Is this the new normal for parts.....ie Vortec dist. cap

[speedygonzales]

If you don't want to read, caps seem to be failing internally now. 5.7L Vortec.

If you don't own an engine with the "correct-a-cap". This info probably won't help you.

So for years I've gone through caps and rotors on average about every 3 years. The previous caps would eventually give me longer than normal cranking and/or no start. When you look at the inside of the cap, it's contacts where white frost covered. As expected with firing a spark through cheap ass aluminum. Brass terminal caps are getting harder to find than they used to be.

The last 2 caps (make that 3 caps) have had misfires, bucking, hesitation and backfiring. Which I can only contribute to what I term "cross firing" to adjacent traces. Allow me to explain.

The first "misfire" cap incident happened 1 to 1 1/2 years ago. I'm driving home and all of a sudden out of no where. It bucks hard as in misfire. Continues OK and out of no where another. This gradually gets worse to point it won't run at all.
I change out plugs wires and cap and rotor. It's just as bad, so I get tired of dealing with it. I give it to my neighbor that has a shop and after a few days finds it's the cap. The NEW Delco cap I put on.

Now keep in mind I replaced the old cap with an entirely new Delco cap which I still have as a memento. He got another cap and fixed the problem. That was the year to 1 1/2 years ago.

Fast forward to the other day, 1/2/19 and I'm driving to work and out of nowhere, bamm it's bucking and farting popping and so on just like before.

Never giving a check engine light. Either before or this time either.

Having dealt with this before, I knew where to start. So I just got done changing cap and rotor and problem for now solved.

My feeling is that either the caps are made from an inferior material that has lower than required dielectric strength OR the material that is used inside the cap to provide the paths to the terminals is not being put where it should be and in some cases is too close to one another and begins to "crossfire".

On the surface, I attribute this to inferior manufacturing probably caused by moving construction to less than adequate countries. But who really knows.

Just wanted to express my frustration.