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  #1  
Old 01-11-2015, 06:46 PM
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Some Lemförder made in China

Picked up some Lemförder front end parts this weekend. They were excess parts a friend of mine had. I was happy to see that the parts were Lemförder and then I looked at the boxes and was surprised to see that two of the boxes had "Made in China" on them. The third box had "Made in Germany."

So based on the junk coming out of China, do I use them or get rid of them?

See attached.

Attached Thumbnails
Some Lemförder made in China-lemforder.jpg  
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  #2  
Old 01-11-2015, 06:55 PM
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I'd use them. If the company is willing to do quality control right there's no inherent problem with chinese parts.
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  #3  
Old 01-11-2015, 07:35 PM
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I refuse to use Chinese-made ANYTHING on my cars, no matter what the brand.

I think the jury is out on the Chinese Lemforder stuff, but in the past other "reputable" brands that have transitioned to Chinese- and other Third-world made parts have not trended in a positive direction, quality wise.
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Old 01-11-2015, 07:36 PM
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I bought some Lemförder W124 upper front strut mounts that turned out to be Made in China; a year later, they are still OK.
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Old 01-11-2015, 07:48 PM
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Take them out of the box and confirm the parts are molded rubber lemforder marked... I didn't know lemforder and ZF were connected.
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  #6  
Old 01-11-2015, 08:27 PM
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Here are a few photos of the parts and their markings.
Attached Thumbnails
Some Lemförder made in China-img_1860.jpg   Some Lemförder made in China-img_1861.jpg   Some Lemförder made in China-img_1864.jpg   Some Lemförder made in China-img_1866.jpg  
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'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
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'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
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'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

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  #7  
Old 01-11-2015, 09:18 PM
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Don't overthink this. Lemforder is a ZF company, wholly owned, and they have factories in China, among other places. So no suprises here. Chinese quality depends on the brand's commitment to a quality process. The IPhone in your pocket was made in China, and it's a gem. Same can be true with auto parts. The only way to know is to try it.

I buy a lot of bulk auto parts, and end up doing quality control on every batch. The place of manufacture printed on the box is no guaranty of quality (or lack of quality), and in fact, it may not even tell you much about where the part actually originated.

The "made in" label simply tells you where the last operation was performed. In the case of your tie rod end, you can't tell if the joint was made in China, and assembled with a German boot in Germany, or whether the entire part was made in Germany. In either case, the part can be legally labeled "made in Germany".

Finally, there's a ton of mislabeling in the business. I've traced parts back to Hong Kong which were labeled "made in Germany". It's the mislabeled parts that are the worst, and you would probably never know.
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  #8  
Old 01-11-2015, 11:38 PM
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The real Lemfoerder Tie Rods have an Owl inside of a triangle stamped on the Metal bottom cap. There is a thread on that somewhere.
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Old 01-12-2015, 12:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel911 View Post
The real Lemfoerder Tie Rods have an Owl inside of a triangle stamped on the Metal bottom cap. There is a thread on that somewhere.
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  #10  
Old 01-12-2015, 01:15 AM
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http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/360835-warning-possible-counterfeit-lemforder-tie-rod-ends.html
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  #11  
Old 01-12-2015, 09:29 AM
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I ordered a pair of Lemforder tie rod ends a couple years ago. One box was "Made in Spain" with a stamped Logo. The other box was "Made in China" with an etched logo and no markings on the rubber.
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  #12  
Old 01-12-2015, 09:37 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gerryvz View Post
I refuse to use Chinese-made ANYTHING on my cars, no matter what the brand.

I think the jury is out on the Chinese Lemforder stuff, but in the past other "reputable" brands that have transitioned to Chinese- and other Third-world made parts have not trended in a positive direction, quality wise.
You do realize Mercedes builds Mercedes IN China?
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  #13  
Old 01-12-2015, 10:41 AM
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Originally Posted by winmutt View Post
You do realize Mercedes builds Mercedes IN China?
Mercedes makes cars in China for the Chinese market, not for world markets. Mercedes just started making C-class models in Alabama, but again for the US domestic market, not world markets (SUVs are a different story -- all ML, GL and R-class models are made in Alabama for world markets).

What does Mercedes China and their strict quality control processes have to do with counterfeit/poor quality parts made in said country? That's comparing apples and oranges.

The bottom line is that Chinese-made aftermarket parts DO NOT have a good track record. You can imagine the common denominator between all of the worst quality aftermarket parts ... companies like UROparts, Hamburg Technik, Trucktek, APA, Meyle, FEQ, etc.
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  #14  
Old 01-12-2015, 10:48 AM
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Couldn't Lemforder impose their "strict quality control processes" on their Chinese facilities?

We do business in China, and we do.
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  #15  
Old 01-12-2015, 10:50 AM
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I know it is not the brand mentioned here, but I recently bought a supposed OE quality BEHR blower regulator for our W140 chassis...surprise! The box said made in China. The first one failed in 2 weeks. I exchanged it and hopefully the next one lasts a bit longer. It is almost impossible to continue to buy parts with the expectation that you won't find some made in China.

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