Problems with Fatman Dropped Uprights

I am installing a set of Fatman dropped uprights on my 48 Plymouth and am having trouble getting the factory specified steering angle before the steering arms hit the end of the A arms which limits the travel. I am still more than a 1/4" from the stops. Has any one else had a problem like this? I talked to Fatman today and he indicated that he had never heard of this happening before.

 

regardless of who made the stuff, that's the standard answer.

 

That is their answer to everything! I tried to use their dropped spindles for a Mustang,they hit the a-arm while turning,their answer,we've never had that problem,WTF! I think they want us to do their R&D work. ROY.

 

Brent is an alliance member...I am not sure why you're having this issue but I would think that he would chime in on this thread. That said, I had a similar issue with the dropped spindles install on a Volare IFS, once the axle/brake rotor were raised, the lower A-arm contacted the face of the rotor (not good) when the wheels were turned. In the early F100 crowd this is a common "feature" and most everyone knows that you have to modify the end of the A-arm to get the clearance...I would think that Brent would add this process to the installation instructions since it is such a well-known problem. That said, when I called Fatman Fab I got the same run-around on the phone..."we never heard of that problem before".

 

Did you ask if Brent was available to answer your question? He can probably help you. Hate to say it, but counter guys that take phone orders all day long are more interested in the sale and not the service as they have no other expertise. Talk to Brent or ask for one of the install guys in the shop.

 

A friend had a problem like this when he installed a Fatman frontend in his '41 Dodge PU. He fought bump steer for years and got the same answers from Brent and crew that you did. Even in face to face conversations.
He finally installed a power rack with shims and had spacers made for his tie rod ends so the sterring arms were straight and fixed the problems himself.

 

Oh boy, here we go again.

Just get into your machine shop and make your own, then they'll be perfect.

 

some of us dont have machine shops..
and if the product was sold for this purpose..why should anyone have to have a machine shop to correct the Mfg's problem?

when you pay for a product..arnt you supposed to get it..or are you supposed to pay them for it, than end up having to make it yourself in the end?

Oh and to the OP....that is standard answer to ..."we dont know what the **** we did wrong, but thanks for buying from us"..Next!

 

'cause if everything was perfect and well thought out, you would ***** about the price....

To the OP, got any pictures you can share? Would love to see the problem in order to give you a solution.

 

no problem w/ my 41 chevy drops from fatman. but on another project the guy was a total ****!!!! I hope he is on the HAMB, I'll show him pictures of the finished cross member. contrary to his statement to me ,I'm not "to stupid to make that work" and I said to him, "well, I would be stupid to buy any thing from you"

other places offered help w/ tech ect. thats where I buy!!!

 

I put the dropped uprights on my Merc. When I took it to the alignment shop, the guy had to put approx. 1/2" of shims in the upper control arm to correct the camber, said that the angles of the uprights were not correctly fabricated. Thank God, the alignment shop was run by an old cat with a brain. If I would have taken it to the local shop, I would have gotten the old " We did the best we could, That'll be $79.99".

 

i dont think so..hell I would be more inclined to ***** about the price of something that doesnt work, than the price for something that does..and their head in the sand aproach to a cutomers problem, is ****ed up

 

I'm just making fun of the situation.

Of course it should work with minimal and reasonable modifications. That's the whole point of a kit as I see it. But it is par for a Fatman product from my perspective. I have always felt Brent's product was a bit too basic/generic for the hot rod industry. Build quality always reminded me of high school metal shop projects compared to his compe***ors. As they say, there is an *** for every seat and he didn't get where he is today by producing completely unusable junk. For the most part his stuff does work, how well is determined by how skilled the installer is.

Again, gimme some info on the situation and I will see if there is a simple solution to the problem. Free of charge to the manufacturer (as always).

 

Not really, I'm a ****

Trying to solve the problem, It's what I do. But if the mood strikes, a bit of levity is in order...

 

Fatman here. A buddy chimed me in on this question. I really do wish I could personally speak to everyone, but ya know that can't always happen. And, it's pretty hard to keep up with all the threads on all 17,468??? hot rod web sites. So, that's why we have the phone numbers listed on the instructions. Please always feel free to insist on speaking to me personally if ya don't get the answer you need. Back to the subject of the Mopar dropped spindles..

It seems like the problem with the steering radius issue may be that advice in the instructions re modifying the steering arms was missed. Not sure, but it seems likely. In the original setup, the steering arm fastens to the spindle and upright ***embly underneath the lower outer trunnion pin, and can turn freely. When we lower the car by raising the kingpin/spindle, the steering arm now has to clear the vertical tube of the upright.

We advise to use the flathead Allen bolts we send, and reduce the height of the steering arm bosses enough to get the turning radius. I thinking maybe a little more clearance grinding on the steering arms will be the answer. With the distance form the kingpin center so small, it's surprising how much difference a liitle more clearance can make. Please try that, and let me know how it's doing. I can send ya some photos if that will help.

On a personal note, the instructions for the Volare dropped spindle covers the other question about the rotor interference, and we made a small mod several years ago to help with this issue. We do continually upgrade parts and instructions as things crop up that we didn't see on our prototype, and later shop installations. I think that part of this is the appearance of "global parts" with variable quality. If the bearing pocket in a rotor is machined just a little different than the NAPA parts we use, clearances can change and cause problems. But the truth is, that's hot rodding. A lotta parts from a lotta places installed by a lotta different guys. We ain't always perfect , but we do try, and stand ready to ***ist when needed!

 

I just checked out the date on your initial post. I didn't personally have anybody ask me that question, so maybe you didn't get as much info as you needed. Please call me for the installed photos to make the job easier.

 

I think Brent gave us a pretty good answer..

Two things...one I think "globally sourced" parts are one factor in stuff not working right... especially when they are expected to work on something they never were made fit.

And last of all... aren't we all "hot rodders" here? We chop, section, channel, modify, weld and cut yet we can't figure out a small snafu on a non-factory made part that's supposed to fit on a factory made car. Yeah I've *****ed about the fit of some parts I've bought... but a little home-spun engineering usually fixes the problem.

That's why we have tools...

 

I can relate..same here

 

This is just another reason why we all benefit from the H.A.M.B., with over 100,000 members strong, we have a voice that will be heard. The manufacturers will eventually know this, if they don't already. Times are tough. Now, more then ever is the time to step it up, on the customer service side of this industry. Fatiger53, I hope you follow this thru, for your customer.

 

Fattiger53, 6 years ago I called about ss a arms,you asked about the x member and I said I would build my own, after some talk you told me I was to stupid to make it work and said you wouldn't sell me any parts, here it is and I was wrong I DON"T NEED YOUR PARTS!

 

Fatman here. I just ran across another rodder who had bought 56 Mopar dropped uprights to use on hs 49. The shock arrangement is completely different. It turns out that he bought them at a swap meet, so he naturally never got the instructions! It's hard enough to get guys to read instructions, when they do have them. I mailed him a set so he can get going.

James.\, give us a call so I can be sure you have the correct instrctions to follow. The info is full of photos, and most emails won't allow that much data. I'll be happy to mail them, and help on the phone to get you going.

 

I've said a lot of things to a lot of people in 32 years in the business, but call you stupid to your face, no way! I did have a guy on the phone for a while (long since gone) who did have at***ude problems, maybe you talked to him. I'll accept the responsibility, if not the blame. Please accept my personal apologies for your being offended...not our usual style.

 

Fatman:
Thank you for your reply. I bought the whole front suspension from a fellow H.A.M.B. member. It was installed on a driving 50-51 Plymouth stationwagon that he purchased. He removed the entire suspension and bought your front clip for his car and is happy with it. The steering arms were already bent when I got the parts, they hit the lower A frames before the spindle gets within 3/16" of the upright. I really do not want to have to heat and rebend the steering arms to get clearance. I cannot find a spec for the maximun amount of travel the inner tire turns at maximun deflection. I may be trying to get more deflection than the factory required and that may be why I am hitting the A frames. Since I did not bend the steering arms myself it could be that the bend is too close to the rear mounting boss and that causes the problem. I also have disc brakes and the adapter moves the steering arms 3/8" closer to the ends of the lower A frame. If the arms were mounted against the back of the spindle, the spindle would hit the uprights before the arms hit the lower A frames. My stops on the spindle that limited the original travel have not been adjusted and do not come close to hitting the stops on the uprights so I ***ume that I need more travel. I checked my driving car with disc brakes and stock uprights and the arms swing under the ends of the A frames by about 1/2". I may have to make new steering arms to obtain full factory travel of the front wheels.

Thank you for your reply.

James Curl

 

I ordered a IFS for my 29 Roadster, caused I lived at the time in The Virgin Islands and that was the best way to get wheels on my car. As I was ***embling it I found the rotors were 5 bolt and the Ford rear axle being used was 4 bolt (down there you use what you got) and called Fatman. They said no problem and they also said they were going in the mail that day. I asked them where I should send the wrong ones and they said just keep them, they were more intrested in fixen the problem. They won my trust from that day on. And the front end was never a problem in any way. there not perfect but they really try to be there for the customer, at least thats my experience. Iceman

 

Howdy Same ole same ole from Fat Mans.He has some decent part's,but won't help once the sale is done.He'll also steal your idea's and tell everyone it was his.I met him at a Lead Slead East,some years back, nuff said Good luck with your parts.... happy motorin Sandy

 

I can't EVER imagine telling a customer he was "too stupid" to make it work. No matter how irrate the guy is, that's just BAD BUSINESS... now that I hear that, makes me shy away from using Fatman...

 

OOOoo..talk about a deal killer...
Arrogance and cutomer service dont go well together,,neither does being a jerk. Wonder how many deals that at***ude has killed?

 

I installed a Fatman crossmember under my 40 Chevy truck in 1999. I never had an issue with this install. I have never had an issue with any of the components I purshased from Fatman and Brent was always available to answer all the questions asked of him. The finish on his products is better than most of the kits I actually took the time to see at various events in the Southeast US. The instruction sheet on the install was very straight forward and informative. They did not leave any modifications out that needed to be done to the frame and the location measurements were dead on for the crossmember as the wheels are exactly where they need to be in the fender openings. I did the complete install from teardown of the front of my truck to backup and running in three days. Drove it the first time out the door to Fatmans spring open house with no issues. It just wasn't that hard.

 

Fatman here. A little update..I found out that one guy with this steering radius issue had bought the parts from a guy in a swap meet, so didn't have any instructions. That's always gonna make it tough on a guy! Don't be shy about calling for help or instructions, or help clarifying something that doesn't seem right. We'd a lot sooner help a guy all we can, even if the parts didn't come directly from us. That happens all the time. Much better to ask a question than to have trouble or be unsafe. ANd, it gives me a chance to help without forum bashing