Heads up .. Flaming River

[ironworks]

I have never had anything break like that from Flaming River. But I have had columns that rattle when new and racks that just die. When I made the switch to Ididit columns I felt they were just a better built column.

I had to deal with the warranty department at FR on a repair we had on a customers car built by another shop and the comment about never having seen that happen before is a common statement in the customer service industry for our world. I told him that's funny this customer has had this issue twice now on his car.

I had a ring gear in a Moser diff wear the hard facing off in like 300 miles on the Chevelle we built. And that was the easiest half throttle 300 miles so I knew we had not over done it when new. I now call when I order a diff and make sure the gear ratio I want is available in a US gear not some foreign crap. The last sales guys tried to make me feel stupid for asking him to check and I told him it has happened to me twice, it seems funny you have never heard of that issue and you might ask your sales manager "Kip" because that is how I got to know him was from this issue happening to me twice before, so if you could please check the brand of ring gear in stock. Thank you.

Sometimes these sale guys at the bigger companies seem like they just got a job down the street for their old job at Autozone or Pep Boys. It really is bad for the company as these guy are their front line with the customer.

[dontlifttoshift]

Originally Posted by camcojb

Inch lbs. or foot lbs.?

A 5/16" allen screw should take 14 ft/lbs no problem. Hell, if you ran it in with an impact gun and broke three sockets doing it, the u joint should not have failed the way it did.

I can't figure out how that particular piece made it through the broaching process.

[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by mfain

I can almost guarantee that part was made "off-shore". The issue is the quality of the steel that it is made from, regardless of the US engineering that went into designing the part. I lost the end of one finger to a "Made in China" coil spring compressor when the center exploded - just like the Flaming River part. Whenever I buy aftermarket parts that are significant, I try to ask the supplier where it is built. Some won't answer, but most are made overseas. As for GM, I just bought a "Genuine GM Parts" driveshaft carrier bearing, a set of oil cooler lines, a heater hose....etc-----"made in China, Mainland" stamped all over them. Disk brake pads -----"made in India". Truck wheel bearings ---- "made in Mexico". All of this stuff was in GM wrappers, but you can compare the stuff with the parts you are replacing and see the obvious quality differences. Not good differences! But what do you do? By the way, I use Woodward and/or Sweet steering components.

Pappy

Agreed. X2

[raustinss]

In school we came across "mystery" metal...came from a cheap little Chinese no name dirt bike engine. The piece cracked and we decide to use it in the lab to see what the spectro analysis was. It fell into nothing technically. The make up of the steel wasn't anywhere where it should have been. Having said that I could see the part being made with Chinese steel. Regardless of where the engineering or assembly took place. I also can see the part being hardened is there a possibility that there was a error in the hardening process therefore actually causing the part to become brittle?

[Errnie-ZL1]

I have the same set up from flaming river not yet installed. Let's see if it happens

[DRJDVM's '69]

Got a FR column in my car still in mock up...and in my Camaro...now I'm freaked out...great

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by ironworks

I had a ring gear in a Moser diff wear the hard facing off in like 300 miles on the Chevelle we built. And that was the easiest half throttle 300 miles so I knew we had not over done it when new.

Rudy and I always drop by to see my buddy Barry White (he did a lot of early work on the Nomad - and I found the Nomad via Barry 15 years ago).... and while there we started talking shop... He's telling me about MOSER... and the 3 bad ring gears he went thru in one customers build... REALLY LOW miles as in less than 500 and the gears were SHOT.

That was a "wow" to me because I always thought of them as very high quality providers...

I've had very good luck with Yukon from Randy's Ring and Pinion... Never once had a howler or a bad set... SO FAR.

[Track Junky]

Originally Posted by Errnie-ZL1

I have the same set up from flaming river not yet installed. Let's see if it happens

Originally Posted by DRJDVM's '69

Got a FR column in my car still in mock up...and in my Camaro...now I'm freaked out...great

I don't think you guys should even risk it. Return that junk ASAP and tell them why.

[ironworks]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Rudy and I always drop by to see my buddy Barry White (he did a lot of early work on the Nomad - and I found the Nomad via Barry 15 years ago).... and while there we started talking shop... He's telling me about MOSER... and the 3 bad ring gears he went thru in one customers build... REALLY LOW miles as in less than 500 and the gears were SHOT.

That was a "wow" to me because I always thought of them as very high quality providers...

I've had very good luck with Yukon from Randy's Ring and Pinion... Never once had a howler or a bad set... SO FAR.

The way I understood my issue was that it was more of a Richmond Gear problem. The gears used to be made in the US and Italy. Well when they went to the where ever to have the gears made, they were not nearly as good. When we removed the gear it had just worn the hard facing off the gear.

[FRJohn]

If anyone has any questions or concerns for a part you purchased please feel free to give me a call. 440-824-2168 direct line

John
Flaming River