Projects Rant : save your money

I've been saying it for years...I gotta get into making aftermarket parts...Why? cuz they don't have to fit or work and there's no garantee implied or intended. I was looking for some steel bbc head gaskets a while ago. Felpro used to market them but now a performance based company does. I bought 2 sets cuz I was doing 2 engines. I had to modify the dowel holes on all of them. They wouldn't fit. Just today bought a set of "perf" points for a chevy dist, and no adjusting screw...happens everyday, just a part of working on old cars...

 

Just for the record... That spring clamp wasn't from Speedway. Just trying to be fair. I've since started hoarding originals for when appearance matters and using SoCals steel ones otherwise. Speedway also sells a steel version. As with a lot of things I can buy them less expensively than whacking them out "in house".

 

capitalism: Its pretty cool but its got its down sides.

 

Maybe they started buying their stuff from the Hoffman Group...?
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=650004&highlight=hoffman

You don't even want to try to make their $#!- work.
T

 

This lowest bidder manufacturing is not new.

As John Glenn said, “As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind: Every part of this capsule was supplied by the lowest bidder.”

 

I see these Bad sellers (like the hoffman group) Threads on here all the time, I used to comment on them, But it is a waste of time, My point is: Guys will buy this cheap ass shit, Many of you included. And then have the Nerve to bitch about it. I mean seriously, What did you think when you saw that part you been needing, And saving up to buy listed for half the cost of what they sell from a reputable company? Did you think all of a sudden the stars aligned and prices suddenly fell that much?? Or did you think Well hell they got a full page ad in street rodder, So they must sell good parts at unbelievable low prices??.....Bottomline is If it sounds too good to be true, Then RUN!!...As if you don't you are about to get Fucked!!...I mean you should have learned Dipshit 101 in high school.....Funny thing is some people will keep going back also and then bitch again. There are plently of companys that make good quality parts and they have been around for years. But guess what?...You have to get off your tight ass wallet and pay for it. Instead of living in dream world where you can buy quality parts for next to nothing.

 

Amen to all of the above.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Another tip when buying parts made by a company. Typically if they ALSO build cars, they often fit better than companies that JUST make parts. A company that builds cars, usually tries to use (and promote) their own parts.

 

In my case it was the only part i could find...yeah it was cheap!

Anywho, It's never to late to learn...
(I've learned tons here on HAMB...even Dipshit 101!)
It's scary that some people sell downright dangerous suspension parts!
T

 

You don't want any part of that disaster I mean sister Lol

I deal with all of these issues at work with china and vendors, I know you'll take care of it. Will the gussets even stop all that deflection? I know it will help, but hell that is a lot of movement

 

Just wondering if it was fully welded on or just tacked...looks like its just tacked in the photos... Could make a difference JMHO

 

we all feel this stuff. Only thing we can try to do is buy as much as we can from the smaller shops and builders rather than the mega marts and when we find somone who actually makes a quality part like we would all hope for is praise and reccomend them to anyone who will listen.

 

Whats even worse is the guys who don't even Know any better. I had a customer bring me a chrome column and steering joints he had bought somewhere on ebay, last summer For me to install them in his 55 chevy pickup. I got to looking at the steering joints and the hole the U joint was pressed into was egg shaped leaving about a .005 gap at the top, And the set screw threads were very poor. Hell he was proud of his purchase. I put the column in there for him but made him buy better steering joints. The column seemed ok but came from the same outfit.

 

No they don't - He isn't talking about Speedway Motors. And it's the other way around, Speedway Bought AFCO and Dyna Tech a few years ago, but none of that is connected to the company the OP is ranting about.

 

I read this rant just after it was posted, with on comments posted yet, just to see were it was going to go, IMO it all comes down to profit and the integrability of the company having the part made, any country can make good parts with the proper supervision and engineering and not a need for 100% profit , making trinkets is one thing but when you start making suspension parts, they should be held to a higher standard,and another sad part of this hole thing is the guy's that aren't as talented as 31Vickey and others on here and believe what they read, install this crap on there cars, not knowing the part is a piece of shit ,( things can go bad in a hart beat at speed) and what is REALLY sad is that some in this hobby except this as the norm .I truly hope this thread gets longer , gets copied and sent to them for a wake up call

 

A well written letter with GOOD photos will get attention. Copies of a thread containing conjecture and bitching will probably get tossed in the shit can.

 

Close enough, they're in business together.

 

Yes that is more than reasonably certain to be true.
So who wants to write a letter? Who's the well spoken and can communicate effectively with morons? There's a saying, "don't argue with a fool because folks might not know the difference." I spent way more time on the phone than I wanted to just hear the BS that I went over already in the first post. I'm pretty good at explaining but there's no patients for me to explain to a expert that a 2.25" spring will not fit into a 2.125" space. To be countered with "don't tighten the nuts all the way" leaves little room to continue.

In all actuality, my time would be better spent just building what I need than trying to initiate a restructuring and reconfirmation of a business plan for a company that's been around since 1946. Obviously they haven't always had the current philosophy in practice or they wouldn't have made it that long. They are a business that needs to compete with their peers or stand above them and hopefully survive the cash flow shortage long enough for the competition to fail because of current business trends.

I Had Chinese carry out for lunch today & you know what words of wisdom my fortune cookie brought forth? "Like every thread of gold is valuable - so is every moment of time"
Would a refund make me happy ? No but it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Being fully compensated for every moment of time I spent fucking with this junk, talking to their parts expert, removing their junk, re fixtureing and every thing else that I needed to do just to get back to where I was before I opened the damn boxes. That might come close, except I want the days that I lost too. That's not ever going to happen, even if they really wanted to they couldn't it's impossible. So it's best to just part ways and make sure that no money of mine goes that way, ever.

 

This would be Funny as hell if it didn't ring So true In alot of cases these days. One thing I have found from dealing with many people in our small world Is we sure as hell did not all go to the same school....

 

Good writeup -31 Vicky has my attention--- a lot of the after market stuff is absolute junk and dangerous as well. Lots of good comments here as well. When you see something at a price that is very low--it is probably junk-DON'T BUY IT, then complain about inferior parts and pls don't install it as you become a rolling hazard. Buy/build quality parts or find another hobby.

 

Have brought 6 brake drums from this supplier recently, bloody good looking drums but everyone of them needed re machined as they were all out of true and one of them had a great big unmachined area in the braking surface. The proud label on it read "Designed in the U.S.A, manufactured in China". Theres your problem right there, fuckin Chinese shit!!

 

Ok I am not sticking up for any body but they do say the hangers are "Forged" Now if you take a forged front axel that is under a car and turn the wheels hard left the left part of the axel from the perch to the king pin will bend backwards and the other side from the perch to the king pin will move forward. This is what a "Forged" axel will do. I am not saying that this is what the items you have are supposed to do but it could be?

 

Fortune cookies are American, not Chinese. That's a food fact.

 

Our first substantiated fact in this thread

I knew you'd find something x

 

So you actually bought cores ?

 

Maybe so & I'm in no position to say otherwise.

If that's what they are supposed to do, then you know where to get them & you use them.

 

more than likely its the housing material that's flexing, not the beam. housing is only 1/4" at best and some are 3/16"........ya , typical speedway, got to re engineer their parts. gusset them up with a nice web design gusset, you can makem work....but thanx for the heads up to all of us about them.

 

Now that I have it apart for some good pics, and before I throw them in the toilet for a week- here's the problem with their 2-1/4 shackles.
Per the phone conversation with the expert, and I quote :

"These shackles are what we sell, and we've been selling them for a long time. Other people seem to be able to use them"
"They are the same as Posies and everyone else's"
they are not the same as posies confirmed by posies and the pin is 2.5" to the shoulder
"Just leave the nuts loose, they are nylock nuts"

I asked him if he had the parts there in front of him and he said "yes and a set a calipers too, I don't see a problem, I don't know what to tell you"

I was expecting to hear something like "oh darn, we sent you the wrong part" not that "these are the correct parts"

In the pic- the top nut is tight and you can see the face of the nut is a fuzz from being flush with the threads. Not 1/2 thread, not 1-1/2 threads but a fuzz sticking out.

The rest of it ought to be self explanatory.
With the shackles parallel, the threads don't engage the nylon,
The shoulder on the pin is 1/8" short.

You can make your own decision on if its correct or not.
Bottoming the shoulder on the 2-3/8 pin will prevent any movement until the bushing shoulder is destroyed.

If the pin were 2-1/2" like everyone else's there would be no problem.

 

Not a chance that the 3.25 OD x 0.188 wall tube flexed. And if it did? Well some simple thinking would tell you that the rear end had just went to a 3/4" toe out condition.

 

is it possible that the forged brackets are welded to the axle too far apart and do not let the shackles hang down at the desired 45+ degrees.when the spring tries to work it presses directly on the bracket rather than pushing down on the shackles.Just a thought but the gomentery looks wrong.I`m proably missing something here but are the 2 pictures showing weight on and weight off the spring?