sorry for the long rant but i gotta get it off my chest .... any one have any good words to say about MAS hot rod parts?? i ordered a classic 6"drop tube front end set up from them a few weeks back and when it showed up i couldn't have been more pissed off. i called and asked to speak with a tech guy before ordering and the guy on the phone(mike) said he could help me. i asked him specifacally what is the narrowest you can make a 6" drop axle and have it still work with your transverse leaf spring set up ? he said he could go 36" from KP center to KP center. i was thinking i wanted about 40" but when he told me 36 would work i ordered it 38" KP to KP which would put the outside track width on my front end with my wheel and tire combo at 51" which is just 3" wider than the 27 ford touring body we modified to a 2 seater. well it doesn't take a genius to realize as soon as i opened the package that there is no way in hell this is going to work as the flat part of the tube axle before the bend starts for the 6" drop is only about 20" wide and the spring eyes are 26" apart add in the fact that these need to mount to a set of shackles and the width between radius rod mounts needs to be at about 29" ....not even close to possible with the axle i got from them . so before jumping to conclusions and calling and yelling at any one i deide to call and ask if i am missing something in the way this goes together (not my first hot rod build but the first time i ever used a tube axle or radius rods ) i usually use a beam and split bones. the guy on the phone (didn't get his name) tells me that they are in business to sell hot rod parts not build hot rods and that they hope that there customers know what there doing when it comes to that . that there is no refund on custom axles (even though it was ordered based on their reccomendation ) and basically that it is my fault i'm unhappy ! well fuck me runnin i guess it is my fault , i should have known better than to listen to a professional and trust that he knew what i was looking for or that he even knew what he was doing . there were many more things said on the phone that pissed me off but i think you get the idea . i will build many more hot rods in my life and will talk with many more people that will build hot rods themselves and i can tell you for sure that neither my self or any one i talk to will ever order anything from MAS FAWK em !!!!! jp
So why should we care that you ordered the wrong width? If you have experience like you say you should know what you need.
I never had luck with them, but I'm not going to work myself into a froth today, so I'll leave it at that. Their 80's catalogs they send out are kinda cool though.
i do know exactly what i would need to build a car just like all of the rest i have done and all of the rest i have seen done . you sound just like them ...... as i stated in my post i wasn't sure what i needed . i had never used a tube axle before and never used hairpins . i called a professional to ask for professional advise and got it stuck in my ass . apparently you were born knowing everything , the rest of us have to learn from experience . i guess i should have asked them how much of the tube would remain straight after the 6" drop and narrowing , then i could have figured out on my own that the math didn't work out.....oh wait i did ask that when i said ......." HOW NARROW CAN YOU GO ON ONE OF YOUR 6"DROP AXLES AND STILL BE ABLE TO USE YOUR STOCK TRANSVERSE SPRING SET UP ?" i 'm not here to argue over who is wrong or right , only here to see if this a common experience with these people or i just had a bad personal experience with em" one thing i know for sure is that i will never use em again and that will cost them a couple complete front end set ups a year for as long as i am still messing around with hot rods . they could have handled this differently and this wouldn't be an issue ! jp
Well, sounds like TMan is right as usual. You made the mistake, so learn from your experience. When you don't know what you need and you place an order, it's not their fault for you getting a useless part. I mean, seriously.... how can you blame someone else for you being in such a hurry that you don't research before you buy? Point being: Learn what you need before you pay the $$$.
We all have fucked up orders in our parts stash, you are not alone A guy just has to suck it up and move on. Try what I mentioned in my return PM, may help. You could also machine a spud that would widen the tube axle. A couple steps in it, perimiter weld and some rosettes. If you are not up to it have a pro weld it.
I also had problems with them. I ordered a spring behind axle kit for my car (31 Model A) I also asked mike if i could use that axle on my car and still run the frame horns on a stock frame. He said yes. Well after the motor went in it didnt fit. Also the "bat wings" that you attach the radius rods to are wrong. They are not cut correctly and dont give you enough space between the U-Bolt clamp and the axle itself. I had also called to ask why this is happening and they said once it is welded up its my problem. So i am now out 500 dollars and may have to get a new axle now. I will never listen to them or order again. I should have just ordered from speedway and i would have been fine.
i can certainly make up a quick jig and widen the axle myself back to a width i can make work ..but they already cut it once to narrow it and to widen it is a little more involved so i would need to make up a inner sleeve and then put an outer filler piece in the middle and i would have two circumfrence weld points plus a few plug welds on it then...i just thought i would leave that to them since they only charge 10 bucks to do it . i'm no stranger to making mistakes and jumping the gun on parts i have a lot of stuff here on shelves that i may use someday but not on the projects i got em for! i just thought i was doing the right thing in asking professional advise from a proffesional but as in every other aspect of my life and as stated by many others many times if ya want something done right you must do it yourself. if you don't know how.....learn. i will contact them once again as per Tmans advise and see if they are willing to work with me in any way in getting an axle here that will work. that is their one chance and the results of that call will make my mind up for good as to wether or not i will use em again.
Maybe I was just lucky, but they made an axle for my pick-up project with custom camber, drop and width. When I recieved it, it was exactly what I asked for.
over 50 percent of what i have bought from them was in speedway boxes, the rest was wrong............and they are way too slow at getting your order to you like 5 weeks for off the shelf stuff...
i did do my research the only thing i didn't do is find one of their 6" drop axles on a car somewhere and confirm with the owner that it was in fact an MAS axle then verify that it was in fact dropped 6" then measure between the curved sections where the drop took place then measure between the radius rod mounts (that the customer welded on where ever he wanted them) then measure the spring , then confirm it was in fact an MAS supplied spring ,then call MAS and ask them if all of the measurements i got off this random car at a show are the same measurements that the stuff they currently source out and sell are. (Which is a much tougher question than the one i asked them to begin with) ....then and only then i suppose i should have presented them with the (what is the narrowest you can make your 6"drop axle and still be able to use your standard transverse spring kit?) trust me the only mistake i made when i placed this order was that i listened to the guy on the line when i asked him that question .(and that i didn't just order from speedway like i usually do) . i knew exactly what i needed and asked him a few questions,all of which he answered with info that was total BS maybe he missunderstood my questions. maybe he didn't give a fuck ! maybe he doesn't have a clue ! but you saying I fucked up by not doing research is ignorant 'cause no where in my post did it state hat i called MAS and flew by the seat of my pants on this order ! although the results do seem that way!! don't matter , i called em and wasn't any happier with their piss poor attitude the second time i subjected my self to it anyway! jp
not a dumb question at all ....apparently you need to know the address of the place you are ordering it from so you can fly there and make it your self ! or it is your fault it is wrong !! seriously .... i can help you with all of the info you need to order an axle ! it is not nearly as complicated when you are just building a car with a straight/dropped axle , done several with no problems ,it's when you start thinking outside the box and trying to do something different than every other car you see that it gets difficult but the last one i ordered for the car i'm doing now didn't work for me so maybe i'm not the best one to give you advise.
You need to tell them the drop you want and have to specify if the drop is "total" drop or additional drop to the original. I told MAS the total drop I wanted. You'll also have to tell them the king pin inclination you want and the finished center-to-center distance between the king pins, measured at the top of the king pins. As I recall, I either faxed or snail-mailed a detailed drawing of what I wanted. Communication is critical and a hard copy drawing takes away any chance of miscommunication. I received my MAS axle within 3-weeks and measured it on the bench. Everything I had asked for was done exactly as I had requested. When I spoke to MAS by phone, they were not "touchy-feely", but just wanted the info and get back to work. I wasn't looking to be stroked, however, just wanted an axle built to my specs and that's what I received. I'd do business with them again. My 2¢
I bought a 36" axle from them several severeal years ago. King pin bosses were out of line by 1/2". Alos camber not angle not right.
A good source had told me that MAS is almost out of business... Rich the original owner sold about about 18 months ago to retire. The new owners are running it right into the ground... and fast!
I stopped in last Saturday afternoon - hours posted indicated they should have been open, but it was all locked up - looked in the window and it was empty. Maybe it's already gone.
"A good source had told me that MAS is almost out of business... Rich the original owner sold about about 18 months ago to retire. The new owners are running it right into the ground... and fast!" Must be the problem. I bought my axle a few years ago. Who the fuck buys a business and then runs it into the ground ???
I bought mine from them, It was ok, I do have a unexplained wobble in the front end. Maybe I should check the axle..... everything besides the axle and bat wings were speedway parts.
i have absolutely nothing bad to say about MAS because i have never bought from them , and i live in Minnesota where they are located.
I had some perfect spindles and kingpins but no kingpin bolts or nuts (tapered threads). Speedway only sells complete kingpin kits, but MAS sold me just the nuts and bolts. I had a good experience with them. I'm not trying to single you out SinisterPimp or start an argument, but these tear down someones business threads are super lame. Hot rods don't snap together like Lego set, and there's bound to be so miscommunications along the way. No two are the same. I hope you get the parts you're looking for.
Know-nothings and dumbasses, that's who! The turn of the generations is happening right now in many of the long-term businesses which make up the old car industry. Some will be taken over by family members who have been taught correctly by their parents how to run a business, some won't. Some will be bought by people with business experience and old car experience, just never together, and have a good chance of surviving, some won't. Some will be bought by complete and utter fools to the financial joy of the seller and disaster to the employees and vendors serving and being served by the buyer. Many of the old names we've known for decades will disappear in the next year or five years. Some names will end up on purses and walking shoes like "Von Dutch", to the great amusement of many old time rodders.
I bought a shitload of AUTOBUFF magazines along with the binder..Im happy,however I am wondering about their parts
Something about girls with mullets crawling all over pro-street camaros.... Autobuff... Did you buy the axle, spring, hardware, and radius rods from them in one shot?
I've been dealing with MAS since the early 60's......never had a problem with them or any of their merchandise. Maybe I'm just good at shopping.
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