Nomad78SA

Many people here know me or have watched my frame off restoration on my 1978 corvette for the last couple of years. It hasn't all been fun but a great learning cycle to understand what makes my C3 what it is and everything works together.
I purchased a Performance Plus Suspension Jan 29th of 2001 from VB&P along with a number of other items, both vette front spindles, complete power steering kit, 4 new O ring calipers, complete SS line kit, braided stainless brake lines, front and rear stainless Parking brake cable kit and some other stuff for around $3,400 anyway...
I have had a number of problems with the suspension and I am trying to resolve the last one with VB&P now and want to share it with other C3 corvette owners. Quality and materials are not always of the highest standard as they say in there Spirit and Intent.

Around April in 2001 I start to install the suspension on my frame which I had just finished and coated with POR-15. I ran into 3 problems with the suspension then. Each time I had to go through the red tape of getting a form filling it out getting approval to send it pay for shipping and ect....Problem #1 I go to install the lower ball joints on the control arms and guess what, they don't fit... The plates they weld onto the control arms are suppose to match up with the holes in the control arms so the bolts can go through and tighten. No go..nothing was centered bolt will no go through at all...Time to go fishing for I got the anchors.. The upper ball joint bolts stripped out well before reaching torque so I ended up bying grade 8 hardware locally to replace the stuff they sent..Needed the bolts elsewhere too. The hardware seems very cheap. I sent the control arms back and the ball joints and asked them to correct the problem on aligment and install the ball joints for and would be happy to pay for this request. They sent me some more control arms and did not mount the ball joints. I will look for these pics for I can't find them at the moment.
Problem #2
When I installed the front spindles and installed the tie rod on one side it basisically was hitting the tire. Now that did not seem like the type of thing I would want in a performace suspension...hummmmm Red tape time again
They said it appears they sent me a non vette item and replaced it with another one. OK, I am leary now, at least it's not the brakes

Well I am into the summer and fall of 2001 trying to finish installing all the componets on the frame. Bairs did the rear suspension work and looks great even today. As winter comes in I start building the motor and the body is still on a frame outside where I am prepping it and waiting for a opening at the paint and body shop. Rust is starting to appear on some of the items of the suspension hardware and on some of the powdercoating.
Whats next....House is on the market and it sells, time to move. It is Jan/Feb. 2002 and I have to move the project to the new house. I have some friends over and we set the body on the frame so I can move it.
Once at the new house I continue to work on the body until I get the call to bring the vette to the guy who is going to do the paint and body so I haul it over and pull the body again and give it to him April 2002

The vette still has not seen the road for I am still in a frame off and rust is speading. I start e-mailing vette brakes on my problem of rust and sending them pictures, and comunicate with the guy who was on the forum as VB&P rep. and we start working out a deal to get the stuff to them as soon as I get the vette back from the paint shop and all of sudden no more response from VB&P.
June 2003 I get my vette back call VB&P about the rust again, fill out the paperwork, remove the rusted items and wait for thr UPS man they say they are going to send to pic up the stuff. After a week or so my wife calls them and now they say I have to ship the stuff. OK, no problem send it off. and weeks later I call them to see whats up and the owner has the items checking them out I was told so I ask them to see whats the deal and call me back. 2 days later they call back and want to verify my shipping address to ship too which my daughter does for them seeing how we had moved from the original address. A week later I call to see whats up and nobody knows who called and the owner still has the stuff. After taking to one rep who just laughed at my problem I get Jeff again who has been working with me. Thanks Jeff, your cool with me.
Anyway I asked them to replace these items due to rust for the vette has never been on the road and I am told they will try to refurbish the items or just send them back but will not replace them because they were mounted, the time lapsed and because they cannot reuse or resale the items. Some of it rusted some looks just fine. While waiting on the phone to talk to a rep the recording says there stuff will last 20 years and it is better than OEM products. Personally, I don't think so. Click on the picture and look at the nuts on the tie rods. 2 of the rusted 2 did not. I was told on the phone the stuff is not suppose to rust, yea, I agree with that. Anyone can get some marginal stuff from a supplier.

I am a maintenance tech and I work in a wheel end chassis factory where we make and assembly suspension parts so I know about bad lots..and about OEM parts. I am suppose to speak to one of the owners, the fathers son about what consututes refurbish the best that we can means. I think I want them to refurbish everything if they don't want to replace a few items.. OK, I didn't even talk about the brake calipers..I just had them proffesionally done here in town and didn't send them and one of the stainless sleeves were pounded in crooked and blunted the side. Yea, who knows if it will hold fluid whenever I get to it in my restoration. The vette is on jack stands again with new paint and no closer to being on the road than the day I installed the suspension it seems but everything is used and void for it was installed on the chassis. I know it is a couple of years old but never had no road grime on it, oh yea, its still a restoration.
Neil in Tenn


Talked to one of the owners Friday morning. He was polite about my problem and said he would replace the items and resolve this issue and try to ship out the parts Monday. I thanked him for his efforts to resolve this.


[Modified by Nomad78SA, 5:35 AM 7/26/2003]

NHvette

This flat out sux. For you and them.
Of course you are not pleased with the quality of the components.
(I always replace hardware with local Gr8)
But of course they can't replace every thing that got rusty.
The powder coated stuff should NOT have gone that fast.
The tie rods and endlinks - well - they rust easy. Nothing a pint of POR won't cure.
What sux the most is the multiple times you needed to jump through hoops.

The only thing I've bought from VBP is the adjustable rear strut rods.
The were of the utmost quality and materials AND hardware.
It seems they may be contracting out stuff for kits - and losing sight of QC.

I hope you come to some sort of resolve.
I feel your pain. I'll be going on three years if I don't get my butt down to the garage NOW.


:seeya

Nomad78SA

Dave, I cannot compare with what you are going through with rust. Keep up the good work.... I only sent the really bad items which is mounting hardware for the most part and spacers. Anywhere the powercoat has any scratch is toast. The calipers looked like they had no primer on them and if you laid them dowm on the concrete and scratched them thay rusted. I was told" what do you expect for rebuilt items". Well quality primer and paint dude.
Neil in Tenn

flynhi

I've had similar problems with VB's paint work. Had to POR several pieces.
Talk to Paul ONLY to get customer satisfaction.