Well, Scarebird front discs DON'T WORK!!

[5.0ina66]

Well it's official, I didn't want to make this post until I was certain but, the Scarebird front disc conversion brackets do not and will not work the way they are.

The face of them is too big to fit inside the rotor, so they hit the back of the rotor in multiple places, and if the nut is tightened all the way the rotors wont even turn.

After many calls and emails to Scarebird, their customer service sucks.

At first, everything was OK, my questions were answered completely and quickly. When I first had this problem, he told me it was just a welding problem ans that I should take the welds down flat. Done and done...didn't help.

Ok, then I was asked for pics of the inside of the Raybestos #6006 rotor and then the blame was placed solely on the rotors, without explanation other than:

we used NAPA rotors on this and did not have issues. sorry.

Lame! So by now I'm thinking that either the bearings or I got the wrong brackets by mistake. So I asked about the brackets and got

yours were an interim design.

in reply. So I tried a new Federal Mogul bearing....not any different. That's when I decided, especially after seeing the rub pattern, that the bracket needed to fit in the rotor and can't. In the same email as the above, his suggestion to fix the clearance problem was

i think you wil need to trim the rotor on the inside where it is hitting the bracket.

Holy *****! I may not be a mechanical engineer but I know enough about engineering to know there are some situations you can't remove metal, period.

At that point I decided that they weren't going to work noway nohow so I called Scarebird.

I knew I had to play it carefully or I'd go nuts so I was verry careful, and it still went downhill pretty fast. "SO WHAT DO YOU WANT?" was what I was asked. I asked if it was possible to send me another set of the same brackets "THAT WOULDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING" was the answer. Crucify me for taking a longshot, d@mn.

Then he suggested I exchange it for a Ranger based setup...no way in he11 am I putting 10.25" rotors on anything, so I threw in the story of a 65mph blast down a country road where me and my buddy Brandon found out how bad those brakes really are.

"WELL, we can give you your money back if THAT's what you want?!" was what came up next and I agreed, ready to get the he11 rid of this junk and move on.

Sucks sucks sucks! IMO this is a for-shat way to treat customers, with all the veiled hostility and the implied "Whatever it is, it aint my brackets" crap.

Wow that was fairly reasoned so now I shall get angrier and more speculative.

1) He only answers the questions he wants to answer. All my prelimnary questions were answered well and in one heck of a hurry. The quality of answers declined quickly. It was 20-30mins between sending the first email and the response. Sent my final email with the pics of the carnage on the 4th and called on the 6th because I hadn't gotten a response and I was by then convinced it wasn't gonna work.

Another thing I noticed, in the very beginning of the call when I said I had xxx setup and was having trouble, I mentioned I sent pics and asked if he saw them, the answer was "YEAH, I saw them". Right then I went oh crap and just about went nuts. Somehow I still wish I had because I was weak-voiced and wafflish over the phone.

I agreed to return them, but after looking further, I'm sending them off to my cousins machine shop to be modified so they WORK. There are a few other flaws that could have been totally avoided in manufacture if they'd bothered.
Arrrg!

--Kyle
PS: This setup, with Celebrity calipers and Mustang rotors isn't currently produced but is available upon request.

 

[5.0ina66]

Some more interesting points have come up, acutally the things I came up with as well, in this whole process of trying to get it to work.

I bought the reccomneded rotors as listed on the sheet, it was either Raybestos, Wagner or NAPA. Only later did I come to find out they used NAPA. More Crap!

The brackets are correct RH & LH, these are non-reversible or else the caliper mount will be on the rotor side. That was acutally my first thought as I'd seen it online but...

The rotor isn't the problem because it hits in too many places for it to just be one manufacturer's differences. It hits along the rotor's whole surface, from the hat-surface transition on. For it to be a rotor problem the race would have to be too far inset, drawing the bearing in and sucking the whole deal against the bracket. Tried both rotors to check for differences possibly indicating a defect, no difference.

The ranger brackets are totally different and avoid the issue of the bracket not fitting in the hat as far as I can tell. They also avoid most other clearance problems given the overall size. Don't see why it wouldn't work, but like I said, I dont want it.

Remember the ol' "it can be good, cheap or easy, pick one"? I wouldn't have an issue with that if it wasn't advertised as such and hadn't fallen short and then was accompanied by a closed minded passive-aggressive response. Truthfully, especially with the benefit of hindsight, I'm more put off by Scarebird the guy, not Scarebird the product.

Based solely on Scarebird the guy (Mark)'s attitude and idea of customer service, it would have to be a cold day in he11 before I'd reccomend them or do business again.

Sure I was offered my money back, in the sense of "YOU WANT YOUR MONEY BACK, I'LL GIVE YOU YOUR *** MONEY BACK".

Those 65-66 Granada spindles are lookin' tasty right now. Hmm....
--Kyle
EDIT: PS I feel guilty now plugging his crap like I did, but the ****** of that is that all the info I could find was favorable and the early customer service was good. Crap!!!

 

[sparky]

That is why I went with the Rod & Custom set up.
Used it on both my stang w/no problems. Plus
excellent customer service.

 

[krash kendall]

So tell us how you really feel....

 

[66Runt]

Tough spot for both of you.

I'm bummed it didn't work for you Kyle. I've dealt with customer service since I was really young, sometimes the harder you try the worse it gets, on both ends. I've been on both ends, and done the wrong thing. It pretty much just sucks. Takes a lot of effort not to let pride and ego stand in the way. And sometimes pride and ego wins, and both parties lose. Such is what we all deal with.

I personally haven't looked into this swap other than to read a few threads. I think this is the first "didn't work" thread I've read on Scarebird's product.
What would be great is if there is a way to compare your failed install with someone who has had a successful install. If the differences could be pointed out it may help others figure if it will work or not on their particular car, and what pitfalls may await them.

Not to plug any one product, but I've got to tell you, I'm real happy with the 13" Cobra kit I got. Holly seat pucker Batman! the brakes really work great!
The down side is you are pretty much limited to 17" wheels or bigger. If you don't mind that you have at least three choices. Mustang Steve, Randall's Rack, or Bear brakes all make brackets based off the PBR calipers. The rotors and calipers are readily available.

Well good luck man! Hope the next try is one to "write home" about.

 

[mustangdave]

My Scarebird brackets fit with no problem, no modification, and non-napa discs. I used some really cheap discs,($37.00 each), from Rock Auto: even with shipping, two rotors only cost $90.00. I have a 67; are you working on a different year?

 

[Rusty67]

What are the "Celebrity calipers" ? The Bullitt ones ?

I can see where you are comming from. I've had to deal with total douche bags that claim they know everything about my setup and try and sell me on some setup they like. As you said, the setup you requested is not a regular production in his product line. I imagine his huberis got in the way and he figured you were just a stupid end user with a serious case of H in A dissorder. When people let their pride do the talking they turn into jackasses. If he is going to act like that, I don't care how good his brackets are, they ain't worth my money.

 

[1320stang]

My Scarebird brackets fit with no problem, no modification, and non-napa discs. I used some really cheap discs,($37.00 each), from Rock Auto: even with shipping, two rotors only cost $90.00. I have a 67; are you working on a different year?

Well. his handle is 5.0ina66........

 

[5.0ina66]

My Scarebird brackets fit with no problem, no modification, and non-napa discs. I used some really cheap discs,($37.00 each), from Rock Auto: even with shipping, two rotors only cost $90.00. I have a 67; are you working on a different year?

Innnteresting! Did yours use S10 calipers or Chevy Celebrity calipers? My brackets look a little odd IMO so I'm not so convinced they're made right, but Scarebird aint about to tell me.
Thanks
--Kyle

 

[DJCarbine]

I used the frotn scarebird brackets on a 66 with fleabay drilled rotors and S10 calipers and they fit perfectly... maybe he sent you the wrong brackets?

On a side note the rotors will rub against the bracket while putting the rotor on... but once they are seated properly and fully on the spindle they will have good clearance, at least this was the case for me?

Sorry you have having problems with it, scarebird went perfectly fine for me

 

[5.0ina66]

I used the frotn scarebird brackets on a 66 with fleabay drilled rotors and S10 calipers and they fit perfectly... maybe he sent you the wrong brackets?

You wouldn't happen to have a pic of your brackets would you? I'd still like to figure out what the hell went wrong; only Scarebrid knows for sure and he aint sayin. I think these brackets are just plain made wrong, considering they're (at least suppposedly) different from the S10 ones to accomodate the Celebrity calipers and there werent that many of these made.
Thanks
--Kyle

 

[DJCarbine]

You wouldn't happen to have a pic of your brackets would you? I'd still like to figure out what the hell went wrong; only Scarebrid knows for sure and he aint sayin. I think these brackets are just plain made wrong, considering they're (at least suppposedly) different from the S10 ones to accomodate the Celebrity calipers and there werent that many of these made.
Thanks
--Kyle

I went looking for pictures and I could not find any of just the bracket...
Maybe you could get him to send the other regular bracket and just use the S-10 calipers? I am unsure of your reason for wanting to try the new style bracket, but from what I've put these S-10 calipers through, they work great

If I get bored later, I'll pull a wheel off and try to get a picture

 

[5.0ina66]

That's what I wanted 'cuz I knew they worked but I missed the boat on getting a set of the S10 ones and these were available and he was about to switch to making Ranger stuff. So I got these, guess that was a mistake LOL

If you could get a pic, it would be much appreciated

How do yours compare to mine? Much difference?
link to huge pic of my brackets
Thanks
--kyle

 

[DJCarbine]

Just by looking... yes. Mine were very different. Basically where yours are rubbing, I don't have any material there on my brackets. Quite possibly why yours don't work


http://www.scarebird.com/mediac/400_0/media/DSCF0880.JPG

Thats what I got... look at yours where they are rubbing. No material there on the ones I got

From looking at your brackets, I think that they will NOT work no matter what you do.
Unless you put a spacer to bring the rotor out a little bit... in fact a spacer is mentioned in his writeup. I am unsure of how this will affect the bearings seating on the spindle though...

 

[5.0ina66]

Basically where yours are rubbing, I don't have any material there on my brackets.

THat's what i suspected. I saw that pic but I wasnt sure that was the S10 bracket or ranger bracket. Now I know. Either way this car is getting 68 Mustang rotors & GM calipers if I have to design the f'ing brackets myself
But your comment leads me to question weather or not it will be possible to get the brackets turned down and move the caliper bracket mounting points and still have it work.
Now if i could find someone willing to lend me their S10 brackets for a couple days, I'd be good to go

 

[Scarebird]

First off, let me state we are not Nordstrom's, nor are we Halliburton in our customer service. I do my best in this department, but will not, and cannot give away the store. All of our brackets for this application use 1/4" cold rolled steel, hence the distance from the face of the spindle is the same. Using the 68-69/70-73 Mustang rotors, it is a tight fit- but it does fit, as several here noted.

Now, in this case, I am thoroughly baffled as to why Kyle's setup is not working. All I can figure is that the rotors are not in tolerance. Our S10/Mustang rotor setup uses the same rotor, so that won't work either. We offered Kyle a set of our Ranger-rotored brackets, but he declined- as he feels they will not hold up.* So we are at an impasse and I offered him his money back. What else could I have done? We are having another batch of the Mustang rotored- S10 made, so if Kyle wants those, we can exchage, but I do not see how it will change the issues he is having.

rusty67- if you do not know what you are talking about, let alone spell it- maybe you should :Zip2:

* Rangers are a 3000 pound truck with a 1000 pound payload rating- I think their rotors will work fine in a 2800 pound Mustang

 

[Rusty67]

If I don't know I ask, thats why I did. In any event from what I heard thats how I feel.

 

[Scarebird]

If I don't know I ask, thats why I did. In any event from what I heard thats how I feel.

How can you form an opinion without any facts? Nobody cares how you feel. Kyle has every right to post what he did, and has handled this issue with calm- which we are trying to reciprocate.

 

[LMan]

There's nothing wrong with 10.25" rotors on a street car. The stockers aren't any bigger than that anyway. In fact, I know guys who opentrack their vintage Mustangs on that size rotor (~) and the world did not end.

 

[Rusty67]

How can you form an opinion without any facts? Nobody cares how you feel. Kyle has every right to post what he did, and has handled this issue with calm- which we are trying to reciprocate.

I remember you now. You are the guy that never posts on the message board to help anyone out and then comes on here to plug his new products and leave.

I also remember when you posted about these new brackets and I asked why not use the H/K 4 piston setup.

Let me tell you something about that setup. Its a damn fine piece of equipment and it is NOT unreliable. Expensive ? Yes. People don't understand that those calipers need more service then a regular caliper. They neglect to do the regular service on them and they fail. They are not unreliable. They are fantastic. Not to mention they are an 11" rotor and a factory setup. Why bother puting bowtie parts on a Ford when you could use factory stuff thats better or an after market kit that exceeds the factory stuff.

You want an opinion based on facts ? Here it is. A single piston floating caliper is inferior when compaired to a 4 piston fixed caliper.

I think plenty of people care how I FEEL because I've been posting on this board and involved in discussions to HELP people instead of trying to belittle them for not knowing what a celebrity caliper is.