Re: SF Bay seller beware - Dinan

[ChrisBourk@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 98-10-30 00:08:38 EST, you write:

<< 
 
 Russ,
 
 1) I didn't post anything to the digest that was written from you to me.  I
re-posted what you had said on the digest.
 
 2)  I'll bet you're a heck of a lot harder on your car - especially the way
it's set up than I am on my car.  My car had stock suspension and ///M wheels
and tires.  I only wish I had the stuff on my car that you have on your's:(
 
 Having said that,  I would have told you the first time it broke how to
remedy it.  My point being that this stuff really isn't rocket science to
people who understand it.  To me,  Dinan obviously either over estimated the
strength of the stock parts OR (more likely) under estimated  your ability to
load the pieces in question beyond their elastic limits.
 
 OK,  all that means is that the SECOND time it broke should have been the
last.  Remember,  breaking parts IS a safety issue.
 
 I mean Russ,  honestly, 7 times????
 
 But you're right,  I do have the expectation that when I repair a weak link
that it will never fail again.  I tend to go way overboard in my materials and
fudge factors.
 
 Best regards,
 
 Christopher
 
 
 
 In a message dated 98-10-29 14:32:12 EST, you write:
 
 << 
  Chris writes publicly,
  
  Snip,
  
  > Let's see who has a Dinan badge so far:
  >
  > 1) someone who is happy with an "engineering change" Dinan does that
breaks 7
  > times - but heyee he's happy...
  
  So Chris, you decided to completely ignore my earlier post on why the sway
bar mounts
  broke and how they got fixed.  They were fixed multiple times for FREE, and
others
  because of the way the car is used.  I'll go one last time on this and thats
it!  You
  can have as many last words as you like, publicly or otherwise if you choose
to ignore
  this one also.    So, it's common knowledge that under heavy use, the stock
SB mounts
  are inadequate on the E28s.  I have talked to others how have had this same
problem.  I
  use the car for auto-xing and track use.  For the street I use Yoko A032Rs,
these tires
  are minimum DOT street legal and are as near to street slicks as you get
get.  Since I
  use the car under extreme conditions, I expect things to break from time to
time.  This
  includes suspension and drivetrain parts.  Yes, the rear SB mounts have
broken under
  these conditions.  Multiple times fixed for FREE by Dinan with their Stg. IV
suspension
  installed while still under the factory warranty.  Then after the factory
warranty was
  up, I paid Dinan to have the mounts re-welded.  Again, I'm hard on the car.
How hard do
  you use yours?  I bet not like I do!  The actaul failure mode is that the
undercarrige
  sheet metal that the  mounts are anchored to rips away.  Dinans last repair,
in which
  only the labor was charged,  went to a different mounting scheme with a
large welded
  plate and bolted  mounts.  This has worked much better and I havent had any
problems
  since(~1.5 years).   This may break again, but whos to say.  Again, this is
10 year old
  car now with 140k miles of hard use at auto-xs, tracks and on the street.
  
  The main point is that Dinan has made a good effort to fix the problem.  Did
they do it
  perfect the first time.  NO they didn't!!!  But they have worked with me to
maintain the
  car in the formum  I use it in and within the budget I have.   I don't
expect the car in
  the way I use it not to break. It's not a race car but I pratically use it
that way.
  It's obvious that your expectations and mine are different on whats expected
in the way
  we operate our vehicles.  Fine.  Im not sure why the above statement was
made,
  especially with the past post both public and private on this matter.
  
  Thats my take,
  
  Russ >> >>

------------------------------