Questionable Quality of New Rear Wheel Cylinders

[Jim Dangerous]

Beware the new (Made in China) ATE brake cylinders, this is what happened when I reached ~12 ft.lbs torque on the 8mm bolt through the backplate!

I have since purchased a new pair from a different supplier for comparison (Made in Italy).

I'm just thankful this happened whilst the bug was on axle stands and not while I was driving it down the motorway!

[Bobs67vwagen]

I recently ordered some ate bearings from autohaus Arizona and when I received them they had the same made in China boxes. I sent them an email stating that I thought I was buying European made bearings and would not have bought them if I had known this. They said that the major manufacturers source their products from all over the world now and they have no control over where they are made. In today's world you cannot depend on the brand name to get quality products. Good luck-Bob

[Glenn]

Nothing is "made" in Europe anymore.

Bosch, Ate, SWF, FAG and others have all outsourced their manufacturing to locations with cheap labor rates.
_________________
Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

[johnnyvw164]

Last year I ordered SKF bearings for my disk brake conversion. Same deal, made in China.

[baldessariclan]

[chrisflstf]

You can have an original German wheel cylinder sleeved in brass, here in the usa. Best option. Wont ever rust again

One vendor, there are others:

https://www.applehydraulicsonline.com/collections/...Ns2GpRvrPI

[LeeFred]

Same with the oil pressure sensor on our 74 SB. The sensor went bad, so I installed another one. It started leaking oil like it was free, and I figured I didn't tighten it enough. Gave it about another 1/2 turn, but it was still leaking. I sprayed the area with foot powder and saw that oil was leaking from the body of the sensor. I found the box and saw "Made in China". Whoops, that was a mistake. I bought another one, "Made in Italy", and it doesn't leak a drop.

[halfassleatherworks]

I am not defending Chineeeeee parts, but is the step on the cylinder that goes into the backing plate too big, and/or is the bolt hole lined up right and not offset a little that would put a bind on it, cast Iron is brittle and will snap like that. and needs a clean surface to mate up to.

[baldessariclan]

To be clear, China can and does manufacture some high-quality parts -- but only if the vendors that buy from them specify and make it a firm requirement. The business models of outfits like JBugs, Cip1, RockAuto, etc. rely heavily on the customer being the one who "eats" the cost of poor quality and defective parts. And they are obviously (and sadly) quite successful at it.

Don't be one of those customers. Attempt to seek out and do business w/ parts vendors who maintain a higher standard of quality, and always demand a full refund for any sub-par or defective merchandise you do happen to receive from them.
_________________
1971 Standard Beetle — fairly stock / driver

baldessariclan -- often in error, never in doubt...

[Jim Dangerous]

[OldSchoolVW's]

[baldessariclan]

[OldSchoolVW's]

FWIW ... there are still numerous parts for ACVWs (like wheel cylinders, master cylinders, return spring kits) that are available through your local auto parts store. NAPA in particular typically has several quality levels of these parts available for purchase at their stores, some with lifetime warranties. Buy it over the counter. If it fails or has fitment issues, returning it is easy.
_________________
Tom

"Following distance is proportional to IQ."

"If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do." Warren Miller

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." Wernher von Braun

'63 Beetle Sedan
'69 Beetle Sunroof
'70 Beetle Sedan
'73 Type 3 Fastback

[Bobs67vwagen]

Old school that is very true and a good point. Even Advance Auto and O'Reilly's can order some parts through their warehouse and ship to the store In a couple of days. Now when I put together an order with the online vw retailers I first put the items into my cart, and then send a email requesting the country of origin of whatever part I am concerned about. Sometimes you get a direct answer and sometimes you get " we cannot say for sure as they are sourced all over the world ". Oh well.

[APPLEGREENVW]

[Cusser]

I run a rebuilt Autozone master cylinder in my 1971 Super, replaced a few years ago at no charge (lifetime warranty) after 2 decades of service.

I believe that most of my VW wheel cylinders on both my 1970 and my 1971 were manufactured in China, and have been fine.
_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[LeeFred]

Crappy wheel cylinders seem to be the norm in the classic Mustang world too. One young lady had to go through several wheel cylinders that were either bad right out of the box or in a short time before she was able to get some decent ones. I ran into the same issue with my 65 2+2. I put new rear wheel cylinders in and within a year the rear passenger one sprung a leak and contaminated the brake assembly.

[Cusser]

[Jim Dangerous]

And here is the problem with the Made in China ATE cylinders compared to the previous ATE cylinders that were fitted. There is insufficient material around the mounting bolt hole at the tip!!!

Chinese ATE on the Left
Italian ATE on the Right

[Jim Dangerous]

FYI.. I also ordered some FTE rear wheel cylinders as a backup option, seems they are also Made in Italy and good quality!