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Chen does not counterfeit only Brembo. He claims that he also produces AP Racing brakes and other well known brakes. They're selling for about 1/3 of the normal Brembo price.
I'd be curious to measure a caliper and see what material he uses. If the is using proper materials then I don't see how they would fail...but if it's cheaply made big no-no.
The problem here is that there is no quality control, no materials engineering and consequently this is dangerous. Moreover, Brembo invests considerable time and effort to engineer a product that they have the right to brand as their own. No one else has the right to use their trade name and pass off their product as someone else's.
What we have here is a fundamental problem in that inside China there are no protections on branding and copyrights. People can get away with making your product and putting your name on it and then selling it. Bootleg parts like this are not only dangerous, but they hurt the folks who are spending time and money to develop their product by stealing their intellectual property rights.
I'd be curious to measure a caliper and see what material he uses. If the is using proper materials then I don't see how they would fail...but if it's cheaply made big no-no.
Trouble is they're probably not using the proper materials, and there is no way for the consumer to tell (other than expensive lab testing).
FAA had trouble with airplane pats this decades ago, Chinese knockoff fasteners (bolts, nuts, etc) that looked like the real deal but were not made with the proper alloy steel or the proper heat treat / stress treat or whatever, which then failed in service since they were not as strong as the OEM parts.
Caveat emptor, and thanks to the OP for the heads up
You want anything but a caliper or rotor explosion at speed.
Jim
ANYTHING from China is to be viewed as crap. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but who among us wants to push the envelope on a part that MUST work? Too many times Chinese manufacturing falls woefully short.
Not good, not good at all. As one of AP Racing's biggest distributors in the world, we hate to see this type of stuff. It has the potential to harm the brand, but more importantly, to actually harm people!
As others have said, just make sure you're getting the genuine article before you buy. You should stick with trusted, reputable resellers who support and use the products they're selling, rather than just going for what appears to be the lowest price. That becomes especially important if you ever run into any problems, or simply need advice or support.
Finally, all of the AP Racing calipers we sell have serial numbers on their underside. You can see the first few digits on the AP Racing caliper below. The arrow is pointing at it. If you're unsure if you're holding a genuine article, you can contact us (Essex Parts Services) to verify. Thanks.
Of course they can. However, if we contact AP Racing to verify authenticity, and the serial numbers don't exist in AP's system, then you'll know the calipers are bogus.
So they counterfeit real serial #'s, and when you call AP, they will verify it's a good serial #. It's a major problem at 150 MPH.
I see what you're saying, and the same thing goes on in all industries (guitar is a hobby of mine, and that one comes to mind).
That said, it's certainly better than not having any way to try and double check. There is data attached to the serial numbers. AP knows what type of caliper it is, when it was produced, what distributor bought it, etc. So if you tell me you're considering a six piston CP5060 caliper found in our Corvette Competition BBK's, but the serial number you give me is actually for a painted rear caliper, designed for a Lotus Elise, that was sold to their Chinese distributor, then we know something fishy is likely going on.
08-16-2014, 09:41 AM
Fake Brembo Calipers
