CJ2A product review section? I think we need it!

I was away for a few days, so here is my take on it.

If the intention is to get the best part available then the vendor is irrelevant unless they are making the part themselves, which is only true for a few vendors for a few items. And I am not in favor of making this a review on vendors based on the parts, since they most likely did not make the part only sell them, which gets back to the point we want the BEST PART AVAILABLE were is it purchased should be up to you. There are lots of sources besides the Jeep specific dealers including local parts shops and big chain stores.

I try to buy most of my parts from local parts guys and even big chains if they have the correct part. So I think if we can make a list of known good Manufactures and good part numbers that would give us a list we can use to go shopping anywhere, and if enough people call a vendor and say for instance do you have the "Manufacturer" part number "1111" and they say no we have "Manufacturer2" "1234" and you say ok I am going somewhere else, they might think twice about not having the BEST PART AVAILABLE.

I also come up with a few questions, how can we find out who the manufactures are of unmarked parts? How can we come up with a list of ALL the manufactures for a part and WHO is going to decide which is the best part?

I think this would be a great addition, but we must set up an outline for what we want to accomplish with this and how to go about it.

My first crack at an outline.
Overall Project
Sections like the part project.
Cooling
Electrical
Engine
Etc.

Single Parts
Take the water pump just for example.
1. List of known manufactures and part numbers
2. Find correct factory dimensions.
3. Comparisons to the factory dimensions by manufacture.
4. Trial fit of each part.
5. Recommendation from the reviewer/s

Each section does not have to be done by the same person.

Well that's my start on it what does everyone think?

Russ


Edited by russnj - 19 Feb. 2011 at 5:13pm

Russ,

With regard to your thoughts, my overall view is that the concept for an outline that you presented is both quite different from what I believe most others were contemplating and, more important, I think, is that if the primary organization key is going to be part manufacturer, the list would be extremely difficult to use.  When we go to buy a part we have not purchased before, it is very unlikely that most of us will know the potential manufacturers.   For that reason, I think that your first stated premise - "If the intention is to get the best part available then the vendor is irrelevant" - is not the objective at all.  For instance, suppose we know that XYZ makes the part we want.  If I do not know which vendor carries it, I cannot easily buy it without contacting all the vendors and asking if they have that one.  The question that seems most likely to come up is. "Where can I get a correct or durable one of these widgets?"

To get that answer, I'd like to find the widget category, read the posts there and see what others are saying about where they bought their widget, if it was correct or durable and, if they were able to determine it, who manufactured the part along with any other identifying information on the part.   I agree that often the dimensions of a part are critical and often the repro parts do not have the correct dimensions in which case I'd expect that information to come out in the posts of those who have had the unfortunate experience of receiving a poorly fitting part.  Often we do not even know that is an issue until the first time that someone posts that they have a problem with the fit of a part.  Again, if it is, for instance, a generator support rubber bushing, they are not going to know the manufacturer, most likely, but will know that the information should be posted with other information about generator parts. At that point the kind of research that is going on right now with that particular part can begin, and when conclusions are reached, the information can be posted in the appropriate parts review section.

So. my overall conclusions are that 1) we want to be able to have the primary index or organizational section heading into the review forum to be by part rather than by manufacturer, and 2) we want to be able to identify the sources or sources for parts to use.  

In other words, I am advocating an organization similar to the Parts Project groupings and also want to be able to post and read about vendor sources even though we all recognize that the parts carried by any vendor are prone to change over time. At least, we'd have good starting places when people are able to identify the places that they have found satisfactory widgets.

Sam, I think I missed saying that my outline is for ONE part not the whole project.

I think if you want to have a list of the best part you must look at the manufacture, the vendor can change or use what ever suppliers they want, if you want a usable list of known good parts you should have a manufacture/part number when possible. We can note who is selling what at the time, but before ordering I would ask what manufacture/part number you are getting.

I have revised the outline have another look.


Edited by russnj - 19 Feb. 2011 at 5:15pm

russnj wrote: Each section does not have to be done by the same person.

Can some one go down to the basement and get Jpet to take a break from sewing?

Great!