Speed Engineering
Dec 28, 2006 | 02:28 PM
#1
Speed Engineering
As much as I hate to post negatively about a sponsor, in this case, I don't feel there is much choice.
Let me preface this post by saying that I've talked to many people who have had similar experiences, including mods on this site, and have tried to talk to Sean at Speed Engineering about this. To date, there has been no response to my email.
A member of this site bought a 2wd cross member to convert from a 60E to an 80E. Before it was delivered, and after learning that this custom cross member required metal cutting, welding, and fab skills, he switched tracks, and when he tried to return cross member, Sean said it was a custom piece and couldn't be returned, despite it never having been installed. Fair enough, the member sold the piece after just checking the box for damage. I bought the cross member in an attempt to save some fab hours.
The quality of this 'custom work' is the worst I've ever seen from any professional shop. It is so bad that even though I won't use it, I won't sell it to anyone either. Here are a few picks so you may judge for yourself:
First, the cross member itself:
As you can see by the bright yellow labels, one 'support arm' is shorter than the other, leaving the main plate at a slight angle. The 'support arms' are notched and then welded to the 2x4 metal tube with some of the crappiest welds I've seen (and being a self taught welder, this says a lot). The arms are welded to the mount plate with more of the same. Worse yet are the welds on the bolt tubes -- I weld better than this and I am be no means anything but an amateur welder. The welds are inconsistent -- thick and ropey one second, and thin thin thin the next.
Next, the bolt tubes...
Obivously no one at Speed Engineering has heard of square cuts, or even cutting pieces to the same length. All four tubes are varying lengths, not a single one has a square cut, and no tube is centered in the cross member. This cross member will not fit in the mounts because when you measure from the longest end of one to tube to the longest end of the next, they are wider than the mounts. Maybe I could drive it in with a sledge hammer, maybe not. At any rate, I won't... In addition, you can see that tightening the bolts would ripple the mount material or crush a tube -- but either way, there would not me a good surface to surface contact point for the cross member.
Hell, even the 2x4 tube is not cut square...
Next up, the mounting plate...
This is where the tranny mount is supposed to bolt to the cross member, As you can see, there is no slot for the bolt. Lining this up with the stock cross member, it is immediately apparent that something is not right in with the Speed Engineering piece (and lets ignore the lack of square cuts on the plate for the moment). The two cross members are squared end to end. You can just make out the stock mounting plate in the picture. See how far to the left the Speed piece is?
The 15 inch mark is the dead center of the cross member. Using the stock piece as a guide (and using the center stud hole), what's labeled as the 'mount center' is where the tranny mount should land... The right side (in the pic) of the tranny mount hangs off the edge...
Take a look at the welds, the 'square cuts' and the measuring evident in this picture. If that doesn't make you run screaming...
Here are some pictures of the 'extra bits' of metal that were attached with electrical tape:
I sent an email to Sean explaining the situation and included the pictures. So far, not a single person I've shown these to fails to grasp that this is a piece of **** part. I am having a hard time understanding why you would ruin your company's reputation by letting this leave your shop, and if it did slip by, why you wouldn't want to make it right.
From his silence, I can only assume that Sean is going to stick by his BS 'no returns' policy, despite the fact that this part has obvious defects in workmanship.
If that is truly the case (as it has been with many other's I've spoken with) then I don't think I can in good conscience recommend that anyone buy anything from them -- whether they are stock GM parts or Speed Engineering parts. There are just too many vendors out there who are trying to help us gear heads -- not just take our money for the minimum effort.
Let me preface this post by saying that I've talked to many people who have had similar experiences, including mods on this site, and have tried to talk to Sean at Speed Engineering about this. To date, there has been no response to my email.
A member of this site bought a 2wd cross member to convert from a 60E to an 80E. Before it was delivered, and after learning that this custom cross member required metal cutting, welding, and fab skills, he switched tracks, and when he tried to return cross member, Sean said it was a custom piece and couldn't be returned, despite it never having been installed. Fair enough, the member sold the piece after just checking the box for damage. I bought the cross member in an attempt to save some fab hours.
The quality of this 'custom work' is the worst I've ever seen from any professional shop. It is so bad that even though I won't use it, I won't sell it to anyone either. Here are a few picks so you may judge for yourself:
First, the cross member itself:
As you can see by the bright yellow labels, one 'support arm' is shorter than the other, leaving the main plate at a slight angle. The 'support arms' are notched and then welded to the 2x4 metal tube with some of the crappiest welds I've seen (and being a self taught welder, this says a lot). The arms are welded to the mount plate with more of the same. Worse yet are the welds on the bolt tubes -- I weld better than this and I am be no means anything but an amateur welder. The welds are inconsistent -- thick and ropey one second, and thin thin thin the next.
Next, the bolt tubes...
Obivously no one at Speed Engineering has heard of square cuts, or even cutting pieces to the same length. All four tubes are varying lengths, not a single one has a square cut, and no tube is centered in the cross member. This cross member will not fit in the mounts because when you measure from the longest end of one to tube to the longest end of the next, they are wider than the mounts. Maybe I could drive it in with a sledge hammer, maybe not. At any rate, I won't... In addition, you can see that tightening the bolts would ripple the mount material or crush a tube -- but either way, there would not me a good surface to surface contact point for the cross member.
Hell, even the 2x4 tube is not cut square...
Next up, the mounting plate...
This is where the tranny mount is supposed to bolt to the cross member, As you can see, there is no slot for the bolt. Lining this up with the stock cross member, it is immediately apparent that something is not right in with the Speed Engineering piece (and lets ignore the lack of square cuts on the plate for the moment). The two cross members are squared end to end. You can just make out the stock mounting plate in the picture. See how far to the left the Speed piece is?
The 15 inch mark is the dead center of the cross member. Using the stock piece as a guide (and using the center stud hole), what's labeled as the 'mount center' is where the tranny mount should land... The right side (in the pic) of the tranny mount hangs off the edge...
Take a look at the welds, the 'square cuts' and the measuring evident in this picture. If that doesn't make you run screaming...
Here are some pictures of the 'extra bits' of metal that were attached with electrical tape:
I sent an email to Sean explaining the situation and included the pictures. So far, not a single person I've shown these to fails to grasp that this is a piece of **** part. I am having a hard time understanding why you would ruin your company's reputation by letting this leave your shop, and if it did slip by, why you wouldn't want to make it right.
From his silence, I can only assume that Sean is going to stick by his BS 'no returns' policy, despite the fact that this part has obvious defects in workmanship.
If that is truly the case (as it has been with many other's I've spoken with) then I don't think I can in good conscience recommend that anyone buy anything from them -- whether they are stock GM parts or Speed Engineering parts. There are just too many vendors out there who are trying to help us gear heads -- not just take our money for the minimum effort.
Last edited by TurboBerserker; Mar 5, 2007 at 11:06 PM.
Dec 28, 2006 | 07:02 PM
#6
I would be EMBARRASED if that was something i made!!! Looks like an 8th grader made it in shop class. If thats what they sell then no way in hell would i buy from them. I work with steel every day and THATproduct you bought is very unprofessional to say the least. Sorry for your headache.
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Dec 28, 2006 | 07:52 PM
#10
http://speed-eng.com/store/product_i...oducts_id=6627
not saying its worth it just saying what they want for it
not saying its worth it just saying what they want for it