Comparison - Not All Control Arms Are Created Equal

[tj@steeda]

Hello All:

The problem most consumers face when purchasing suspension upgrade components for their vehicle is often whether or not they are purchasing the right product and will it live up to their performance expectations.

Oftentimes, faced with cost and brand considerations, consumers may inadvertently purchase a product from a source that they think is a quality supplier/manufacturer, only to find out that the part they purchased for their American pony car lacked proper engineering and performance/safety validation, was built with substandard materials and with inferior quality processes. As a result, the “deal” they thought they had ends up being a disaster.

In the ensuing paragraphs and pictures, we are going to expose a HUGE quality difference that you must consider when purchasing ANY performance part for your vehicle. Like the proverb says:

“Let the Buyer Beware”…

Check out the following release we did to show the Steeda difference!

http://www.steeda.com/blog/2013/07/not-all-control-arms-are-created-equal/

Best Regards,

TJ

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Wow....way to be a professional group of people....what a FUCKTARD.....Whiteline stepped up, realized there was an issue, is redesigning their UCA, doing a recall on ALL the WL UCA's, paid for the part and install of the one that went bad even though it was USED and installed incorrectly.....every company has had issues along the way, it is how they handle them that makes a company's rep.

Guess you don't have the problem when you just rebadge someone else's stuff, eh?


How well did you treat the customer on here when his Vogland...oops, meant Steeda spring broke? Did you replace the set or did you tell him he had to buy a new set and you would "work" with him on the price?

Your company just made my list of companies I will never use or support.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

Damn Greg, you in a mood????? LOL. Cmon Steeda i expect better of you than that.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Nope, not in a mood, that was a completely unprofessional stunt for Steeda to pull.

 

[Wicked GT]

Greg, is Whiteline going to increase the gauge of their steel? The Steeda piece is pretty stout, I think that was what they were comparing... how much of a flimsy POS the whiteline is.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Yes, WL is revising it; I understand completely what the comparison is/was but it was still very very unprofessional...and I have a WL UCA that is not cracked, it has been a while since it I installed it so I can't remember how flimsy or stout it looked but I know it was stouter than the stock one.

It appears WL had a bad batch of UCA's that they are accepting responsibility for and fixing it.

 

[Steedagus]

Wow....way to be a professional group of people....what a FUCKTARD.....Whiteline stepped up, realized there was an issue, is redesigning their UCA, doing a recall on ALL the WL UCA's, paid for the part and install of the one that went bad even though it was USED and installed incorrectly.....every company has had issues along the way, it is how they handle them that makes a company's rep.

Guess you don't have the problem when you just rebadge someone else's stuff, eh?


How well did you treat the customer on here when his Vogland...oops, meant Steeda spring broke? Did you replace the set or did you tell him he had to buy a new set and you would "work" with him on the price?

Your company just made my list of companies I will never use or support.

A little bitter about something are we? Calling out someone's professionalism then using less than professional language yourself doesn't leave the greatest impression about yourself.

I don't have a problem having an established supplier make a custom spring for us. Vogland will do springs to any spec we want last time I checked, and they do for us right from their plant in Germany.

Staying on topic, they should have done it right in the first place, and not choose cost over the customers safety, and they should have chosen to actually TEST the part for durability instead of letting the customer in the field test it for them. We have never been the lowest cost part out there for a reason. We race and test our components, always have throughout my 14 year stint here. That does NOT make us perfect, but it does make us BETTER, the safety risk to the consumer were that part to fail, especially in competition is high. It needs to be strong enough and they took a short cut much like other companies who have come and gone have done to try and penetrate the market. It's the same old story I've seen repeated several times over the past decade and it's the consumer that suffers for it.

A failed Steeda spring if it is for the original owner purchased through an authorized dealer NEW, not used, that failed on its own, not because the customer got in an accident gets replaced, PERIOD.

If a customer purchased any of our springs outside of our dealer network, or purchased them used or can't provide us with proof of purchase from an authorized dealer would be the only reasons why we would not warranty out a failed spring, which is an extremely rare occurence. In my 14 years here I've only seen 5 or 6 springs legitimately fail ever.

Someone has an issue like this that qualified for warranty but was not treated that way then they need to come to me.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Say what you want, your company taking advantage of a situation another company is in is completely unprofessional; you knew exactly what you/your employee was doing when hie made this post or you approved it which speaks volumes about you, your companies ethics and why I will never use your products.

I have nothing to be bitter about, just calling a spade a spade.

 

[Steedagus]

Say what you want, your company taking advantage of a situation another company is in is completely unprofessional; you knew exactly what you/your employee was doing when hie made this post or you approved it which speaks volumes about you, your companies ethics and why I will never use your products.

I have nothing to be bitter about, just calling a spade a spade.

And Samsung doesn't take advantage of Apple's faults and vice versa? Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge trucks? Windows 8 mobile vs Android? If you don't like it, well you better start getting rid of some things. You should sell your cell phone because whatever company you are using has tried to take advantage of its competitors shortcomings, on top of the shots the cell phone manufacturers themselves are taking at each other. And that computer you're on? Watch out, you better toss that too, the competition has been fierce there over the years.

It is how the game is played, and if played right, its the consumer that wins through the competition to keep making your products better for them.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

Gus, the problem is that you are comparing to their older version which is being revised. They admitted they had issues and are taking care of those customers who had issues. If the above was their final product id say you are in the right, but because they are revising the product its not an accurate comparison. It does look like Steeda is trying to pull a fast one on consumers knowing that this is the older design.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Let me take a look at the suspension vendors just on here and see who posted something similar after the WL UCA issue.....hmmmm....no one else except Steeda who also sells UCA's....it's all about how professional a company communicates and it is loud and clear what Steeda is about.....and I agree, let the consumer beware!

Based on how you/your employee communicated Steeda's business ethos on S197 this consumer will never use nor promote Steeda products.

 

[Rangersfan]

They never specifically mentioned Whiteline in the write-up, you did, most of the average guy outside of this forum would never know who it was. I see nothing wrong with putting a out an article that compares products or even just tries to educate people on things to look for. Please, you have BMR and UPR on here fighting over who copies who, and people fighting over 4lbs of weight on a part. Whiteline had an issue, they resolved pretty well, and they are moving on with it. I'm sure BMR or others would gladly point out the differences in their parts over others, and have for a while on this forum multiple times.

 

[Steedagus]

Gus, the problem is that you are comparing to their older version which is being revised. They admitted they had issues and are taking care of those customers who had issues. If the above was their final product id say you are in the right, but because they are revising the product its not an accurate comparison. It does look like Steeda is trying to pull a fast one on consumers knowing that this is the older design.

How are we pulling a fast one when we don't even mention exactly who the manufacturer is in the article? You guys are the ones that pointed that out here and believe it or not, we get plenty of new customers everyday who have never heard of Whiteline, hell we even get people calling us every week saying they had not heard of US before they found us! And we've been in the game a long time.

Many people reading that article are only going to see a comparison of a lower quality product vs a higher quality one and will have no clue where the other part came from. You think Whiteline is the only one who played that game? They are not the first and they wont be the last, and that article will serve to highlight what those who choose to cut corners will do.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

They never specifically mentioned Whiteline in the write-up, you did, most of the average guy outside of this forum would never know who it was. I see nothing wrong with putting a out an article that compares products or even just tries to educate people on things to look for. Please, you have BMR and UPR on here fighting over who copies who, and people fighting over 4lbs of weight on a part. Whiteline had an issue, they resolved pretty well, and they are moving on with it. I'm sure BMR or others would gladly point out the differences in their parts over others, and have for a while on this forum multiple times.

So it must be just a coincidence that Steeda releases this blurb within 2-3 weeks of the WL issue along with just happened to have a picture of the WL UCA sitting around? C'mon man....I hope you are smarter than that.....

This would have more credibility if there was the UMI, UPR, Steeda, WL, BMR and whatever other UCA I forgot lined up and compared.

 

[Wicked GT]

They never specifically mentioned Whiteline in the write-up, you did, most of the average guy outside of this forum would never know who it was. I see nothing wrong with putting a out an article that compares products or even just tries to educate people on things to look for. Please, you have BMR and UPR on here fighting over who copies who, and people fighting over 4lbs of weight on a part. Whiteline had an issue, they resolved pretty well, and they are moving on with it. I'm sure BMR or others would gladly point out the differences in their parts over others, and have for a while on this forum multiple times.

Nailed it! I had never heard of Whiteline, UPR, or BMR before joining this forum and I have been in the Mustang game for 20 years...

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Nailed it! I had never heard of Whiteline, UPR, or BMR before joining this forum and I have been in the Mustang game for 20 years...

Are you being serious or sarcastic?

 

[Rangersfan]

So it must be just a coincidence that Steeda releases this blurb within 2-3 weeks of the WL issue along with just happened to have a picture of the WL UCA sitting around? C'mon man....I hope you are smarter than that.....

This would have more credibility if there was the UMI, UPR, Steeda, WL, BMR and whatever other UCA I forgot lined up and compared.

I've been known to be pretty dumb at times, but in this case I never said they didn't take advantage of a situation to point out why they feel their part is better. As a manufacturer, why wouldn't they? It's basic advertising and smart business. Plus it puts information out there that should be. Everyone tip-toed around known BBR issues on this site till it blew up and then became a dogpile.

 

[Wicked GT]

Dead serious... Back in the 90's when I was building my fox body Steeda, Kenny Brown, and HPMotorsports were the big names. When I bought my 06 it was running a full Steeda suspension. I am going to be doing the suspension on my 12 and am looking at all the vendors but I am the type of person who over engineers things. I don't want something that is "Good Enough"... I want something I can forget about and never have to worry about. In my Personal opinion, looking at that picture I would never buy the Whiteline. Even if they doubled the thickness of the steel I would have to put some serious thought in to it knowing that they put this out in the first place. Do I promote Steeda solutions, absolutely! They have NEVER let me or anyone I have recommended them to down. Would I promote someone else's solutions, If they stood the test of time like Steeda's... absolutely.

I get your point of showing the old Whiteline versus current Steeda piece but it does nothing but cement my faith in Steeda as they over engineer the crap out of their parts... and that picture shows it.

 

[joeymustang]

Business is business. Comparison of products is needed to make the upper hand in selling. Thats basically what I do in my job, trying to bring out the best in my product and bring down the credibility on my competitors...it's just how it goes.

 

[Long Stroke]

Guess you don't have the problem when you just rebadge someone else's stuff, eh?

This right here shows you have no clue what you are talking about.

I welcome you to come tour our 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility here in Valdosta GA so you can see for yourself. It's fully equipped with almost a dozen CNC machines(mills and lathes), a CNC tube bender, 3 full time welders, a state of the art Wagner powdercoating system and a team of a half a dozen assemblers putting together products all day. We don't rebadge anything. If it's got a 555- part number it was machined, welded or assembled here IN HOUSE, Period.

Lastly I'll leave you with this, an Educated consumer, is a Smarter consumer.