Date:         Thu, 7 Aug 2008 08:34:53 -0700
Reply-To:     David Kao <dtkao0205@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Kao <dtkao0205@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Empi axle shafts are cool!
In-Reply-To:  <ccafde090808060805g2d308ba6s240082690bb09c66@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

The axles that I just put on my Passat are the first EPMI product
I ever used. So I will see if they are junk or not. I have doubt
in mind about them because of being made in China. I am not biased
negatively nor positively against Chinese made auto parts. I had
little experience with them.

But I had 4 new Loebro CV joints installed on my 83.5 Westy last
year. Each of them cost me about $50. Honestly I wasn't impressed
by the look of the Leobro CV joints. They reminded me the look of
Cofap cylinder liners for Vanagon.

The machining of the CV joint looked rough, cheap and did not give
an impression of high precision and high quality. Three of the four
were tight but not the fourth one when I tried to push the inner
race to move it. It can be described as loose really.

The worst I found was two of them had the inner race put in reversed
direction comparing with the other two. I still keep the boxes.
They are GKN brand. GKN is Loebro, isn't it?

Bottom line is they worked fine so far. But I still have the feeling
of a little disappointed by the quality look of the CV joints.

If you ever compare your original cylinder liners with new Cofap. You
will see Cofap machining looks rough and low quality. OEM liners have
much high quality look. But that's just the look. Cofap liners work
pretty well.

David



--- BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> You need to get out more. Gas in the UK is about $10. In most of Asia it's
> about $8. Not everything EMPI sells is made in China nor ar they all crap.
> I am not a vendor nor do I have interest in their business. I just know
> general statements are often not completely in accurate. Though I will agree
> some stuff EMPI sells can be total crap, there are a great number of them
> which are better than anything I have ever seen on this side of the world. I
> buy from a local EMPI retailer where I get to see and inspect the item
> before purchasing.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> BenT
>
>
>
>
> On 8/6/08, J Stewart <fonman4277@comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> > All this talk about Empi leads me to wonder if there is a problem with some
> > stuff being counterfeit. I've seen it posted on other VW lists that Empi
> now
> > means "cheap crap made in China". The last Empi product I purchased was a
> > short throw shifter for an air cooled bus, and I bought it off Ebay. Three
> > months later I threw it in the trash, it was such a piece of crap I would
> > not have even tried to resell it. It was a far cry from the Gene Berg
> > shifter I foolishly let go with another bus I sold. Last Saturday I was on
> > Canal Street in Manhattan and I could have purchased a real slick looking
> > "Ferrari" watch for $45.00. I'm sure it wouldn't have lasted as long as the
> > shifter. The last set of bearings I got from China looked so poor that I
> > decided not to use them. But I don't blame the Chinese for this-it's the
> > American consumer who is at fault. 95% of folks shop on price alone and
> > don't know/don't care about quality. I call it the "Wal Mart mentality".
> The
> > stuff is cheap crap because th
> > e supplier told the Chinese manufacturer "this is what I'll pay for it" and
> > to make it at that price, well, it has to be a cheap piece of crap. Isn't
> it
> > also ironic that we "gave" all our manufacturing away to foreign countries
> > and now with their economies "booming", so we are told,  we now pay
> > $4.00/gallon for gas?  Just my .02 cents.  Jeff
> >
>
>
>
> --
> BenT
>