Miller tools on eBay

orbanator7577 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 26, 2015 12:17 pm

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111696416449?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

geordi · **Posted:** Fri Jun 26, 2015 12:26 pm

YOW those are expensive!

I got all 4 cases a long time go (ok, yes, several years now) but they were $500 shipped. This is just nutty.

olypopper · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 1:36 am

I just purchased a 2.5/2.8 VM special tool kit from Freedom racing for under 100.00. The kit includes all three timing pins and some other items I don't recognize. They also sell the miller factory tools but offer these as cheaper options.

http://shopfreedomracing.com/25L-28L-Di ... M-5056.htm

jws84_02 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 7:07 am

olypopper wrote:

I just purchased a 2.5/2.8 VM special tool kit from Freedom racing for under 100.00. The kit includes all three timing pins and some other items I don't recognize. They also sell the miller factory tools but offer these as cheaper options.

http://shopfreedomracing.com/25L-28L-Di ... M-5056.htm

That is the cheap China kit. And fyi, they are on eBay for $30. After using them once I am going back to renting the millers

dirtmover · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 9:59 am

jws84_02 wrote:

After using them once I am going back to renting the millers

Interesting comment. What exactly is wrong with them? They're just alignment pins after all so unless their dimensions or thread pitches are completely incorrect I don't see what else could be bad.

olypopper · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 10:48 am

jws84_02 wrote:

olypopper wrote:

I just purchased a 2.5/2.8 VM special tool kit from Freedom racing for under 100.00. The kit includes all three timing pins and some other items I don't recognize. They also sell the miller factory tools but offer these as cheaper options.

http://shopfreedomracing.com/25L-28L-Di ... M-5056.htm

That is the cheap China kit. And fyi, they are on eBay for $30. After using them once I am going back to renting the millers

I'd also like to know if you had a problem with them or just don't like them because they are the "cheap China kit". I understand not buying Chinese stuff, especially tools.

Srytrucker · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 11:28 am

I recently used these tools they are flimsy build and get the job done . I would rate them as use once and be done. I paid 50 for them and now i see them listed for 30-32 with free shipping.

geordi · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 11:40 am

Do yourself a favor - buy quality tools. A user here, MRausch sells the genuine Miller camshaft pins which are much higher grade. Then the tensioner wrench can be found from IDparts (Where else?) as the Metalnerd Timing Tensioner Tool under the 2000-2003 VW ALH section This is a much better tool than either the Miller tensioner tool or that Chinese knockoff of the Lisle tool.

FYI: I have been using the same Miller pins and Metalnerd wrench now for over 18 months of CRD work, and most of the nearly-50 CRDs have been done with these same pins.

Don't buy Chinese Trash. They send us their garbage and keep the good stuff for themselves. Never forget: As a country and a government, THEY DO NOT LIKE US and don't want us to succeed. The strategy of lulling us into a stupor with a continual flow of underpriced products is not a terrible idea... Unless you are the USA.

I have a friend that owns a machine shop. He told me that the high values for scrap in the last few years were being driven by the Chinese - taking everything they could get their hands on. By volume, an enormous amount going over, and far less weight coming back as recycled products. Where is the extra going? When the steel comes back, he said that the quality isn't there AT ALL, that it is porous and weak trash. Witness the recent collapses of tall cranes or even a dockside crane that crumpled a year or so ago now. That was a BRAND NEW dock crane from China. Oh, and Savannah received 4 of these things from China about 4 years ago now. Joy. Another posting I saw recently had to do with bulk steel from China, and the company X-rayed the steel as it was coming in. What did they find? Holes, brake discs, chunks of other things... Basically the melting of the old products was incomplete, but they were just dumped into the form anyway.

Don't buy Chinese trash if you can avoid it. Believe me, I know how difficult it is to avoid it.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 12:14 pm

Srytrucker wrote:

I recently used these tools they are flimsy build and get the job done . I would rate them as use once and be done. I paid 50 for them and now i see them listed for 30-32 with free shipping.

I used them too. It was a mistake.
Was lucky to get one use out of them.

jws84_02 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 12:50 pm

To me they are just lower quality and both intake and exhaust never felt fully locked in and I was just waiting for one to snap. There is def a reason they are $30. They got the job done but as others have stated, my trust is done with them after one use

dirtmover · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2015 2:23 pm

Good rant Geordi. I can understand the all MIC = bad sentiment and do agree that there is a lot of crap coming out of that country but I like to be a bit more open minded and consider each purchase I make on it's individual merits.

As far as timing pins are concerned size is the critical feature and, within reason, regardless the quality of material they're made of if you manage to damage or break them you're probably using them wrong. They should not be subject to any stress.

Now, jws84_02 suggests that the MIC clones may be incorrectly dimensioned which would be a fair reason not to buy.

Here are my pins (thanks to Papaindigo for the dimensions viewtopic.php?p=757719#p757719). Note, no wrenches allowed! Finger tight only avoids any risk of damaging the aluminum threads in the head.

jeepdan · **Posted:** Thu Jul 02, 2015 8:42 am

geordi wrote:

YOW those are expensive!

I got all 4 cases a long time go (ok, yes, several years now) but they were $500 shipped. This is just nutty.

It was all about timing.
They were expensive retail back then.
Remember this was right after the recession, when several new car dealers went under. Resulting in a good supply of Miller tools on the used tool market.
Also, the need for specialized tools hadn't sunk in to a lot of us CRD owners.

olypopper · **Posted:** Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:43 am

Just an update on my Chinese tools from Freedom Racing. I got them and attempted use. The exhaust cam pin wasn't machined properly and wouldn't drop into the cam and the threads weren't machined properly. The intake pin seemed a little on the loose side as I could move the intake cam with my fingers, even with the pin installed. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with the purchase as I was expecting at least a one time use.

I contacted Freedom Racing about my purchase and they (Tad) said they would make it right. They refunded my purchase and allowed me to buy a new set of Miller tools. I am very very pleased with their professional and courteous business manners as well as their timely response to my concerns. The new Miller tools work as designed (like mentioned previously in this thread). If anyone reads this in the future, my recommendation is to purchase the Miller tools FIRST, not as a last resort. I wasted a good two weeks of time by trying to save a few bucks.

Freedomracing.com is a top notch outfit and certainly deserves a mention in the CRD forum for folks that need special tools in the future.

Miller tools on eBay

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