Charlie bars - Help
 

My car has a set of Charlie bars front and rear and the bushings are worn. I contacted Wrightwood racing in Oxnard CA (they make em') to order a new set and they won't sell to me. I have to order through a shop. No-one local here deals with them - as a matter of fact I don't know anyone, anywhere who does. The noise is making me crazy and I don't see the wisdom in getting new bars. Help. Anyone know these guys? It can't be too hard to throw a set of bushings in the mail...

That's very unfortunate that they won't sell to you. I suppose they are worried about liability, but this is the sort of thing that would deter a customer like me from purchasing from them. People telling me I can't DIY something is a pet peeve of mine, I guess.

They're probably trying to honor the sales rights of their outlets. Can't very well keep loyal retailers flooring your wares if you're wholesaling to everyone and their dog out your back door. Perhaps, call them again. Explain that you do not know where to get the bushings. Ask if vendors can get just a bushing set from them, the manufacturer. I'd want to know the answers to those questions, if I were in your shoes. And if they tell you that the bushings are not actually available separately, then you'll know they were only trying to steer you into a collision course with someone who would try to sell you new bars. At this point, I would calmly inform them that I will have bushings fabbed by a machine shop and spend the rest of my free time racing, attending rallies and telling this story. One irritated customer with a good story can ruin millions of dollars in sales.

Or perhaps see if Wayne would be willing to make an inquiry about the bushings.

I agree with this, with respect to an entire sway bar, but bushings? IMHO manufacturers should not resist supplying replacement parts that their dealers aren't going to stock or make significant $ on anyway.

I agree with everything else you said :)

Yes. Check with Wrightwood if they can recommend a retailer to source these. I'm surprised they didn't tell you to do that up front.

If they're unobtainable and if the front and rear bushings appear similar to the factory-type bushings, perhaps you can obtain a set of WM or equiv. PU bushings, then bore them to the size of your sway bars. A machine shop should be able to slice through them like butter in no time. If it's a "popular" size (19mm = 3/4", 24mm = 1", etc.), sometimes you can buy a set of domestic bushings to fit (the rears at least). Check with Summit or Jegs.

Sherwood

I did ask for a list of vendors - they declined. I asked for a suggestion and was told to talk to a vendor. But I don't know the vendors... And so it goes. The guy I spoke to seemed irritated that I called and couldn't wait to get me off the phone.

They may not have a retail sales license and if not, it is illegal to sell to you.

Not giving you a list of retailers is rude tho -- call back and ask again. Get the guy's name up front. If he refuses to say who the retailers are, ask to speak to the owner immediately.

Hmmm, according to the current thread count, there are already 84 skeptical potential customers who are thinking "some other brand" besides Charlie Bars.

Maybe they'll see this thread and try to save face. If not, go to plan B.

Sherwood

When I get poor service from someone who seems irritated, I ask their name. That wakes up the conversation.

I don't know these guys, but they sell Charlie Bars. Maybe they can help you out.

Let me know if you don’t have any luck. I think that our front swaybar bearing blocks will work with a front Charlie bar. The back may be a problem though.

Ira

German Motor Cars

I tried on Jorians behalf to get the bushings from them as well. Nice and friendly, but they said my shop was not big enough for them to sell to even though I would have bought brake pads and 3 complete engine gasket sets, valves etc on the same order!

Superman, it is not the person on the phones fault (in this case) it is the company policy. I also tried without any luck to get the bushings through one of their retailers who is really well known. No luck there either though it is unclear whether it was the reseller or wrightwoods fault as the well known reseller never even got back to me!

I remember BA saying he doesn't recommend charlie bars any more becuase they were always out of stock on some peice when you tried to order. These bars are nothing special and I don't imagine they sell too many any more. If I were buying new ones, these would not even be on the list. There is product available that is as good or better from venders that know how to treat customers.

As an aside, I contacted Chuck at Elephant Racing (who treats me right) to see if I could order the bearing blocks that come with his sway bars (the bars are the same size) and it he said it would be no problem and he could shiip them right away. The only problem is the design of the bearing block is not compatible with the design of the Charlie bar.

Soooooo, please, if anyone knows where to get these pieces please let Jorian or myself know.

Thanks, I am done now!

Jeff

Thanks Jeff!

Hi:

Please let me know if I can help; I am a Wrightwood Racing dealer and can get those bushings for you.

Wow.
This is funny stuff.
More than likely the "guy" that you spoke with was Charlie Spira- the owner. He's not only the engineer, builder and head of marketing but sometimes he takes the time to answer the phone also. He's a brilliant guy but he's extremely busy. Give the guy a break. He has arguably the best product out there and he is VERY protective of his dealers (some of which have been loyal to him since he started his company) .
You need to let Charlie build product and let his dealer network take care of retail sales. We'll be more than happy to sell you anything that you need.

Frank Beck
Beck's Indp. Porsche Shop
10802 N. Cave Creek Rd.
Phoenix, AZ. 85020
(602) 997-6572
www.becksporsche.com
bipshop@qwest.net

Steve, I never thought of calling you, I will do that. On the phone I talked to Charlie, and one of the girls in the office. The girl, can't remember her name, was very friendly and did give me the name of one of the retailers, but it was not Steve. That retailer was of no use. Like I said earlier I was ready to buy a fair amount of stuff for some projects we have on the go and told them I needed a good source for this stuff in the future, but they were not interested in my money. My earlier point was, although they seem like a good product, there are other products out there that are as good or better. The one thing that comes to mind is the rear drop link on Jorians car is a modified factory non adjustable drop link. I would say however that I am very impressed with the front bar. I am not familiar with their other specialty products (brakes perhaps) but I have heard good things.

Steve and still2slow, thanks for your replies.

Cheers, Jeff

One thing is for sure; Superman was spot-on with his assessment. I for one, will never purchase a set of Charlie Bars base upon this fiasco. Charlie Spira is not the "Only Game in Town" for this product, but somehow, this fact seems to evade both he, and his company.

First, thanks to those that replied. I just talked to Steve and he is going to get me a pair of the bearing blocks and ship them out. From his point of view as a retailer of Wrightwood products he is glad they protect their dealers and don't sell to the average Joe (which I may or may not be). I can see his point. I am just glad that he was able to help me.

Cheers, Jeff

Hi Jeff:

The bushings are on their way to you as I speak as I have them in stock,...:)

Charlie bars all came with adjustable droplinks so I'm not sure what Jorian has. If you can e-mail me a pic, I might be able to help figure out what he has.

FWIW, Wrightwood Racing doesn't do much swaybar manufacturing any longer as they concentrate on other things, but their swaybars were THE gold standard for many many years. Currently, the Smart Racing Bars are at the top of the list, hands down.

Thanks Steve, greatly appreciated. When I talked to Charlie he said that they had sold some modified drop links in the past. This one is a factory link with a bushing in the lower bolt hole to reduce the ID so that it will be the same size as the hole in the sway bar trailing blade. It works fine, it is just not ideal!

Jeff

Holy snowballing thread Batman!

If Wrightwood was worried about their dealer network, Charlie (if that is who I spoke with), could have avoided this issue by giving me the name and number of the nearest retailer and created a new customer for his reseller. Instead he blew me off and has possibly alienated some future customers who happen upon this thread.

Thanks to Steve at Rennsport! To bad I had to start this thread to hear about your company.

Thanks to all who responded. Great board...