Hot Rods bad experience with jw rod garage.please read

hi,long time member here on the hamb,first place I visit every day.I bought a model a frame from jw rod garage in Wisconsin.came time to put the front axle in and the front crossmember is even to top of frame in front and above the frame in the rear.(will post picture when I figure how do so ) about 2 degree rake,not good.called the company and have heard so many excuses.examples,oh its done in a jig,it cant be,send me pics,oh I cant see them,so I sent a bunch of pics,oh haven't had time to look at them ill talk to the boss and call you.oh, I thought you were gonna me,the boss is not here,me, when is he gonna be back?them,tomorrow,no call.this has been going on for about three or four weeks,bullshit. just want to see if anyone else has had problems.i have dealt with them for years,bought many things from them, but they had a good guy (bob)that passed away.god I miss bob.hope this doesn't happen to anyone else,imagine if someone drove that car with that little rake in the axle.plz post your bad experience.thanks ross

 

Bob was a great guy (Rods Plus) and great customer service. They JW is usually great to deal with and good products sorry to hear the issues.

 

that's why this is such a shock to me.i don't like it when good goes bad.

 

Isn't the brossmember going inside of the frame rails? It shouldn't be buttwelded like an add-on afterthought, 'dang, I'll need a crossmember about here, almost forgot!' kind of thing. Thye'd go inside and be plug welded where the original rivets would be. The crossmember itself should have the 5-7degree caster angle and not welded at an additional angle.
What else is wrong.

 

A friend of mine had a similar issue in his first from the ground up build of a frame for his 4 seater t-bucket. He put no caster angle on the front spring perch and when you hit a bump it was quite a jolt. At the time I worked at a machine shop so I made up a shim at the proper caster angle to go between the crossmember and the spring. When we tightened the clamp that held the spring into the perch it pulled the spring into the proper angle against the shim and brought it to the proper angle. Keep in mind you also have to readjust your radius rods to compensate as this ajusts the spring slightly more forward. I actually made a few shims with various angles of degrees so we could try different ones till we got the result we wanted.

 

Set the chassis at ride height, cut the cross member loose, set it at 5 degrees, weld it back in. It's not worth freaking out about.

-Abone.

 

Caster is measured as a relationship to the ground. That means you need final ride height and rubber rake all in before you can measure it. Before it's built those things need to be determined.

 

Set the bones parallel to the frame rails and pie cut the front to get desired caster when at ride height.
Use these adjustable perches to eliminate spring bind.
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Forged-Adjustable-Spring-Perches-Zinc-Plated-Steel,67340.html

 

I think who ever it was that welded that cross member in place ought to go back to welding basics. You NEVER leave a crater at the end of the weld. I see this on here all the time and it burns my ass. If the person who welded that doesn't know any better, he or she probably doesn't know anything about setting up the weld joint. Rosswo, you were probably unfortunate enough to have the new guy in the shop working on your frame.

 

I agree, I looked at a frame of theres at Jefferson swap meet this spring at it was nice.i am making a big deal out of this because I'm sick of people thinking they can put out crap like this and not have to fix it.think if you bought one of there 55 chevy frames (which I was gonna buy, not anymore)and it was dicked up like this, and got the runaround for three or four weeks.i don't want to see anybody else go through this.i want jw garage due the right thing.

 

I put one of their MII front ends under my '57 F100 several years ago. My last deal with them.

Used their crossmember kit springs, shocks, spindles....bought the complete kit from them. Kit went in pretty well and looked fine. Had almost zero travel up. I actually had to compress the front end to even get the shock to bolt on. Talked to them about springs, was the hat on wrong, did I get the wrong shocks... they told me that's the way they were. I took the shocks out and had all kinds of travel. Went to a Pro shock with more travel and fixed the whole deal.

The rack extensions they sent were a mess. Threads were cut crooked, one tie rod end had horrible threads. Looked like they were cut with worn out tooling or chips caught and shredded the female threads. So bad I replaced them with ones sourced locally.

Called to let them know what I had done and they acted like I shot their dog. Stopped just short of calling me a liar. Decided that was my last deal with them right there.
SPark

 

I tried to go thru the KITS so folks would not get burnt. Not really a "why you should" get a M2 more of a "HEY this is wrong and here's why" but it got deleted. As proof here, some of the suppliers don't care. That was deemed off topic, which it is but that's not going to help people not get screwed or drive around with unsafe crap being fed to them.

 

For a Moderator to delete such a post misses the point that suppliers can also produce crappy On Topic parts....it’s not just about Off Topic parts. The same suppliers often make both. The supplier’s quality issues are what is important to know.

Ray

 

thank you Lm14.thats is exactly what I have been going through,and the reason I posted this.we pay good money for something and then go through this.31 Vicky,you nailed it about unsafe stuff being fed to us,what happens when someone gets hurt or killed because of unsafe workmanship.i wonder if they care?thank you both for posting,u get why I posted.spread the word about what happened,please

 

Maybe they are trying to be bought out by the Hoffman Group.

 

that's funny right there

 

I think the crossmember is way too high. A 32 radiator actually fits in a gap between the crossmember and frame rail. It is likely the hood will not fit with the radiator raised.

 

Sorry you are having a problem. I agree that it's not that you can't fix it, it is that you shouldn't have to. I only ever bought one thing from them: a pair of modified Mustang II A arms. They sent two of the same side, then told me just go ahead and reverse all the parts in one to make a pair. True, and I did it, but I shouldn't have had to. They make 'em, but can't tell what is needed to make up a mirrored pair?

 

hi.back to the top for evening crowd. still getting nowhere with this business.unreal.i hope that anyone that was gonna buy from them sees this and thinks twice. plz post your bad experience with them.

 

I have been dealing with them for 20 plus years and never had a problem but wasn't getting full frames just rails and cross members. I talked to Bob and his buddy years ago and this was more of a side business as they do work for the New automotive industry .. This is why you don't see them at swapmeets a lot of times or even a few. I believe your best bet is take a ride to the shop and see if they will swap out your frame for another ... A bunch of HOTROD guys work for them and are great guys, sorry your dealing with a D head on the phone..

 

I also have been dealing with them for a long time,thats why this is so disturbing to me.eric is the guy I have had to talk to,and all I get is,all I can do is talk to the boss, and ill call you back.never does.i have said swap frames,but ill be dammed if I'm gonna drive all the way over there to fix there mistake,i have offered to drive part way to meet them,but nothing.anyother forums I can post to spread the word about this?

 

Make someone happy and they will tell a few people. Piss someone off and they tell everyone they can find and anyone who will listen.

Try that face book thing.
Are they on there?
Any of the social media venues they may be on. Instagram twitter.
Do they have anything on google ratings or yelp?

 

bingo 31 Vicky.i am not a techy so I need help with that. filed with bbb . not any of us are going to see that but they get notified there is a complaint filed,im not going away,fix your mistake.they are not hotrodders if they let something like this not get fixed.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

I posted a link to this thread on their Facebook page. Will let you know what happens.

 

I recently purchased their conversion power steering line kit to mate a GM power steering pump to their M-II power rack. Had problems from the get go. Return line was too small to go over the pump nipple. Pressure line leaked. Gave up on it and am having a tractor shop make the lines.

I do rember calling them on another issue several years ago and got a real dick head on the other end. Can't remember his name but I wrote it down above the phone in the shop so if I ever got him again I would know to ask for someone else.

 

" I wrote it down above the phone in the shop so if I ever got him again I would know to ask for someone else."
Or you could do business with a company that really wants your business and stands behind their products. Just a thought.

 

amen brother

 

There was a similar problem with a local San Jose speed shop. Info wasn't getting thru to the management.
Turns out they had a 'LEAK' on the phone.

 

well,a whole week has gone by and no contact.i was calling every day.does anyone know who is in charge there?i talk to a guy named eric,but that goes nowhere.any info would appreciated.thanks for the responses,and the moderators for keeping this on here.i just want my frame fixed and let everyone know to be carefull in your dealings with them.ross