If someone knew Brand X and Brand Y both bought lifters from Bob's Lifter Supply, and they all failed at a certain point past
3/36, what could we do with the information?
Having had past access to behind the scenes systems that identify suppliers at Chrysler and Ford
I will say, yes, that kind of scenario is super common. The OEMs purchase parts not only from the same suppliers but quite often
directly from each other.
I can still obtain that kind of info through friends and past co workers, but in most cases I have found
that sort of knowledge to be very much like my fascination with foundry marks: It's just trivia, and does not affect the usage or outcome of anything
enough to be worthy of mentioning. Even if I were unprofessional enough to make a huge stink about something like that it
wouldn't prove anything, nobody would change, and nobody
would get in trouble.
I totally understand wanting to know, and I always try to dig for the same info myself (especially with many aftermarket parts which come from
very few sources), but most people just don't seem to care about any of it.
