Side effects of the crisis?

That's just it. Most things you need are no longer available locally. I could not find a local supplier for the eye bolt pictured above. I had no choice but to order it online. Even the local Fastenal store did not have them - so I ordered from Fastenal online.

There is a shortage of retail outlets carrying quality parts. Plenty of Walmarts. Plenty of West Marine stores. No stores that would carry a 316 stainless eye bolt. I have run into this problem through the entire build.

 

That won't prevent you from being cheated Frosty.
I was familiar with the product and had it before, just like Catbuilder and others here. Nowadays making profit seems more important than a satisfied customer.

 

More of the same...

I bought a stainless ball valve via Ebay recently. Ad said 316 stainless, I got 304.

Fortunately this is a clear-cut example of not getting what you ordered so I filed a PayPal dispute & won. Fine, I'm not out of pocket.

I still need 3 of the 1 1/2" 316 ball valves. Guess I'll have to pay a lot more to get them locally.

PDW

 

I've been volunteering some time in exchange for a free RV site this winter. Generally, if it has moving parts or involves electricity it gets thrown my way. I think I am working for about $4 an hour at the moment. but I haven't been billed for utilities either, so maybe its $6. Anyhow, there are a bunch of little park model cabins here and they all have the same furnace with the same faulty blower wheel. It seems I have a choice- I can claim a new one under warranty and they send me another faulty one, or I can pay for a new one and get the improved model. I figure they are bound to run out eventually and continue to go the free route. About a dozen so far, which I expect to replace again next year. This is another company that has long been regarded as a very good supplier with good support. The good news is I have built a little kit for doing this part swap via key hole surgery and don't have to dismantle the furniture anymore.

How much you want to bet that they quit honoring latent defect claims when they run out of faulty wheels?

 

If you buy with a credit card, in my case a debit card that isn't tied to my bank account, ( I'm paranoid that way ) then you can always dispute the sale with the card company and almost always get your money back.

I bought a lot of stuff for the truck build and almost all of it came from on line purchases, That went pretty well except for the panels I mentioned.

HMMMMMM
I'm thinking forest green on the new paint job, the original blue just seems so, Ford = found on road dead, which is exactly how I found the truck.