Highlander
08-26-2002, 01:19 PM
Why not to buy a FlameBall
I purchased a Flameball recently. I thought it was the coolest thing ever made aftermarket wise for a Mustang.
I was at FFW in Houston doing a few time trials the night before all the action began. On one of these passes the FlameBall ripped off the shifter handle and I had to continue down the track w/o a shift knob. Turns out that the ball seperated from the brass insert because I didn't use a jamb nut. I sent the ball back to the manufacturer and he fixed it for no charge. I was quite pleased.
3 months later..
I am out on the road and I make a hard shift from 2nd to 3rd and the ball busts into 3 pieces and cuts one of my fingers open. So I email the people from FlameBall and here is his response.
Bryan,
Just by looking at the pictures I can tell that this knob was not mounted properly. There was no LOCTITE on the threads and no jam nut at the bottom.
This would prevented the excessive turnout at the top end which caused your knob to break. Since we cannot control the mounting application we cannot guarantee the product. Sorry. Let us know if you wish to purchase another.
Thanks,
Gene Zapsky, Owner
Never did he once ask me how I mounted the knob. Attached is the pic I sent him.
http://www.pseudo-cobra.com/images/MVC-899F.JPG
How can anyone tell how the knob was mounted in my car from that pic is beyond me. I replied to him explaining that I did re-mount the knob with a jamb nut after he fixed it the first time. I also told him that if he refused to correct the problem that I would post the above pic on several car related boards and his reply is as follows.
Bryan,
Just be truthful about it and tell them how it was mounted improperly.
Thanks,
Gene Zapsky, Owner
Not real professional if you ask me. So here I am warning you so you don't make the same mistake I made in purchasing a product that is faulty. It's really sad that the owner of this company refuses to stand behind his product.
I purchased a Flameball recently. I thought it was the coolest thing ever made aftermarket wise for a Mustang.
I was at FFW in Houston doing a few time trials the night before all the action began. On one of these passes the FlameBall ripped off the shifter handle and I had to continue down the track w/o a shift knob. Turns out that the ball seperated from the brass insert because I didn't use a jamb nut. I sent the ball back to the manufacturer and he fixed it for no charge. I was quite pleased.
3 months later..
I am out on the road and I make a hard shift from 2nd to 3rd and the ball busts into 3 pieces and cuts one of my fingers open. So I email the people from FlameBall and here is his response.
Bryan,
Just by looking at the pictures I can tell that this knob was not mounted properly. There was no LOCTITE on the threads and no jam nut at the bottom.
This would prevented the excessive turnout at the top end which caused your knob to break. Since we cannot control the mounting application we cannot guarantee the product. Sorry. Let us know if you wish to purchase another.
Thanks,
Gene Zapsky, Owner
Never did he once ask me how I mounted the knob. Attached is the pic I sent him.
http://www.pseudo-cobra.com/images/MVC-899F.JPG
How can anyone tell how the knob was mounted in my car from that pic is beyond me. I replied to him explaining that I did re-mount the knob with a jamb nut after he fixed it the first time. I also told him that if he refused to correct the problem that I would post the above pic on several car related boards and his reply is as follows.
Bryan,
Just be truthful about it and tell them how it was mounted improperly.
Thanks,
Gene Zapsky, Owner
Not real professional if you ask me. So here I am warning you so you don't make the same mistake I made in purchasing a product that is faulty. It's really sad that the owner of this company refuses to stand behind his product.