Is Tomei Parts Made In China?

[Chris32R]

I was looking at buying a set of tomei rods for my 26 build and came across a couple of threads and sites that suggest that Tomei are making some of their parts from China. Does anyone know if this is true?

I don't want to blow $1200 on rods when they're of poor Chinese quality.

Here is a couple of links that I found:

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/74699-my-new-h-beam-junk-eagle-rods.html

http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-general/594101-tomei-parts-made-china.html

In reference to the above link, rhd Japan saying in the link below that they are not stocking tomei parts anymore and they prefer hks:

http://www.rhdjapan.com/tomei-h-beam-conrods-set-rb25det-rb26dett-vq35de-1jz-gte-2jz-gte-26416

[Hadouken]

Lol, never have I heard poor quality and Tomei together

[Hadouken]

I read the whole threads and nowhere does it say that quality is lacking. The only thing it says, and that we all know, is that you pay for the name. Plain and simple

Hi

I havent been here for a while, thats why there is no update.

My car made 530hp 695nm torque at the hubs with these rods and CP pistons.

Still stock head, stock cams, stock ic, stock inntake, stock fuelrail / fuel lines.

And trust me, i have been trashing my car at dragracing / trackdays since last year. Been on long trips, use the car as much as i can and it still runs like a clock. Even with grinded crank (experts on here say they cant be grinded... doh!)

I just put in new engine managment, going in for a re-map later this month i hope.

Thanks

Asim

Hi

Sorry, but i dont remember weights since it is so long ago.

What i remember is visiting all of the well known engine builders here in Norway and every one told me these rods are as good as any other.

And i think Jens Hannestad (the guy who build the engine for the WRC Escort) and people like him now what they are talking about.

I also ordered these same rods for several other RB26 engines, and all of them run healthy as a horse, one of them made 980hp at the crank. (the last couple of sets i ordered was with L19 ARP bolts)

So.... go figure....

Asim

[Chris32R]

Yeah but RHD Japan don't recommend purchasing Tomei products because they said that recent quality in products are lacking. It's in the second link

[SiR_RB]

if for some reason you are not comfortable purchasing "tomei" rods, there are many other great quality conrods on the market

ie:

Nitto

Scat

carillo

argo

depends on ur budget etc

[R31Nismoid]

I was looking at buying a set of tomei rods for my 26 build and came across a couple of threads and sites that suggest that Tomei are making some of their parts from China. Does anyone know if this is true?

If you think the majority of the Jap (or US) parts are actually made somewhere other than China/Thailand (ie. Japan/UK/USA), you'll be in for a bit of a shock if you do more digging more of your own research on a bulk basis. It's simple business - do what the competition are, or go bust.

I know for a fact some of the HKS cranks come outta China, and have for quite a while. Just the tip of the iceberg really.

A lot of high profile Aussie brands have stuff ex-China/Thailand as well, and they perform exceptionally.

There is nothing wrong with stuff out of China from a lot of the manufacturers, this isn't 2006 - it's 2012 and times have changed and improved markedly

[Hadouken]

As long as they keep the quality control on their items it will make no difference where they come from.

[R31Nismoid]

Hit the nail on the head, it'll only get better as well.

A lot of the contracts are pretty closely guarded for obvious reasons, and the factories do understand that saying something will mean work is taken elsewhere - but some of them will sell items "on the side" if you know where to look, all of it without labels/branding and they strangely are identical to items that would come in a labelled/branded box if you get them shipped and compare

[kitto]

A lot of engine components are 90% made in Asia, then shipped to the country where they are owned to have final machining done.

PS, sending you, the OP a PM.

[GTScotT]

Lets just say Tomei HAD their tooling done in japan and now its done it China (assumption for those who are worried).

Theres a machine shop that makes the part, and there are engineers who run the shop and make/QA the parts.

What farking difference does it make what country its done in? Same tooling, same product, same quality, SAME thing.

Think about this, an engineer in Aus gets paid upward of 100k.. An engineer in China would get paid less than half that, but would probably be richer than the Aussie. Thats called economics.

Less on tax, less on shipping, less on wages, less on rent, less getting things through customs. Less less less but same product.

Let it go.

[WMDC35]

as said above, good stuff can still come from china, it's just not cheap, check how many parts of the oz built cars are made 'overseas'

[NISSAN GTR]

Chinas Raping us as we sleep .lol

[R31Nismoid]

lol not yet... Think if China wasn't bubbling along so well in recent times, we'd be in quite a bit of Financial strife as a country.

Some of that would certainly be car part manufacture, how much, can of worms

[NISSAN GTR]

lol not yet... Think if China wasn't bubbling along so well in recent times, we'd be in quite a bit of Financial strife as a country.

Some of that would certainly be car part manufacture, how much, can of worms

Its not about war anymore , but i think they are slowly owning us over time even are car manufacturing is dying a slow death

[wedge_r34gtr]

Chinas Raping us as we sleep .lol

Maybe, but i like to think that we're much shrwder at business then them.

We do dig dirt out of the ground and sell it a ridicolous price to them :-)

[Roy]

Lets just say Tomei HAD their tooling done in japan and now its done it China (assumption for those who are worried).

Theres a machine shop that makes the part, and there are engineers who run the shop and make/QA the parts.

What farking difference does it make what country its done in? Same tooling, same product, same quality, SAME thing.

Nothing wrong with things made in China provided you have your own QA through the life cycle or as many do you don't actually simply let a contract manufacturer but invest in the tooling/plant which is operated under licence in China. In my eyes there is no problem with big players getting things done in China ... but there is a reason why loads of industries do their own QA on raw materials, plus loads of other practices to ensure made in China doesnt ruin their brand.

Now a chinese company going it alone with a product made in China too often = rubbish. My experience is not car parts but engineering industry experiece

[GTSBoy]

The main historical problem with manufacture in China and the resultant quality was what happened when people decided that they were goint to get their stuff made over there, went for a visit, got a tour of Factory "A" with some guy who showed them all the modern equipment and swore black and blue that the gear would get manufactured there, then came home to Australia and were happy with the first 3 shipments of gear. Problem being that in the 3 weeks after their visit to Factory "A", that same facility got shown to 3 other wannabe outsourcers, and each time the manufacture got shuffled down to Factory "B", then "C", and the quality took a gradual swandive until the market or Australian QA/QC people chucked the shits and the whole lot came to a grinding halt.

Those that committed to actually setting up shop themselves and supervised what was being done at every stage always had good product come out of China. But in the early days they were in the minority. The biggest problem that these people had was the backdoor selling of their gear at knockdown pricing and the rampant theft of IP.

[dkbcleaner]

China is where all manufacturing of goods is heading. Look here in Australia and you see it all the time. Australia is pricing its self out because of our ridiculous cost of things and big businesses is forcing it to happen by trying to be competitive

[dkbcleaner]

You cant compete when your opposition starts getting there products made in china coz china does not trade its currency and undervalue it and has done that deliberately to keep workers and manufacturing costs low.

[Drift Motorsport]

I have met Aki Sasaki, President of Tomei and have had the pleasure of dinner with him in 2012.

Tomei take their manufacturing very seriously and are all about quality control, regardless of the country they are made in. It is not as competitive to make everything in Japan like they used to.

With approx $200 million of stock in the USA, they need to ensure that things are made and sold at competitive margin.

The chinese are brilliant manufactures, but are 100% clueless as to what they make and why it has to be a certain way. I have visited factories and facilities you get good and bad facilities depending on the operators.

The good facilities have engineers as owners. The bad ones have people looking to copy and make a quick buck. The only way you can tell is if you go to the factory and have a good look around at their manufacturing.

Wages for good manufacturing employees are around $100-$150 USD per week, 40hr work week, paid overtime etc and includes boarding / meals etc.

Graduates that work at HSBC or similar in accounting / auditing roles - approx 700-800 usd per month, paid monthly as a salary and lots of overtime when required.