Ordered from Western Chassis - received Chassis Tech?

[whitelightning603]

Wanted to keep my 8 in ralley wheels, research showed Western Chassis would be best for 2.5 drop spindles. Summit kept pushing out ship date (for 3 months). Ordered from Western Chassis web site and received in 1 week. Spindles have "CHASSIS TECH" cast into them. I am familiar with reviews on Chassis Tech. Is this normal for Western Chassis to make this substitute? It would seem that most of the problems with the spindles are from 10 yrs ago. My first inclination is to send these back to Western. Thoughts?

[bbbc10]

I would send them back. its should say western on them

[SCOTI]

Western Chassis is now owned by POL.

[SCOTI]

POL might have substituted Chassis Tech spindles (they wanted to on my order).

Since they (Western Chassis) messed up on another portion of my order from the beginning I was in contact w/them. As they were sorting through their error & got that corrected he mentioned there was also a back order issue for my selected spindles & a substitution was required to complete my order. I inquired what mfr. spindles I would be getting (he didn't know). When he got back on the phone he said CT's.

I cancelled my order.

Not sure what would have happened had they not made an error in the first portion of the transaction & I contacted them (they might have just shipped the 'substitute' spindles).

[whitelightning603]

I contacted Western yesterday and after explaining the situation, was told the Chassis Tech "would carry the same warranty". I advised that the reason I ordered Western was because I wanted to use my rally wheels and everyone with experience found that no mods to lower control arms was needed and that Western had excellent reputation but Chassis Tech not so good. So the rep asked if he could call back after some investigation.

So later in the day, Rick called and advised "there had been a problem with some of the castings" and that was the reason for the substitution. Also it was unknown what the delivery date would be on the Western spindles so I told him I wanted Westerns, I had no confidence in the Chassis Techs and I would send them back and Rick gave me the 'RGA' number.

Just to be clear, I don't want to hurt Westerns reputation. The spindles I ordered were for 81-87 Chev C10 with 1" rotors. I have no knowledge of any other items.

Thanks for the replies. I will try another one of the 'top' brands.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by whitelightning603

I contacted Western yesterday and after explaining the situation, was told the Chassis Tech "would carry the same warranty". I advised that the reason I ordered Western was because I wanted to use my rally wheels and everyone with experience found that no mods to lower control arms was needed and that Western had excellent reputation but Chassis Tech not so good. So the rep asked if he could call back after some investigation.

So later in the day, Rick called and advised "there had been a problem with some of the castings" and that was the reason for the substitution. Also it was unknown what the delivery date would be on the Western spindles so I told him I wanted Westerns, I had no confidence in the Chassis Techs and I would send them back and Rick gave me the 'RGA' number.

Just to be clear, I don't want to hurt Westerns reputation. The spindles I ordered were for 81-87 Chev C10 with 1" rotors. I have no knowledge of any other items.

Thanks for the replies. I will try another one of the 'top' brands.

Basically the same conversation I had w/them. I chose Western after getting conflicting info about the Belltech spindles I had already purchased & returned (p/n did not match the casting #).

On top of that, I googled Chassis Tech spindles & by making this substitution, they're making more $$ on the sale since they retail for a lower initial cost (if you search around). IMHO, that is not good business practices. If you make a substitution, the purchaser should be notified before the transaction is approved.

[lolife99]

Send them back.
Buy Belltech, McGaughy's, or EarlyClassic spindles.
Glad this info is getting out about POL (Performance Online) and Western Chassis.

[lolife99]

Belltech 3200 spindles work with the 1" rotors.
Also I'm not sure about your info concerning rally wheels working or not.
It all depends on the wheel diameter and backspacing.

[lolife99]

15x7 truck rallys have a 3-5/8" bs.
No issue.
15x6.5 and 15x8 truck rallys have a 4" bs and may require trimming of the lower a-arms around the ball joint.
This is a known issue.

A lot of aftermarket rally wheels only have a 3-1/2" backspace.
You have to compare apples to apples when you are talking wheels and spindles working together.

[whitelightning603]

Originally Posted by lolife99

15x7 truck rallys have a 3-5/8" bs.
No issue.
15x6.5 and 15x8 truck rallys have a 4" bs and may require trimming of the lower a-arms around the ball joint.
This is a known issue.

A lot of aftermarket rally wheels only have a 3-1/2" backspace.
You have to compare apples to apples when you are talking wheels and spindles working together.

Agreed. Since this is my first rodeo on lowering, I'm trying to piggy back on you guys experience and Western seemed most likely to clear. But if it is needed to trim LCR, I'm not opposed to it. I may try Belltech.

[lolife99]

Belltech may be a little more expensive ($311) but most places like Summit Racing offer free shipping.
They also come coated, where others are shipped in bare metal.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Belltech may be a little more expensive ($311) but most places like Summit Racing offer free shipping.
They also come coated, where others are shipped in bare metal.

Not sure all Belltechs come coated. The ones I ordered for my 99 (that had the casting number discrepancy) were bare.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Not sure all Belltechs come coated. The ones I ordered for my 99 (that had the casting number discrepancy) were bare.

My last two sets of 73-87 had a dark gray finish on them.
But that’s been a while.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by lolife99

My last two sets of 73-87 had a dark gray finish on them.
But that’s been a while.

Could go either way then. I purchased a set just before Christmas.

Went to the new Arlington location to exchange them because the Belltech online REP said the number didn't match but it should so it was probably mix-boxed. At the exchange visit, the 2 other boxes Summit pulled were both the same (& sure looked 'as cast' to me).

Seems I'll be doing it all over again. I had to go back to the Belltech line a second time & that REP said the initial casting is one p/n. Then, if machined further, they get a different p/n ( they were p/n 3700 on the box; 3600 casting number on each spindle).

IDK @ this point. But, given my described WC experience above this week, I'll be purchasing another pair of Belltechs from Summit again.

[MikeB]

My 2.5" drop Western Chassis spindles for 1.25" rotors clear my GM 8" Rally wheels. To the person who said that just about any spindle clears 7" Rallys, that's true, but good luck finding a set of those wheels.

For what it's worth, when I was doing my search on dropped spindles, a McGaughy's guy told me his wouldn't clear my wheels. If he was wrong, well that's a good thing, I guess.

About POL/Western, I have to say I've had top notch customer service from them. The sway bar I bought from them had a problem, and after asking for photos they offered to send me another one the next day! And none of this crap about I must be doing something wrong, etc., etc., or that they have to charge my credit card, then issue credit when I return the first bar.

I will definitely buy from them in the future.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by MikeB

My 2.5" drop Western Chassis spindles for 1.25" rotors clear my GM 8" Rally wheels. To the person who said that just about any spindle clears 7" Rallys, that's true, but good luck finding a set of those wheels.

For what it's worth, when I was doing my search on dropped spindles, a McGaughy's guy told me his wouldn't clear my wheels. If he was wrong, well that's a good thing, I guess.

About POL/Western, I have to say I've had top notch customer service from them. The sway bar I bought from them had a problem, and after asking for photos they offered to send me another one the next day! And none of this crap about I must be doing something wrong, etc., etc., or that they have to charge my credit card, then issue credit when I return the first bar.

I will definitely buy from them in the future.

I would gladly pay for Westerns spindles. But if you shop chassis tech pricing, I would not pay the price for a WC spindle only to be given a CT spindle.

That's like paying for the nicer features you want on a 'loaded' truck & then get a stripped down version when it arrives (w/o them telling you they're sending you something different).

[mongocanfly]

another spindle thread.....makes you wonder what's going on...
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=755491

[zach_carver]

I ordered Western chassis spindles from summit few weeks ago for my square and mine were western chassis brand when arrived.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by zach_carver

I ordered Western chassis spindles from summit few weeks ago for my square and mine were western chassis brand when arrived.

I would have ordered WC spindles for my app from Summit but they have them marked up $100 over the price I paid (which included shipping) & last week the lead time indicated they would ship from the manufacturer (ETA 3/2018). I just checked again & it shows they could ship today (which is weird given what I initially saw last week) but they're still $100 more from them vs. a direct purchase.

For the OP (whitelightning603), it might be worth checking to see if Summit has what he needs & compare pricing.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I would have ordered WC spindles for my app from Summit but they have them marked up $100 over the price I paid...

FYI, Summit will match any advertised price. I've done that several times over the years, most recently with a pair of Raybestos rotors. They matched Rock Auto's total price including Rock Auto's shipping charge.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by MikeB

FYI, Summit will match any advertised price. I've done that several times over the years, most recently with a pair of Raybestos rotors. They matched Rock Auto's total price including Rock Auto's shipping charge.

I'll have to check into that then.

[Pro Performance]

We sell the BellTech spindles... well their complete line.

Spindles for 73-87:
http://www.azproperformance.com/Bell...3100-3200.html

[Warrens69GMC]

Just Google Performance Online complaints.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by Warrens69GMC

Just Google Performance Online complaints.

Just found them on YELP. Yes, not very good reviews. But heck, even Summit Racing gets only 3.5 stars, same as POL. And Summit is probably the best performance parts company I've ever dealt with -- for more than 25 years now. So maybe what we're seeing is this: Customers with problems are more likely to post reviews than happy customers.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Just found them on YELP. Yes, not very good reviews. But heck, even Summit Racing gets only 3.5 stars, same as POL. And Summit is probably the best performance parts company I've ever dealt with -- for more than 25 years now. So maybe what we're seeing is this: Customers with problems are more likely to post reviews than happy customers.

Curious..... How did you go about the 'price matching'? The cost I found was from the WC web site.