View Full Version : Valve stem caps = Ford Rip off
ezratty
04-20-2006, 06:15 PM
yester day i notices that one of my valve stem caps was missing, most likely came loose and went flying. So went to the dealer getting ready for the reaming.knowing it would be expensive. I didn't expect $32 expensive and that is for one. at least it comes with the valve stem also.
I don't know who is more crazy - Ford for charging so much or me - for needing to have it.
With prices like this, how can ford be loosing money?
Smokie
04-20-2006, 06:26 PM
Try this :LOCKING_VALVE_CAPS (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=25313&highlight=valve+caps) is a better deal.
Hotrauder
04-20-2006, 06:26 PM
Think stupid pay levels, benefits and retirement, poor product design and development, dismal marketing efforts and note the AUW knife is firmly stuck in the juggler of the pig. The short sighted greed of the entire American Auto industry has pulled the handle on the flusher. Just my uniformed crazy idea. I have my flame suit on. :cool: Dennis
Tallboy
04-20-2006, 06:55 PM
yester day i notices that one of my valve stem caps was missing, most likely came loose and went flying. So went to the dealer getting ready for the reaming.knowing it would be expensive. I didn't expect $32 expensive and that is for one. at least it comes with the valve stem also.
I don't know who is more crazy - Ford for charging so much or me - for needing to have it.
With prices like this, how can ford be loosing money?
FOMOCO didn't set the price on the Valve Stem. The dealer did. Most dealer price matrixes will take the small stuff and mark it up 400-600 percent. FOMOCO made a dollar, maybe even two, selling it to the dealer. The dealer did the rest.
STLR FN
04-20-2006, 10:48 PM
Ya'll a fn crazy to even think about going to the dealer for a valve stem cap. Go to your local docal auto parts store or wally world and looky what they have, same damn caps and sleeves that are on our perty derty Marauders. grab a couple o packs at 4 bucks each and be done with it. 8 caps and sleeves. geesh.
bigslim
04-20-2006, 11:04 PM
Think stupid pay levels, benefits and retirement, poor product design and development, dismal marketing efforts and note the AUW knife is firmly stuck in the juggler of the pig. The short sighted greed of the entire American Auto industry has pulled the handle on the flusher. Just my uniformed crazy idea. I have my flame suit on. :cool: Dennis
We will "NOT" have this UAW bashing start again. Ford or the UAW did not set the prices on these items. The dealer set those prices. I am sorry tired of you guys bashing "MY UNION". This is what causes disharmony on this site. Get a real feel for life. :mad2:
STLR FN
04-21-2006, 03:13 AM
We will "NOT" have this UAW bashing start again. Ford or the UAW did not set the prices on these items. The dealer set those prices. I am sorry tired of you guys bashing "MY UNION". This is what causes disharmony on this site. Get a real feel for life. :mad2:Slim you're/we're just wastin our time trying to explain. Some people just never understand.
magindat
04-21-2006, 05:31 AM
They guys are right. Ford did not set the price of the valve caps. Your DEALER killed you.
Something like valve caps are like tires, brakes, fluids... They are IMO consumable. That's what auto parts stores and tire stores are for.
You answered your own question, paying 32$ for a cap and sleeve was YOUR fault, not Ford's. Hell, you could have pm'd me and I'd have sent you one, FREE! I have many lying around from ATV's, yard equipment and cars. I lose 'em all the time!
Finally, posts ^ are right. You could have bought a whole set, THAT LOCK, supported a vendor, thus supporting this site for less money.
Cryin' shame that dealers create such a bad taste about the brand in general. Biting the hand that feeds - the new American way.
Rant over, flame suit on.
Bruce Wayne
04-21-2006, 06:29 AM
Who is the jealous f**l that keeps bashing ford and the union, maybe he should keep off this site, prolly drives a neon. Dennis, you sound like a real winner!
Smokie
04-21-2006, 07:03 AM
Who is the jealous f**l that keeps bashing ford and the union, maybe he should keep off this site, prolly drives a neon. Dennis, you sound like a real winner!
I don't think Dennis is jealous of anything, he is a good man, great friend and drives a very nice Ford product. I don't want to take sides on this issue because it creates division....however if you believe that everything that he wrote is a lie....you are mistaken.
SergntMac
04-21-2006, 07:14 AM
The only thing I don't believe, is that someone bought a valve stem cap for 32 bucks.
This just cannot be true.
fast Ed
04-21-2006, 09:54 AM
There is no part number for a tire valve cap from Ford, other than for the vehicles which have the low tire pressure sensing system, with the special valves.
Go to a parts store, pick up a set of 4 chrome ones for $4. Use a 10 mm wrench to snug them on. :)
cheers
Ed N.
metroplex
04-21-2006, 09:57 AM
The black plastic caps seem to work fine. I guess if you really need to buy overpriced shiny valve stem caps to bling up your ride....
MarauderMarc
04-21-2006, 10:00 AM
Who is the jealous f**l that keeps bashing ford and the union, maybe he should keep off this site, prolly drives a neon. Dennis, you sound like a real winner!
Dennis is a true standup guy whom I have met in person. In my eyes, he is a winner. I doubt very much that he meant to "bash" your union or offend you in any way. Lets all just keep the peace.
Matt In Detroit
04-21-2006, 11:17 AM
My salaried UAW ass cant believe someone paid $32 either, even at my rate, I would be getting them at Murrays.......
BruteForce
04-21-2006, 11:21 AM
The black plastic caps seem to work fine. I guess if you really need to buy overpriced shiny valve stem caps to bling up your ride....
(valley girl accent)
Umm well like umm.. duh?!
bryanthomas
04-21-2006, 11:49 AM
Can someone explain to me what the UAW is? I know how unions work, but what is this UAW?
I posted something like this a couple of years ago when I lost a cap. Dealer quoted me about the same price, so it must be a fairly standard price among FLM dealers for this item. I called Wes and got a set of his locking caps instead.
bigslim
04-21-2006, 02:27 PM
Can someone explain to me what the UAW is? I know how unions work, but what is this UAW?
United Auto Workers!!
bryanthomas
04-21-2006, 02:32 PM
United Auto Workers!!
Woah... :eek: :pill: LOL
metroplex
04-21-2006, 04:57 PM
The UAW has fancy offices and prohibits US Marines from parking there ;)
bigslim
04-21-2006, 05:10 PM
The UAW has fancy offices and prohibits US Marines from parking there ;)
Only the ones with foriegn cars.
jgc61sr2002
04-21-2006, 07:16 PM
I put my originals away and bought a chrome set from a local parts store for under two bucks.:D
ezratty
04-21-2006, 07:33 PM
jeez, it's just freaking valve caps - didn't intend to start a union war - i paid it because i wanted it all original. The dealer didn't put a gun to my head.
My current gripe is that the new cap is slightly different from the originals
and there is a specific part number for the cap and valve assembly.
David Morton
04-21-2006, 09:26 PM
First, I doubt if it just came off. The day I brought mine home some kid marked my chrome caps off for his bicycle. Next day, two were missing. So I got some locking caps, the kind that has a little screw going into the side, a "spinner" type set of four for ten dollars and haven't lost one of those since.
Second, the valve stem for our car is unique. It's not just a rubber stem with a chrome sleeve jammed on top. The chrome sleeve is made into the stem, hence the high price. IMO the stem for our car is worth $32. Warn the guys when changing the tire and tell them to just replace the valve inside the stem. It's a standard Schroeder (AKA, "Schrader") valve.
{rant mode=on}
You Cheney-heads started it.
Third, our country had it's greatest period of industrial expansion in the late forties, fifties and early sixties, when unions were at their peak membership and highest adjusted wages. It was a time when union families had two cars in every garage, the wife didn't work and stayed at home with the kids which went to college, and dad took the family out to the marina on the weekends for a day on the boat they had in the slip. Unions built this country because those families had money to spend, save and even squander and that was what was pumping up our economy. Corporations paid 90% income tax with the only loophole being investments in company growth and no way to ship labor overseas because of high import duties.
We became the model for world industrial domination because our unions were strong and the tax code fostored growth.
Since then the so called "conservatives" of the late sixties on to today have dismantled our industrial dominance in exchange for the "campaign contribution" bribes paid to them by lazy international corporate fascists that don't want to work for this countrys' benefit but would rather see a "New World Order" where the democracies that won't allow child labor and insist on a living wage for their people are at a disadvantage to countries where the strongman and despot rule by having children getting their little fingers mangled in worn-out machines, living in ghettos sprawling over a starving population, desperate for any job at any cost, in order to fill the coffers of the corporate elite with blood money. All this happened because capitalism is an amoral system. Not moral, not immoral. It has no morals at all, neither good nor evil, profit is the only concern. BUT...
...evil is easier.
That's why we need regulations on agriculture, commerce and industry. Laws that keep corporations moral. Laws that protect the workers' right to bargain collectively, not scab over their only bargaining chip, the ability to wound a company that has immoral objectives that fall outside the realm of law and hurt working families. Scab over the wound with other less fortunate workers that, given the chance, will do anything to feed their families. "Right-to-work" laws are lies, and hurt all working families.
LONG LIVE TRADE UNIONISM!
LONG LIVE THE UAW!
{rant mode=off}
Have a nice day! :)
SergntMac
04-22-2006, 09:18 AM
There's nothing exotic about the valve stems on a Marauder, standard stock issue off the shelf TR413 with chrome jacket supplied by Schrader-Bridgeport, a division of Tomkins International. No reasons to be sentimental about this part either, it's rubber and it will rot. Sooner or later you should replace it, or it may bite you in the azz.
http://www.schrader-bridgeport.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=1341&location_id=2758
Another division of Tompkins also supplies Ford and other OEMs...
http://www.plews-edelmann.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=3062&location_id=3823
beemer
04-22-2006, 02:00 PM
First, I doubt if it just came off. The day I brought mine home some kid marked my chrome caps off for his bicycle. Next day, two were missing. So I got some locking caps, the kind that has a little screw going into the side, a "spinner" type set of four for ten dollars and haven't lost one of those since.
Second, the valve stem for our car is unique. It's not just a rubber stem with a chrome sleeve jammed on top. The chrome sleeve is made into the stem, hence the high price. IMO the stem for our car is worth $32. Warn the guys when changing the tire and tell them to just replace the valve inside the stem. It's a standard Schroeder (AKA, "Schrader") valve.
{rant mode=on}
You Cheney-heads started it.
Third, our country had it's greatest period of industrial expansion in the late forties, fifties and early sixties, when unions were at their peak membership and highest adjusted wages. It was a time when union families had two cars in every garage, the wife didn't work and stayed at home with the kids which went to college, and dad took the family out to the marina on the weekends for a day on the boat they had in the slip. Unions built this country because those families had money to spend, save and even squander and that was what was pumping up our economy. Corporations paid 90% income tax with the only loophole being investments in company growth and no way to ship labor overseas because of high import duties.
We became the model for world industrial domination because our unions were strong and the tax code fostored growth.
Since then the so called "conservatives" of the late sixties on to today have dismantled our industrial dominance in exchange for the "campaign contribution" bribes paid to them by lazy international corporate fascists that don't want to work for this countrys' benefit but would rather see a "New World Order" where the democracies that won't allow child labor and insist on a living wage for their people are at a disadvantage to countries where the strongman and despot rule by having children getting their little fingers mangled in worn-out machines, living in ghettos sprawling over a starving population, desperate for any job at any cost, in order to fill the coffers of the corporate elite with blood money. All this happened because capitalism is an amoral system. Not moral, not immoral. It has no morals at all, neither good nor evil, profit is the only concern. BUT...
...evil is easier.
That's why we need regulations on agriculture, commerce and industry. Laws that keep corporations moral. Laws that protect the workers' right to bargain collectively, not scab over their only bargaining chip, the ability to wound a company that has immoral objectives that fall outside the realm of law and hurt working families. Scab over the wound with other less fortunate workers that, given the chance, will do anything to feed their families. "Right-to-work" laws are lies, and hurt all working families.
LONG LIVE TRADE UNIONISM!
LONG LIVE THE UAW!
{rant mode=off}
Have a nice day! :)
Hey Dave Morton!
Thanks for your post. I couldn't possibly agree with you more. This country is headed for big trouble if it continues in it's current direction. Very scary.
Best,
Paul :D
wchain
04-28-2006, 06:10 AM
My car was delivered new with NO valve caps!
grimmace
04-28-2006, 08:47 AM
very strange...i ordered a new set of four from my dealer at my first service after I bought the car about 2 years ago and is was $8...$32 for one is insane...i actually bought the locking one's and use those because the others would get stolen...i plan on keeping the car for a while so i bought another set just in case...sounds like it was the smart thing to do
Svashtar
04-28-2006, 01:39 PM
My idiot dealer scratched one of the rims when aligning the car, despite my having supplied him with a printout from this site of the steps to avoid scratching them with his Hunter machine.
Anyway, when installing the new rim, unless it came with a valve stem, the new stem has a shorter chrome sleeve on it than the other 3. Didn't notice it for several months though, so not too worried about it.
As to Dennis' post, I have mixed feelings about it, but for the sake of you Union guys won't express all of my opinions. Besides, you're there and I'm not, and I have never been a Union member. (I'm actually not "jealous" about that either.)
I will say that his points about overpaid execs and abysmal marketing tactics and squandered opportunities to improve domestic auto market share are right on IMO. (And the good or evil of Trade Unions aside, I also didn't know that owning a MM meant that I had to worship Ford and agree never to "bash" them!)
I drove a Toyota for 12 years and still sold it for nearly 40% of what I paid for it when it had 160,000 miles on it. I never took it to the dealer once, and it was flawless inside and out. So far I have taken my MM back to the dealer 6 times since 7/04. None for drivetrain issues, which has been great. It has all been fit and finish and accessory operations issues stuff: Exterior paint, fuel guage, radio, wiper/light control module, seat belts, loose moldings and door panels, window operation, etc., etc. In other words, BS little stuff that should either have been installed right or been built right to begin with. Yes, it's 100% covered, but each time I lose up to a half-day of work, and then have to watch like a hawk to see they don't wreck something else while they "fix" the problem.
Why that is so omnipresent with just American cars, well, I have my own ideas, but one of the solutions is not higher pay and guaranteed raises all around.
I plan on keeping my MM for as long as possible, but my next car will definitely not be American. It has nothing to do with patriotism, and everything to do with getting what you pay for.
Norm
SergntMac
04-28-2006, 01:51 PM
very strange...i ordered a new set of four from my dealer at my first service after I bought the car about 2 years ago and is was $8...$32 for one is insane... Well, there may be one more explanation.
Every once in a while, I need some small trim pieces, and my dealer will tell me..."that screw is 2 bucks, comes in packs of four. I'll ge 'em for ya, but I don't stock these...Want the whole bag?"
Maybe 32 bucks was for a bag of valve stems, like maybe 4, and someone in parts kept the change...
Svashtar
04-28-2006, 07:32 PM
Well, there may be one more explanation.
Every once in a while, I need some small trim pieces, and my dealer will tell me..."that screw is 2 bucks, comes in packs of four. I'll ge 'em for ya, but I don't stock these...Want the whole bag?"
Maybe 32 bucks was for a bag of valve stems, like maybe 4, and someone in parts kept the change...
I'll bet you're right. That sounds a lot more likely! $128 for a set of 4? I don't think even a dealer would try and get away with that...
Hey Dave Morton!
Thanks for your post. I couldn't possibly agree with you more. This country is headed for big trouble if it continues in it's current direction. Very scary.
Ditto.
Ken,
Former UAW local 425 member (FORD, Lorain Asssembly),
current and soon-to-be retired UAW local 2000 member (Ohio Assembly).
bagpiper
04-29-2006, 06:29 AM
When I had all 4 tires replaced at 24000 miles dealership told me the valve stems are $32.00 each and that he would not pay that.I had the black ones installed and bought sleeves and caps at CAP for $4.99.
SergntMac
04-29-2006, 06:43 AM
When I had all 4 tires replaced at 24000 miles dealership told me the valve stems are $32.00 each and that he would not pay that. Dayum that's like stealing then, right?
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