Riss

UMI castor/chamber plates - DEFECTIVE UNIT (problem is fixed by UMI now)

Ok here it goes. I bought those about a year ago they were sittin in my garage untill I came to the point in my build where I am assembling my front suspension. I have installed them on to the car and then I noticed that the bearing is NOT PRESSED in to the mount!!! It is just inserted inside the top of adjustable part and sits there absolutely LOOSE - and is loosely locked in place by a tiny spring shim which is supposed to hold it from being torn out by the front spring after the first bump on the road?! Not to mention the loads of NOISE the front suspension is going to make when this loose bearing is going to travel up and down beating againts the top metal part and the locking shim initially tearing out the shim and droping the car down to the ground on it's K-Member.

My idea of spherical bearing unit was that it's supposed to be PRESSED in as hard as possible.

Now some video:

this shows the travel the noise and everything else.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexiaOX-2Zg
this shows how loose it is inside
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbty1M2EdMg

The other problem that it will not work with the stock shock dust shield it does not allow enough room for it to sit there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoJXvYsr1EA

And the final blow. It does not have any dust protection - you can see the ground through the holes lol - all of the dust and sand from the street will go straight to your engine compartment......... and they cost like $200+ no drilling or welding my ***....


Anyone else encountered problems like that? Did anyone here actually install those before? I am now thinking on fabrication options on how to provide dust protection to the sturts and underhood and how to fix the loose bearing issue, welding it in will most likely destroy the bearing.... I am thinking on fabricating the new top part which will allow pressing the bearing in tight. Anyways - did not expect such a set up from UMI..... those things look really dangerous and unsafe for the road wach out guys.



GUYS - TURNS OUT THAT I HAVE HAD A DEFECTIVE UNIT FROM THE START AND UMI HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE PRESSED IN.

Rest of the UMI stuff I have is top class =)

UMI Performance

Hello,

I am sorry you had trouble with the item.

You are correct, the bearing is suppose to be a press fit and if it is loose we need to send you a new bearing mount. We did have a batch at one time get messed up and ran oversize, this was a long time ago so we thought we had them corrected. But you did buy them a year ago so I guess that explains.

You are correct, the dust shield can not be used with the plate, it can't be used with any of the caster/camber plates on the market that I am aware of.

I will gladly fix you up with a new bearing. If you would have contacted us we would have gladly taken care of it.

E-Mail me your information and I will send you two new bearing housings with the bearings pressed in.

Thank you,
Ryan

Riss

Thank you Ryan.

I am glad to hear that it's a defective unit and it's not designed to be like that. Since rest of the suspension that I wanted to modify is UMI as well hope rest will fit ok =)
I will send you my info now.

UMI Performance

Glad to help. The bearing should be tight and I will gladly replace them, that is a defect on our end.

Thanks again,
Ryan

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

FWIW, i dont know of any of the aftermarket strut mounts that will work out of the box with the factory strut dust sheild. Some people here have successfully made the sheild work with the J&M mounts, aoparently just a little trimming of the plastic to get it all to fit in there and sit flush.

Whats commonly done is to use the universal rubber shock boot/covers like the offroad guys use and zip-tie them on.

As for the opening into the engine bay, i have UMI's and J&M mounts and IIRC both will have a small opening at certain bearing locations. You will have A LOT more road dirt and debis coming from under the car than you will ever get through those holes since under the engine is completely open. It has never bothered me enough to try and cover them, and FWIW, i have never noticed any kind of dirt buildup on the mounts that i can trace to them having a opening in them.

In the same breath, thats also the price you pay for the extra/independent caster adjustment, its unfortunate its there, but IMO, worth the cost of a little dust.

Mkos1980

iTrader: (8)

UMI plates here. Love them!

Riss

Yeah, that's what I was planning to do - to get several universal dust boots and try to fit them on.

Will have to that after I get the replacement parts from UMI.

camaro1185

Just got mine yesterday, hope to have them installed within the next week or 2.

Riss

Can you please check if yours have the loose bearings in the housing? Or are they hard pressed inside?

camaro1185

Im interested to see myself, I will check when I get home.

UMI Performance

They should all be a press fit now, this was an issue sometime ago and we were aware of it but thought we caught them all.

Thank you,
Ryan