Tell me again about how we cant afford to produce RC parts in the USA anymore...

[GoMachV]

We cant always find lightbulbs from a USA manufacturer, or even vitamin C lol, but we CAN buy RC parts from the few USA manufacturers left often for the same or less than the china stuff. Not always, but often. How many people look to see where their pinion gear comes from? Buy that RPM gear cover, the MIP axles, the Robinson pinions, the Kimbrough servo saver.... no reason to pay Thunder Tiger the same amount for china built

[Dangeruss]

how many people look to see where their pinion gear comes from.

I do.

Had a similar conversation just tonight on cost vs. value... what are you getting for your dollar, not just in terms of price, but with regards to all the other qualities that surround a purchase. People are so focused on saving a buck that in instances like you mentioned they waste money trying to save it. I'd buy a Sabula Tech $4 (or even Boki $8) lexan gear cover before Associated's $10 cover and Boki's $31 Viper body with wing over Associated's $28 Viper body and $4 dollar wing. The prices are lower, the quality is higher, they're Made in the USA vs. Made in China, and you're supporting businesses in the hobby that support you...

Kinda like the new Graphite re-release... the only reason I can think of that a person would buy one over a Fan RC Graphite is because... to quote Ray Zalinsky "all I want is the god damn box".

[Lavigna]

More and more I look for the USA Made parts. MIP is truly cool for keeping operations here at home.

With the exception of the AE Kinwald kit, I've had no desire to buy any of the re-release kits from AE.

[JosephS]

We cant always find lightbulbs from a USA manufacturer, or even vitamin C lol, but we CAN buy RC parts from the few USA manufacturers left often for the same or less than the china stuff. Not always, but often. How many people look to see where their pinion gear comes from? Buy that RPM gear cover, the MIP axles, the Robinson pinions, the Kimbrough servo saver.... no reason to pay Thunder Tiger the same amount for china built

I've always leaned towards buy non-Chinese components. I assumed that US companies were importing mostly finished parts, or substantially made of foreign materials.
I've seen RPM's factory, but they make so little for the rc10, or associated at all at this point.

Is there a more inclusive list?
Any knowledge of customworks?
Fastener express?
Tekin?

[GoMachV]

Custom Works is made in the USA, at least from my understanding. A lot of the dirt oval companies are, such as Five Star and Five Seven. CRC also seems to be USA based still, and RJ Speed as well. Im sure there are many more that are USA based, but I don't know how far you have to go to have the "made in the USA" logo as at some point the raw metals or the hardware will almost certainly be imported. I think of it more as the machine work and labor. For example my G10 sheets are laid up here in the USA at great expense, and I cut it here. But is the actual weave made in the USA? Honestly I have no idea. I expect so, as the company I buy from advertises it is made in the USA. The screws in my parts kits? Almost certainly not USA sourced. Id love to find a USA screw seller that publishes pricing and sells in reasonable quantities.

[JosephS]

Custom Works is made in the USA, at least from my understanding. A lot of the dirt oval companies are, such as Five Star and Five Seven. CRC also seems to be USA based still, and RJ Speed as well. Im sure there are many more that are USA based, but I don't know how far you have to go to have the "made in the USA" logo as at some point the raw metals or the hardware will almost certainly be imported. I think of it more as the machine work and labor. For example my G10 sheets are laid up here in the USA at great expense, and I cut it here. But is the actual weave made in the USA? Honestly I have no idea. I expect so, as the company I buy from advertises it is made in the USA. The screws in my parts kits? Almost certainly not USA sourced. Id love to find a USA screw seller that publishes pricing and sells in reasonable quantities.

For customworks I'm most curious about the , turnbuckles, ball studs, drive shafts.
Any USA bearing or wire sources? Is Boca, ACER, AVID?

[stickboy007]

What they really mean when they say this is that they can't make as much profit if they manufacture in the U.S.

[GoMachV]

bingo

[GoMachV]

I was questioned on FB about if these manufacturers still produce in the USA, and they do according to their websites.
RPM
Kimbrough
Robinson
K&B
Parma (Mid American)
RJ Speed
Custom Works

Im happy to add more if we find em.

[JosephS]

Tekin is stating that their ESC's are domestically made, as well as their Flexwire.

Our ESCs are made here in the USA, with foreign and domestic components. They are cut and loaded in the midwest, then brought here to Tekin in Idaho for final assembly, programming, testing and packaging. The ESC housings are molded here in Idaho, ESC manuals printed here in Idaho and our stickers are all printed and cut in the US at various locations. Our FlexWire is made here in the US also, from a vendor we have been using for over 20 years. The rest of our products are made in/use parts from China, HK, Korea and Japan.

We do all of our own product designing and software for the ESCs and servos. We are a very passionate, small family-operated business!

[GoMachV]

That's cool, I knew about their esc cases being molded here cause I was trying to find a local injection mold shop and saw their products in a display case haha

It's hard to source a lot of electronic components inside the USA, but hopefully that will change at some point. The chip shortage a couple years back should have been a huge signal to start producing.

[juicedcoupe]

Not to break up the discussion, but are AE spur gears no longer repackaged Kimbroughs?

Maybe it's just the generic/6 gear (black) and B4 types.

[GoMachV]

Good possibility, I haven't bought an AE branded spur in quite a while.

[Frankentruck]

Do they still make Kimbrough gears? There was this unfortunate news earlier this year.
https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?t=50442

[GoMachV]

Sounds like it had a new owner since 2023