A little problem I had.

enjenjo · December 10, 2007, 05:18:53 PM

Megan, did you ever figure out what caused the accident?

donsrods · December 10, 2007, 08:15:52 PM

Megan, I think he knows already because Speedway called me today and said they have been working with not only the vendor (TP) but the manufacturer also. They also told me they have pulled all of them off of the shelf for now, and a member on another forum just posted that their website has "discontinued" written across these items.

I think this is just a safety measure by Speedway until they know more, and do some testing. They told me they are using presses and other means to test these right now. Speaks very highly of Speedway to react so positively and proactively. I didn't mean to start a major problem for anyone, but if it saves one life or someone from injuries, I guess it needed to happen.

Part of me feels badly about this though. My arm could be just a very isolated situation in a sea of these that both TP and Speedway have sold over the years. I sincerely hope that is the case.

As for the steering systems working smoothly, I couldn't agree more. Don's was particularly easy because his pitman arm is shorter than mine, but both cars run right down the road and turn easily, even when stopped dead. Don has decided to let his car sit until after Jan 1 so he can save up for a total refit of the front brakes to Wilwoods. We are going to pull the chromed GM discs off because we just don't trust chromed spindles and stuff anymore.

Don

Daveyboy · December 10, 2007, 08:23:34 PM

So would you guy chrome Heair pins? and Axels?

donsrods · December 10, 2007, 11:35:18 PM

Tough call. Historically, thousands and thousands of front end parts have been plated, and luckily the incident rate of failures have been a small percentage. I think of all the parts that could safely stand plating, axles and wishbones or radius rods would be among the safest to do simply because of the thickness of the parts and/or the stresses put on them.

Steering arms and spindles are the ones that now scare me after this recent event. I might be just gun shy, but that is my thinking right now. However, my other Son Dan just bought a drilled and chromed superbell axle and radius rods for his '29 from Pete and Jakes, and I think he will be ok with those because of who they came from and the above mentioned thickness and construction. At least I hope so.

As a side note, my '27 has a chromed Ford F100 steering arm that I sent to Advanced Chrome plating about 20 years ago, and it has been ok, but I sure will look at it closely when I rebuild the car sometime in the future. I would hope that with the quality of the work Advance does they would have baked it to remove any hydrogen bubbles, but who knows.

Don

Leon · December 11, 2007, 02:06:45 AM

I believe one factor in wishbones is that chroming tubes don't have the same problem because the part isn't plated on the inside. I've read it allows a path for hydrogen to migrate. Don't know how true that is, but every part that I've heard about failing was encapsulated in chrome.

donsrods · December 11, 2007, 05:43:17 PM

Just a little update:

Spoke to Speedway today, I was returning their call. They have pulled the products from the shelf just to be safe until they know more. So far they have done some QC testing and the ones they have bent and pressed come up ok, within specs. He mentioned something about 8,000 lbs, tensile strength, etc, but it is lost on my simple mind. However, it is apparent that they are making a sincere effort to make sure these are ok to sell. There is no doubt in my mind about that.

He said Total Performance is also doing lots of work to make sure there are no problems, and that Mickey may post some updates on some forums to let people know they are working to be sure there is no problem too.

Can't ask for more that that from either company. It is looking like this was a one off problem, or at least limited to a few out of the thousands that have been sold. Heck, even GM, Ford, and other huge companies with Engineers, Designers, etc have recalls due to problems, so why should smaller companies not have some bumps in the road now and then?

Just wanted to let everyone know what I learned today.

Don

enjenjo · December 11, 2007, 06:32:13 PM

Glad to hear that. Just for the record, there is nothing wrong with cast steel parts, many heavy truck suspension parts are cast steel, many of them heat treated.

I am sure Total Performance, and Speedway will get the problem solved.

Pep · December 12, 2007, 12:34:41 AM

It appears that the chrome plating may be the cause. I don't know how they could guarantee that it won't happen again. The only safe way would be to avoid chrome plated steering components. No possiblity of having a rod over here with it. I used to think it was just another way of making it harder for us to get our rods on the road, but over the years I have seen this type of failure more often, and now I'm a believer.