Folks Of Interest Good Vibrations Motorsports Did me wrong.

I have tried to restrain myself from commenting here about this, but I can't stand it. I don't know either party involved in this dispute, but this whole deal stinks to high heaven.
For the vendor, Good vibrations or whatever, to sit down and type that with the same .004 interference fit on the part he had in stock, they were able to "push the bearing halfway in with fingers" is a crock, and I don't mean sauerkraut. And for the customer to be knowledgeable enough to check the fit, discover .004 interference, and still try to force it in is incomprehensible.
I have spent 50 years of my life as a machinist, 24 of it in aircraft repair and maintenance, and no way can you use that much interference and get the bearing in the bore without a heat shrink fit. Plus, even if you manage to get the bearing in without damage to the casting, no way in hell is it gonna turn.
This one is fucked up from both sides, buyer and seller.

 

I totally agree with the above post about .004 press fit being way to much for that size bearing. I'm sure the bearing would never turn with that much press. JC

 

I was a production machinist for 30 years, never touched a CNC once, no one to blame for Q.C. issues but myself. If it left my machine it was right, if not it was scrapped, period.
But, there is no replacement for calibrated measuring instruments, especially when dealing with bearing fits. Just because you measure something doesn't always meen you are getting accurate numbers.
Even a calibrated micrometer in the hands of a ham fisted amateur will give numbers they want if they have not developed a "feel" for measuring critical parts for accuracy.
I fought for years with assemblers (and engineers) that questioned a part because they used micrometers (or simple dial calipers) that weren't calibrated.
Parts are man made so shit happens, but excuses don't rectify the obvious results here.

 

I've been dealing with Jim since he was strapping into a funny car. Matter of fact, i talked to them today to order more parts. Never have i dealt with a more stand up company. How dare you blame your ineptness (.004 and you went for it? wtf???) on a company that has drag racing back day in and day out. They will repeatedly go above and beyond getting racers parts, and have for me on a few occurrences when my lack of planning rears it's ugly head. I'd had issues getting parts (they were being drop shipped from the manf). They dealt with it quickly and proficiently.

 

I had a friend that is no longer. He left his spare transmission parts at the builder's place for 5 years. That entire time I told him about every 6 months that he needed to get that trans back before stuff comes up missing. After he kick the rods out 3 or 4 times with the new crew chief I finally talked him into getting all the stuff back so I can build it and sell it to help him recoup his money. I do just that and first my father in law gets accused of swapping out the PG input for a TH400 shaft. Once the new crew chief draws him a picture for the shaft now he believes me but the new crew chief says the input is only good to 800 hp. He never built racing transmissions for a living so how would he know. It caused us a relationship because the builder is a close friend and would never do something like this. In the future, do your homework and know what works and what does not and imeadatly fix a problem or it becomes your problem. Not professional to do this over the net. They would have taken care of you asap if you did your homework and knew what you needed. I have learned a few hard lessons this way and learned from them. So should you.

 

Nothing anyone replies on here is going to make you feel any better but I'm sure that if it wouldn't have been 4-1/2 years, Good Vibrations would have replaced the parts no questions asked! I don't know of a business selling race parts that would have done any different after that long. I have purchased a lot of parts from Good Vibrations over the years and I have never had a bad experience. They are way more than an order desk and support racers all over the world.

 

Sounds more like "BDS did you wrong" they manufactured and sold a out of spec part.
If you asked BDS the spec and they couldnt give it to you why didnt you ask you engineer friend before you destroyed the plate?

 

I have done business with Jim, James and the whole crew over there for over 18 years and not once had a problem that was there’s. I have had problems there but they were my fault and they helped me out even though it was not there problem. This business GVM is the most honest and straight shooters you will find out there in the Motorsports world as I really feel they put Jegs, Summit to shame. Jim and James Maher have gone way above what they have too for every racer, customer that I know of, but then you’re always going to get someone for what ever reason you just can’t satisfy.



Now let’s start with a couple things:



#1 4 ½ years later give me a break.



#2 You said you mic OD of bearing and ID of case and knew it was not correct but still went ahead and tried to fit 5 gallons of **** in a 4 gallon bucket. Think about it.



#3 Do you know of anyone else that has had a problem with this business, and if you do and I were a betting man I bet they took care of it if weren’t over an “extended” time.



#4 Bad move to bring it here if your thinking it will help your cause.

 

I'm another one that has had great results dealing with Good Vibrations. They went out of their way to insure their parts fit my parts on my combo before selling them to me, I'm a happy customer.

 

4 1/2 years coupled with the fact you knew it had to much press fit....... And the vender is the bad guy??

We've bought many items from GV and never had an issue...... Quick story.... I placed an order with them ..... I wanted it overnighted as we where racing that wk end.... Jim happened to see the order and was flying from the west coast that day to my part of Ohio .....Imagine my surprise when he walked in my shop with the box and hand delivered it..... Saving me the ups overnight fee..... And he drove his rental car a half hour out of his way to do it.... I think I'll keep buying from them....

 

I think anyone who is, or has been, in business sees this happen from time to time. A customer buys something and years later complains it didn't work. We hot rodders tend to be the biggest offenders of this because we might buy a part today but not actually use it or get the car running for 5 years or longer.

This is a tough call both ways IMO. One school of thought is that a smart business will take care of the customer regardless of how long it has been, and the other school is that too much time has passed to expect any help from the seller. We are also hearing from a lot of knowledgeable members who have glowing reports about how this particular company conducts business.

Both sides got to air their opinions, so maybe that is all that can happen here.

Don

 

I'm not buying into the fight, but a slew of first time posters are!

(And one guy who's now posted twice since 2009)

 

I know all of those first time (and 2 time) posters and they are the sort of guys who lurk in the background unless they have something to say. Being hard core drag racers they usually don't have much to say here but are gear heads like the rest of us.
Even if you want to disregard their comments, the testimony from Swade41 and goatroper should carry some weight as they are both prolific posters (nearly 9,000 total) and both well respected here on the HAMB (and obviously did not sign up to support Maher).

Roo

 

Not disregarding comments, just making an observation.

 

I have lurked here for a long time and bit my toung for to long. It was time to sign up. Thanks for the nice words Roo. You can't make everyone happy. Who cares if one or two out of thousands are not. Good vibrations time and service is the best hands down. Yes they have made a mistake a time or two. There human. Other companies would have straight told him where to go and how to get there imeadatly

 

I also lurk here, but don't post very often. Myself, like a lot of others are still very involved in drag racing, but still enjoy the hot rod scene. I've noticed the OP isn't chiming in here lately. Also, no other bad eperiences, only postitve ones.

 

Mike you are dead wrong.
I only came here to rant cause i'm an honest man that did try to go through the correct channles by calling BDS tech and GVM tech to inquire about my concern about the bore size and NO tech ( ie: what is the ideal size for this bore) was given. NONE
So like a fool I trusted that this part was intended to be made this way and proceded to the heat the plate and chill the bearings thing. IT WORKED!!! Until the temps normalized then cracks and seized bearings.

I would not be squawking if I were wrong.
James and Randy simply never attempted to help. Either with solid tech or replacing a bum part.
That's a fact.

 

If you look at Good Vibrations website, you'll notice they no longer sell BDS products. After 5 years, you should be dealing with BDS directly.

 

LOL I did that to the Ravens pinion a couple of years ago. it happens.

I have already weighed in on this but stories of screw ups especially when they come from fellas who know better are cool.

here's a good one for ya, I was reassembling the lower end on a motor that I was tuning in the '70s. I just grabbed the inserts an went after it, I had already set it up once and was in a hurry. it seemed a little tight so I pulled it down and miced everything. One half of one shell didn't seem right but I blew it off because they were marked right and federal mogul couldn't have screwed it up, right? reassembled it and still tight imagine that. So down it comes again, this time I paid attention and got a different insert. Rechecked everything, made sure that all my clearances were correct and reassembled it. I knew better and did it wrong twice before I got my head on straight.

So who else has screwed something up.

 

Did you send the picture to BDS as requested or just blow them off because you "knew better". Maybe they could tell from something on the plate (picture) what the spec was and could have advised you further. Maybe they would have looked at the picture and said no we had a problem with those plates don't run it. Or maybe they would say go ahead and install. Then at least you would have some sort of back up to go ahead with the work not just your own opinion. You have heard a number of machinists tell you it was too tight to attempt. It sounds like you decided that BDS tech was no good without even following up with what they asked you to do.

 

I dont want to talk about the time I put undersized main and rod bearings in a standard engine.

 

Drifters CC
Post pics of bearing Plate & Bearing!!
Bearing Plate might be salvageable ,

 

I'm a machinist , if the part wasnt to blueprint when it left whatever horrible QC , BDS had ....the part IS junk... It was junk 5 years ago it was junk yesterday and it is certainly junk today

If you sell a product, you stand behind it .. Pretty simple

The minute the call went into the company from the origional purchaser and was told there was a clearance issue , they should have said send it back we will fix it

I do question the fact about going forth after knowing the measurements , the plate could have been saved, BUT it wouldn't be an issue if it was right in the first place

 

Even worse, the OP confirmed the miss fit with data and killed the parts anyway. WTF.

 

No dog in the fight here either but I found that interesting as well...

 

Unlike a lot of the "old ladies" here, some of the lurkers are still involved in racing. The amount of posts on this site have ZERO to do with this.

 

Old Ladies!!! Your MEAN!!!!!! Pete

 

You learned a bitter lesson. It is a shame your machinist friend didn't get the whole story or just doesn't understand how ball bearings are installed. I learned many years ago that the RACE that rotates gets the PRESS FIT. In your case the race that rotates is the inner race which should press onto the rotor. The outside race should be a slip or metal to metal fit.

 

I was a Factory BMW mechanic for years. The Company (BMW of N. America) hammered its mechanics and sales staff with the perfection of the product.

One morning in late '73 I was handed a repair order for a new BMW ('74 '2002', a four cyl. single overhead cam model) The order stated the engine had a loud 'knock'.
I started it, and promptly shut it off. Damned engine made more noise than a jackass in a tin barn!
Called some other mechs to help push it into my stall, raised it and drained the oil, snapped the pan off, first rod I wiggled was the loose one.
Removed all the rod caps, bearings were all std. (uppers and lowers)
I then mic'd the thicknesses of the bearing shells (uppers and lowers) as the bearing suppliers had to have made an error.
(BMW Machining Technique is NEVER 'questionable'!)
I then mic'd the crank...Standard from #4 forward...until I got to #1... It mic'd .25 mm undersize... (.010" under!)
The factory sent 2 reps up from Culver City to examine it. 500 mile trip to make sure I could read a micrometer! (I was young then, they didn't know me yet...)
The German reps were yelling in Bayerische, I was chuckling...(I'm German too, but not "as"... These Heinies were reacting like Der Fuhrer Himself was watching!)
Nobody's perfect.