, and lead and cadmium in paint on children's toys. I hope I live long enough to make all my grand-children's toys (I don't have any yet), because I can make wooden toys that will be fun and non-toxic.
Well said M1 & Steevee. If you ask for USA made & manufactured the distributors will listen but we have to start the ball rollin.
Anyone know about Weld??? They were sold to American several years ago and their web site is somewhat vague. I 'remember' that I read of their closing after the American take over. Drove by their facility a couple of weeks ago and didn't notice any activity.
I bought a Hurst shifter for my wife's '68 Nova SS 327, 4-speed. The arms would not go on the trans. There was a bunch of cast flash in the slot/hole. I took my Dremel and cleaned them out. Then they fit as they should. Never had to do that before. I looked at the packaging. The arms and lower linkage were, you guessed it: "Made in china". Linda Vaughn's breasts are rolling in their bra. Bought Raybestos wheel cylinders for the rear of our '72 Mercury (sold last year). Car had only 5,000 miles on it. Got them on. Went to bleed them. 3/8 wrench wouldn't fit bleeders. 10mm fit. Again, made in China. Wish I'd just honed and rebuilt originals. I did save them and gave them to the new owner.
Thank you and Amen brother!!! I have sent stuff back as well and at my expense. Recently I bought this, https://msi-viking.3dcartstores.com/Starrett-3089Z-131-26J-Dial-Bore-Gage-2-6-Range_p_23661.html only to find it was MIC. It went back and I told Viking why. They said Starrett charges a restock fee. I said if I have to pay it I will. Luckily I didn't. It did cost me the freight. Starrett of all companies. I wouldn't have ever thought it. If you want American made and owned tires, buy Cooper/Mastercraft or Goodyear/Dunlop/Kelly but check because even Goodyear has some imported stuff. I've been buying a lot of Coopers the last couple of years and like them a lot.
Thanks for the information. I hate to admit I could have used it about a month ago. I bought some aluminum wheels from Summit to replace the Prime wheels I had on the front of my GN. (I believe Prime used to be a made in USA company) One wheel was bent by the previous owner. So, I only bought two 15x7...received them only to find "made in china" stickers. So for comparison I pulled the old wheels off. I was amazed by the weight difference. I am so glad I didn't have to replace all four. If there is anything redeeming, I bought Coopers tires for the front and MT DRs for the rear. I dig the the Made In USA website!... That's refreshing.
A piece of advice...don't buy Weld draglite wheels anymore. there are a ton of them out there and that's why i wanted them because if you mess one up they are not hard to find.... or that that was the theory. as i am about to reveal.. you can't order a straight wheel from them brand new. I bought a set through Jegs, and every one of them was junk. They were out round and true by an 1/8" both ways... weld themselves has a spec of .040" and speak of their quality control. They have none. You could see it visually... no measurement needed really, on the balancer.They where that bad. I had the presence of mind to have D&D Tire check them before mounting tires. I had heard they had some quality control problems and ha this nice orange sticker on the rims "you mount them you own them". needless to say they were sent back. Jegs had no issue taking them back. They checked what i sent back, and what they had in stock, they were bad as well... and arranged to have another set drop shipped. Got those. one front was out of spec, another front barely in spec. and the rear two where ok. If it were the rears they where big and i would let them pass, but the front where only 15x6. and if i am going to have have vibration problems that is the worst place to have it... Those where easy enough to get right. That was a slap in the face, after Jegs called them to have them send me a straight set. I sent them all back, and jegs gave me no crap for it either. They completely understood. Jegs and i arranged for billet specialties (in California) and ordered their Streetlights...looks to be a nice wheel. they gave me a good discount on the wheels. Jegs was great about the whole deal and i would not hesitate to deal with them again. They back what they sell. The only down fall is... i wanted to be racing by now. it's going to be a total of two months to get wheels on my car. it was a month worth dealing with welds initial back order, swapping out two sets of rims, and now a 3-4 week lead time on the streetlites. So i have a set of Drag radials sitting here doing nothing.
My dad used to buy cheap Big O tires and he was always going back to get replacements for out of round, tread separation, bizarre wear, and I said, Dad, why don't you just spring for GOOD tires? He said, well, with a slight grin, Why? Big O stands behind all the problems I wouldn't have had if I hadn't bought Big O tires! So JEGS stood behind all the problems you wouldn't have had if you hadn't bought Weld wheels I remember when Checker Auto came out with their "We'll replace it no matter how many times it takes to get a good one" parts warranty. I went through 4 starters on my Chevy truck before I got one that worked. I told the counter guy that I didn't want a warranty, I wanted a PART THAT WORKED the first time. I didn't need starter replacement practice. Are the Streelights USA made? Hunter
[video=youtube;X1_sWuZHbsc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1_sWuZHbsc[/video] I would definitly say they make it there in California. I'd love to do that. Hass is some nice stuff. The machinist i used, before he semiretired has a Hass CNC mill for making rods and deck extensions for puling tractors. very impressive. to have that many...this is no cheap operation.
/\/\/\ Than You for the videos, sir. I just purchased a set of StreetLites (15x4, 15x10) for our '70 Camaro project.
I ordered the 15x6 and 15x10... more street than strip, on Drag radials. how do they look? straight i hope? LOL!
