The Truth About Chinese Made Lights..
08-19-2016 | 07:47 AM
#11
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 647
Likes: 1
From: The Secret Land Of Inspector Gadget
You are exactly right. If they're "copies" then they should be functionally identical. There's nothing about quality of manufacture or quality control that changes these things, they are design.
But you have to separate the "cheap identical copy of Trucklites" from the "cheap LED 'bulb' in the stock reflector". Or etc. etc. With projectors and HID there is a huge difference in how the projector is made, so there may potentially be a lot of variability.
The other thing is to separate just how much of this is operator error. Maybe it's installed wrong, maybe they are aimed wrong. So it could be not the product's fault.
The big thing is a lot of folks perceive it as bad simply because they equate China to junk and this dramatically colors their judgment. You hear this all the time in comments like "cheap materials" where truly they are identical but maybe they find casting marks on the Chinese one or they just simply think nothing should ever be made of "plastic" etc. or they presume that something won't be durable because it "feels cheap" blah blah. There's an old axiom in mechanical engineering: if it looks strong enough, it's overbuilt.
Anyway, I'll bail out of this now. I think you're on the right track. Maybe you should begin to import them and rebrand yourself
Maybe I should move to UK and start a business. I already speak English and I can even drive on the left quite successfully
But you have to separate the "cheap identical copy of Trucklites" from the "cheap LED 'bulb' in the stock reflector". Or etc. etc. With projectors and HID there is a huge difference in how the projector is made, so there may potentially be a lot of variability.
The other thing is to separate just how much of this is operator error. Maybe it's installed wrong, maybe they are aimed wrong. So it could be not the product's fault.
The big thing is a lot of folks perceive it as bad simply because they equate China to junk and this dramatically colors their judgment. You hear this all the time in comments like "cheap materials" where truly they are identical but maybe they find casting marks on the Chinese one or they just simply think nothing should ever be made of "plastic" etc. or they presume that something won't be durable because it "feels cheap" blah blah. There's an old axiom in mechanical engineering: if it looks strong enough, it's overbuilt.
Anyway, I'll bail out of this now. I think you're on the right track. Maybe you should begin to import them and rebrand yourself
Maybe I should move to UK and start a business. I already speak English and I can even drive on the left quite successfully 
With regard to "copies", I'm personally more interested in determining which "brands" sell the exact same products available unbranded direct from the factory. Those products would not be copies at all but instead the "real deal" without the US branding or marketing etc..
08-19-2016 | 07:55 AM
#12
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 647
Likes: 1
From: The Secret Land Of Inspector Gadget
The chinese knock offs are not normally produced in the same factory that produces the origonal version. While one of the larger name brands might be produced in china they are normally subject to strict QC guidelines and such but the ones produced in other factories who copy the origonal design are not subject to the same standards and normally have cheaper / weaker componets and omit some parts / steps in order to cut costs. While they may look similar the quality is much less. Just look at the RR hood hinge for the JK as an example. The RR ones are made in china but are pretty good quality / fit / finish while there are dozens of clones made in other factories that are complete garbage.
With regard to RR I personally gave up on them a couple of years ago. The products I purchased from them were (by my measuring stick) sub-standard so they've been off my radar ever since, unfortunately. They may well have improved since but once (3 times) bitten..
Last edited by UKCRD; 08-19-2016 at 07:57 AM.
08-19-2016 | 08:01 AM
#13
JK Freak
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 542
Likes: 10
From: Austin, TX
Well, the reality is that anyone who works with a contract manufacturer (CM) to build things like this likely works with several CMs to build identical stuff. There's many reasons why but a lot of it has to do with parts ordering and availability and economies of scale etc. So a CM is like a commodity vendor. The products they make for you are essentially identical. Each CM might have some minor variability, like maybe they have different subassemblies for a DC-DC converter or whatever, functionally equivalent but slightly different in detail, but from the OEM's point of view they are identical/interchangeable.
So what this would mean is that ANY of the CMs might sell what would be equivalent to the "authentic" product.
There's no reason for an OEM mfgr/vendor to disclose which CMs they work with and they probably want to keep each CM in the dark about who they are competing with. Especially given Jeepers' sensitivity to non-USA-made stuff, USA companies will bend over backwards to find a way to clam their products are "made" in USA even when they are delivered as complete or near-complete assemblies from a CM.. you know the claim a manufacturer makes that their stuff is manufactured in the USA could be the lens is attached to the body of the light in the USA so they claim they are "manufactured" in the USA, while the lens and the rest of the assembly are considered "components". You know, this is just marketing.
08-19-2016 | 08:14 AM
#14
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 647
Likes: 1
From: The Secret Land Of Inspector Gadget
Well, the reality is that anyone who works with a contract manufacturer (CM) to build things like this likely works with several CMs to build identical stuff. There's many reasons why but a lot of it has to do with parts ordering and availability and economies of scale etc. So a CM is like a commodity vendor. The products they make for you are essentially identical. Each CM might have some minor variability, like maybe they have different subassemblies for a DC-DC converter or whatever, functionally equivalent but slightly different in detail, but from the OEM's point of view they are identical/interchangeable.
So what this would mean is that ANY of the CMs might sell what would be equivalent to the "authentic" product.
There's no reason for an OEM mfgr/vendor to disclose which CMs they work with and they probably want to keep each CM in the dark about who they are competing with. Especially given Jeepers' sensitivity to non-USA-made stuff, USA companies will bend over backwards to find a way to clam their products are "made" in USA even when they are delivered as complete or near-complete assemblies from a CM.. you know the claim a manufacturer makes that their stuff is manufactured in the USA could be the lens is attached to the body of the light in the USA so they claim they are "manufactured" in the USA, while the lens and the rest of the assembly are considered "components". You know, this is just marketing.
So what this would mean is that ANY of the CMs might sell what would be equivalent to the "authentic" product.
There's no reason for an OEM mfgr/vendor to disclose which CMs they work with and they probably want to keep each CM in the dark about who they are competing with. Especially given Jeepers' sensitivity to non-USA-made stuff, USA companies will bend over backwards to find a way to clam their products are "made" in USA even when they are delivered as complete or near-complete assemblies from a CM.. you know the claim a manufacturer makes that their stuff is manufactured in the USA could be the lens is attached to the body of the light in the USA so they claim they are "manufactured" in the USA, while the lens and the rest of the assembly are considered "components". You know, this is just marketing.
12-18-2016 | 05:39 PM
#15
JK Newbie
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 66
Likes: 1
From: Palm Bay, FL
I have had the $150 set for a year and a half (switched them from my first new to the second) and having owned vehicles with "higher priced light sets" the only difference I have seen so far is the extra cash in my bank account. Even if I could tell any difference (I can't yet) I can't see paying even 50 percent more. Three percent mark up from the $150 set, all your getting is the name and paying for their marketing.