Do NOT buy Latest Rage Combo Spindles at this time!!!!!!

[dustymojave]

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.

[Brian]

[dustymojave]

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.

[TVander]

Take a look at buggybarn fabrication he has some listed on his Facebook site.

[tobiism]

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

[dustymojave]

[no1clyde]

[Dale M.]

[no1clyde]

[dustymojave]

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.

[jimmyhoffa]

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.

[21golden007]

You made me nervous so I went and checked the ones I plan on installing. I haven't tried pressing them yet but they seem tight. Bought in February from Pacific customs. Maybe they are older and were sitting around a while at PC.

https://www.pacificcustoms.com/ac405030h.html

https://www.pacificcustoms.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Sc...ange_high=

[stevebaz]

[dustymojave]

[Dale M.]

[rayjay]

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.

[Scott SD]

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.

[dustymojave]

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.

[Scott SD]

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.

[dustymojave]

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.