I just got through running the Pony express 130 Open Road Race in Battle Mountain NV. I was running the Harland Sharpe 1:7 rocker arms for the event. Prior to the event the rockers had less than 200 miles put on them.

During my practice run one of the bolts sheered forcing the rocker and shaft at a downward angle into its partner rocker arm splitting the trunion in 3 different directions. During the process it tore the windage tray in the valve cover and beat the corner of one of the valve stems to hell.

This valve train was checked, rechecked and checked again prior to the run just because I was possitive that I was probably the first person that would be running them this hard. It is pretty obvious that the bolt sheering was the culprit of the problem.

When we got back from the event I call HS and explain what happened. The Customer Serivice guy tells me "yeah, the first batch of rockers we sent out had weaker bolts because we had them turned down for a better fit." THEN, he tells me he will SELL ME THE REPLACEMENTS!!!!! this is right after he just tells me that he KNOWS that the bolts were weak!

I was hoping that HS would be able to stand behind thier product on this. I guess not. I will more than likely have to purchase the replacements from him just to have a complete set, only to turn around and sell them to someone else. I will not run parts that the manufacturer cant even stand behind.

Here are the pics of the busted stuff

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...b/f80cc478.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...8/f80cc468.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...9/f80cc46c.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...5/f80cc47b.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...9/f80cc481.jpg

 

what do they consider the first batch and when were they sent out. How do I know if I have a set of the "first batch"?

 

If the tops of your bolts are silver they have been turned down for a better fit. those are the first run. If the are black on top, they havent been turned down.

 

whew, mine are black .
really sorry about your luck though, that definitely sucks and is enough to destroy one's confidence in a given product.

 

They KNEW they were defective and are trying to make you pay for replacements?

Me thinks you should be talking to someone higher up the food chain. If that doesn't work, post this on 30 car boards. And in your signature.

 

The pics arent working anymore Imiagestation wont let you hot link for long and they stop it It says "Forbidden"

 

They are still working for me?

 

Holy ****!! That's terrible. Damn, my overpriced Yella Terra's don't make me feel so bad now at all. I broke one of them a while back (my fault) and they sent me another with no questions asked.

 

Copy shortcut and paste, it's still working.

I don't understand why they wouldn't replace them. It would be great customer relations- I just ordered a set.

 

man sorry to here that

 

That's bullshit dude, I hate it when companies know something is defective, ie: the bolts are weak, and first off DON'T ISSUE A RECALL OR WARNING TO CUSTOMERS!!!!! and then secondly don't stand behind their fuckup and product. What dipshits, sorry you have to go through this, I would get new ones, sell those and bad mouth the **** out of them, a bad comment/review and problem REALLY hurts a business!!!

 

Sorry to hear the bad news. Who did you buy them from? Maybe you can speak to the vendor you bought them from and have them help you out? Hope everything works out ok.

 

That's BS. What kind of customer service is that ?

Maybe talk to the vendor you purchased them from and get them envolved ? Maybe they can talk to someone higher up than the help desk monkey ?

Good luck getting things straightened out.

Bad30th

 

That is bullshit. I'd call and talk to a different rep. Or even better if you bought it with a CC dispute the charges, and get your damn money back. Then send them back and by another set with the new bolts supplied Either way good luck.

 

I got them trhough a sponsor here and I dont want to get him mixed up in this. He did a great job on helping me get these things dialed in and ALWAYS returned my calls. He has offered to get involved and clear things up.

 

Just got off the phone with Randy (owner of HS) and he is sending me a replacement set at no charge. Looks like HS is willing to stand behind thier stuff. He said that is the first time in 20 years he had ever seen one of those bolts sheer in half like that.

 

Sweet man kuddos to HS.

 

Well maybe it was just a shitty customer service guy you got the first time, its nice to see the owner took care of it.

(and thank god mine are black bolts)

 

You didn't happen to ask him why they used "weaker bolts" in their first batch and didn't bother to let anyone know, did you?

 

Aparently they had to trim the bolts a little bit to get them to fit better in the rocker arm. They took a very minimal amount out and it was only around the bolt head. He was suprised to see the bolt sheered where the threads started. He was expecting to see the bolt sheed at the head. He told me that it would take 14,000lbs of sheering force to break the bolt where mine busted. Randy said it was the fist time in 20 years he has seen one of the bolts he uses sheered like that.