Rockwell axle mods...and a good grudge.

[spicergear]

[color=#0000ff><U>"@1] in ground clearance. Made from 3/8 Plate Steel. They have been welded on both sides and are Guaranteed for accuracy and Weld Quality Delivered anywhere in the US 48 states" USA6bi's website.[/color]



So this is a front Rockwell axle torn down and pan cut off and a High Clear pan installed. Check out the 2nd and 3rd pic to see the hole in quality assured craftsmanship. Gear oil, though quite thick, will lead though an 1/8" hole.



This axle is now in my M715 with discs, Detroit and Selectros.



http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/spicergear/album?.dir=79a3&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos



I'm 1/2 Irish so holding a grudge is quite healthy! :devil:

 

[Recovry4x4]

Inspection window?

 

[rdixiemiller]

Silly boy, that is the vent hole. You would hate for the pressure to build and blow up your axle.
I think you should start doing all your own work. From the pictures I have seen, your workmanship is quite good.

 

[spicergear]

I was going to modify the stock pans by measuring how deep the gear is from the mounting surface on the chunk, then mark the pan giving it like 1/8" clearance, then cutting it off flat and welding a hunk of 1/4" or 3/8" plate across it. Hell, that would work and give me more gear oil capacity. Hmmm, I guess that's really not much of an issue though as when I got the Rockwells put together and under my truck in like 4 days, I had time to take a six mile test drive then load up my gear, head 37 miles back to the apartment then drive 800 miles to western Kentucky to the Land Between the Lakes (LBL) for a M715 meet. I figure if I didn't cook an axle from lack of gear oil by going 1600 miles + half a day of pretty good trails...I guess the capacity is enough. That hole in the pan really pissed me off though as it was nearing the end of my 13 week saga with USA stinks x stinks.

 

[sodbuster]

If you got sent a pan with a hole in it, why not just send it back and get a new pan? Obviously to late now.

 

[spicergear]

It took like 11 weeks to get the two pans that I ordered. When I ordered I asked specifically when I'd get the pans and was told that one was in stock and they'd be making another several of them early the following week. I had a three month window to get my axles torn down, new pans, hubs machined, all back together with lockers, discs, mounts, steering...etc. Ended up doing all that crap in a four day thrash fest. I'm holding the 'healthy grudge' because I was lied to repeatedly by Danial and never received anything after each call to him and each new round of bullsh*t. That pan had a hole in it, the other pan wouldn't clear the caps on the differential and needed to be ground out, machining on other items was poor, hardware (nuts/bolts/spacers) for caliper mounts was mismatched, redrilled holes in rotors were not aligned and needed hit (some by about .080") with a rat-tail file, took him 11 weeks to send me Detroits that all he needed to do was SEND THEM!!!...it was just such a mass of sh*t and I spent over $2,000. I felt like someone jammed a 2x4 in my a$$ then turned it sideways. There was no way in hell I was going to send back a pan I PAID FOR three months earlier and just finally got. Oh, and my order was actually never completed. He told me that a couple parts were going to be out until July, which would have been 5 months, and I told him to forget it. It actually depreciated how I felt about the truck knowing I got jacked on the parts I was looking forward to the most. It was really insulting to be treated like that. OH, then I buy a set of 395/85-20 XML's from a guy whose selling them on double beadlocks for a grand. I get them for the tires. The machining on the wheels is aweful. Holes don't line up...I worked in a CNC machine shop for 5 years and it's embarrassing to see the machining on them. That guy was supposed to have them in 2 weeks and it took him over 3 months to get his.

Did I answer your question?

 

[sodbuster]

I know how you feel I bought a full hydraulic steering setup for a rockwell to put in my 85 chevy from limodave.com. I paid 540.00 dollars for the kit then spent 52.00 dollars to western union him the money so that the kit would be sent out the same day. The kit didn't come and every time I called him he said he would see why but I never got the kit. Five weeks later I said to heck with him and turned him into the attorney general for consumer fraud. He eventually refunded my money when they were going to prosecute him. I am just saying I wouldn't of put up with him for so long. But when you need the parts you need the parts.

 

[spicergear]

One of my buddies on M715Zone.com bought a set of wheels from him supposedly with a 2 week lead. It went on and on with the guy calling every couple of weeks. He called one day and our boy at :banghead: 6x6 told him they were done but were stolen. My buddy asked him for the local police depts number. Denial asked why and my buddy told him because since he had paid for them, he was going to be filing a police report since *they* had stolen HIS wheels. Funny thing...his wheels showed up the next week. Pin holes in the welds and all!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Stupid question! Why are folks still dealing with Daniel if his service is so horrendous? I thought about buying hubs from him since they're the cheapest I've found at $535. Should I pay the extra just for the peace of mind? Between this guy and Chuck in Orlando and the stories I've heard, looks like lots of guys into the Rockwells are sheisters. Is that a fair observation? Anybody here dealt with Ouverson Engineering for axles lockers and the such?

 

[spicergear]

When I got all my parts together for my Rocks in my 715, I came into another $500 and decided to get lockouts. I had just over three days to get them. Denial knew he'd screwed me from day one on my deal and how pissed I was about it. He told me he had Selectros on shelf. I told him my circumstance and he said that they would get to me in time. I made him physically go out and put his hands on them. I did get them the afternoon I was leaving, but then I discovered that my quick Selectro 'slap on' install would take over three hours as the outside ring of holes to mount them were wrong. I'd been posting my conversations, promises and lies from this dude on the M715Zone.com as they happened, and he came across the thread one day and started trying to defend himself with all types of BS excuses. I'd like to think I'm a somewhat respected member of that board and he got no where quick. I have no way to prove it, but I'd bet...he'd know...that he sent me hubs that he knew were screwed up. The box had been opened.

I actually wrote a letter the the editors of Peterson's 4-wheeler and Four Wheel Off Road magazines. I blasted those guys for endorsing him with their articles about Rockwell parts or his wheels. I told them that they need to actually ORDER something privately, like the rest of the world, from him and not say that they are 'this' magazine or 'that' monster garage and see, in real world time, how long and what quality of product they actually receive. I even told them that they're part of the problem getting parts and pushing others back. I got some pussy politically correct reply from one telling me that they couldn't print anything like what I had said. I emailed them back and never heard anything back again.

It really does suck that there's only a couple of guys that really have the parts that can be helpfully used. Myself...I'll probably have to buy something from him again at some point. He will not get off the phone without physically putting his hands on it. I've heard most his excuses in my time with him and am on a short fuse when it comes to that place. I should call MM and Detroit and see what it takes to become a dealer.

 

[Monster Man]

Stupid question! Why are folks still dealing with Daniel if his service is so horrendous? I thought about buying hubs from him since they're the cheapest I've found at $535. Should I pay the extra just for the peace of mind? Between this guy and Chuck in Orlando and the stories I've heard, looks like lots of guys into the Rockwells are sheisters. Is that a fair observation? Anybody here dealt with Ouverson Engineering for axles lockers and the such?

Kenny- you should order the Selectros from our own Joe Young:
http://hometown.aol.com/mytjoe73/page3.html

that's shipped, too



I plan to when I get some funny money []
I believe Trango reccomended Ouverson, don't quote me on that. I know somebody did a while back, said they did great work.

I got my, albeit small, order from Daniel with minimal teeth pulling luckily. But, I did need to redrill 3 of the holes on various parts to make it bolt on

 

[spicergear]

A tip on Selectros; put the big spacer on, then fill it with grease so that just the nub of splined axle sticks out of it, then put on the outer assembly with knob, then slap in your 8 bolts. I've had selectros burn up because of not having grease to them. DO NOT take off knob and fill the inside of the mechanism with grease!!! The internal mechanism won't be able to compress the grease and move.