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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 2:58 pm Post subject: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Hey guys, I just bought a new pair of Latest Rage Combo spindles for this Chenowth buggy.
I've always been impressed with their forged steel (NOT cast!) spindles. i've seen them used on Class 5 Open race cars and been surprised how strong they are. I've watched a car with them slide straight into the turn 1 concrete K-Rail barrier at Glen Helen off the front straight table top in slippery mud hitting the wall VERY HARD with the right front wheel, with the beam and tie rod and Latest Rage forged +2.5 arms bent (arms bent in the shank), but the spindle was fine.
So when the reinforced stock spindle snapped, I immediately thought of the Latest Rage items. Ordered them and a set of Latest Rage link pin bushings. When the pieces were all here, I went to install the bushings yesterday afternoon. I got out my custom made press driver tool and headed for my hydraulic press. Standing there, I put a bushing in place and reached for the tool.
But the bushing fell right through the combo link!
No bueno dude!!!!!
I got out an old used combo link from a Foddrill Spindle. The bushings are tight and would require using the press to install them. So the problem is the bushing bores in the new Latest Rage Combo Links.
So I called Latest Rage and the shop I bought them from.I still haven't managed to get hold of the shop, but I've spoken to the bosses at Latest Rage a few times today.
Latest Rage says the outfit that makes them in Taiwan (not communist China) won't do anything about the problem and neither will they. They tell me I can either install the bushings with "JB Weld", or I can send them back to the shop where I bought them for a replacement or refund. Latest Rage's attitude was pretty much: "Oh well. Tough luck!"
Sending them back will leave me with no spindles short of the VERY HIGH cost of Foddrill spindles. Like 3x the price of Latest Rage. Or go back to gusseted stock spindles.
The entire current batch of Latest Rage spindles can be expected to have the same issue. So replacement would be a lot of shipping back and forth for no purpose. I would wind up with another set with the exact same problem.
Again, I basically really like the product. But for now,
DON'T BUY COMBO SPINDLES FROM LATEST RAGE _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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Brian Samba Moderator
Joined: May 28, 2012 Posts: 8340 Location: Oceanside
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:32 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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dustymojave wrote: |
install the bushings with "JB Weld" |
Yea if a manufacture says to install with JB Weld, that's one hell of a red flag. Big yikes _________________ Wash your hands
'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper
Only losers litter |
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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 5:33 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Not to mention when this set of bushings is worn out, it will be lots of fun removing them so I can JB Weld the next set in place...
I'm pretty pissed.
:fist:
:2gunfire: :snipersmile: _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.
Last edited by dustymojave on Tue Apr 06, 2021 5:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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TVander Samba Member
Joined: December 23, 2017 Posts: 17 Location: Lake Ann,Mi
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 5:34 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Take a look at buggybarn fabrication he has some listed on his Facebook site. |
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tobiism Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2004 Posts: 502 Location: Chandler AZ
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:11 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Depending on the difference in tolerance green Loctite sleeve retainer will hold them in place _________________ "There has never been a genius without a hint of madness."
-Albert Einstein |
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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:26 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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tobiism wrote: |
Depending on the difference in tolerance green Loctite sleeve retainer will hold them in place |
Not with a difference in diameter of over .020" _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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no1clyde Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2013 Posts: 365 Location: Elko Nv.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:07 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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dustymojave wrote: |
tobiism wrote: |
Depending on the difference in tolerance green Loctite sleeve retainer will hold them in place |
Not with a difference in diameter of over .020" |
Dusty you should be able to have a machine shop make some bushings that fit the spindles and the link pins. I have a lathe and know that is what I would do. My LR spindles have been great and yes they take abuse, I got lucky this time.
Ed |
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Dale M. Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2006 Posts: 20380 Location: Just a tiny bit west of Yosemite Valley
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:21 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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no1clyde wrote: |
dustymojave wrote: |
tobiism wrote: |
Depending on the difference in tolerance green Loctite sleeve retainer will hold them in place |
Not with a difference in diameter of over .020" |
Dusty you should be able to have a machine shop make some bushings that fit the spindles and the link pins. I have a lathe and know that is what I would do. My LR spindles have been great and yes they take abuse, I got lucky this time.
Ed |
Should not have to make any adapter sleeves, or use JB weld, its another failure point that I don't find acceptable....
Dale _________________ “Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.
"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ... |
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no1clyde Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2013 Posts: 365 Location: Elko Nv.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:35 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Dale M. wrote: |
Should not have to make any adapter sleeves, or use JB weld, its another failure point that I don't find acceptable....
Dale |
I agree but I was thinking of a way to get his use out of them since he has them. Yes not a good job by Latest Rage for sure.
Ed |
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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:51 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Well Ed, I use to have a lathe. I know how to use one. Have made a great many things on them. But it's been a long time since I sold mine because I really didn't have space for it. I could probably use a friend's lathe. An hour and a half away. And he uses it often in his business. So I'd rather not.
Point is that not only I shouldn't HAVE TO make my own bushings, but others shouldn't either. We are paying for an item ready to use. It should be ready to use. There is even an aspect of Tort law regarding this. It's called "Implied Warrantee of Usability". Means that if an item is sold for a specific purpose, then it must be reasonably usable for that purpose. _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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jimmyhoffa Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2014 Posts: 1059 Location: St. Louis
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:17 am Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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To stack on top of Dusty's last post, since those bushings are a wear item, you'd have to make custom ones again every time they wore out. _________________ 1974 Chenowth 2RL #1244 Street Legal
My other car isn't ridiculous. |
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21golden007 Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2020 Posts: 112 Location: Grand Rapids Michigan
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stevebaz Samba Member
Joined: March 14, 2008 Posts: 189 Location: El Monte CA
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:43 am Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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no1clyde wrote: |
dustymojave wrote: |
tobiism wrote: |
Depending on the difference in tolerance green Loctite sleeve retainer will hold them in place |
Not with a difference in diameter of over .020" |
Dusty you should be able to have a machine shop make some bushings that fit the spindles and the link pins. I have a lathe and know that is what I would do. My LR spindles have been great and yes they take abuse, I got lucky this time.
Ed |
Maybe wrap them with shim stock and the loc-tite and press them in. that is better than jb weld. |
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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:42 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Good that yours are from an earlier batch. I hope they fix the problem for the next batch.
Meanwhile,
DON'T BUY COMBO SPINDLES FROM LATEST RAGE
I plan to blast them on SoCal Bajas, Not Necessarily Bajas, Strictly Bajas ... all on Facebook, RaceDezert.com, Shop Talk Forums-Off Road Forums and any others I can think of.
That will have to wait. I'm leaving in a little while for my Father-In-Law's funeral today and tomorrow. He died 1/15/21 of Covid. Quite a backlog of funerals these days.
But once I'm back home, it's GAME ON for negative advertising for Latest Rage. I will also contact all the shops that sell Latest Rage parts that I can think of to let them know about the problem. That will include blasting them on Amazon.
I DID talk to the shop I bought them from and he agreed that returning them would only either get me more of the same at the cost of a lot of shipping, or getting my money back and having no spindles. Obviously nothing he can do about it other than tell other customers about the problem, which he said he will do. _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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Dale M. Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2006 Posts: 20380 Location: Just a tiny bit west of Yosemite Valley
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 5:16 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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dustymojave wrote: |
.........
That will have to wait. I'm leaving in a little while for my Father-In-Law's funeral today and tomorrow. He died 1/15/21 of Covid. Quite a backlog of funerals these days.
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Sorry to hear of loss of Father In Law.... Our prayers go out to you and you family....
Dale _________________ “Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.
"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ... |
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rayjay Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2008 Posts: 1506 Location: Buford GA
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:15 am Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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I would see if there is a "seal repair sleeve" that might fortuitously fix your problem. Unlikely but worth a shot. Otherwise it's custom made bushings.
ETA, Latest Rage should have the needed custom bushings made and supply them with the spindles. Pretty poor ethics.
http://www.anyseals.com/en/applications/repairslee...he%20seal. |
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Scott SD Samba Member
Joined: June 22, 2010 Posts: 153 Location: San Diego, CA
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 10:04 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Latest Rage is about 10 miles from my house. I’ve been there a few times. They are just a distributor for chinese copies. I once heard them say that they would buy a Berg product and send it to Taiwan to be copied. For them it is all about profit, they don’t seem like die hard VW or off road people that want to prove out a design. Find good designs and copy them oversees. I would never trust anything Latest Rage in terms of suspension components. In the back of my mind I would always be waiting for it to fail. |
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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:43 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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As I said before, nobody else in the world makes or sells those forged combo spindles. And I have been well impressed with them. That's why I chose to buy them.
But if a part is not made correctly, the manufacturer and who ever is selling them on are responsible for the item not being right.
Quality Control is NOT the customer's responsibility. Nor is fixing the failures.
Latest Rage's attitude about the problem is what pisses me off. It's the sort of corporate attitude (and I was talking to the owners of the business, NOT an employee) that can lead to the ruination of the corporation if someone gets hurt by a product failing due to a design or manufacturing flaw. _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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Scott SD Samba Member
Joined: June 22, 2010 Posts: 153 Location: San Diego, CA
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:46 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Completely agree. I never had a good vibe walking in there because of the attitude. But they are not a big corp giant, it is just a guy, his wife, and some kids that work there. Pushing orders. I doubt there is any quality verification for each lot of incoming material.
How are the Woods spindles? I am curious because I’m sure after my car is on the road, I will be moving to link pin & 3x3s. |
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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:59 pm Post subject: Re: Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!! |
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Woods and Foddrill are good but very expensive. Like 2-4x the price of Latest Rage. And there is no Tweeds any more. The original, Cecil Wright has been gone for decades. _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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