When cheap stuff was built properly

[fowler]

This is a 1996 RC car that I got a a 4 yr old boy

It features a 2 speed gearbox and suspension all round
Has a low speed that allows it to pull around 2.5 kg
And high speed it hits 8kph
Was just an everyday car off the self at the toy shop
Purchased by my uncle

I played with it for years
Went though 3 battery's from so much charging
It jumped 4 ft off the verandah it did donuts in the sand pit and just generally thrashed as a small boys toy

Served me till about the age of 14 when I lost interest in it
It has properly done more km than most cars
Has definitely done more hrs than most cars would do and got run harder than ever designed

Over Christmas some cousins and nephews brought over there new RC race cars

So with 6 Cars on the race challenge was on

Pulled it off the top shelf
I left the remote on so new battery in that
The car battery had held charge

Cranked it up and kicked the arse off all the new toys
Was rather funny watching my nephews check out a toy twice or more there age
But sad that there parents didn't expect their cars to last the summer
Not because they were aggressive kids
Just because toy shop cars just have that sorta life span these days

Today I took the remote apart and put a dot of solder on the movement stick contacts because they were worn flat with the circuit board
Then regressed the gearbox and emptied the sand outta the circuit board box

 

[DMCdesign]

whoah! that car is awesome. So much of beating and it still works? man........

 

[Poboy kartman]

Would you like to purchase an additional one year warranty for that for an extra $20?

That in itself tells the story. The further back you go, the longer things lasted. Some of the best built longest lasting stuff had no warranty. Companies built reputations by building quality products and standing behind them.

Think about it- if you build a product that lasts over 10 years and have a failure rate of less than 5%, you no longer have a company, you have an institution, a household name.

 

[OzFab]

...if you build a product that lasts over 10 years and have a failure rate of less than 5%, you no longer have a company

...because you go out of business...

I know this is a pet peeve of Doc Sprockets (mine too) but, the simple fact is, we live in a "throw away" society for a reason; companies make things to last 2 years, tops, then, when it breaks down 13 months after you buy it (yes, just out of warranty) you go buy a new one. This keeps companies in business because production never stops.

Many big name companies have disappeared over the years, not because their products are no good but because they're too good &, therefore, don't need to be replaced.

Auto companies don't make millions from car sales, the make millions from replacement parts! if you were to buy every individual part to make up a car, it would cost around 3-4 times what the complete car is worth...

By now you've seen my riding mower; it's over 20 years old & took very little to get it going. The engine was replaced not because it was worn out but as a result of neglect & poor maintenance.

The new donor engine came off a 2006 model push mower. The engine is perfect but, the body has more rust than the ride-on & every car in my neighbourhood put together it's beyond repair...

My point is, for years, Victa made machines that were so good that no one replaced them. It wasn't until B&S came along & they started making pressed steel bodies that there became a need to replace your mower every 10 years. The 2 stroke Victa in my garage is about 20 years old & it's like new...

 

[Oxymoron]

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.

-Henry Ford

It's a shame that the third no longer applies.

 

[OzFab]

In places like the USA, Australia & Europe, it does but, almost everything these days is made in China where quality doesn't seem to exist...

 

[fowler]

Just like there was jap crap in the 80s 90s

Now where do u go for some of he most reliable cars
And the biggest bike brands
And the best electronics

A family friend went to China 8 months ago looking for an engine manufacturer for his buisness

The he was looking for a cheap small 3 cyl deisel to pump sea water
No matter what he got it was only going to last a short while

Bit he was quite interested to talk to the company's over there and see what is actually in the Chinese market

Do u rekon all this junk is all china has in their economy
Hell no
Their stuff is no worse or better than the stuff on our market
And what was on offer for export
What ever u want to pay we make it to that
If u pay 1K u get a cheap engine that'll do u a few years
If u pay 60k we'll make somthing top quality

I rekon half the issue today isn't what China is makeing
More what is being asked to made
But that'll never change as we just won't buy more expensive products

U get what u pay for
Not sure why we act surprised or disgusted at what we get imported
It's dirt cheap and it's quality is rubbish
Kinda makes sense

 

[Poboy kartman]

...because you go out of business...

I know this is a pet peeve of Doc Sprockets (mine too) but, the simple fact is, we live in a "throw away" society for a reason; companies make things to last 2 years, tops, then, when it breaks down 13 months after you buy it (yes, just out of warranty) you go buy a new one. This keeps companies in business because production never stops.

Many big name companies have disappeared over the years, not because their products are no good but because they're too good &, therefore, don't need to be replaced.

Auto companies don't make millions from car sales, the make millions from replacement parts! if you were to buy every individual part to make up a car, it would cost around 3-4 times what the complete car is worth...

By now you've seen my riding mower; it's over 20 years old & took very little to get it going. The engine was replaced not because it was worn out but as a result of neglect & poor maintenance.

The new donor engine came off a 2006 model push mower. The engine is perfect but, the body has more rust than the ride-on & every car in my neighbourhood put together it's beyond repair...

My point is, for years, Victa made machines that were so good that no one replaced them. It wasn't until B&S came along & they started making pressed steel bodies that there became a need to replace your mower every 10 years. The 2 stroke Victa in my garage is about 20 years old & it's like new...

That's one way to look at it but not necessarily true. The mega giant corporations were built with lasting products in a much smaller market. It wasn't the lack of replacement sales that did them in, but the competition from the companys that were making throw away products and the change in the way products were manufactured and marketed.

Consumers were and are gullible and greedy. By the time their bargain products started breaking down, the established companies had already taken a big hit, not in replacement sales, but new sales. It doesn't take a very large product before demand exceeds possible production. The market is huge- it's about getting a big enough slice.

There are plenty of established companies making quality products still in business because of the quality of their products. There are no throw away Rolexes.

 

[machinist@large]

Just like there was jap crap in the 80s 90s

Now where do u go for some of he most reliable cars
And the biggest bike brands
And the best electronics

A family friend went to China 8 months ago looking for an engine manufacturer for his buisness

The he was looking for a cheap small 3 cyl deisel to pump sea water
No matter what he got it was only going to last a short while

Bit he was quite interested to talk to the company's over there and see what is actually in the Chinese market

Do u rekon all this junk is all china has in their economy
Hell no
Their stuff is no worse or better than the stuff on our market
And what was on offer for export
What ever u want to pay we make it to that
If u pay 1K u get a cheap engine that'll do u a few years
If u pay 60k we'll make somthing top quality

I rekon half the issue today isn't what China is makeing
More what is being asked to made
But that'll never change as we just won't buy more expensive products

U get what u pay for
Not sure why we act surprised or disgusted at what we get imported
It's dirt cheap and it's quality is rubbish
Kinda makes sense

Fowler, you just hit the nail on the head. In the consumer grade market, China can build almost anything, because we in the West have provided all the tooling and training (look up just how many industrial alliance's Caterpillar alone has in just China).

Where they're still catching up is the high end aerospace field (fighter technology), space flight, and Naval tech/ organization. Both of their aircraft carriers are overseas purchases, and ATM are not in on sea operation, and are not considered to be up to Western levels of long range sensor technology. How long that can last, is one of the questions that keeps a lot of people awake at night.

They also haven't successfully built their own aircraft carrier from scratch; it takes more than just money (China, being a dictatorship, can throw that around if they truly want to), it takes skill, and what I would call "cultural knowledge". The issue is that they've managed to synthesize that in many of their industrial fields in much less time that it took for the rest of us to invent the technology's in question in the first place....

 

[rocketkart]

not all are technology was made by us americans. for example during world war 2 alot of germans fled to america to avoid it and invented alot of are technology at that time to help us when the war. you have to admit thay know there cars and thay are varey good at engineering. all this may not be as much anymore tho.

 

[OzFab]

they've managed to synthesize that in many of their industrial fields in much less time that it took for the rest of us to invent the technology's in question in the first place....

...& there's the key: It seems that China can recreate almost anything but, as yet, I don't think they've come up with anything new; there's no engineering involved, just straight up remanufacturing...

 

[J_Walker]

...& there's the key: It seems that China can recreate almost anything but, as yet, I don't think they've come up with anything new; there's no engineering involved, just straight up remanufacturing...

Just like their school systems. I can't tell you how many times my band director would compare us to these Chinese kid's who've been forced to play since they could put their tiny fingers on a key.. to me, who's only been playing [at the time] for 7 years. But, when was the last time one of those kids actually, created new music, not just played the same ol' junk they repetitively play? all but maybe a handful, haven't created anything new, just they play. I always thought that its not impressive to be perfect, because we got computers and robotic arms, to be perfect.

 

[machinist@large]

...& there's the key: It seems that China can recreate almost anything but, as yet, I don't think they've come up with anything new; there's no engineering involved, just straight up remanufacturing...

It doesn't help that so many companies have moved production of valuable products to China, INCLUDING ALL THE TOOLING AND EQUIPMENT. There's no protection for intellectual property there either, and the factory owners are about as corrupt as they come; look at the fact that China got a black eye for not noticing that someone was using Apple's tooling and corporate identity to sell pirate copies of Apple's products in stores that claimed they were actual Apple outlets. Last I heard, the Chinese government still hasn't figured out the who, how, why, etc. of the case......

 

[madmax85]

I had a blue one just like it. It was calked the gladiator!

 

[machinist@large]

I had a blue one just like it. It was calked the gladiator!

"calked"?

 

[DMCdesign]

can you show me the gearbox if you don't mind?