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General Site Info => General Discussion => Topic started by: topp on February 08, 2011, 10:24:37 pm

Title: This is sad
Post by: topp on February 08, 2011, 10:24:37 pm
 
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll...-1/FOSBUSINESS


This is the company that made the orignial Dashes for our trucks.
If you take your dash off, and remove the trim, Davidson Rubber Co. is stamped in it, along with the date the dash was made.....
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Irish_Alley on February 09, 2011, 04:01:36 am
When I clicked on the html it says "Sorry! The page you requested cannot be found" but the advertisement to the right was a bra fit specialist. I think I want a carrier change ::)
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: bobcooter on February 09, 2011, 07:02:02 am

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll...-1/FOSBUSINESS


This is the company that made the orignial Dashes for our trucks.
If you take your dash off, and remove the trim, Davidson Rubber Co. is stamped in it, along with the date the dash was made.....

I'm guessing they folded too?
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: topp on February 09, 2011, 08:06:47 am
Seems the online paper changes their links:

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100111/GJBUSINESS_01/701119999
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: bake74 on February 09, 2011, 09:39:54 am
     It just goes to show you, if the United States doesn't do something to keep businesses here, they will just keep moving out of the country.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: bobcooter on February 09, 2011, 11:17:17 am
Until America makes things Americans use everyday, we will continue to go down the tubes. The Gov susidizes all sorts of things. Why not subsidize some factories so they can compete with the foriegn prices?  ??? No.  I think it's part of a plan by OUR elected leaders to break America down to nothing so we will easily become part of a one world government ruled by the World Bank. There will be no middle class at all. Just the filthy rich and the dirt poor.  The ignorance of many of it's citizens and the greed of our officials will be the ruin of this country. I am stepping off my soap box now....
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Grim 82 on February 09, 2011, 11:41:46 am
I'm glad you said it bobcooter. It doesn't make me look quite as crazy when I just say that I completely agree with you.

It sounds like they really did shoot themselves in the foot with the chemical waste dumping.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: topp on February 09, 2011, 12:32:27 pm
Or it was made up to eliminate them......

I Agree with Cooter, the world we "see" daily is manipulated daily to destroy This country and most others, eventually bringing a world Government.....  Makes me sick to think about it...
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Grim 82 on February 09, 2011, 01:18:53 pm
We live in a modern feudal system disguised as democracy.

As far as any story being made up, it wouldn't surprise me one bit, considering that for every person tasked with gathering and recording information there are 10 more behind the scenes tasked with spinning and distorting said information to further an agenda.

One fact remains; no company I know of can build a dashpad like those guys could.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: TexasRed on February 09, 2011, 01:46:40 pm
LOL, democracy.

Anyway, I'm not sure the board rules on talking politics.

However, well, it's not good that the company could not find a way to compete or stay in business. I hope the equipment and workers can find new and productive homes.

And actually the US I believe is still the #1 manufacturer in the world. A lot of it has just gone "leaner" meaning there's less jobs in that field. More production per worker which drives down prices. Obviously some stuff has gone overseas, especially when leadtime is less important, but if you've been in a company now-a-days, you need your stuff now! That's where the future is, increased flexibility and the OTD that these overstressed companies demand.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: VileZambonie on February 09, 2011, 05:48:26 pm
I didn't really read the article closely or thoroughly but I saw where it said they were big polluters and if they made all the dash pads that cracked and warped for the last 50 years good riddance to them.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: fitz on February 09, 2011, 06:44:00 pm
if they made all the dash pads that cracked and warped for the last 50 years good riddance to them.

I wonder if they made the dash in my 99 Dodge Ram, that dash was full of cracks and had chunks of it falling out. 
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Lt.Del on February 09, 2011, 08:10:49 pm
Quote
The Gov susidizes all sorts of things. Why not subsidize some factories so they can compete with the foriegn prices?

that would be no different than charging tariffs on imports.  China would light the fuses on all their nuclear missiles gettin ready for WWIII, they know that if the U.S. did make trade unequal, that would be the death of them. And, we are too far down this hole now to ignore that.  A generation ago, we could've done something. Not now. Of course, we know trade is NOT equal, but you cant tell them.
So, because Chinese and Koreans and Mexicans earn 50 cents a day and make parts we consume, all of our money we earned in the '50's-70's when we led the world is now going overseas to equalize economies.  We are going down to their standard of living.

There is no free trade.  They earn a few bucks a week working in factories overseas, unions here demand $40 a hour plus retirement and insurance benefits til it runs these companies overseas. Added to that is all the frekin policies from OSHA, taxes, permits, regulations, audits, etc..---our gov't is suffocating companies here.

We do need to take a stand and do something or we will fall farther and farther below the living standard we are used to.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Grim 82 on February 09, 2011, 08:23:14 pm
Very true, Andy.

I thought that the general opinion was that there is no comparison to an OEM dash for these trucks, and if the company that made them is out of business, I'm confused about the good riddance...?

I wonder from a product quality standpoint, obviously dumping chemicals in the city water table isn't cool.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: VileZambonie on February 09, 2011, 10:50:58 pm
I thought that the general opinion was that there is no comparison to an OEM dash for these trucks, and if the company that made them is out of business, I'm confused about the good riddance...?

I wonder from a product quality standpoint, obviously dumping chemicals in the city water table isn't cool.

Yeah isn't that somethin.... The best fit is the OE dash however the replacements are all paint to match, susceptible to the same failure and expensive. Quality control obviously wasn't their main concern.

Sooner or later someone in the aftermarket will get it right hopefully. I'm curious about the skinned untis Chris now has listed.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Joe-NC on February 10, 2011, 09:35:08 am
One fact remains; no company I know of can build a dashpad like those guys could.
The dashpad in my '84 truck is cracked all to pieces. The dash in my '89 Honda Accord (same conditions, parked in the sun, never garaged) looks the same as when it rolled off the assembly line. So apparently the Japanese can build a better dashpad.

I would rather buy American, but we have to EARN it. Creating inefficiencies by putting tariffs on things is not the answer. Raising the price of a imported part $20 so it matches the price of the same domestic part ...just punishes consumers to help some factory and their workers who should be making something else.

We can't allow ourselves to get comfortable doing the same things, as if it is somehow our RIGHT to make a certain product. That's the problem with many unions. We have to adapt quickly to change. There ARE things we can do better than the Chinese and Japanese ...we just have constantly find them. Then when they catch up and make it cheaper, we have to move on to something else. That's the burden of a true leader ...lead or get out of the way.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Lt.Del on February 10, 2011, 10:08:42 am
Quote
Raising the price of a imported part $20 so it matches the price of the same domestic part ...just punishes consumers to help some factory and their workers who should be making something else.

Good points Joe.  It punishes the consumer here and now, because things can be made cheaply overseas,but, down the road, the entire country suffers because all of our money is in other countries. Those countries don't have to deal w/ unions, benefits, red tape, and other gov't suffocations that are dealt w/ here.  

Many items are the exact same items that used to be made here, and the companies left U.S. like Levi Straus. They aren't sub par products--they are the same products and quality. Now they are made in Mexico.

Our Gov't, in a means to justify its pay, are alway, always, always adding more bureacracy and red tape and regulations to EVERYTHING! Local jurisdictions and all U.S. companies are being suffocated more and more each day.  Thousands of bills are passed each year, more regulations to follow--just because some senator wants brownie points from his/her constituents.  Fast forward another decade or two, each company will need to hire lawyers to sort through the millions of pages of regulations that congress has passed over a couple of generations.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: jaredts on February 10, 2011, 10:26:10 am
The person designing the dash for the auto company spec.'s out the dash and material to construct it from.  Back in the day a padded dash with vinyl covering was the norm.  The sun baked on those dashes and most of them cracked.  On the low end imports in the late 70's and 80's they often had hard plastic dashes.  Not as cozy but they don't crack.  Many new cars now have hard plastic.  Even the ones with padded dashes benefit from modern materials.  I don't think its fair to blame the company that made the dashes to the oem spec. or to say the Japanese build a better dash.  The dash's designer made the decisions that determine how well it will hold up and sometimes put a plush padded material on there that helped sell cars but wasn't necessarily the most durable choice.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: thirsty on February 10, 2011, 10:57:24 am
That's the burden of a true leader ...lead or get out of the way.

X2
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Grim 82 on February 10, 2011, 11:06:58 am
One fact remains; no company I know of can build a dashpad like those guys could.
The dashpad in my '84 truck is cracked all to pieces. The dash in my '89 Honda Accord (same conditions, parked in the sun, never garaged) looks the same as when it rolled off the assembly line. So apparently the Japanese can build a better dashpad.

I didn't say anything about tariff's or import/export.
My point was that if a given product such as the dashpad we are talking about only has a useful life expectancy of X amount of years, at least the ones that they made fit properly in the first place, unlike the foreign produced ones that are made now that everybody says are garbage. It seems that the Japanese or whoever is making them now can't build a better dashpad than America could nearly 30 years ago. That seems to be a good job of leading.

But, like jared pointed out, with the difference in methods, materials, and consumer demand between now and then we are comparing apples and oranges.

Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Joe-NC on February 10, 2011, 11:10:27 am
...things can be made cheaply overseas,but, down the road, the entire country suffers because all of our money is in other countries. Those countries don't have to deal w/ unions, benefits, red tape, and other gov't suffocations that are dealt w/ here.
Yes, and since the global marketplace is becoming more competitive by the day ...our government will have to change its ways, and our union workers will have to suck it up and face reality or we will be in for some very hard times. Taking our ball and going home mad is no way to compete.
Many items are the exact same items that used to be made here, and the companies left U.S. like Levi Straus. They aren't sub par products--they are the same products and quality. Now they are made in Mexico.
Thats right. And this will continue, because the country who becomes the world leader in new technologies will not be wasting time and resources making jeans.


On the low end imports in the late 70's and 80's they often had hard plastic dashes.  Not as cozy but they don't crack.  Many new cars now have hard plastic.  Even the ones with padded dashes benefit from modern materials.  I don't think its fair to blame the company that made the dashes to the oem spec. or to say the Japanese build a better dash.  The dash's designer made the decisions that determine how well it will hold up and sometimes put a plush padded material on there that helped sell cars but wasn't necessarily the most durable choice.
My Honda dash has a foam core with a vinyl cover just like my truck so the quality is noticeably better, but I do agree that the blame lies with the designer and not the manufacturer. Maybe GM had to skimp on UV research or UV protective chemicals to keep costs down. Maybe this cost pressure forced the manufacturer to cut corners. For whatever reason they couldn't do what Honda did with foam and vinyl. What if the cost of labor had been just a little lower without unions? Could they have competed better with Japanese imports? Would this rubber company still be in business? Never underestimate the incremental devastation of unions.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Grim 82 on February 10, 2011, 11:16:52 am
Quote
Raising the price of a imported part $20 so it matches the price of the same domestic part ...just punishes consumers to help some factory and their workers who should be making something else.

Good points Joe.  It punishes the consumer here and now, because things can be made cheaply overseas,but, down the road, the entire country suffers because all of our money is in other countries. Those countries don't have to deal w/ unions, benefits, red tape, and other gov't suffocations that are dealt w/ here.  

I couldn't agree more with you guys, and the problem lies in the fact that when the average guy sits down and budgets his hard earned money, he can't justify spending that much more for the same quality product. I try to buy American, and I try to buy locally from the little guy's shops if possible to support my local economy, but most people individually can't bear the burden of over inflated prices because of union's, CEO salaries or whatever the cause, so the whole country does suffer.
I'm sure the EPA had something to do with shutting them down, but if that happened in China it wouldn't have even been reported.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Skunksmash on February 10, 2011, 01:50:42 pm
I didn't really read the article closely or thoroughly but I saw where it said they were big polluters and if they made all the dash pads that cracked and warped for the last 50 years good riddance to them.

Might have a point there. I might be sad to see them go if every dash they ever put into one of these trucks didn't crack after exposure to sunlight for .05 seconds.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Lt.Del on February 10, 2011, 02:09:03 pm
I am positive that that company was not the only company not knowing what to do with their "waste" materials.  IN fact, for hundreds of years, factories have been locating next to rivers---you know why.  It's not like that one company decided, in pure negligence, to poison the environment.  Every company did that. I truly believe factories still do that.  OK, they can pack up their hazardous materials in new containers or barrels and what not, but, the materials are still depostited in the ground.  It is just done so by a middle man company with a neat logo on their truck now. It doesnt vanish.

 
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: TexasRed on February 10, 2011, 03:42:20 pm
SgtDel is right, a lot of that stuff goes to Arkansas, and gets dumped there by a company that's in business doing that. Some people in the plastics business used to do some "processing with ammonia" in the ditch outside the plant.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: bobcooter on February 10, 2011, 03:45:17 pm
I am positive that that company was not the only company not knowing what to do with their "waste" materials.  IN fact, for hundreds of years, factories have been locating next to rivers---you know why.  It's not like that one company decided, in pure negligence, to poison the environment.  Every company did that. I truly believe factories still do that.  OK, they can pack up their hazardous materials in new containers or barrels and what not, but, the materials are still depostited in the ground.  It is just done so by a middle man company with a neat logo on their truck now. It doesnt vanish.

 
That's one reason China is prospering and kicking our tails. In these poor countries everyone is making serious money for the first time and they either don't care or will not speak up about environmental concerns. The more laws and rules you make, the more the slow down the machine.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Skunksmash on February 12, 2011, 07:09:50 pm
I am positive that that company was not the only company not knowing what to do with their "waste" materials.  IN fact, for hundreds of years, factories have been locating next to rivers---you know why.  It's not like that one company decided, in pure negligence, to poison the environment.  Every company did that. I truly believe factories still do that.  OK, they can pack up their hazardous materials in new containers or barrels and what not, but, the materials are still depostited in the ground.  It is just done so by a middle man company with a neat logo on their truck now. It doesnt vanish.

 

Its my hope that that's changing. If it were up to me they'd all be punished if they did not dispose of their waste in a manner that doesn't wind up giving people cancer.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Lt.Del on February 12, 2011, 07:52:41 pm
they can burn it (carcinogenic smoke), bury it (carcinogenic water table), or pour it (poisons the water)--ain't much they can do to it aside from sending it out into space.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: txchainsawgogi on February 12, 2011, 08:25:13 pm
they can burn it (carcinogenic smoke), bury it (carcinogenic water table), or pour it (poisons the water)--ain't much they can do to it aside from sending it out into space.

i hate space anyways.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Irish_Alley on February 13, 2011, 12:34:53 am
they can burn it (carcinogenic smoke), bury it (carcinogenic water table), or pour it (poisons the water)--ain't much they can do to it aside from sending it out into space.

i hate space anyways.
yeah its unused anyway
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Lt.Del on February 13, 2011, 12:47:56 am
Quote
yeah its unused anyway

that's what we think until aliens arrive and for sweet revenge they infiltrate our country and wreck our economy and make us defund NASA and all future technology because we have no money left in the budget then run our healthcare system into the ground because in the USA they can get free healthcare without paying anything and work in our jobs without adding to our social security...wait, we have aliens here now.  I know, it all makes sense, we've been sending our hazardous materials to Mexico.
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: txchainsawgogi on February 13, 2011, 01:14:31 am
Don't they still make chevy LUVs down there?
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Lt.Del on February 13, 2011, 09:51:23 am
they bought the rights to the vintage vw beetle----they still mak'em down there and going to cancun, seems that's all you see--and iguanas
Title: Re: This is sad
Post by: Skunksmash on February 13, 2011, 02:06:51 pm
they can burn it (carcinogenic smoke), bury it (carcinogenic water table), or pour it (poisons the water)--ain't much they can do to it aside from sending it out into space.

Now days responsible companies use other chemicals that when combined with their poisons, render the poisons inert. In other words, they make their waste so it can't hurt anyone or the environment. That way they can dump it wherever they want and it'll just become compost.