Technical Buyer beware - Another Hoffman Group sighting

Summit is selling Helix branded steering U-Joints. "Backed by manufacturer's limited lifetime warranty"

From a Summit Racing Equipment catalog that came in the mail today (Page #61, catalog labeled Source Code: H21100).

Google "Hoffman Group" before ordering these parts.

 

Who's lifetime?
As a sign at a brake repair shop read "no unhappy customer has returned".

 

“Limited” life time warranty.

ever read the fine print on that crap?

Probably reads something like this ..... limited lifetime warranty applicable if installed by a plumber named Vinny while he’s drunk on night train wine. Only in the month of October , under a full moon light rain.
Connie fabrizzio needs to be getting finger banged in the back of a camaro by a guy with a neck beard named Gino, while Diana Ross is playing on the radio.
A dog barking in the back ground
And some drunk driving into metal garbage cans
While an old man yells about it being to noisy.
If not warranty is null and void.

 

Limited lifetime. Seems self-explanatory.

.

 

Limited lifetime usually means if it goes bad you get another one, but it will only have a 30 day or so warranty. It doesn't mean everytime it goes bad that you will get a new one.

 

Let Summit know that we don't appreciate them selling this kind of stuff.

 

Why would anyone spend money on an inferior part for their steering (or braking) system?? If there is a place to not to be “frugal” it’s in those systems I mentioned above.
We are fortunate in this day and age to have quality aftermarket steering and braking parts available instead of relying on used and abused parts from the junkyard.
( there is a reason those cars are in the junkyard)

 

While I agree with the first part I'm not really there on the second part.

I've heard too many horror stories of crap reproduction steering boxes and brake parts & boosters etc.
I use my own judgement on getting better stuff for suspension/steering and if it can come from an OEM source then all the better!
EG...my T's Corvair box was getting a bit of bushing wear so I sourced the parts online...but decided to see what would turn up with a wanted ad locally.
I scared up an excellent low mileage box with the short input shaft from a guy building a front engine Corvair.
Much better than hoping a Chinese repo is up to the task!

Stuff is still out there if you look around...and it's high quality...unlike the "new" off shore stuff that looks good but offers no durability.

I guess I'm lucky in that I can fabricate stuff I need pretty easy, so adapting parts isn't that big a deal.
With whats out around in the aftermarket now I'd be kinda worried if I were dependent on catalog parts only.
I realize it isn't all bad...but "junkyard" parts are not all bad either.

 

another reason that we are so lucky that Ryan set up this site - Most people walk into the trap of "looks good and priced right"

 

It certainly diminishes Summit's reputation that they are selling this junk. Hope they understand the slippery slope they are travelling on.

 

X 2

 

This ,as many issues with China Manufacturing , is going to be a tough row to hoe . Most people are going to Summit to buy and build with purchases . They have no idea if it’s junk or quality stuff. What I have seen in the fine print on lots of aftermarket parts is “ this part is for off road use only “ , this kinda relieves the manufacturer and seller of any issues when the buyer and user of the part hurts himself or an innocent person driving on a defined road . It in turn gives everyone in our hobby a black mark in the public’s eye . Just use caution , you get what you pay for if it’s a great deal , then the only deal is the person getting your hard earned cash .

 

Truth right there.jmho. Snowman

 

The real sad part of this is that most people have probably never heard of the Hoffman Group and don’t know anything about their history of selling shit. I had never heard of them before I joined the H.A.M.B.. Thankfully you guys have taken the time to educate me. Some poor bastard is going to find the Summit listing for that part, and if they look up Helix, they will find Hoffman’s slick website and think, hey, this must be good stuff. Then they find out the hard way, hopefully with no one getting injured.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

In todays market how do you know what you are buying ? Change a part number and packaging .I think allot of vendors are doing this for survival . Sad to say but made in USA is about gone . Summit at least is giving you the manufacture to research .

 

"Limited Lifetime", means your "personal lifetime" may be shortened if you install the part on your vehicle and it fails.

It's reprehensible that Summit is carrying inferior parts, especially steering gear. I guess safety is even sacrificed for their profit margin? As a major parts house, Summit HAS to know they're selling inferior Hoffman parts to their customer's.
If they honestly state they didn't know what they were selling, then I worry even more about them and their reputation!

 

I just emailed Summit about the inferior products Hoffman Group sells and included this thread
as an example of what car folks think about them.

 

Figured I'd throw this out into the Twittersphere https://twitter.com/karlgroves/status/1211315445208436737

 

I also sent Summit an email indicating that I had previously thought that I could trust them to sell quality products.

Also sent them links to a couple of threads.

It will be interesting to see if they respond.

 

This will fall on a lot of deaf ears.
In a world of cheap prices at Harbor Freight, Speedway,on-line stores relying on a slick looking website people will buy junk knowingly and then bitch about it later.

 

Difference is going into harbour freight ( princess auto up here )
You know damn well your buying Chinese junk or if your lucky something half decent.
Really nothing of quality comes out of places like that.
Like going to Walmart and expecting caviar and Rolex at canned tuna and swatch watch pricing.

Speedway, while not too end is/was known as a place to get decent to quality parts at reasonable prices.

doing this will water down the name, and while profits might spike in the short term, long term won’t be good.

mice seen it before and it’s a horrible business model.

 

Limited Lifetime warranty on steering parts... that will work itself out quickly, unfortunately.

 

"Lifetime Warranty" - The lifetime of my garage mice.
I'm glad we can post about unscrupulous vendors here. There's another old car forum that will delete threads in a heartbeat about any criticism or about any bad dealings. They quickly cite that they are afraid of law suits. How else are we to avoid bad vendors or their bad products?

 

Like others have said, E-Mail them or do like I do. Pick up the phone and call them. It is more personal and you can get the point across much better.

 

A lifetime warranty is only as good as the company lasts.

 

I still say that it seems people have all kinds of time to post complaints on product reviews but won't work the equivalent amount of time on the front end earning the money to buy quality products.
I too say SHAME ON YOU Summit Racing!

 

I deal with Summit a lot and am a little surprised. But my guess is they will probably sell enough of them to miss or uninformed people that they might not be too concerned about people who care about the quality of some of their products. As stated before it's hard to know what a quality product is for some if your new to hot rods and building. I can't count also how many times I've seen guys at swap meets buying someone's worn out parts and putting them on their builds to save a buck.

 

So, who actually makes decent steering u joints? I will be needing to get some soon, and would like to know what brands are good. And yeah, Hoffman group sucks!

 

At a minimum there are two quality steering joint mfgs Borgeson and Flaming River.
Why pinch pennies knowing this!

 

I agree that most going to Princess Auto have lower expectations, and while there is a lot of "junk" most of it suits the intended purpose and likewise expectations. Unfortunately, in today's world, most of the manufactured goods here in NA are imported from the Far East, unlike Europe. I especially went out of my way to NOT purchase offshore lifters for my flathead because of the issues that have been raised, but how many are ready to pony up the extra $$$ to buy American?