more poor quality parts , speedway again

Open that sucker up and look at it. Why is it leaking?

NAPA can get 40's ford wheel cyls, usually overnight. At least you can get the car moving/stopping while you're waiting for cheng pow to finish machining the new batch of wheel cyls for speedy bill.

 

http://www.volksrods.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30628



Chrome plated "Magnum" axle from Speedway.

Luckily, damage was limited to a destroyed car and a broken leg.

 

Holy F*%&!!! Make mine a ford!

 

Here's my experience: just yesterday my Speedway order arrives. I order a bunch of spherical rod ends and one of them has slightly buggered threads so I'm a little bummed. Call Speedway and talk to a customer rep guy. He apologizes for the inconvenience and sends me out a new rod end at no charge.

Oh and when I called, a person actually answered the phone. That alone blew me away.

As for the broken volksrod axle, I don't understand what hitting a tree and breaking a cast Magnum axle has to do with Speedway.

 

"Hydrogen Embrittlement" That's scary! Care must be taken by the plater to properly "bake" any suspension parts that are chromed.
If Speedway (or anyone else) gets to the point that they sacrifice quality to the point that safety becomes a factor to bleed profit, it'll all equal out when someone turns over a School Bus and they're in for a 10 Million dollar lawsuit.

 

The poor quality, Made in China, isn't limited to Speedway.

Recently got rear brake drums for the 8 inch in my coupe, Wagner parts from Piston Ring in Canada. Both boxes say Made in USA. Upon opening one drum is cast Made in USA and the other Made in Canada. Wasn't woried about the quality of either, just figured someone had switched drums and boxes at the distribution centre.

Next order, again Wagner from Piston Ring. Brake hoses, Premium Quality, for the front. Both boxes say MADE IN USA. One hose printed MADE IN JAPAN, other printed SUNSONG, with no country of origin.

Doesn't seem to matter who's name is on the box and where is says it is made, there is a good chance it is made overseas.

Oh well, I guess I should take some comfort in the fact that the boxes were Made in the USA.

I would like to state the like most of you, I have a prefered country of origin and try my dammedest to source everything from there. That country obviously for me is Canada. Failing to find Canadian sources, my next choice is USA. Boy it sure is getting hard to find anythin made in either country.

End of Rant

Canuck

 

Just yesterday I was visiting my old buddy Roy, an 80 yr. old hot rod builder who's been doin' this stuff since before most of us were born. He had just finished rebuilding a '39 trans, and I asked him if he used Zephyr gears. He said that no, he had used all Ford, and that you can get the Zephyr gears from Speedway, but didn't want to use them, as Speedway at some point had to send a large shipment back due to low quality. Judging from other posts, at least they make an attempt at customer satisfaction.

 

The sweatness of a low price is long gone after the bitterness of low quallity sets in. I can`t trust anybody- that`s why I make my customers order there own parts when possible.

 

If you scan through the volksrod thread, the tree happened AFTER the axle broke. the axle letting go set off the carnage. I am not a bug fan but that was a well done car. shitty to see anyones ride meet an end like that.

 

Henry Ford would disagree with you - he explains how you can have both in his book "My Life and Work". He proved it with the Model T.

His basic philosophy was forget about profit - provide quality at a reasonable price and you can't fail to make a profit. But then that was when people understood the sense of buying quality goods.

 

Ok, so it worked for Henry Ford............in that day and time and with a product being sold into an immature market...........While "quality" is always a trait I look for in goods I purchase, and AM willing to pay more for, and perhaps some of you feel the same, it is nonetheless a far more complicated matter than it appears.

Walmart didn't get to be the world's most successful retailer WITHOUT the cooperation of it's customers...........who obviously value lower price over any other characteristic..........and many/most of those customers ARE NOT discriminating buyers..........who would know the difference in quality if they saw it. Not to say you CAN'T buy a quality item at Walmart.......you can..........in some brand name product lines that Walmart purchases for less simply by virtue of their volume......

But even some brand name goods, i.e. HP computers, are a different 'content' standard when built for Walmart distribution to meet a price point Walmart wants with a specific profit margin still intact.

My point is simply, more often than not, the largest segment of the market (purchasers) determines what we get...........the lowest common denominator.............

Ray

 

Henry Ford would disagree with you - he explains how you can have both in his book "My Life and Work". He proved it with the Model T.

"His basic philosophy was forget about profit - provide quality at a reasonable price and you can't fail to make a profit. But then that was when people understood the sense of buying quality goods. "

Hmm, Chalk & cheese spring to mind....... I don't hesitate to buy Early (Henry Era) Ford Parts whenever the oportunity arises. The quality is second to none, have you seen the pic of the ford "I" beam axle being twisted to show its strength. It's twisted like a corkscrew without fracture. I'll have 80 year old Ford parts rather than that shite, any day thanks.
After buying from Speedway once, I don't think I'll buy from them again.

 

the wheel cylinder was not the only part i had a problem with. it was the final blow with dealing with crap parts made in china. the price was no cheaper or no more expensive then napa but i went with theyre wheel cylinder when i read the ad about having stainless sleave and will last longer. this is the last time i will buy from them. i find myself asking salesman regaurdless of were im buying from "were is the part made?" i dont care to support a communist country

 

just a note on that axle..it might have well been able to be twisted like a pretzel..before it was chromed.
who ever did the chroming should be held liable for that failure, It was not done right, or to suspension quality workmanship, and chroming proceedures for suspension parts.

any metalurgist worth his salt could show exactly the point of failure, and the hydrogen embrittlement that caused the failure, If i survived that failure, i would be looking for an ass to chew on.

as far as speedy bill goes, some stuff he doesnt make , but sells, is ok. you have to know what your buying and where it came from (ie..manufacture)
and i dont think speedy chromes stuff, they just sell what another MF'g made..tracing it back to where it originated would be where i would start looking..or if its an after market chroming ( you had it done after you purchased it) than you need to follow up on the shop that did it and be sure they know what the hell they are doing when it comes to parts like this..Its not a fucking bumper, there is a difference when it comes to having suspension members chromed.

in this case chrome did not get him home..it got him in the hospital

 

I doubt that anyone here wants to, but if you don't own / use any Chinese manufactured products in your everyday life, you're going naked, walking everywhere, and living in a cave.

Bob

 

oh god , don't tell them that..... they might try and find the country of kansas on the map.....

 

That's kind of a shitty time to try and put someone on the spot like that. Had the guy even read the manual? called tech? opened it up and cleaned it and set the floats? not just I bolted it on and it won't idle.

 

I can support buying quality parts. My trouble is how do you know what is a quality part? You can buy parts from what you think is the highest name in the market and get the product and it's cheap junk. I've quit buying any type of drills or grinders (hand power tools in general) from Menards. I don't care who's name is on them I'm convinced they are a special "menards" quality.

So I don't only watch where I buy stuff, but the name of the product, and then I still have to watch each piece I receive. Ever ordered 2 of something from the same company and 1 is really good and the other is questionable?

I am definitely not convinced that paying more Money equals higher quality!

My .02 on the matter.

 

I would pull the cups out, eyeball it, find the source of the leak, and fix it. Then I would call them up and advise them what happened and my remedy. Who knows?; they might give me a credit or something for my trouble.........

 

Reading about the axel being a Magnum and chromed 5" I am tripping

My axel under my model a is a Cast 5" Magnum from Speedway. Was plain when I purchased it, has it chromed by a local guy in the Height, Now Kinda parnoid about running it Should I , or shouldnt I? Blown BBC in my car.
Here is what the owner said about the axel in the Bug forum"


( Gentlemen, my name is Lonnie Gilbertson, I built and own the Fire Bug. I appreciate and am humbled by the concerns expressed here. I am 65 years old and have been building cars all my life. (check me out at Lonnie's Place.com). I want to share the truth in hopes that I can prevent someone else bearing the grief that befell me. I took crap from my V8 buddies when I started to build my bug, however, I remembered the 1835 in my Dune Buggy I did in the 70's and knew the potential. Being an old Hot Rodder the early Ford straight axle kit by Speedway appealed to me, so I bought a 1975 standard Bug and was on my way. I will be happy to share the build with anyone that needs information. But for now I will skip to taking my 2332 cc 091 bus transaxxle Hot Rod Fire Bug to the Portland Roadster Show. At shows end to the amazement of several people I drove it home. I left the show floor all smiles by the time I got home I was all frowns. The car was un-drivable. To keep the car between the curbs was a major undertaking. In analyzing the problem, I discovered that sitting on the ground I had a normal 1/8" toe in, I could jack the car up at the perch bolts and it wold change to 1/2" toe out. At this point you might think bump steer, however, lifting at the perch bolds induces no suspension movement. The problem was axle flex. I could measure from the frame to the center of the king pin, jack it up to take the weifht off the tire and the king pin would move out 1/8" plus. This on a car that weighs little on the front compared to the V8 this setup should carry. With my experience it did not take long to figure out the steering set-up Speedway said to use would not work. I bought a cross steer rack and pinion and set it up in a traditional Hot Rod style. In an unconventional way I built my own steering arms and hooked everything at the top of the spindle. Thinking I might have created my own problem I bought Speedway dropped steering arms and moved the tie rod to the bottom of the spindle, like it would be stock. The net result was 1/4" tow change instead of 5/8" with the tie rod on top. I called Speedway and was told that I bought an early kit and all their early kits were junk, they have done a re-desigh to correct problems. I told them I had corrected the problems, however, I had trouble with axle flex, they told me to call the Manufacturer, it wasn't their problem. A call to the Manufacturer put me in touch with the owner he was very interested in helping me fix my problem. He suggested different alignment settings. Changing to his suggested settings the car semed to settle down. On Friday evening I test drove the car and had a friend do the same, although it was not perfect it seemed safe. Five O'clock Saturday morning I left my house by 5:10 am the Fire Bug was destroyed. A friend that was following said that it looked like the car dropped on the right front and left the road. From the drivers seat the Bug took a hard right, in trying to steer left nothing happened, I impacted a mail box, an oak tree, and a telephone pole. With cross steering the right front is the master and left the slave. If the right becomes disconnected you have no control of the left. It happened so fast I can't tell the order of events the only facts I know are1) it is a 5" drop cast iron axle,(2) The king pin boss on the right front is broken in half. (3) The axle is broken in half 2" inboard of the perch bolt. (4) The heavy damage to the right front wheel is on the inside as if it was turned hard right on impact. (5) I could not bring the car left once it took off right. (6) A friend that was following said it looked like the car dropped to the right before it left the road. I will never! Never! Ever run a cast axle again. On a personal note admit-tingly I am a Sunny Day Driver, however, I do not own Trailer Queens. I hope this helps someone. Thanks for letting me express myself. This is the first time I have ever posted anything to any site. I hope this will get read and not lost. Thank You,
Lonnie

 

Dick Spadaro here on the HAMB also sells Ford wheel cylinders if you get in a jam. Super quick service and knows everything about early Ford stuff! Gave me a bunch of great info at York, even tracked me down to see what was going on with my 34.

 

Since I am worrying about my Axel, here is the page from the Magnum axel company which makes these in Cali.
http://www.magnumaxle.net/MagnumAxelCatalogWeb.pdf

 

abone..was yours chromed by Magnum? ot did you have it done?

 

I had been employed by one of the larger muscle car parts provider for just under 8 years and can tell you that all of these companies are businesses. With that in mind, words such as profit margins, supply chain and sales minimums become a reality. This particular company would get between 2-3thousand calls a day, every day from all over the world so I feel pretty confident that I have a good feel for the pulse of the "average" buyer of both restoration and performance parts as I managed the very folks that answered your call when you either purchased the part or griped about the part. I have personally spoken to thousand of customers and as a car guy I hired car people to interact with our customers because it made sense and made it real for the customer. I poured over and study reports on call volume, sales activities and what sold, what didn't and why.

Rarely did we ever hear from a customer "I am willing to pay alittle more for a better quality part" even though the rep would offer choices if they were available and many times there were. Instead, the consumers mantra "company "A" has it for less" became the standard. The customer rarely researched the fact that "company A's" part came in an unmarked, white box with "Hecho en Mexico" or "Made in China" on it. Only until they tried to fit/assemble/install the part did they realize the part was shit and then went on a forum somewhere to proclaim to the world that "company A sells crap". Unfortunately and predicatably, in an effort to compete with company "A", the company that lost (call em' company B) the sale due to price begins to investigate cheaper alternatives to the quality part they are currently selling and eventually they will find it.

Two things happen at this point. One, they realize that the cheaper part is selling like crazy while the quality part sits on the shelf. This leads the buyer to investigate other items that can be replaced with cheaper, sub standard parts because that is obviously what the customer wants, right? Sales stats say so and large container of blank white boxes filled with all kind of different knock off parts begin to arrive on the loading dock. Profit margins rise, sales ratio's go up and the company is hooked on the drug that is overseas/over border parts that come in unstamped white boxes and sold by everyone and you get what you currently have in that everone is selling pretty much the same crappy item. The executives slap themselves on the back for the brilliant business move and give the R@D department the directive to "do it again".

Everyone needs to look in the mirror on this subject. We the consumer drive this tractor with our spending. Keep purchasing the cheapest item, knowing full well that it is a knock off part, and reap the benefits. Summit is killing companies like Holley and MSD when they cherry pick their top selling parts and have them made overseas and sell them as "Summit" private label items. What will we say when these companies cease to exist? We love it cause' we can buy a knock off American Racing wheel for $99 when the real thing would cost $129 full retail. I am guilty of this myself. Seriously, we all know why the corner speed shop went bye bye, why America in general has jack shit for manufucturing capabilities anymore and why we get a declining product from our vendors. We as a nation have a WalMart mentality. $$$$$$ - yours, mine, theirs.

How will you vote with your dollar today? If you are convinced company "A" sells nothing but cheap knock off parts does it really make sense to buy from company "A" again for things like steering or brake components? An air cleaner? Probably. A brake rotor? No way. Just know that a quality part from company "B" will cost more initially but be worth it when you install and use it.

 

I bought it around 4yrs ago, unchromed, had a local old school chrome shop chrome it about 2mnths ago. The Magnum axel company says ductile Iron is what it is made from.



Anybody else running one of these Axels?

 

Well, for what it’s worth, I’ve bought quite a few parts from Speedway and have never had any problems with them. I suppose every business has a few product defects.

 

well than i would ask ,,just for your own knowledge..if they know (the shop you took it to) how to deal with chroming suspension parts.

And im not saying without a true test on that axle if Hydrogen embrittlement was the reason for failure..im just saying theres a right way to do this shit and a wrong way..and if it were mine i would be finding that out.
It can be tested for H.E.

 

How do you do that and where do I take it too

 

shot you a PM

Detection of hydrogen damage
There are various methods of adequately identifying and monitoring hydrogen damage, including ultrasonic echo attenuation method, amplitude-based backscatter, velocity ratio, creeping waves/time-of-flight measurement, pitch-catch mode shear wave velocity, advanced ultrasonic backscatter techniques (AUBT), time of flight diffraction (TOFD), thickness mapping and in-situ metallography – replicas. [7].

To inspect industrial facilities, such as a plant for the possible occurrence of hydrogen damage, an accurate inspection plan has to be made by combining advanced techniques like time of flight diffraction (TOFD), automated backscatter and velocity ratio measurements. [8]

The backscatter technique uses corroscan for the most critical areas, i.e., at highest temperature and/or highest partial hydrogen pressure. In order to discriminate between hydrogen damage and small inclusions, additional measurements are taken with the Velocity Ratio Technique.


obviously this proceedure would be done on a part suspect to have H.E.

there are pre-emptive proceedures to follow in the process of chroming so as not to even have H.E. be a possibility after the chroming is complete..
it involves heating the part and cycles

more info I sent you

but its kinda one of those deals where you discuss this with the chroming people before the fact..not after. and if they dont know what your talking about, than they probably just do bumpers and non structural parts.

if your axle already has it ..maybe there is something can be done about that.. but im not sure if that has to be done right after its plated or not..another good question to ask them.