For those of you that have followed Project Dirt Late Model over the years know that we have often used the car to test different ideas, setups, and new products our advertisers bring to market. When we test these new products, we like to inform you of how well they perform and if they do what they claim. These tests are being conducted in the real world, on the track and often time during actual races. However, during these events we purposely try not to test the, uh, shall we say durability of these products.
With all of this being said, we recently tested the claims and strength of a quality product. Back in the March '12 issue we told you about a great new design that Howe Racing Products has, the Precision Max A-Frame. In that story, we mentioned that Howe claims bind-free movement under severe braking conditions, and bind-free even if it becomes damaged. We also talked about the fact that they're rebuildable.
Well, a few weeks ago while racing a series race, at our local track we tested these claims--although not intentionally. It was a racing deal, everyone trying to get in the A-main, a car spun in front of us and, with no place to go, we wrecked bad. Once back at the hauler, we saw that the left upper A-frame cross-shaft was badly bent. We knew that Howe claims bind free operation even if it was damaged, but we had bent it so badly that we knew there was no way it would still move and our night was over--or so we thought. When we removed the upper shock bolt to inspect the damage further we were pleasantly surprised to find that the upper A-frame moved totally bind-free just as Howe said it would. Smiles across our faces we quickly mounted the shock back in place and went out to run the B-main.
Howe’s Precision Max A-Frame is rebuildable which is a great feature when you have that little on track incident like Project DLM did recently.
After the racing was over for that night, we pulled the A-frame off and straightened the cross-shaft for the next night. Turns out that was a mistake. Howe does not recommend doing this because once the aluminum cross-shaft is bent, and you bend it back, it becomes brittle and weak at the bend point. A couple of races later, we took a minor hit to the left front wheel and sure enough the cross-shaft snapped exactly where it had originally bent and where we straightened it. Lesson learned.
So we contacted the guys at Howe and had them send us a new cross-shaft. In the conversation about the wreck, they asked if we bent any of our ball joints. Not being sure, they told us about a great little tool they have to check ball joints, which they sent along with the parts to rebuild the Precision Max A-Frame. Now, check out how easy this is.
