Almost bought the farm tonight!!!

Another low mileage Speedway suspension failure.
http://www.volksrods.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30628
Destroyed the car, and luckily only a broken leg.

Sooner or later, someone will get killed.

Unkl Ian said:

Sooner or later, someone will get killed.

Click to expand...

Exactly. I do use them for some things, but I am VERY careful about what it is. I always refer to them as the "Wal-Mart of hot rodding", and it just gets more true. You get what you pay for folks, and "Speedy Bill" just wants your dollars. Safety, craftsmanship and pride take a back seat. This pic sums it up...

I was watching powerblock tv the other day and they were talking about visual differences in cast and forged parts. The cast has a single thin seam while teh forged has a larger double seam... at least that's the way I understood it. If this is true that pic they have on their site looks cast to me.

That would be pretty shady if they were telling people they are forged when and if they are not. I buy a lot of parts from them and don't want to start second guessing them.

You understand correctly.

kelseydum said:

The cast has a single thin seam while teh forged has a larger double seam... If this is true that pic they have on their site looks cast to me.

That would be pretty shady if they were telling people they are forged when and if they are not.

Click to expand...

Magnum 5" cast axle.
More pics here: http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm108/marklh/

WHOA! That is a wicked break! It seems like that would be the last place it would snap.

I heard that Edelbrock might be bought out by some German Venture group. I sure hope they don't start making sh***y parts too if they do sell. Everyone is trying to save a buck by making low quality parts. I'm starting to see it in the pinstriping world too (paint, brushes, etc.).

chrome parts

when i was a kid , i used to race go-karts and the rules would not allow chrome parts to be used on any steering parts because of it causing brittleness. this is why i paint everything with rustolium

Hydrogen Embrittlement from Chroming is only a problem on certain materials.
Even then, it is an inconsistent problem. There is a Military spec for baking parts
immediately after Chroming to avoid this problem.

It may or may not be a factor is this case.
Either way, when you buy an axle already chromed,
you would expect that it would be safe to use.

When I saw the Speedway ad you posted I immediately thought "Oh no, Speedway is blowing out the arms I had a problem with." So I called them and a very nice guy there named Brandon set me straight. These are not the same ones they were buying from Total Performance (which I had) these are from a different source and are a different dimension. Mine was 4.5 inches long, these are 7 inches.

I know we would all love every source we buy from to carry only the highest quality, forged pieces, but the reality is, most of us also shop on price. Not saying we want to buy stuff that breaks under usage, but we won't always spring for that piece that costs 3 X as much as a similar one. Speedway is no different than every other business, they have to be competitive and profitable. There is no sin in that. If we have anyone to blame for products being on the market that aren't absolutely top of the line, it is us consumers........me included.

Don

I don't like cast parts on any front end or steering componets, regardless of quality. Now thats just a personal opinion. A couple of years ago I wanted to put disc on the front of my 66 chevy pu, and also lower it. I was all set to buy some new droped spindles and found out they were cast, factory units were forged, everyone I called said their units were cast. Now they may be ok for street use. It's not like I will be racing or going off the road rock climbing. But I couldn't get myself to buy cast units. I used early 70's spindles and brake from a van. I didn't get as much drop, (without shortning springs), but I feel much safer. I know we don't think about some pieces breaking until it does, or we hear of tales such as yours. BTW luckly you weren't hurt. I have gotten more paranoid in my age, and everytime I hear a wierd noise I have mine up on jackstands checking everything. When I first read this I wante'd to pull off all the rod end's and clevis's on mine (speedway) and replace them. Of course I have raced with their parts for years and never had a failure, in fact after a couple of crashes I was supprised that certain componets didn't break, just bent. And unless you check every part, tensile strenth, x-ray, or whatever that is not possible for us it's really hard to tell good from bad. And these days somtimes the more expensive parts from repeutable companies have been sorced and the manufacture may cut corners or just oops and turn out a bad batch. So what are you going to do?