Extremely Poor Parts Availability

[Kwasaki]

23 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

I'm bringing a genuine Kawasaki filter with me from the UK.

[KhaoYai]

13 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Nothing they can not find except parts in an OE box

They are pretty good at finding/fixing many things but even they can learn.

 

3 years ago one of the lower front ball joints failed on my ex's Chevrolet Sonic. She took it to the local repair shop who told her she would have to buy a complete lower suspension arm - even though the other bushes were fine. It wasn't too bad so I told her to ask around at other shops - she was told the same. The original ball joints are rivetted on to the lower arm so appear to be irreplaceable.

 

I'm used to this so checked on whether or not the ball joint alone was available. I obtained a pair on Ebay for a fraction of the cost of a complete arm. At that time I had few tools in Thailand so next trip I took the car to a repair shop and asked them to fit the ball joints. The car was taken into the workshop and up on the ramp. I could see the 'mechanics' walking around and having some discussion about the parts I had supplied. Five minutes later they came to me and told me it could not be done. I walked into the shop and produced a set of bolts that were in the box the ball joints came in. I then pointed to a grinder and told them to grind the heads off the rivetts push the remainder out and use the bolts supplied as replacements to fit the new joints on to the original suspension arms.

 

The job done they looked at me smiling as if I was some form of magician. My Thai was not good enough to tell them its standard practice in the UK.