Can anyone tell me whether the cat classic parts are as good as the standard cat parts?The price difference is so drastic that immediately i think they are substandard.Supposedly they are made by cat but how other than cheapening the parts can you cut the price by 50-70%? Any help is appreciated.
Cat Classic parts are a cheaper alternative if you own a machine that does not accumulate many hours each year. With our machines operating 24/7 we wouldn't touch them but for a machine that only works a few hundred hours a year they can be a cost-effective alternative to "full fat" parts.
Like Nige says, for a front line machine that is worked full time in hard service I would not look a the "Classic Parts". We did use quite a few of them at the quarry on mostly the older high hour equipment and don't recall having any problems with them. Just looking at them I would say some of the finish on things like pins and bushings were not quite as nice as the original equipment parts and I have no easy way to tell in the hardening goes as deep on the pins. So if this is a low use machine or one you are only planing on keeping for a couple years, say as a back up machine I would have no real problem using them.
Supposedly they are made by cat = wrong; Cat sources 'classic parts' from selected vendors~sub contractors. Subs cannot sell 'parts made for Cat' if the 'Cat part number is stamped on (or forged) the part'. Typical price mark ups 200-600% above manufacturing' cost.
The classic parts are likely made in China or some other country where labor is less.
On a side note, when I worked for Cat, I was amazed at how many parts for different machines were not made by Cat, but by a vendor (or multiple vendors to protect supply chain) to Cat specs. These were new parts going on machines at final assembly, not refurb or replacement parts going to dealers. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk