Well the new gas pedal trim showed up today and was quickly installed. I like the overall image it provides:
From a few feet away it looks fine, but I’ll be replacing it the next time I need to order something else and chalking it up as another learning experience. For $5 it wasn’t worth sending back, and I wanted something shiny on the pedal in the interim until I can buy a decent replacement.
As I normally do, I purchased the complete set from Chevy Duty, make that ClassicParts. The pads were very supple and fit well, and although Counterpart items seem to receive consistently bad reviews, it was their brand of pedal trim I received and it looked and fit nicely. The trim was highly polished both on the face and the sides, and I was completely satisfied with the quality.
Unfortunately the gas pedal trim was on indefinite back order (maybe a month or more). So I decided to cancel the back order and buy the trim somewhere else. In spite of many many quality and customer service complaints I've read about, I’ve purchased from LMC twice, both were good experiences so I tried it again. 3rd time wasn't the charm.
First up the flimsy and vulnerable trim was shipped in a padded envelope, so of course it arrived warped, twisted, and all of the tabs were bent and required straightening.
Second the piece was malformed. The sides, top, and bottom are suppose to be parallel as shown in this example:
The trim I received is punched incorrectly, with the top and bottom at an angle, not parallel with the outer edge. The sides look like they went through a grinder, and they came with no manufacturer identification, just a sticker that says Made in Taiwan. I didn't think to take a close up before installation:
Also the rectangular holes were punched from the backside, so the rough edge is facing forward instead of against the pedal. All in all it’s a completely sub standard part compared to what Chevy Duty supplied. I should have waited for the backorder, proving once again a lack of patience is rarely a good thing.