Bed side replacement parts

[Auroch]

Originally Posted by 5spd540

Does anyone have any info on goodmark compared to AMD bedsides. I am asking due to I can get goodmark for 200$ less per side

You can't go wrong with Goodmark. I've patched about 30% of my truck with their panels and haven't had a single issue. They perfectly match the old ones and you can tell they use the right gauge of sheet metal. Save your money and use it for buying premium guts.

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Tim Christian

You guys crack me up. I am glad I learned something about aftermarket parts this morning.

Enlighten us ? Everyone wants to know the correct story ,Do you know what it is ? we can only go by our own experiences , You should have all the insider knowledge ?

[KP Jon]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Well ... No , I think you can be pretty certain the parts are all coming from the same AMD plant in Taiwan . I mean really guys we are talking about replacement parts for one model of 50 year old Chevy truck parts , Do you really think there are multiple factories producing multiple brands of the same parts for such a small market as 67-72 Chevy trucks ? All these different brands are just the middle men brands to try to imply different grades of products .By that thinking there would be 5 factories making rocker panels in Taiwan and shipping them to dealers all across the country ? I mean when you call Billy joe bobs truck parts and order a set of bedsides that he's walking out back and packing and shipping them to you from his warehouse ? No, they would be drop shipped to you from the suppliers warehouse rather than shipping them all over the country and that would be why we see so many parts show up with multiple stickers on them from multiple dealers like when my triplus bed sides arrived in an AMD box with Woodall stickers on it .

Goodmark
Dynacorn
Keyparts
Triplus
Woodall

I would just have a hard time believing just these 5 dealers would find it financially viable to do that , they would have to sell thousands of pairs bedsides each and every year ...

There are 5 factories that have produced rocker panels

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by KP Jon

There are 5 factories that have produced rocker panels

and you know this how ?

[KP Jon]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

and you know this how ?

25 years in this business

[Toms67]

I just bought two goodmark doors. They came in a tri plus box. With a goodmark sticker on them. From summit.

[KP Jon]

On the lighter side I'll give you a little history on how the first repair panels came to be in Taiwan.

In the late 70's there was a young Italian guy in Albany New York whose parents owned a body shop where he worked. On a whim he went with a buddy of his to a trade show in Manhattan. Seeing some of the exhibitors got his mental wheels turning about how to make some money.

He got talking with a guy from Taiwan and explained that the rocker panels on all of the square bodied trucks were rusting and that they had to repair a lot of them at their shop. He thought if he could get them to make just the part they needed they could sell a lot of them.

The guy told him that for $25,000.00 he could make the tooling and produce them.

The guy went home and pleaded with his parents to loan him the money to do the project. His mom finally gave him the 25K and he sent it off to Taiwan along with samples he cut out.

Months went by with an occasional phone call or letter (No email or fax then) and then those stopped and he realized that he couldn't get in touch with them anymore and thought he might have been fleeced.

He grabbed a passport and plane ticket and took off to Taiwan with no idea how to speak Mandarin and no contacts there. He checked into the Taipei Grand Hotel, got a cab, and set out to the "Factory" that he had met in New York. When he arrived at the factory he found out that his money was gone, there were no parts, no tools, and no real recourse so he returned to the hotel.....completely distraught.

That evening he went down to the front of the hotel for some air. He was overcome with emotion about how he was going to explain to his mother that he'd lost their money. As he sat crying on a bench a well dressed young Taiwanese couple going to the hotel for dinner approached him. the Taiwanese guy didn't speak english and the guy from the US didn't speak Chinese so they got someone to interpret for them. He explained what had happened with his family's money and the Taiwanese guy guy said "Don't worry", "My father makes parts for Toyota", "I will help you".

They had dinner and when he returned to New York he sent this guy new samples. To his word the guy him made the rocker panels (Without paying again for new tooling) and shipped them to NY. The body shop guy found some people in the bumper business that were interested in trying to distribute them. The rockers were a big hit and he started getting feedback about more parts so they did the cab corners, then the upper wheel arches, then fenders............and on and on.

That guy from Taiwan was (Is) named Legion Liao. Almost every factory in this business in Taiwan traces directly back to Legion. They were either people that worked for Legion that opened their own plants, subcontractors that grew into larger factories, etc.

We lost the guy from that body shop a couple years ago but every time a patch panel is installed it's owed to a kid from Albany that had an idea 40 years ago.

[5spd540]

Great story

[KP Jon]

Originally Posted by 5spd540

Great story

Thanks!

Back then one of the more common aftermarket parts in the Northeast were these yellow fiberglass '73-'80 front fenders that used to come out of Canada. Every junkyard in New England carried them.

[5spd540]

It seems everyone has the bed sides on backorder