Tariffs Going to Raise the price of EMPI parts

[Splitdog]

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[icemanhd]

Anyone else noticing prices starting to creep up from the last round of 10% tariffs that hit on Sep 24th? Seems like prices on a few things at cip1.com have been creeping up (stock 85.5s, stock rods, etc).
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[jspbtown]

Tariffs will do nothing to solve the trade deficit problem....since its not really a problem.

Americans demand cheap things. That's why there is a trade imbalance. We want, want, want....Just wander into any Walmart.

Things made in the US are expensive due to our labor rates. Nothing is going to change that. We, as a country, as WAY past the point where manufacturing things here makes any sense.

Tariff China to death....it doesn't matter. Do you really think that some other country where people are paid 5 cents an hour won't step up? Its not like the old days where creating infrastructure was the concern. Any country can now not only create the infrastructure but can also supply a cheap workforce. Just look at India. In relatively little time they went from nothing to a major economic player. And they had no infrastructure.

Its American wages that have driven us away from manufacturing and its never coming back on a large scale.

[Pruneman99]

[67rustavenger]

^^^^^ This was my experience recently.
I was looking for a machine shop to cut down my rocker stands. I called a diesel machine shop looking to see if they had a Bridgeport mill to do the job.
They said they didn't have one. But recommended another machine shop that did.
Went to that shop and talked with the machinist. He was a former employee of the diesel shop. His new shop did not have a mill.
Funny thing is that he said that the diesel shop did indeed have a mill. But were too lazy to set it up for a small job.

I ended up buying a combo belt sander....Chinese Just to get the rocker blocks correct for the engine geo.

Such a frustrating experience. It looks like we either ship parts far away. Or do the work ourselves.
The problem with that statement is, I don't have the room, skills or funds to set myself up with proper machinery for most machine work that I infrequently need done.
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[jspbtown]

^^^^All this comes down to costs. The cost to do these small jobs makes consumers whine. We as Americans expect cheap things. Sure...we might all say "I have no problem paying a reasonable rate" but that "reasonable rate" doesn't pay the bills for most business owners.

[67rustavenger]

[jspbtown]

No 67rustavenger...not directed at you at all. And probably poorly worded.

The point I was trying to get across was that there is a significant divergence occurring between what businesses think a "reasonable rate" is and what consumers think a "reasonable rate" is.

I was just at lunch with some of my staff and one of them was complaining about how much a simple lock actuator repair cost on her Lexus SUV. The repair was over $600 because the labor rate was $165 an hour.

Now to the dealer who has staffing, benefits, taxes etc etc etc to pay that labor rate is not outrageous and likely well supported. However to the average American consumer who likes to shop at Walmart....paying $165 an hour for labor seems like a ton.

[Pruneman99]

It's not a problem for me to pay, but the cost is the problem, for me and the machinist.

The machine shops cannot/will not/would rather not set up their machines to do a small job. So, they tell the customer they can't/won't/ or quote a "get out of here" price.

Here's why (from my observations only)

The shops I can find around here are set up for long runs. They take an order for X number of units, set up all the new high-tech Mills, hit GO, and monitor the progress.

The old manual mills/lathes/dinosaur looking machines I have no idea what they do sit in the corner, OR OUTSIDE THE SHOP, rusting away. The "new" machinists don't even remember how to set them up, or run them very well.

Back in the day there was a bunch of small run machinists that could look at a part and set up a machine to fix whatever in minutes. You could walk in with a part like rocker blocks, and walk out in ten minutes with them milled.

So it's not my belief that most of us won't pay a fair rate, it's the inability of a shop to give a fair rate. The shops that are left aren't equipped to do small work, so they won't. It's just economics.

[KTPhil]

That's my experience, too. Businesses are set up for repetitive jobs and automation. That's the only way they can compete on cost.

I expect every town still has a few old guys who used to be diesel mechanics, aerospace workers, or other skilled general machinists, and has retired. But I bet they have an old Bridgeport or other equipment in their garage. Seek them out, for they have the old equipment, patience, and skills, and they aren't in it for the money any more. Take an interest, they can pay you back. So the question is, how to locate these dudes? It's not easy, but ask around, maybe you'll pick up a tip and find them. Maybe ask at a local truck shop where their retirees are now.

[Zundfolge1432]

^^^^^^True that, I got an old machinist here in his 90s he works odd jobs about twice a week because he wants to. He remembers how to balance cranks and flywheels for me and doesn’t rip me off on price he also does con rods to racing spec big end small end.

[Pruneman99]

There lies the other problem. The guys that have these machines and know how to use them are generally older, and dying off. They had learned the skill of running the old machines and were good at it. They made things. As a society, we have quit making things, and only learned how to replace them. Remember when R&R meant remove and repair? Now it's remove and replace.

My father in law's brother buys the old HUGE mills and lathes for cents on the pound. He has heavy equipment so he can move them himself. He fixes them and runs them on his farm. All the neighbor farms now come to him to build parts for thier tractors etc. He started collecting the machines as a hobby, and now runs them to help others and make another source of income for his family. I sent him a spindle for a drill press so he could straighten it for me. I couldn't find a shop here to do it. He lives in Utah, and I'm in SoCal. It sucks to have to send stuff off, but finding guys with the ability and the willingness to do small work is difficult.

I wonder if there is a forum the old machinists use where we could find guys with the old machines that would do small work.

We have really backed ourselves into a corner. We have put the small job machinists out of work buying cheap parts, now we can't find anyone to fix the new cheap parts we get.

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