Aftermarket Steering Column Safety Alert

LVVTA Aftermarket Steering Column Safety Alert

The Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association (Inc) has identified that some serious safety defects exist within a number of aftermarket steering columns, which, if not replaced, could result in a total loss of steering control of the vehicle to which it is fitted.

See more here.

http://www.nz-hotrod.com/vbulletin/...VVTA-Aftermarket-Steering-Column-Safety-Alert





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Thanks for posting. This is important stuff. I hope everyone reads this article as I am sure a lot of these have been sold here in the states.

John

 

Bloody hell a plastic bush in that part of a steering column - scary! Serious safety issue.

Thanks for the info lifestylz

 

And people wonder why I'd use a regular old GM column in a build.

 

Great! All the sudden, no steering. The people making and selling this junk don't care who they kill do they?

 

Another Hoffman Group story. Another reason to be careful in buying.
Later,
Dick

 

Thanks for posting Lifestylz. Now I am just waiting for the 'I bought one and have never had a problem' replies.

The Hoffman Group and Helix eh? Surprise, surprise....

These products should require safety certification - maybe an alert to the NHTSA in the US is called for.

As they say in the computer industry "Garbage in, garbage out".


“There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey.”


― John Ruskin

 

wow!

 

I have always preferred using adapted OEM parts to aftermarket items because I feel the quality is built in to OEM stuff. This confirms it.

 

Wow, went to the nsra south, knoxville, saw a few venders selling cheap tilt columns wondered about buying one...no marking on them had to be china made..glad not to have bought one. we need to let this info get around !!!! THANKS for posting this.

 

Buy American, the life you save may be your own, and the job you save may be your own.

 

More of their junk to watch out for..........

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=650004&highlight=hoffman+group

 

Things like this confirm the need for quality organizations like SEMA and the benefits of sites like this. Also much as we complain about some of govenment regulations on vehicles there are some solid reasons for the guidelines they put out.

 

So, how do the manufacturers/distributors deal with liability issues on subpar products (domestic or import)?
Seems that some have been selling them for a while with no consequenses.

 

Wow!!! And just when I thought that China made good stuff------NOT...

 

China can make quality goods. This comes directly back to what the importers want - cheap products.

 

Larry, sorry to say that's what the Wal Mart mentality has brought to the aftermarket. I had no less than 6 people come up to me at Knoxville this weekend needing a replacement for a China column they bought a year ago that failed in some way.

This is good info to have out there. We are working with these people to make sure that Flaming River will meet the safety standards set.

 

Have you read that Ruskin quote in the original text? I did many years ago. There is a lot more to it, which it is probably not the place to go into; but the episode got me to thinking of a paraphrase of what Ruskin seemed to be on about.

Let's assume that a widget is something that is generally accepted as worth a bit of money, something that doesn't exactly grow on trees. It's made of cast iron, though, and it generally does its job. But if you want a widget it is definitely something you would have to save up or borrow money for.

Now, someone comes up with a revolutionary plastic widget. It isn't quite as good as the old cast iron widget, but it is less than half the price. The inventor of the plastic widget is hailed as the friend of the poor and the saviour of industry, as everyone will henceforth be able to afford widgets - as there is now a "cheaper alternative" on the market. And indeed most everyone goes for the plastic widget. It becomes the industry norm; if you want a cast iron widget you would have to have it made specially, at an exorbitant price because nobody is set up to do it any more, and few remember how.

Guess what happens once this state of affairs is reached? The price of the plastic widget rises to a level similar to the price of the old cast iron widget. This is not due to excess of profit: the methodology of manufacture swells to consume the available income, and nobody can do it any cheaper.

Though there is a definite loss it is small: the plastic widget is almost as good as the cast iron widget, at much the same price as before. Unless one wishes to split hairs all is hunky-dory.

Until someone comes up with a revolutionary cardboard widget ...

And before we've rubbed our eyes out we're paying through the nose for absolute crap.

It comes down to not understanding "cheapness" in relation to the economics of price and affordability. Cheapness is always a characteristic of a situation, never of an actual product. The same misconception is rife in low-cost housing, for instance, and food aid/world hunger/etc.

 

Whatever possessed them to put "plastic' bits in the steering??

 

Tell me about it. Have you looked at many of today's door handle/lock/latch assemblies? A lot of them have complex moulded plastic bodies that make up the main structure of the assembly.

There's a whole other analysis behind all this dreaming up new stuff to make out of plastic. I believe it has a lot to do with being able to present a (wholly nonsensical) plastic-recycling programme while nonetheless ensuring critical threshold demand for crude oil by shifting the focus from fuel to plastics feedstocks (to say nothing of the planned obsolescence inherent in embrittlement over time due to leaching of plasticizers.) It shows up the absurdity of making a vehicle fuel-efficient by making it out of plastic.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Cheers for the headsup,wonder how long my American Shifter will last when my T gets going..............JUNK !!!!!!!!!! JW

 

This info needs to spread around the hobby quickly. Thanks to all the posts warning us . I put a cheap column in my truck last year.NOW I know why it just doesn,t feel right. -----I bought this from Summit Racing in Akron , Ohio --- I sure hope they had checked the quality of this STEERING part they sold me . I,m replacing it next week. THANKS FOR THE WARNING ( I should have known better )

 

I did not even need to read to the bottom before I knew it was going to be a Hoffman Group Product.

Real hotrods don't have tilt tho so I suspect most of us are ok

 

Two words: Hoffman Group.

Enough already. Just stop buying their crap! That is ALL they make.

 

Typical ChiCom garbage. Steering columns that can kill you and your family. No different then cheap distributors, radiators and other parts of poor fit and quality. Thats the reason I only buy OEM parts or do without.

 

When we build our cars we shouldn't cheap out on brakes or steering. Go with ididit, all their products are made in Michigan, USA!!

 

The point of the cheapening of goods today comes down to one factor - consumerism. Nothing is meant to last and this is what you get when your sole purchase criterion is price - how cheaply you can get it. This is hard to accept for those of us who grew up in a society and culture where things are meant to last for life and if they break you fix them. Where durability is a selling point and quality is inherent. Unfortunately we have generations growing up who really have no clue about quality goods and durability. This is the throwaway society and we have brought it on ourselves by focusing on price and price alone. Many manufacturers don't care if their product can potentially maim or kill or otherwise harm people which is why it is necessary to have regulatory agencies to monitor and keep a leash on irresponsible capitalism. For this reason I have taken it upon myself to report this critical substandard product to the DOT/NTHSA who I called yesterday. It goes back to the old mantra - 'Ya get what ya pays for'....

 

tilt steering is streetrod stuff. Traditional hotrods dont have tilt steering

 

And then you STILL get the U.S.-flag-waving population of Smalltown USA that flocks to the local Wal Mart as soon as they open in their town. They will LOUDLY complain about cheap Chinese crap (but that fact somehow doesn't seem to bother them when they're in the checkout line at Wal Mart) and how their mom & pop locally owned & operated businesses are suffering because of the economy/Obama/Bush/Reagan/Clinton, etc...

I will GLADLY pay a few dollars more for something to get good customer service from knowlegeable salespeople, good quality product, and good service after the sale. But I'm a dying breed here in America!!!