Cragar S/S center sections

I recently found out that Cragar S/S center sections are now being made "overseas." They're welded to the rims here in the US, so the wheels are technically made in the USA, but I still find this disturbing. Does anyone here know how long this has been the case, and if there's any way to tell a domestic center from a foreign one?

 

I have a set and there is no way to tell that I am aware of. I got mine directly from Cragar and have had no issues at all. The reason they are doing this is that they are now offering various "center" colors and the centers are aluminum. This change just began in late 2008.

 

I'm sure the quality is OK, but that's not the point. The point is they're not made entirely in the USA - they're just ***embled in the USA from foreign and domestic components. Now the only way for me to be sure I get all-American S/S skinnies is by getting a pair of the increasingly hard to find non-unilug skinnies. I can't even be sure the S/S wheels I have on my Nova right now were entirely made in the USA.

 

Well, I just got an e-mail today from Bob DeYoung, the Cragar brand manager at Carlisle: production of S/S centers was moved overseas in 2006.

We're seeing the end of an era, not just for Cragar wheels, but for American manufacturing. My suggestion is to buy some used Cragars now if you want them - if they're not being sold by the original owner, they're probably older than 2006. If they are being sold by the original owner, you can ask when he or she bought them... unless you don't care where your stuff is made, in which case you're probably not reading this thread.

 

I know for sure that the Cragar S/S wheels that I bought in 1994 were made in Mexico, it was cast right in the back side of the spoke on each wheel and stamped in the rim. So if you want good old AMERICAN ones you better look for something older than the one I bought. Mike

 

I bought my set in 1999 or 2000, and they do not have any country of origin on the center sections at all. They have tires on them right now, so I don't know what's stamped into the rim, but I'll try to remember to check when I change tires. (It'll be a while.)