Anyone else noticed the decline in the range of 4WD parts stocked by so called 4 WD specialist stores . It appears that if it doesn't come with a bright chrome plated whistle or bell or can't be ordered in a bubble pack then they don't stock it .
Went to no less that four outlets to day looking for a straight grease nipple to fit a wheel bearing packer which I had in my hand , 3 out of four didn't know what the design function of a wheel bearing packer was and didn't stock grease nipples anyway . Thankfully I came across a salesperson of about my vintage who at least had a selection of suitable grease nipples but wasn't all that sure about the function of the packer until I gave a dry demo.
Makes one shake one's head in dismay
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Pets are welcome but children must be leashed at all times
I remember an ad on TV back in the very early 60s. This young blokes parents had bought him an entire car , an MG I think, in parts.....I mean right down to the separate grease nipples. This guy put it all together and it was to promote the expertise etc of Golden Fleece Service Stations mechanics, you know, in the days when a bloke in a uniform and cap would come out and fill the tank, wash the windscreen and check oil and water.
My dad said to me at the time that if you bought a car in bits like that it would be about half the price of a new car.
These days it would cost you about ten times as much and the thing would not run due to the numerous missing bits.
I very much doubt that things will ever return to those happy times. I alas was too young to have a car so I pulled my Malvern Star to bits, including all the wheel bearings which found their way into every corner of the shed. Never was quite the same after that.
My mate has a Land Rover Defender........hes gone through 4 diesel fuel pumps since last October.......all fell apart after the shaft bent.....its made of soft aluminium..the origional was steel........yep the chinese.....made them saying they be cheaper.......currently hes using a pump off a 1974 model..........cant buy origional bits anymore
alas thats the way of the world, we still have half a dozen "old school" suppliers here and we send the "difficult" ones to them, we stock older style gear from suppliers who are facing bankruptcy simply because they cant compete, when they are gone they are gone it's a matter of price and numbers, if we sell five Chinese grease nipples to one decent one, and the price of the Chinese one is half of the decent one guess which one we are going to stock
the youngsters are coming out of school or college or whatever with no life skills, most wouldn't know a pipe wrench from a 19 mm form bender, go up to your local hardware store and just ask for a spigot, all you will get is a dumb look! ask for a faucet and they understand bloody yanks have a lot to answer for
We had the same trouble last week with a starter motor for our '81 statesman, rang a dozen places all the new ones were $300 plus but had to get them in finally got onto a recon one for $195 yep would be in the next day, no no no!!! went there the next morning [ had to borrow a mates car] no go not in, hubby came back just a tad upset rang sprints just in case he knew where we could go, he's been very helpful since we have been in Adelaide he had a new one on the shelf $220 guess where we'll go first next time.
