Side vents

McLeadslinger

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I agree that all of our money should be spent with American companies and American made products but actually Buying “American” is almost impossible nowadays. So many companies lie or mislead.

I buy American I much as I can. Some of it is unavoidable but I certainly don't shill for China.
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OFC Ranger

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I'll take it one step forward, I'll gladly buy more "American Made" when companies stop using that as a tug on patriotic heart strings to charge astronomical markup.

I just don't see why (personal opinion of course) someone would pay $200 for $5 in abs plastic (RTR vents, or vents at all). That strikes me as absolutely nothing more than someone paying a prestige-fee as I like to call it just to say "I have it".

Its friggin plastic vent!

Why do you think there are probably, if I was a betting man, a lopsided landslide of "DOOD" raptor grilles for Rangers / F-150's on the road instead of real ones? Again, its plastic, not a critical part.

We could go down the turd-sandwich rabbit hole that is the $13,000 to $18,000 Roush package that doesn't even include their own $350 air intake... (go USA right?!)

So far I've spent probably less than $6,000 on fabrications / mods for my truck. I could do some truly wacky stuff with that kind of money. lol
 

MountainGoat

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I agree that all of our money should be spent with American companies and American made products but actually Buying “American” is almost impossible nowadays. So many companies lie or mislead.
It takes a little searching and yeah it's impossible to do with things like electronics and little plastic stuff but that doesn't mean just give up altogether. There's a bunch of sites like chinanever.com, americanguideguide.com, etc to search for them. I've had much better results with American made jeans compared to Levis off Amazon that the price difference evens out. Levis now are just terrible and arrive frayed from the factory.
 

MountainGoat

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I'll take it one step forward, I'll gladly buy more "American Made" when companies stop using that as a tug on patriotic heart strings to charge astronomical markup.

I just don't see why (personal opinion of course) someone would pay $200 for $5 in abs plastic (RTR vents, or vents at all). That strikes me as absolutely nothing more than someone paying a prestige-fee as I like to call it just to say "I have it".

Its friggin plastic vent!

Why do you think there are probably, if I was a betting man, a lopsided landslide of "DOOD" raptor grilles for Rangers / F-150's on the road instead of real ones? Again, its plastic, not a critical part.

We could go down the turd-sandwich rabbit hole that is the $13,000 to $18,000 Roush package that doesn't even include their own $350 air intake... (go USA right?!)

So far I've spent probably less than $6,000 on fabrications / mods for my truck. I could do some truly wacky stuff with that kind of money. lol
I don't know why guys buy expensive watches and luxury goods either. If the vent is too expensive people won't buy it, obviously someone is since it's sold out.

I've had some terrible products off amazon (had a ladder snap the first step, heatshrink that doesn't shrink lol) so I wouldn't be surprised if a knockoff vent snaps the clips installing it or just driving around. For me if I can't stomach the cost of the RTR I'l just keep the stock vent knowing they won't turn grey in the sun or fall out when I hit a bump.
 

AuburnRanger

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I see some complaining about the cost of RTR and comparing them to things like the knock-off "DOOD" grills. RTR at full retail is definitely expensive for what it is, but if I can play devil's advocate their quality is 1000% better than your typical Chinese made knockoff products like the Raptor grills. I say this as someone who worked as an Engineer for 15 years designing and testing injection molded parts for durability. When I first bought my truck I ordered a Chinese Raptor grill and I never put it on because I could tell the plastic was absolute shit. I ended up getting a RTR 20% off on sale, and I can tell you the plastics are OEM quality. They use a type of plastic called Thermoplastic olefin, which uses fillers that add durability and UV resistance. Nearly all OEM plastic grills are made with this type of material. As an engineer I would spec these types of plastics on any parts that would be exposed to the sun and needed impact resistance. Often we would test parts with basically the same plastics but with very slight variations in additives to find the right application for the particular part. A lot of stuff is made in China, but it's mostly the off-brand knock-offs that cut corners on materials and mold quality. Cheap Chinese goods like the Raptor grills are more often than not molded with the cheapest material possible, then painted to look nice. The one benefit of a brand name that engineers their own parts, is even if they are manufacturing in China, the good ones have quality standards and material specifications that Chinese manufacturers have to follow. Knock-off products prioritize looking like the real thing unless you look close, and then cheap out on everything else, because they don't care about if it falls apart a year (or even a month) after they sell it to you. All that to say, it's fair enough to complain about the price of RTR products, but to lump their quality in with things like the DOOD grills isn't a valid criticism.
 
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McLeadslinger

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I buy all Of my clothes from American made companies. It does cost more but in the grand spectrum of things at least I know the money is t going to sweat shops with child labor.

It takes a little searching and yeah it's impossible to do with things like electronics and little plastic stuff but that doesn't mean just give up altogether. There's a bunch of sites like chinanever.com, americanguideguide.com, etc to search for them. I've had much better results with American made jeans compared to Levis off Amazon that the price difference evens out. Levis now are just terrible and arrive frayed from the factory.
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