Global West knock off?

[61ragtop]

Originally Posted by GTX

I have the GM "A" body ones...they are not "Knock Offs" of a brand,they are different than others.CPP wouldn't put their name on the box,or risk an injury suit,I don't think,to sell them.
As far as safety,I would say mine are more than double the strength of stock arms.Look at the Feedback on the seller and see if anyone is saying they don't work...The part has been out there,but I have not seen a bad report on them.
I had 2 pro welders look at mine...no welding issues,and strength of cross supports look OK. I was going to return them if anything looked wrong,but I am putting them on,as well as UMI rear control arms...

But they look exactly like the Global west ones if you compare them. Due to no returns allowed by the seller and wanting to support a company with great product I will wait till I have the dough for the real deal from global west.

[Steve1968LS2]

Originally Posted by 61ragtop

But they look exactly like the Global west ones if you compare them. Due to no returns allowed by the seller and wanting to support a company with great product I will wait till I have the dough for the real deal from global west.

I talked to Doug (owner of Global West) today.. sent him a link to the post.

He said, yea, they look like clones of his arms.. said his cost is more than they are selling them. Most likely from China and the real problem is you don't know the quality of the material, welding, or that even the geometry is right... after all, you have to cut costs someplace. Inferior ball joints, fake Del-A-Lum bushings. Things cost what they cost so for a part to be half price the maker has to slash costs someplace. Typically in the labor area and in the production cost. Low buck ball joints? How do you test a weld without doing a failure analysis? You can't tell by looking at a painted part, was there good penetration? What type of steel was used? What's inside those bushings? See where I'm going with this. If you buy a Chineese DSE control arm do you think it's anywhere nearly as good as the real deal? Plus I just hate the overall idea of supporting the practice.

Sort of sad how it happens.. fairly common though. Don't know I would risk my car on a unknown suspension part, especially if I'm going to drive it hard. Caveat Emptor, but I would rather save up a bit longer and get the real deal from our USA companies.