RACER X FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM FAILURE WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY: UPDATE WITH MORE D

[chezzy79]

Originally Posted by redlined600

On one hand racer x recalled all the units and replaced them with the rod end versions, what more would you expect. I know it sucks when it happens to YOU but things do happen. Glad you're OK.

The failure seems obvious to me, but I'm not a materials engineer and would only be speculating.

I was expecting them to take a little more effort in investigating the case and properly identifying the cause, then notify the customers accordingly. Instead, they hastily posted something that made it look like the arm broke off from a pothole that was big enough to destroy the bumper, which is what I specifically told them didn't happen, just so they can act like they said something publicly before the affected customer.

I mean, they didn't even care to see the video or even learn about the mileage on the car and the parts, let alone my driving habits... I found that to be unbelievable. They only cared about where I bought the parts (new or used) and who installed it... in hindsight, it was rather obvious they were only looking for a reason to avoid responsibility.

Furthermore, the "recall" was only to send customers extra rod ends and $50 gift certificate for alignment, although in reality any shop would charge far more than that to properly install this FLCA and align it. Installation/alignment at Truline cost me over $300, and required a different set of end links from stock ones. I honestly think it was just a pose to make it seem like they did something about it.

Lastly, if this was truly an isolated incident like they said with no fault in the design or the material, there will not be any need for recall or quarantine of the affected component. To me, it seems like they put out an uncertain product that wasn't tested properly (and even went as far as recommending it for daily driving), and realized it wasn't fit for production at my expense, and while risking the safety of every single customer that bought the product.

Tell me, would you be happy with the situation if you were in my shoes? I have certainly lost trust in Racer X as a company, as well as their products.

[guybo]

Damn, glad you're OK!

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by chezzy79

I was expecting them to take a little more effort in investigating the case and properly identifying the cause, then notify the customers accordingly. Instead, they hastily posted something that made it look like the arm broke off from a pothole that was big enough to destroy the bumper, which is what I specifically told them didn't happen, just so they can act like they said something publicly before the affected customer.

Originally Posted by chezzy79

To me, it seems like they put out an uncertain product that wasn't tested properly (and even went as far as recommending it for daily driving), and realized it wasn't fit for production at my expense, and while risking the safety of every single customer that bought the product.

Tell me, would you be happy with the situation if you were in my shoes? I have certainly lost trust in Racer X as a company, as well as their products.

I think the quoted parts above are very solid points. Glad you're ok!

[Clipdat]

So weird that they would put the following in their original post, even though you told them there was no pot hole/impact/uneven pavement:

"From the initial pictures, it appears that impact was the cause of damage, from a pothole or abrupt change in concrete elevation."

"Why did the urethane bushing cup fail from impact?"

Edit: We need to see a video of the "small seam in the concrete" that managed to cause a misalignment to the steering and cause the car to drift back and forth in it's lane (which can be seen in the posted video).

[Jeff@Racer X Fab]

Before we provide our formal response, we would like to state the following:

In the original email we received from the customer on Feb 21st, 2017, the customer states he “hit a small seam in the concrete” and then mentions “the bump and the impact was nothing unusual.” After reviewing the video several times we do not see this seam or any sign of impact. We do see the failure take place, at which time the OP pulls over to the side of the road. In addition we see several speeds listed, from the email, to the forum post, and finally the video. The email he wrote us can be found here:

Originally Posted by chezzy79

So my Racer X Front LCA failed quite suddenly while I was driving on a highway going around 60-65 mph, and I have been working with them in regard to making this public and take responsibility as a vendor.

Immediately following the receipt of this email, I spoke directly with the customer on the phone regarding the incident. In this conversation, I requested that the customer email photos and send us the component for analysis. Without the components in our possession, we are unable to make any determination other than what has been posted previously. Out of precaution, since we do not have the complete picture as of yet, we replaced all bushing cups with rod ends for our current customer base to prevent any possible additional failures.

Pictures of the customers damaged front fascia as well as the photo of the broken component were included in our original thread on Feb 24th, 2017. We did not imply the front fascia damage was due to an impact, we assumed that it was caused by the failure. We received an email on March 2nd, 2017, where the customer states that the front fascia was damaged by the towing company, and not from the Racer X component failure. In this same email, the customer mentions that we need to “make this right with him.” We are unclear about what needs to be “made right” if there was no damage caused by the failure of the Racer X component. The email can be found below:



Currently we are working with two material analyst companies to have the failed component tested so we can verify the cause of the failure. Please note that we cannot provide the actual cause of failure until we have the supporting data, this takes time. We received half of the components from the OP on Friday March 3rd, tracking number can be found here:





Unfortunately, this has been quite a unique process for us, mostly due to the varying story we continue to receive from the customer. We have multiple instances of either not enough information or information that continues to change. This makes it difficult for us to formulate a solid foundation of facts that are needed to make educated decisions about the part analysis and ultimately how the component failed.

In my opinion, I do believe the component failed due to a mistake in the manufacturing process. However, I believe this specific failure has been accelerated due to the customer hitting an object (pothole, curb, or loss of control of vehicle). I believe this incident is what bent the customers wheel, and fractured the component but did not cause immediate failure. Which the OP states here:

Originally Posted by chezzy79

It is worth noting that the front-right wheel has been found to be slightly bent after the incident, but it is unclear whether that was caused after the FLCA failed or not

Moving forward that component then failed from fatigue.

This whole situation is convoluted. We are interested in what actually happened, and the analysis we receive from a third party testing facility should give us a much more clear picture than what has been painted.

Finally, I will add that at the beginning of this process, during our initial post the OP was pleased with our procedures and thought we were handling the situation quite well. His post can be seen here:



We have proactively made the decision to replace (not recall) all of the components that this failure may affect. We believe that the manufacturing mistake would fail over time which is why we are replacing them. We are offering $50.00 cash (not gift certificate) for our customers who have an alignment after replacing the components. One of our customers has already had this completed for $69.30 CAD or about $51.64 USD.

Thanks for your time,

Jeff

[Traktor]

I have one of these arms, originally ordered with the urethane front bush. I hadn’t yet installed it on my car when this failure occurred and my rod end was sent out.

I suspect the failure was due to a design (rather than manufacturing) flaw, as the movement of the the lower arm is partially dependent on the flex of the front bush. The OEM bush is fundamentally different to the Racer X one, which does not appear to have much scope for flex, placing enormous stress on the threaded section, which is where it has failed.
Just a theory.