Ratchet's Blazer - 1970 2wd with Original paint

[Advanced Design]

Yeah, I would be pissed about those axles too! Who made them?

[smbrouss70]

They are Moser axles, I can't call them until tomorrow morning. I'm sure they will make it good. I'll definitely let y'all know. Now that I'm over my initial pissed-off-ed-ness, I realize that nobody is perfect, I just drew the short straw this time. How they take care of it will influence my decision to use them again or not.

[smbrouss70]

I called Moser on Monday morning... It took a few days to calm down enough to post.

While I was still explaining what I found, he cut me off to explain 2 reasons why it had to be my fault... He told me that either I had trash in the rearend or my housing wasn't aligned properly when it was narrowed. I told him that the housing was done correctly by a guy that builds NHRA certified chassis and the axles slid in easier than in factory housings, so it was obviously straighter than a factory housing. I also told him that I'm not a dumb ass, I made sure the housing was clean inside and out before and after it was narrowed and assembled. He proceeded to tell me that there was nothing he could do unless I wanted to ship the axle back to them for them to inspect it. I know I would probably be wasting money to ship it back to them because those assholes have already made up up their minds that their sh!t doesn't stink, even though if you google "Moser axle problems" you would have reading material for a year.

I don't want to have to resort to it, but I think I am going to involve my drag racing buddy that knows the Moser family personally to get something to happen.

[Chulisohombre]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

After ordering custom axles from a supposedly reputable company and only putting 798 miles on them, you pull an axle because a wheel seal was leaking and you find this! Now I need to pull the other axle to make sure it isn't screwed up too.

YES, I'M PISSED!

At least now I know what the noise from the rearend was... Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the Blazer is going to make it to my buddy's show next weekend.

That sucks. But most companies will make goid on it. They definitely had a subpar piece of metal there. If it was hardened correctly it wouldn’t do that.

[gringoloco]

Hm, did he even see the picture? I’d ship it back under the agreement that it’s on their dime, once they find that there is porosity in that area, which it definitely appears to be. Wonder if they will buy you a set from Currie That sucks, but I guess I know who to avoid when the time comes...

[Advanced Design]

That is disheartening. About every time I’ve encountered a situation like that, it is because a lower level employee was doing what they thought they should do, even though leadership has set a different direction. I would go higher in the organization, as you suggested doing, to give them an opportunity to make it right. Good luck!

[aggie91]

I agree that is Moser issue that they should replace the axle(s). From the picture, it is a material issue and also a bad heat treatment...

[smbrouss70]

Originally Posted by Chulisohombre

That sucks. But most companies will make goid on it. They definitely had a subpar piece of metal there. If it was hardened correctly it wouldn’t do that.

Everybody that has seen the axle itself or the picture of it thinks the same thing.

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Hm, did he even see the picture? I’d ship it back under the agreement that it’s on their dime, once they find that there is porosity in that area, which it definitely appears to be. Wonder if they will buy you a set from Currie That sucks, but I guess I know who to avoid when the time comes...

No, he didn't seem interested enough to even want to look at a picture, but I've taken care of that, see below.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

That is disheartening. About every time I’ve encountered a situation like that, it is because a lower level employee was doing what they thought they should do, even though leadership has set a different direction. I would go higher in the organization, as you suggested doing, to give them an opportunity to make it right. Good luck!

I agree, I have sent an email to every address I could find @moserengineering.com to include every possible version that I could think of for President Rob Moser's email address. Only one of those possible addresses has to be right and make it through.

The body of the email is below and I attached my invoice and a high resolution picture of the axle. We'll see what they say. I expect that I'll get some response, even if it is to tell me to never contact them again...

I ordered a set of custom c-clip axles last March and only have 796 miles on them. I had an axle seal leaking and when I pulled the axle I found some bad pitting on the axle where the bearing rides as well as a slight groove where the seal rides. I feel this is an obvious defect in the axle, and so do several of my hot rod and drag racing friends.

I called Monday morning 3-11-19 @ 8:39 AM CST and spoke to some “Asshole” who didn’t even let me finish explaining what I had found before he started explaining the different reasons as to why it was my fault. I’m not sure if he had a bad weekend or what, but if this is the type of people that you are going to have dealing with existing or potential customers, I’m not sure I ever want to deal with your company again. With that being said, before I scrap the whole rear end and order a replacement from one of your competitors, I would like to try one more time to get some sort of “customer” service from your company.

The above stated “Asshole” told me that one possibility was that I had trash in my rear end before I put it together, which wasn’t the case. I cleaned the inside and out of the housing before and after it was narrowed, and again before it was assembled for the last time with all new bearings and seals.

He also stated that another possibility was that my housing was not straight after it was narrowed. My housing was narrowed by a gentleman that builds NHRA certified chassis for people around the country, so I’m pretty sure he can handle a simple 8.5” 10-bolt narrowing. Furthermore, I’ve never had a rear end that the axles slid in so easily, so I know it is straighter than a factory housing ever was. Regardless, I will strip the housing and bring it back to him so that he can check it again with his jig to make sure it is perfect.

The “Asshole” told me that nothing could be done on your end without me shipping the bad axle back so that you could inspect it, which is completely reasonable. In order to minimize the down-time on my Blazer since it is car show season, what I would like to do is purchase a single axle to replace the bad axle, then ship the bad one back for your inspection. If it is a manufacturer defect, then I would like to have the money spent on the replacement refunded to me as well as the return shipping cost for the bad axle. Would that be an acceptable scenario for you?

Please feel free to call or email me with any questions, if you need.

Thanks,
Steven M Broussard

[gringoloco]

I think you needed a longer cooling-off period

[Chulisohombre]

I like your letter. Very to the point. And that scenario sounds like a good solution. Too bad you didn’t see all the bad press before you bought their axles.

[smbrouss70]

Haven't heard back from Moser yet, but on a brighter note, I have painted pieces for the A/C install!

[gringoloco]

Very nice! Kevin’s handy-work?

[Palf70Step]

Very Nice pieces

[smbrouss70]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Very nice! Kevin’s handy-work?

Of course! I pay for my paint work with Pizza, beer, and room & board.

[lks dcvn]

That new paint looks nice!

[smbrouss70]

Thanks Guys! I threw the bad axle back in to make it to a high school buddy's car show. It was only 8 miles each way from the house, so I took it slow. Attendance was way down because of weather and other shows in the area, but all of us from the Louisiana Classic Truck Club got a Top 75 award. I even got to meet my Brother from another Mother, Shag from Iron Resurrection.

Ratchet was "Laid-Back" at the show!

[Palf70Step]

Glad it worked out for the show. Ratchet looks WAY to excited!

[Chulisohombre]

Congrats. It may not hurt anything right away, but I wouldn’t run it long. Still nice to get out. I just would not want those particles falling off to get into the rest of the axle.

[C10_ustacould]

Glad you got to participate, I'm look forward to HRPT fo-sho!

[smbrouss70]

I did get a reply from my email to Moser today. It was much more pleasant compared to the phone call last Monday. I looks like they are willing to work with me. I will purchase a replacement axle and when I receive it, I will ship the bad axle back. Hopefully they do find that it was a heat treating problem and issue a refund.

[62 short step]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

I did get a reply from my email to Moser today. It was much more pleasant compared to the phone call last Monday. I looks like they are willing to work with me. I will purchase a replacement axle and when I receive it, I will ship the bad axle back. Hopefully they do find that it was a heat treating problem and issue a refund.

Good deal!

[Palf70Step]

Good to hear

[smbrouss70]

The guy that replied to the email called me today. He was very nice and explained that after a c-clip housing is narrowed that it is hard to get all of the metal shavings out of the axle tubes right behind where the bearing is pressed in due to it having a lip to stop the bearing from going in too far. He suggested that when I change the bearing, to focus on that area. I got another axle ordered and should have it by the beginning of next week. I told him that I would ship the bad axle back in the same box so that they can inspect it and test their heat-treating. He told me it doesn't happen often, but its not impossible for their heat-treating to be at fault.

This weekend, I will pull both axles and bearings, and clean the axle tubes real good just to be sure. I'll pull the posi out and flush the pinion bearings with brake cleaner, like what was suggested by a buddy, to avoid having to dial in the pinion bearing again with a new crush sleeve. Then I will just have to wait for the new axle to arrive to put it all back together. After that I can start installing the A/C!

[Palf70Step]

Well fire up the shop heater and go fer it bud!

Glad to hear they checked back and talked with you more. Hope it all works out.

[Thealien]

@smbrouss70

If you have not already shipped it back I would take it to a machine shop and have the hardness tested before returning it. That way when they say it tested fine at XX rockwell hardness you will know if it really is/was or if they are bull****ting you. I have been burned enough times in my life that I live by trust but verify!! If they do try to lie you could then send them a copy of your test and post the results on every forum I could find. On the other hand if it tests the correct hardness I wouldn't even return it and would also tell as many as I could?

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

The guy that replied to the email called me today. He was very nice and explained that after a c-clip housing is narrowed that it is hard to get all of the metal shavings out of the axle tubes right behind where the bearing is pressed in due to it having a lip to stop the bearing from going in too far. He suggested that when I change the bearing, to focus on that area. I got another axle ordered and should have it by the beginning of next week. I told him that I would ship the bad axle back in the same box so that they can inspect it and test their heat-treating. He told me it doesn't happen often, but its not impossible for their heat-treating to be at fault.

This weekend, I will pull both axles and bearings, and clean the axle tubes real good just to be sure. I'll pull the posi out and flush the pinion bearings with brake cleaner, like what was suggested by a buddy, to avoid having to dial in the pinion bearing again with a new crush sleeve. Then I will just have to wait for the new axle to arrive to put it all back together. After that I can start installing the A/C!