Comparison - Not All Control Arms Are Created Equal

[86GT351]

I need to say something here about Steeda rebadging. I know factually from being near the Primary Facility in Pompano Beach it just does not happen. I have an 05 Mustang that was one of the first sold in South Florida when they first came out. I know factually that Steeda utilizing it's connections through Ford had on in the facility almost a year prior to public release so they could start the tear down for R & D of parts. If I remember correctly by the time the S197 platform finally hit the market, Steed had developed at least 100 products for the vehicle that were available to the public from day one.

I know that is not the specific topic here but it was brought up so I wanted to state some fact!

 

[Rangersfan]

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

and what exactly do you manufacture?

 

[weather man]

If a competitor makes a mistake, you're leaving money and market share on the table by not pointing it out. It doesn't matter if the company that made the mistake is good or bad. The management team of the owner or stock holders has a responsibility to exploit mistakes of competing companies fighting for our dollar. Frankly, I was surprised it took this long.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

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.

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.

I need to say something here about Steeda rebadging. I know factually from being near the Primary Facility in Pompano Beach it just does not happen. I have an 05 Mustang that was one of the first sold in South Florida when they first came out. I know factually that Steeda utilizing it's connections through Ford had on in the facility almost a year prior to public release so they could start the tear down for R & D of parts. If I remember correctly by the time the S197 platform finally hit the market, Steed had developed at least 100 products for the vehicle that were available to the public from day one.

I know that is not the specific topic here but it was brought up so I wanted to state some fact!

or is it you two dont know what you are talking about.

 

[psfracer]

This is just a fact, that business in all forms will show differences vs their competitors to sell their product.

Price & quality are the two most common. If someone is to sell a more expensive part, they must be able to show superior quality to the consumer to justify the price difference. (sometimes this doesn't apply when you factor in brand recognition/reputation).

To WL's credit, they did the right thing addressing the problem, and when they come out with their new part, I fully expect them to compare their product to everyone else as well.

 

[Steedagus]

or is it you two dont know what you are talking about.

Do you know the difference between CNC machining equipment and spring winding equipment? And what re-badging vs custom private label means?

 

[86GT351]

or is it you two dont know what you are talking about.

How is it that I don't know what I am talking about? I do not work for Steeda. Just a long time customer that lives near the facility. Have seen the complete facility many times and what I stated above is 150% factual.

 

[CPRsm]

and what exactly do you manufacture?

Cold blooded !! Lol


Eh, I got the same ration of shit for bringing up hellions single before it was widely known. Got the same reaction. Some ppm'd me and thanked me, but instead of owning it like Whiteline did they got on the forums to call me a liar as they were building a twin kit to replace said kit. Same people that were pushing those its and giving excuses as to why it didn't rpm only push the twin kit publicly now. As bad of a design as ill-conceived as that upper was they manned the fuck up. Even covering install costs, too? Nobody does that. Bravo.

Rebadge=buy part, rebox, put ur name on it.
Private label=I pay you to make parts for ME, you do not sell the same design.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

Dustin quit stalking me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CPRsm]

Wut? Lol It's the fermones, I can't help it!!!

 

[Greg Hazlett]

and what exactly do you manufacture?

Nothing but I never claimed to.

I won't comment on any other Steeda parts but the springs are rebadged Voglands and the battery relo kit is a rebadged Taylor kit....that is their decision to do, if someone is ok with paying more for the name Steeda at least they should know what they are buying.

Guess I am in the minority, everyone else seems ok with Steeda bashing another company/competitor when they had an issue.....still find it very ironic that the only UCA Steeda chose to include in their picture was WL.....

 

[Premium08]

Nothing but I never claimed to.

I won't comment on any other Steeda parts but the springs are rebadged Voglands and the battery relo kit is a rebadged Taylor kit....that is their decision to do, if someone is ok with paying more for the name Steeda at least they should know what they are buying.

Guess I am in the minority, everyone else seems ok with Steeda bashing another company/competitor when the had an issue.....still find it very ironic that the only UCA Steeda chose to include in their picture was WL.....

Im with you on it Greg, i understand your point of view.

 

[CPRsm]

I think Greg he was referring more to you guys kinda doing the same thing. Taking one turbo kit and replace a part or two and call it something else. Many things are private labeled. BMR will do my suspension, Bassani does hellion, PBTH does some of lunds stuff. I do parts for other companies and no one knows it. I have my parts go to SEMA with someone elses name on it. One was in a big manufacturers tent this year. It's not to be deceptive. Some companies don't mind and some companies sign non compete non disclosure contracts so retail customers or other companies can't back track where their parts are made to protect trade secrets and pricing. Honestly I prefer private label. They buy in bulk and tech calls aren't answered by me. Can just keep my nose buried in work w less disturbances. Not that I don't like bullshitting with customers, but the money is generally better.
Now with the shoe on the other foot do you think labeling the top of the wastegates in your turbo kit is any different than what they do? No shit talking, honest question.

 

[Rangersfan]

Companies make things private label for others based out of different reasons. Some don't have the manufacturing capabilities due to the equipment/ tooling costs for low product runs, local enviormental laws, etc. Another good reason is simply to sell more parts than they would on their own. It's a win-win for companies. A company like Vogtland might not be as well known in the States but can make better sales through other more well known companies.

The big rub for manufacturers like Steeda, JLT, BMR and others is when they put the money and time to engineer a part, and some company or a guy that doesn't even have a website and sells through a forum comes along and re-brands their part and sells it for a lower price then they do, and claims it's been "designed and engineered" by them. I think Steeda was well within their rights to publish the blog article, especially since they didn't name names. That name was put out there by the very person that took offense to it, not Steeda.This industry has had enough fly-by-night companies come and go, and getting burned by a bad part sucks for everyone in the business. The main difference with Whiteline, is that they stepped up, recognized the issue, and made steps to fix it quick. That's better than others out there.

 

[07TGGT]

Business is business. I don't see anything wrong with this. They didn't even name the company who makes the UCA they compared theirs to.

 

[Tron]

Guess I am in the minority, everyone else seems ok with Steeda bashing another company/competitor when they had an issue.....still find it very ironic that the only UCA Steeda chose to include in their picture was WL.....

if you read further into the blog it actually ties into a post they had made before about their superior design. refering to an UCA for a 79-04 style mustang. the UCA they are comparing it to there is not a WL part. soooo...

i can vouch for steeda being a stand up company and making the one and only purchase i made through them a very positive one. they sold me the economy delete plates for a sale price rather than the regular retail price because if you refreshed the site just the right amount of times, an old banner with the sale price would pop up(would link you to the plates for sale page but with the normal retail price). i placed a call and they didnt need proof or anything, they just laughed about the tech guys messing up and made the sale.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

I think Greg he was referring more to you guys kinda doing the same thing. Taking one turbo kit and replace a part or two and call it something else. Many things are private labeled. BMR will do my suspension, Bassani does hellion, PBTH does some of lunds stuff. I do parts for other companies and no one knows it. I have my parts go to SEMA with someone elses name on it. One was in a big manufacturers tent this year. It's not to be deceptive. Some companies don't mind and some companies sign non compete non disclosure contracts so retail customers or other companies can't back track where their parts are made to protect trade secrets and pricing. Honestly I prefer private label. They buy in bulk and tech calls aren't answered by me. Can just keep my nose buried in work w less disturbances. Not that I don't like bullshitting with customers, but the money is generally better.
Now with the shoe on the other foot do you think labeling the top of the wastegates in your turbo kit is any different than what they do? No shit talking, honest question.
















That is a good question and I understand where you are coming from on it; there is a conception that On3 is a low quality sub standard company that only uses Chinese knock off parts which I can neither confirm nor deny.....but...the reason why S&H wanted to have the S&H logo stamped on the top of the WG's was to "distance" them selves from anything stamped/labeled On3 and the reputation that went with it.

I was not in that decision making process, if I was I prefer/recommend leaving it blank as I am not a fan of advertising for any company; if I chose to that is my choice, when I buy a part with a companies name on it that choice is removed for me.

We are looking into have our own piping made so we can control as much of our kit as possible...it gets very frustrating when we order a kit from On3 and it is missing parts, etc.

Funny thing about people bringing up copying....Jeremy created a DIY wire kit from the battery to the FPDM that reduces fuel pump duty cycle by 10% as no one else had one....now JPC/Lethal sells one that is very similar to Jeremy's-I don't think the JPC one uses as thick of wire-so even the "little" guy gets copied....you just didn't hear Jeremy bitching/moaning/throwing a fit about it like other vendors have.....


After reading all the replies it looks like I am the one with the issue with it, no biggie, we all have an opinion.

 

[CPRsm]

Funny thing about people bringing up copying....Jeremy created a DIY wire kit from the battery to the FPDM that reduces fuel pump duty cycle by 10% as no one else had one....now JPC/Lethal sells one that is very similar to Jeremy's-I don't think the JPC one uses as thick of wire-so even the "little" guy gets copied....you just didn't hear Jeremy bitching/moaning/throwing a fit about it like other vendors have.....


After reading all the replies it looks like I am the one with the issue with it, no biggie, we all have an opinion.

And see small guy or not it sucks. To be fair I'm sure he'd be even more upset if he had thousands in R&D lol. "Luckily" it was something simple. We had similar. 60's mustang ebrake handles are cheap plastic w a thin metal tab inside. Over time the always break. We spent money for drawings and soft jigs for the cnc machine to make gourgous billet ones w lifetime warranties. Sold pretty well until the larger companies caught wind of it and did the same. To their credit it wasn't a direct copy. So believe me I know it sucks.

 

[Mach2burnout]

It looked like a reasonable comparison to me. I like others had never heard of these companies, WL, BMR etc. prior to joining this forum. I have been a mustang owner for years and have had several subscriptions to 5.0 Mag. and MM&FF for years that I read from cover to cover including the ads. But, since joining this forum I have learned a lot about the different products by side by side comparisons and debates and discussions such as this one. I have all three products on my car, WL anti-dive kit - love it! Steeda springs and ball joints and Rear LCAs - fabulous products (and I don't care who actually manufactured them), BMR LCA Relocation brackets, UCA & Bracket, K-member and rad support - top quality products! Love them all and have not second guessed my decisions at all.

Companies call each other out all the time, thats marketing. Yes WL has stepped up but, what about the guy that has this product on his car and hasn't seen or heard about the failures yet? Articles/threads like this get the word out so he will know to get that part off his car.

You won't see Steeda, BMR and UPR's UCA and bracket all laid out there together. You know why we won't? Because they are all so similar in quality, function and reliability that its a waste of marketing dollars. This comparison will be done and is done over and over again by the consumer.

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

This is a totally acceptable vendor comparison of their respective products. It's one thing to have a recall for problematic welds or a fitment issue, but the design and thickness of the metal used in the WL product is inexcusable. No wonder there have been reports of cracking and failure of this part under performance conditions. Whiteline is doing the right thing to "revise' the part, but honestly, it shouldn't have been released as designed in the first place given the current 'state of the art' among its competition.