I just bought a linkage kit for an M21 through summit... It gets to the house and one of the threaded shifter rods is not threaded properly... I tried for 10 minutes to get the button thread... then I looked closer and instead of threads, they are individual circles on the shaft instead of threads... like the die tooling was screwed up... I couldn't believe it.. I checked it multiple times with a tiny piece of wire... chasing the threads... they go NOWHERE !!! just round in circles.. also 2 of the 3 arms were so tight I had to file them out so they would fit on the tranny... I had a good mind to send the kit back, But I was in a hurry to get the car together ... so I re threaded the rod .. Not sure if I will get any satisfaction, But I'm fixin to send them an E-mail about their shitty quality control... maybe they will send me a free sticker.. But seriously, Is everything junk these days?? Not sure where Hurst makes their stuff these days... probably china.. thanks... just blowin off steam...
I had to adjust my way of thinking, used to be that you bought a quality item ready to go. Now what you buy is a starter kit that you need to finish. Since my expectations have aligned with the changing reality I'm much happier. Until we can have a say in quality control or own the manufacturing facilies, Thats the way it is.
". Until we can have a say in quality control or own the manufacturing facilies, That's the way it is." Sadly, neither is likely to happen....
The economy>cutting costs>inferior materials>cheap labor>mass production quantities>subpar quality control..final product
A couple of years ago I bought a hurst shifter for my 4-speed and thought it was great. I always get into trouble when I "have to" get it back together that weekend. There are alot of times, when things should be sent back. Not so easy when you buy it on the internet. I've also come to the conclusion, nothing is bolt on. At least without modifying the bolts.
That is so sad to hear, Hurst shifters used to be the cream of the crop. I have an old synchrolock on my 27 that's been on there for over 20 years and the most I have ever had to do was replace the end bushings (maybe........but not even that very often). I can still slam gears and it does what it is supposed to. I just sold another old one (old but unused) to a fellow HAMBer and the chrome and everything is just what you would expect a Hurst to be. This country is going down the tubes because of American companies outsourcing everything nowadays. What made America strong and pulled our fat out of two world wars was the fact we MADE stuff here, stuff that the rest of the world bought. Now we are the buyers and they are getting stronger every day. We are really going to regret all of this in 20 years. Don
Yes, even name brand stuff is rarely a direct bolt on, and no repairs needed! This summer I bought a set of Lakewood ladder bars for my OT Camaro, fully epecting to just bolt them on. The fit was horrendous, and not even within an inch of lining up to where the bolts could go in. I ended up having to pull them off and spent a afternoon cutting and rewelding the brackets to make them fit my car. Double checked to see if they sent the wrong ones first, but was assured they were correct for my application. I emailed both Summit and Lakewood to complain about the horrible fit of the product, and didn't even get a reply from either company. I've always had good customer service from Summit, and was very disappointed at their lack of response. I wont stop buying from them, but I'll only use them as a last resort now.
i agree. we won WII because ( yes our boys gave there lives fought like hell.. ) but with out, out producing war goods our boys would not of had a damn thing to use.. outsourcing will bite us in the ass which it it already has to some.. others will feel it soon within 20 years. sad to hear a hurst product being called a POS.. when i was a kid hurst meant cream of the crop and your car was fast.. yeah i know, even if the car was slow.. my kid thinking thought it was fast cause it had a hurst man. good thing for the use market i guess. chris.
Exactly why I pay good money for the original vintage speed parts I buy. I had a pile of broken chinese garbage and realized I was better off paying the $ for original stuff. I really go out of my way now to buy American. If I can't buy it i'll make it. It might cost me more for the original stuff, but I get piece of mind knowing it was made here and will last. The biggest reward is those Bastards aren't getting my hard earned American Dollars !!!
If you have the good fortune of dealing with a quality part, made in the USA, consider yourself extremely lucky..and support them to the fullest (they are struggling to stay alive).
I think production got moved to china when B&M bought them out. Its sad to think Hurst used to be a the leader the industry, now its just a name.
One reason I've hung onto the old competition plus 4 speed shifter that is hanging on the wall in my garage besides the fact that my Dad bought for me in the early 80's. Someday the CEO's of these companies that used to be great but now are getting every last cent of profit sucked out of them and selling piss poor products while living on their companies laurels hopefully will wake up and start building and selling quality products again.
As sad as it is, we consumers are mostly to blame. We want cheap, so the WalMarts keep getting bigger and the Mom and Pop stores who used to take such good care of us are drying up. I remember when you could go into a store and the clerk there knew his products and could get you through any job you were doing. Now the guy in the plumbing dept may have worked in shoes yesterday and you know more about pipes than he does. The other thing that is really bugging me is that although there are millions of people out of work, a lot of people who are working seem like they could care less. I am so tired of getting lousy service and attitudes at restaurants, stores, and every place else I go. I just had it out with an employee at an office supply place yesterday because she was rudely barking out questions to us instead of asking them in the right way. Every time we go in there she is about as sour as they come and that was the last straw. But I see the same lack of professionalism everywhere. The weird part is that when I complained to the store manager about her he said they get complaints all the time on her and have talked to her about it numerous times ! Uh, why is she still there then? Don
As a speed shop owner operator I typically do not like to come on a open forum and say anything negative about a manufacturer. The "new" Hurst is a exception. Products are now all most junk and we are almost ashamed to stock and sell them. We return 50% of line lock Hurst or B&M tee handles we sell. No more direct fit, just one big thread with a bunch of adapters just the the old Mickey Mouse Cal Custom shift knobs used to be. Packaging stinks and product won't stay in it. Tech is non existent. It takes 2-3 messages to get a return call and if or when you do get someone on the phone he is a pompus arrogant no nothing ass. Don't try and ask any questions about manual transmission shifters from the 60's since nobody there seems to know the difference between a T-10 or a Top Loader anymore.
Bummer. Here's the really and and kind of scary part, the Chinese could make any quality level parts we could ask them to. They could easily build the next Space Shuttle if asked. But, our companies just ask them to make the cheapest crap possible so they can make the most bucks possible on the markup. It isn't really the Chinese trying to cram cheap garbage down out throats. It is us asking them to do it for us, both at the top management end and at the low level consumer end. They wouldn't make it if not asked and there was no market for it. Very few people willing to pay more for quality anymore and so this is what happens. Formerly good companies turn to making garbage to compete with the bottom feeders. It is not enough for them to just make a decent profit anymore. They have to keep making more and more or they get sold out and/or plowed under. This is what happens when you have people owning companies who don't give a damn about the actual products they produce. They just want the max. return profit or they bail out and go try to milk somebody else for more. Corporate investing in this country is no more than simple gambling at this point. Just move your money around at will, who gives a damn about any other consequences other than maximizing how much money you can make off the deal.
iv also heard the story of the quality of product being great at first then over time becoming cheaper. so, its at both ends.. its a problem that will only be solved when greed is obsolete.. which is never im afraid. chris.
Yup, and the list it's on contains the names of many former industry leaders that have gone from the "Hall Of Fame" to the "Hall Of Shame". Bob
My uncle recently bought a Ram HD clutch for his late model OT car. The hub of the clutch disc itself had a weird 'double spline' defect where it still had 10 splines but each was jagged at the top and bottom. Almost looked like you were staring at it cross-eyed. There were no issues returning it and the replacement was fine. But apparently quality control SUCKS anymore and you should always carefully look at your parts for defects before installing. It's a good thing we didn't have his car torn down before finding this... it's his daily driver. I believe Ram is still an all American company btw.
Boy, you have that right!! Made in the USA.....None finer. Money is no object if you want the best. Also, Summit is getting to be another J.C.Whitney. (purveyer of fine junk)
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