I'd post it on pirate and see where that goes...
That draken offroad lost lots of business after that XJ incident....
That draken offroad lost lots of business after that XJ incident....
CK5
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Project Penny - All good things must come to an end
- Thread starter Russell
- Start date
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Link?
This is a real tough call Russel!
Especially since I have met you a few times... you are a super nice guy... that's a problem!
You need to get nasty!
Especially since I have met you a few times... you are a super nice guy... that's a problem!
You need to get nasty!
Link?
They did some bad work
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/gene...eteran-get-screwed-unscrupulous-fab-shop.html
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Oh i remember that thread! Yea that was messed up! In the end they made it right though so thats something.
Hmm, don't remember that part. I thought he ended up getting rid of it and built another rig.
But that was a while ago.
Hoping russ gets a better result here.
That shop went out of business. Xtreme4x4 built him a new rig IIRC!
The reply I got back is that they will pay for straightening the diff tube out. That's it. Hardly worth even pursuing at all =/
Oh well, I will be without a rig until Feb when my buggy is ready for pickup. I can't afford this crap lol
The reply I got back is that they will pay for straightening the diff tube out. That's it. Hardly worth even pursuing at all =/
Oh well, I will be without a rig until Feb when my buggy is ready for pickup. I can't afford this crap lol
As in pay for a local place to straighten it? Or you would have to bring it back?
Local place
Only worth a couple hundred bucks at best. Midaswell rub salt into a wound lol
Out them Russ...here and at pirate. If you don't have a thread going at pirate, start one. I got a feeling I know where this shop is at.
This really sucks, I feel really bad for you. I hope it turns out good in the long run.
A Canadian monolith?! Nice!
In all seriousness, I can really empathize with the situation you are in. The whole reason for farming out a huge project like this (for a small personal fortune) is to get someone with a lot of experience and knowledge to "sweat the details" and build a flawless setup for you.
Unfortunately, if you don't know a lot about the design criteria that was used it's even harder to anticipate issues during the build.... you end up putting a LOT of faith into the builder and in cases like this it sounds like they were not really up to the task, and ran "open loop" throughout the entire build, did their best (and failed) but still got paid for all the hours they spent thrashing and struggling.
I will admit that designing and building a front multi-link suspension, with mechanical steering is hard to do.......REALLY hard. Most people on the forums have no idea just how difficult it is to get a workable design on paper then transfer it to the truck, all the while keeping a close eye on tire clearances, shock clearances and steering/PHB linkages. I'd like to think that my "MAW" build thread has at least opened people's eyes to the number of revisions that it could take to get things packaged correctly. (12 sets of PHB brackets, etc) I've been working on my front suspension for over 9 months now and it's still not completed.
The best advice I can offer you is to walk away from it for a little while and cool down.... I know it's got to totally piss you off that so much money was wasted during this process, but ultimately it's mostly going to be written off as a loss. Think of it as a large tuition payment to the school of hard knocks....
If you're up for it, you should consider re-building the front suspension yourself. That way you can 100% control what happens along the way and as you go through the learning process you will become much better educated about the design constraints how to solve issues that arise. Start with one of the online calculators and design your suspension, post up a screenshot of the results and invite people to critique it and help you to refine it. From there you can start the build process.... if you don't feel like doing all the heavy fabrication yourself, you could farm out smaller sub-projects to competent shops (crossmember build, or axle trussing, etc). It would help you to keep a tighter control on costs (vs. just handing over the entire truck and waiting for the final bill) and will force you to provide the shop with a clear "statement of work" so that the expectations are well defined and results are measurable.
Obviously, if you decide to do all the work yourself we can all help you along. Rene gave me TONS of welding advice when I did my rear axle truss and I think the end-result came out great. A build like this is an awfully big elephant but if you think you are up for the challenge and have the time and patience to tackle it yourself I'm sure the CK5 brotherhood could help you through it.....
-G
Greg, I am going to do this myself. I've already decided that. I'm too much of a perfectionist to farm this stuff out. I know what is strong, I can see how things should turn out in my mind but my execution is usually somewhat, well, lacking.
That said, I have most of the tools to do this stuff properly now. I just need to take more time putting stuff together and measure 10x and quit cutting it wrong anyways
I know what I want, and I can pull it off. I have basic welding skills but definitely could use the advice of someone like Rene to help me do things without warping them. I understand the basics of designing a link suspension and how things affect eachother, but I felt overwhelmed when it came time to actually build it and sent it away to get it done.
As you said, its a payment to the school of hard knocks. Lesson is learned and it will not happen again.
Russ, I'd be happy to help you however I can once you begin...
I'm far from an expert, but I've learned a whole lot over the last several thousand hours I've spent in my workshop, and have picked up a trick or two along the way.
Paper templates are a great starting point. If you can't figure out how to make the shape you need out of paper, it will never happen in steel..... it's cheap and you can go through a lot of "mistakes" quickly to get to a final part that actually works!
-G
I'm far from an expert, but I've learned a whole lot over the last several thousand hours I've spent in my workshop, and have picked up a trick or two along the way.
Paper templates are a great starting point. If you can't figure out how to make the shape you need out of paper, it will never happen in steel..... it's cheap and you can go through a lot of "mistakes" quickly to get to a final part that actually works!
-G
supersize75k5
OrganDonorRacing.com
Damn 
Greg, I am going to do this myself. I've already decided that. I'm too much of a perfectionist to farm this stuff out. I know what is strong, I can see how things should turn out in my mind but my execution is usually somewhat, well, lacking.
That said, I have most of the tools to do this stuff properly now. I just need to take more time putting stuff together and measure 10x and quit cutting it wrong anyways
I know what I want, and I can pull it off. I have basic welding skills but definitely could use the advice of someone like Rene to help me do things without warping them. I understand the basics of designing a link suspension and how things affect eachother, but I felt overwhelmed when it came time to actually build it and sent it away to get it done.
As you said, its a payment to the school of hard knocks. Lesson is learned and it will not happen again.
Russ, if it makes you feel any better I think a lot of us have "paid" for our education in similar ways.
I'd happily help you as much as you want/need regarding and fab or welding. Hell, I'll come up there on a weekend or four and help out in person if you want.
Don't ask me about link stuff though, aim that stuff at Greg and the other big brain guys here.
Pm me, phone me, send a telegram...whatever, just don't be shy.
DEMON44
Low-Tech Redneck
Come hang out with us at "the Pad"!!!!!!!
