GRANATELLi parts

[dankushead]

Are they really as bad as everyone says. Im pretty much finished installing a k-member I bought a while back, and didnt do my homework before i bought it. I wish I had the money to send it back and get an MM one. Seeing as how its a duplicate of the MM design, what makes it so inferior. Has anybody here actually run GMS parts on their cars, or are all the opinions based on what other people have "heard". I doubt that their k-members are produced in india or china like peole say, first of all, it would not be worth it for a company as small as GMS to do this, so Im pretty sure thats a lie.. As for the materials, well the steel seems pretty solid, welds could be better, but they also look solid. Its easy for a company like MM to attack GMS for "copying" their design, but who really knows who copied who, and why would we care. We are simply a consumer buying things from competitors, and even if MM is the better manufacturer, is it worth more than twice as much. Like I said, has anybody here actually run GMS parts on their cars, I just want to know that the K-member isnt going to fail on me when Im going 100mph on the freeway. If I had the money to buy MM, then I would have, unfortunately I went with the cheaper copycat. If MM was so worried about providing excellence, they would draw customers away from Granatelli by offering their products at a more reasonable price, therefore increasing their sales and eliminating the competition.

I am not supporting what GMS does, but everyone does it, and in a world of perfect competition, the consumer usually goes for the lower cost good. Any advice/info appreciated.

 

[bdcardinal]

their products are well documented for being as bad as everyone says. they are made in China, its much cheaper for a product to be made overseas and shipped to the US, than for them to pay a welder in Oxnard, CA to make it on site.

they copied MM hands down, all of their products are copies and pure junk. when i was at MM's booth at the last track day i went to, they had Granatelli's copies next to their own products, the fact they were copies were obvious. as was the fact that they used inferior welds and inferior build materials.

the k-member is a huge structural part of the vehicle, as it supports the engine and front suspension. it is not a component you want to cheap out on.

btw im not an employee or in any way related to MM. i had almost their whole suspension on my old mustang and was a very very happy customer.

 

[san~man]

If MM was so worried about providing excellence, they would draw customers away from Granatelli by offering their products at a more reasonable price, therefore increasing their sales and eliminating the competition.

That is a weak statement.

Very simply, it takes money to R&D a product that actually works, works well, and is constructed well, all of which can be said about any MM product designed in house. MM IS concerned about providing excellence, which they undoubtedly do. Just ask anyone who uses their product(s), myself included. You can't assume that just because MM wants to provide excellence, which they do, that they can price it rock bottom just to suit someone's pocketbook, or lack thereof. That's like saying Ferrari should price their car like a Ford since they want to, and do, provide excellence. Besides, it isn't like their products are totally priced "out of this world" either. Their product can be bought in stages or in packages if the customer so chooses.

And no matter what, there will be competition, but if you do your homework first (like you learned the hard way), you'll learn that the cheapest product is usually that way for a reason. A greater percentage of the time, that old saying is true: "You get what you PAY for."

That's the beauty of the internet, instant access to unlimited information. Had you made this post before you bought that Granatelli product, you'd have 100% of the responses telling you to save your money and buy from a different manufacturer.

In retrospect, you probably shouldn't have bought a K member in the first place without upgrading the essentials first.

/rant

 

[BennyBlown2v]

MM never goes after companies who copy their stuff...they just say "don't buy ripoffs, buy the real thing." I wouldn't run the GMS stuff on my car...there have been a couple cases of their rear control arms collapsing, I'm sure somebody could find the pics and post them up if they cared to. I would put the stock K-member back in over a GMS crap piece, for sure!

 

[fobra559]

MM prices are reasonable for what they make imo. I plan on getting SFC's and LCA's from them in the future.

 

[blackfang]

You wanna know what the general concensus of GMS is?

That sums it up easy. No pictures of bent parts, twisted parts, snapped in half parts and wrecked cars to prove it. That does it in 1 picture.

 

[SilverBullet00]

1) I dont know if thats your ****, or someone else's, but they need more fiber...
2) MM has FAR more in R&D and any other suspension company, Steeda might be close
3) MANY people have reported broken granatelli parts, the popular "cheaper than MM' choice's are AJE and UPR

 

[blubullett]

My granatelli coils dont work. Nice.

 

[dankushead]

I can see nobody really answered my question, I have yet to see a broken granatelli part. I could say that MM makes their stuff in china and its cheap crap and what not, but where is my proof. It isnt enough for somebody to just say its good, if there is no reasonable arguement that shows its true. Unless you have used GMS parts, then you can;t go off of what has been heard or whats on the internet, for all I know those rumors could have all been started by MM. As far as comparing Ferrari and Ford, well everybody knows they are not in the same industry, one produces exotic racing cars and the other well just daily drivers. So really my statement wasnt weak in the sense that MM bitches about how people ripoff their parts and blah blah blah, but if they cared so much Im sure they could afford to drop the price of their K-member and take these copycats out of business. For anybody who has ever taken an economics class, and Im guessing most of you didnt, then you would know revenue is increased when a balance between price and demand is met. I also highly doubt that the GMS K-members are made in china. It is NOT cheper for all companies to make things in china just because labor is cheaper, I just know that isnt the case. It might be true that MM makes high quality reliable parts and GMS doesn't, and all Im asking for is some solid proof, and nobody here has been able to provide that to me. Alll I know for sure is that I will find out if their parts are really crap like everyones says, but at least I'll have solid proof that thats actually the case and not just some widely distributed rumor backed with no evidence.

 

[blubullett]

Use the search button on the top of the page. There are some pics of broken granetelli parts on here.

 

[ACSPONY]

Here's a GMS LCA

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=675179

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=641368

 

[blackfang]

What you are failing to come across with in your point is that MM is a very reputable company known to make quality parts and back their parts. That is a fact!
GMS has been known to not have a freakin clue to what they are talking about. They make horrible and weak parts that fail and what is worse, they make excuses as to how the owners car's hp caused the part to break, nor back their product.

Unlike you, I do not need to purchase a part to see if it works or not. I am a smart shopper. If I see other people that have had problems with such and such part, guess what? I am not buying it! So no, I do not need to have used GMS's ***** to tell others it is *****. There umteen threads of people with bad fortune of cars crashing, parts breaking,bending is enough for me to know, I don't need to drop any coin on them. What are you, some GMS fanboy?

More to follow in a bit.

 

[blackfang]

Here are some interesting finds from various sources discussing how horrible GMS's LCA's are
http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=679308

Here is a fabulous thread of JR Granatelli showing his @ss on one of the most knowledgable sites regarding road racing and handling
http://forums.corner-carvers.com/showthread.php?t=25368

Another great one
http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=702816&highlight=granatelli+lca's

No kudo's here
http://www.modularpowerhouse.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34037&highlight=granatelli+lca's

Nore any here
http://www.modularfords.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47135
(Notice the typical accusations towards another shop, true GMS fashion which is a trend they have made on several sites)

Here is your proof that I have posted and seen on these since in the past 8+ years
Look at this quality rear LCA from GMS

Here is quality done right

This was a result of a GMS LCA's failure on a car that made under 300 rwhp

 

[san~man]

I can see nobody really answered my question, I have yet to see a broken granatelli part. I could say that MM makes their stuff in china and its cheap crap and what not, but where is my proof. It isnt enough for somebody to just say its good, if there is no reasonable arguement that shows its true. Unless you have used GMS parts, then you can;t go off of what has been heard or whats on the internet, for all I know those rumors could have all been started by MM. As far as comparing Ferrari and Ford, well everybody knows they are not in the same industry, one produces exotic racing cars and the other well just daily drivers. So really my statement wasnt weak in the sense that MM bitches about how people ripoff their parts and blah blah blah, but if they cared so much Im sure they could afford to drop the price of their K-member and take these copycats out of business. For anybody who has ever taken an economics class, and Im guessing most of you didnt, then you would know revenue is increased when a balance between price and demand is met. I also highly doubt that the GMS K-members are made in china. It is NOT cheper for all companies to make things in china just because labor is cheaper, I just know that isnt the case. It might be true that MM makes high quality reliable parts and GMS doesn't, and all Im asking for is some solid proof, and nobody here has been able to provide that to me. Alll I know for sure is that I will find out if their parts are really crap like everyones says, but at least I'll have solid proof that thats actually the case and not just some widely distributed rumor backed with no evidence.

WTF, do you work for Granatelli or something? Or are you JR in disguise? Your post is very suspect.

I'll say it again, your post is pointless. If you bothered to search before you posted this crap, you'd find that there are countless threads about Granatelli's quality, or lack thereof. In fact, go to www.corner-carvers.com and ask this question. But be prepared for an ass-riping and severe flaming. And no where in your original post did you ask for pictures, you only asked for opinions (which you received).

And yes, I coincidentally have an economics degree. You can't always price something to please the masses, or people like you. You have to take into consideration that the manufacturer needs to make a profit on a part, after factoring in all costs involved (design, testing, manufacturing, advertising, etc). The MM K-member is priced competitively when compared to other similarly made units, so price is a moot point. Do they care about copycats? Sure they do, they'd be stupid if they didn't. However, they know that the average consumer who does some investigation prior to laying down their hard earned money will most likely end up buying their product. Will some consumers buy a Granatelli or a different brand? Sure, because they're basing their decision solely on price first, and quality second. Those aren't MM's target customers anyway.

You are in fact the first person I've read about that's actually bitched about their prices. Most people will say that MM's are more expensive, but they'll later say that they should have forked over the extra money for the MM in the first place, and that they reget they didn't.

 

[blackfang]

Here is one that Tom took regarding the horrible weld quality on a GMS Control arm

The thread
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=641368

In case you haven't figured it out, these threads are not just new, but go back up to atleast 6 years ago.

 

[SilverBullet00]

Look at that broken control arm and compare it to this one-

They use less than adequate materials, and it can be seen where that control arm broke in half. Look at the quality of the welds between the two. All steel/alum is not created equal, along with the poly and spherical bushings...

Based on those pictures, I would never buy anything gran-a-poopy

 

[darkside03gt]

I guess I should've told you to use the search function when i told you that k-member was crap. When I first bought my mustang I started looking into some suspension parts and the names that came up were MM or steeda time and time again. And by using the search function I found out to stay the hell away from gms. Do a search and you will see extactly what all theese guys are talking about.

I wouldnt put their products on anyones car. even someone i hated. just give up your not winning this with anyone around here. not a chance in hell.

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

lol at dankushead thinking no one's taken economics. Yes, Dank - you're the only only on this board thats in or been to college. Why can't we be more like you and buy parts that have a life expectancy of a condom?
Sounds like you've only taken Macro based on your "analysis", stay in school kid.

 

[dankushead]

Who the **** is JR, I have no idea wtf you are talking about, I dont work for GMS, nor do I support companies making junk parts to go on cars. Thanks for posting the pictures, and btw I also have an economics degree, so kudos. My question was specifically aimed at the k-member, and I can tell that their welds are inferior to MM, but I can also tell that those parts are not the same part. Has anybody used a GMS k-member that has broken, Im sure design and material does play a big part in this. For one, the design is EXACTLY the same, somebody post a picture of their MM k-member and I will post my GMS one. Second, whether or not GMS does make their stuff in china, Im positive that MM's steel would also be coming from china, becuase reality is that most stuff now is made in china, including steel, and even if they didnt directly get it from there, chances are their supplier did. Furthermore, MM is not extremely expensive, and yes I did look at price first, but I also compared the two products and could tell their design is exactly the same; seeing as how materials are also probably coming from the same place, the only difference would be the welds. Yes the welds are a very important part of the K-member, but Like I said before the whole k-member is pretty beefy and although the welds may not be as good in quality as MM(which I cant confirm until someone posts a close up pic of their MM k-member), it is certainly similar. NOw as far as MM's R & D...well I dont knowwhat kind of R & D they do, but I know a k-member isn't extremely expensive to design, in fact I could pull out a piece of paper and probably design a better one just off the top of my head and I could produce it for a cheaper price and sell it for a cheaper price, anybody interested? So for things like a k-member, I can't say that R & D should automatically mean a much mroe expensive item to cover the costs of design, development, and implementation, when those costs for that good should not be producing such high costs to begin with.

 

[darkside03gt]

lol at dankushead thinking no one's taken economics. Yes, Dank - you're the only only on this board thats in or been to college. Why can't we be more like you and buy parts that have a life expectancy of a condom?
Sounds like you've only taken Macro based on your "analysis", stay in school kid.

come on man everyone knows that a condom will last a hell of a lot longer then anything from gms. thats not fair to condom makers. hahahahahaha