Defective drop spindles

[RLTAutoTeacher]

I have a 67 short step side that I have done a restoration on with the auto tech students at the high school where I teach. I bought a large amount of the parts for this restoration through Chevy Duty (Classic Parts). One of my orders was for 2 1/2" drop spindles. I ordered these when I had a bare frame sitting on the shop floor, 2/15/2005. It wasn't until September of this year that we were ready to do an alignment on the pickup. At that time I found that I wasn't able to set the camber on the left side. I had too much positive camber. When I checked SAI, it was equal from left to right. It was the included angle that was off by 2 degrees from left to right. The only possible answer was a defective spindle. I called Classic Parts to tell them of the problem, and because of the age of the order they referred me to Classic Performance Products (CPP) who they bought the parts from. I called CPP and they had me ship the spindle to them for inspection. It took me over two weeks to get a reply from them. Their reply was that they could find no problem with the spindle, but they were going to ship me another. "Thank you very much!" When I finally got the other spindle installed, I found that the 15" wheel wouldn't clear the spindle without dragging. I called them and told them this, and suggested that I take a grinder and remove a liitle of the excess casting. They agreed, and I rechecked the alignment. I still had an alignment problem, so I called them back. Of course they insisted that I couldn't have gotten two deffective spindles and I must have a problem with the pickup. I have alomst 30 years experience, and I know what I'm doing. To prove it to them I switched the spindles from left to right and rechecked alignment. The problem moved to the other side. I called them back and they could give no answer to the problem. I then ordered spindles from Early Classic Enterprises. Once they were installed the pickup ligned up beautifully, and drives great. I just called CPP about a return. They told me that because I had bought them from Chevy Duty I had to contact Chevy Duty about the return. I called Chevy Duty and they called me back and told me that I would have to return them to CPP (more shipping charges), and they would determine if I should get a refund or not, plus there would be a 20% restocking fee. I told them that was not acceptable and I was going to keep my parts and consider my options. Any suggestions???
You guys that have bought spindles from CPP, if you're having alingment issues, don't modify your pickup until you have checked SAI and factored in included angle. If included angle is off by more than 1/2 degree from side to side, you have a bad spindle. Period!

[RLTAutoTeacher]

OK! It has taken Classic Parts less than ten minutes to get in contact with me. There have been several emails go back and forth, and they have been very quick to reply. I will keep you informed as to how all this works out.

[see ten]

I have heard of others having problems with those spindles from time to time. Even with the ECE spindles you may see rubbing on that 15" wheel when you cut it deep enough. Depending on your offset it may rub and it may not. The lower control arm can be clearanced and boxed if you prefer to keep the 15" wheel instead of upsizing.

[RLTAutoTeacher]

Thanks SeeTen. The rubbing was where the caliper mounted to the spindle. It rubbed on the inside of the wheel, and not on turns. I like my wheels! I'm glad they don't rub on turns. I have no suspension problems now, finally!

[see ten]

Good deal! Do you have the truck where you can drive it yet? Mine didn't rub when it was sitting still but if the truck was rolling and I cut it deep they would touch the lower control arms.

[RLTAutoTeacher]

I was able to take it out last Saturday for the first time, and then only around the school parking lot. I still have a little wiring left to do and I'm still running open headers. I just took it out for to run the tranny through the gears and left a few "accidental" black marks on the school property

[RLTAutoTeacher]

OK! I said that I would keep you informed as to how Classic Parts handled this. The last time I received any communication from them, I had been passed off to Jeff. Jeff offered to refund me $240 on the spindles. I almost went for it just to have this whole mess behind me. Jeff told me that they only have occasional problems with cpp. pff I told Jeff via email that I would be willing to change the rotors and calipers, and send them all back for a full refund, I would settle for reimbursment for the parts that I changed to make it work (and return the parts and receipts), or they could refund the full amount less what it would cost me to buy the rotors, calipers, and brakes from them. They never replied, so I resent the email. They have yet to reply since the 15th.
My plan was to update this post and tell how great they were to take care of this issue. Now my new goal in life is to monitor this forum so that I can let people know when they're about to make the mistake of buying from cpp or Classic Parts.
I have saved the email that has been sent back and forth to Classic Parts. I also have the defective parts. I'm an honest man, and I don't consider myself to be unreasonable. If you think that I am, then I'm open to your opinion.

[see ten]

You might want to consider copying this to the review board. It might allow you to reach some more people that way.

[RLTAutoTeacher]

Good idea! Thanks! I'm also going to look and see if there are more forums. It's a pity. All they need to do to make me leave them alone is take care of their business. I had my own business for 8 years, and I always did what was right. Now when I lay down at night, I'm asleep in less than a minute. That's worth a lot to me. Do you know what I mean?

[RLTAutoTeacher]

FYI
I have filed a complaint with the BBB against Classic Parts. I figured that before I go any farther I would get someone else involved in mediation. I'll keep you informed how things turn out.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by RLTAutoTeacher

..... I have alomst 30 years experience, and I know what I'm doing. To prove it to them I switched the spindles from left to right and rechecked alignment. The problem moved to the other side.

How did you switch spindles from side to side when there is a dedicated left/right spindle?

[fishmunger]

i've had nothing but problems with CPP. both the parts and the employees/customer service. i will never order from them again. they suck. period.

[krue]

This needs to be on the Review Board.

[motopatzo]

I was wondering about the side to side switch as well

[RLTAutoTeacher]

Good Question! I knew that I wouldn't be able to connect steering linkage or brakes, so I calibrated the alignment equipment before I started. I removed the wheels with the equipment attached, kept the wheels and rotors on the original side, and remounted them on the original lug position. All I needed to check was camber, so it wasn't necessary to have the steering linkage connected. I knew what the result would be, but I thought that if I provided them with irrefutable proof the problem would be resolved. Not so!

[RLTAutoTeacher]

I do have a post on the review board that points to this post. The title is Classic Parts/Classic Performance Products, or something like that.

[RLTAutoTeacher]

Classic Parts is unreal! I filed a complaint with the BBB on Dec 22nd. They, the BBB, have contacted them twice with no responce. I have pointed a lot of people toward Classic Parts, and have bought the majority of my parts from them. I don't understand. Even if they think I'm wrong, it looks as though they would want to resolve this issue. I had my own bussiness for eight years. I can't remember ever ignoring a customer service complaint.

[pgf545]

Man that sucks. We bought a fuel tank from CPP and it didn't fit worth a crap. After several calls and e-mails I just decided to fix it myself. The tank was interfering with the springs and needed some notches for clearance. Plus the mounting flange that they welded to the tank is about 2 inches short of where it needs to be. I still need to fix that but I don't think I will be getting anything else from them.

Bernie

[stsalvage]

Darrell if your ever looking for good parts go to www.truckandcarshop.com there in calif no problems and if your doing the wireing i would say go back to factory cost you under 600 to replace all your fatory harness with new factory harness with all the plugs its a lot less headacke and worrie done it to a 1965 and a 1972 3/4 ton truck no complaints whe wireing is from M&M wireing they use all the factory plugs that why i like them

[Trey`]

Just to let you know this post was the whole reason I went with ECE instead of CPP when I was looking for parts. Thanks for the info.

[7T2]

I hope I'm not getting myself in trouble. I have heard a lot of negative remarks about CPP, enough that I probably wouldn't knowingly buy from them. Unfortunately I just ordered a brake booster swap kit from Classic Parts because I had such good luck with them on other parts. Called today to find out where the brake booster was. Guess where it's coming from? CPP. Still 2 weeks out. Hopefully I won't have any issues with it.

[RLTAutoTeacher]

Classic Parts warranty is 30 days. When you get your booster, I suggest you get it installed quickly so if there is a problem you can get it resolved. My problem was I ordered the parts, installed them, and then it was a year later before I had the truck complete to do an alignment.

[7T2]

Originally Posted by RLTAutoTeacher

Classic Parts warranty is 30 days. When you get your booster, I suggest you get it installed quickly so if there is a problem you can get it resolved. My problem was I ordered the parts, installed them, and then it was a year later before I had the truck complete to do an alignment.

I would imagine any company that wants to stay in business would honor their warranty period starting from when you take delivery, not from when you ordered it, but I will check that out.

[7T2]

Might as well update my situation as well.

Brake booster never arrived, called Classic Parts and was eventually told that my invoice was faxed to CPP along with someone elses, the other person's order was attached to my PO number, and my order was lost. They told me I could probably have it shipped to me in another week or so, provided CPP had one to send. I told them I would prefer not to wait another week for another screw-up, and that I would like a refund so I could buy one somewhere else. Supposedly they are refunding the purchase price plus shipping, but they also told me they thought everyone got them from CPP. We'll see what happens.

Guess I'll try ECE. It doesn't appear that GMC Pauls has brake boosters. I keep hearing such good things about them and want to order from them, but they never seem to have what I need.

Any other suggestions for a brake booster conversion (disc/drum) for a 57 GMC?

[RLTAutoTeacher]

Performance online has your booster. They even offer a hydroboost. I've ordered from them once before with no problems, but I would ask around and also ask them to make certain they don't buy from cpp. Good luck!