JD Performance Story

[Cole Trane]

Okay, I bought my a arms from JD performance about a month and half ago. First it took them over three weeks just to ship them. So I get them and put them on, no problems. Then on my first ride the bottom left ball joint snaps while I'm going around a corner. It was in an arroyo(flood wash) and I think I caught a rit or something. Either way, it shouldn't have broken. Now keep in mind that these ball joints aren't JD, they are high perfomance aftermarket though. So I call up JD, and tell them what happened. I ask if he could replace them and he says they are aftermarket and they don't have a warranty. I said that I know that buy shouldn't you stand behind the products you sell. So he says, and I quote, "look dude, quit giving me an attitude." Now just so everyone knows, there was no cussing, yelling, even sarcasm in my voice while I'm talking to this guy. So pretty much, I told him to shove it and you won't be getting anymore business or recommendations from me, maybe not so nice as that though. Man it made me mad!! I know some people might not agree with me on this situation, but it's not like I'm asking for new a arms, just some stinking ball joints!! 2 to be exact. Anyway, thanks for "listening", just had to vent.

Cole

[brian-250]

:rolleyes: some people

[Pappy]

were the ball joints screwed all the way in to the a arm?

[Cole Trane]

Yeah they were all the way in. It literally snapped flush with the a arm.

[Pappy]

ive talked with several suspension companies and all have said the exact same thing. 99% of the lower ball joints that break are the result of what i asked above.

maybe contact the ball joint company?

[Cole Trane]

Will do, thanks. I knew I shoulda went with Herrmann a arms!!!!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Ralph]

your scaring me,,,


i had my jd's for a little over a year now, yes the balljoints are thinner in dia on the bolts and that would be the 2nd story i heard about em braking. Customer service wise i give em a B. They helped me when i first bought them and i got the a-arms in 4 days. then he got on the phone with me and helped me with anything else, nowadays service is not as good.

[Cole Trane]

I'm not takin anything away from the a arms. They didn't get jacked up at all. From what I was told from people that saw it, they said the quad actually cart-wheeled. It's just the service, or lack of it, should I say. Oh well, I got a good deal on em, now gotta find some ball joints!!:rolleyes:

[Moded86R]

I have had my JD performance A-arms for about 4 years now.Granted my R has been sitting in my basement for 2 of those.


Anyway so far they have held up great.Thanks for the Info on the customer service.Looks like I will be staying away from them from now on.Herrmann racing is good company and just about all my chassis components will be coming from them from now on.Even though I plan on buying a chrome leager's swinger for my R.(It's always been a dream of mine)

[Cole Trane]

word up 86, just tryin to help. Nothing wrong with some laeger, wish I could afford some of that shiznit!!!

[airheadedduner]

Is your caster set right?? Your upper arm should trail the lowers buy a bit. If not the ball joints will just snap off.

I don't think it's JD thing. They use the same balljoints that just about all companies use. There's something else going on here that we dont' know about.:confused:

[Cole Trane]

Who does make those ball joints?

[Dave400ex]

Don't they use the old style Laeger ball joints?

[Ralph]

yeah they use smaller balljoints, when my frien was pc'ing them he picked up a balljoint that works for most the new companies and it was too big. They say they use balljoints with lighter springs designed for vw bugs or something, but that prob means they were designed for less abuse.

[airheadedduner]

Originally posted by Dave400ex
Don't they use the old style Laeger ball joints?
68' VW bug tie rod end I think:eek: :huh

[Cole Trane]

So does anyone know what kind (company) of ball joints I can use? I need to get some pretty soon, just don't know what kind I need.

[416mx]

I've delt with JD for about 3 years and have a hard time believing that
Dave said that to you. Dave and Debbie have always helped me out with what ever i needed! Very nice people, ball joints break period!!!!!!!!! If the ball joint didn't break your a arm would have bent. I've seen some JD a arms take alot of abuse. Yes JD performance does stand behind their products!!!!!!!!!:blah: :blah: :blah:

[Cole Trane]

Well I would hope they'd be nice to you since apparently they're your friends. He said what he said, why don't ya ask him!! Yes ball joints do break, but not when your just riding around normally. It's good your standing up for your friend and all, but don't tell me they stand behind their products in this case!! Not all people get along ya know!! Another thing, I never said anything bad about their products, just the service. Get your facts straight before you get on my case!!!!!!!!! One more thing, would you be mad if this happened to you????? I would bet you would!

[416mx]

You said you hit a rut, if you hit it hard enough it will break. I had a guy bump my front tire going into the first turn at a race and it snapped right off. And by the way i will ask him!!! If you break a ball joint, and it's probally your falt,like you said ,re: you hit a rut,
don't blam the ball joint.:grr:

[Ralph]

well they dont know how to ship bushings...

[Ralph]

after i just go off the phpne with them again i take back anything i said bout em that wasnt so positive. It turns out they sent me free bushings with free shipping before i called. A++

[Cole Trane]

you didn't answer my question 416, would you be pissed if it happened to you? If you say no, then hey, I guess your just a better person. Did I mention that when this happened it was the first time I had ridden on the new a arms? Look, I don't care what you say about ball joints breaking, I don't think it should've broke doing what I was doing. Nothin' your gonna say is gonna change that. Sorry I put a bad post up about your friends. I'm not being sarcastic, it just pissed me off.

[416mx]

Okay , maybe i would be a little upset, and maybe you and Dave just got off on the wrong foot. All i'm saying is i've never had a problem with them and if i did they worked hard to correct the problem. Maybe call him back and try again,Just explain exctly what happened and why you don't think it should have. I don't want to start a post war, i'm here for the same reason you are , to talk to other people interested in the same things i am. Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot.
I think all in all you'll be very happy with those a arms, I've landed some pretty big jumps , for me anyhow, and haven't had a problem. Maybe yours had a casting flaw. I've seen this happen with other parts that are cast. Hope everything is cool now.:cool:

[boogiechile]

I think those are VW van joints, not bug joints. JD joints are 14mm shafts like some others (or at least they used to be). Many companies use 16mm shaft joints from a Mazda truck. You can use anybodys joint as long as it is 14mm. Houser regular joints will fit or you can go to an auto parts store and get them. Different brand joints are made different in the socket and I would hope that the major atv aftermarket companies have done enough research to pick a quality one so I would just buy from them. They usually sell them for about 19 bucks and it will cost 12-15 in the parts store, so not that much difference.

I have raced mx on 14mm ball joints for two seasons with no problems. I like to replace them after each season though.

400exrider2002, you have said that you were just riding normal when the joint broke and you have also said that it cartwheeled when it broke. Somehow those two don't seem to match.

[Cole Trane]

Yeah, it did cartwheel after the ball joint broke. I guess it just dug into the ground and flipped it. That's what my buddy said who was watching me. Yes 416 we are cool, maybe I'll give him a call. I don't wanna start anything either. Oh well, and thanks for the info boogie.

[jdpdave]

ok guys, here is the real story. this guy calls me (pissed off) and yes he was cussing from the beginning. telling me that my product is crap and that i owe him new ball joints. i proceeded to explain that we could not warranty a piece that we do not manufacture (the ball joint). however, we do waranty the a arms when it comes to workmanship. some people out there think that aftermarket products are indistructable, but nothing is indistructable. if man can make it, man can break it. i witnessed at a race once, a guy come up short on a tripple and stuff his front end.(thus breaking a ball joint). the following moday he called and told me that he was just going around a corner and it broke. when i told him i saw him stuff it he did not have much more to say. the #1 reason most balljoints are broken is lack of maitainance. one week a guy will endo 5 times, hop back on his quad and keep on goin because the bike appears to be ok, but he might have not noticed that he had damaged something. the next
week that part fails because of lack of inspection. there are many things that people do which we have no control over, like screwing the bottom balljoint out to get more -camber(a real no no). or running an offset wheel, also a no no. these type of things put too much load on wheel bearings and balljoints, not to mention increasing bumpsteer. so for reasons like these, we can not just give him stuff.
yes the balljoints are the same ones that are in laegers.
we are also using the new style lock in balljoints that laegers uses.
we at jd performance pride ourselves in high qulity and customer service. i have spent 13 yrs in the atv industry 10 of them building the chassis for people like tim farr, kory ellis, gary denton, shane hitt, and many more. we will continue to build high quality products, and provide excellent customer service. unfortunatly, we are not going please everyone. if any of you have any questions on any of these topics, feel free to give us a call @ 9096767957

[Pappy]

well said:)

and welcome to the site:cool:

[kgbg]

I am a big fan of JD, I have ran a few sets of their arms, sold a few for themto my pals, always recommended them to anybody looking for arms. I will always continue to do this.
Dave and Debbie are great, misunderstandings are one thing, lask of service is completely another.
Welcome

[jdpdave]

okay 400exrider2002. maybe we both had a bad day, so lets move on. tell you what, you buy 1 bj and ill give the other. can we call this a compromise?

[Dave400ex]

Sounds like good service to me! Stuff will break.

[Pappy]

Originally posted by jdpdave
tell you what, you buy 1 bj and ill give the other. can we call this a compromise?

you ever wanna come to hatfield, dont let rowlrag hear you say that:eek: :devil:



sounds like a fair deal to me...good show!!!:cool:

[Cole Trane]

Sounds good to me, but high velocity will probably be calling tomorrow about some new ones. I agree we were both probably having a bad morning. I don't wanna get a bad name here, so I'll apoligize again for flaming your business on the site. I never did say you had a bad product, just so ya know. I'll also take back not recommending your product to anyone too. Maybe I'll give you a call 2morrow and we can talk. Till then.
P.S.
Sorry everyone had to put up with this crap!!
Cole

[Ralph]

Welcome Jd, I used to try to get u to post here all the time a while ago but ya never did...

[jdpdave]

well i'm here now, it's hard for me to get the time to go online.
i am too busy building and designing. i'll continue to try to check in here to see whats up. if some of you guys are having a hard time getting answers on suspension, give me a call and i will try to give you some insight. if i'm not available, debbie (my wife) knows quite a bit about suspension.


dave @ jd performance 9096767957

Originally posted by jdpdave
well i'm here now, it's hard for me to get the time to go online.
i am too busy building and designing. i'll continue to try to check in here to see whats up. if some of you guys are having a hard time getting answers on suspension, give me a call and i will try to give you some insight. if i'm not available, debbie (my wife) knows quite a bit about suspension.


dave @ jd performance 9096767957


Welcome and don't be a stanger.


It's nice to have another PRO chassis guys on the page.

[AndrewRRR]

Originally posted by 400exrider2002
Okay, I bought my a arms from JD performance about a month and half ago. First it took them over three weeks just to ship them. So I get them and put them on, no problems. Then on my first ride the bottom left ball joint snaps while I'm going around a corner. It was in an arroyo(flood wash) and I think I caught a rit or something. Either way, it shouldn't have broken. Now keep in mind that these ball joints aren't JD, they are high perfomance aftermarket though. So I call up JD, and tell them what happened. I ask if he could replace them and he says they are aftermarket and they don't have a warranty. I said that I know that buy shouldn't you stand behind the products you sell. So he says, and I quote, "look dude, quit giving me an attitude." Now just so everyone knows, there was no cussing, yelling, even sarcasm in my voice while I'm talking to this guy. So pretty much, I told him to shove it and you won't be getting anymore business or recommendations from me, maybe not so nice as that though. Man it made me mad!! I know some people might not agree with me on this situation, but it's not like I'm asking for new a arms, just some stinking ball joints!! 2 to be exact. Anyway, thanks for "listening", just had to vent.

Cole

First of all, I didn't have time to read the whole thread but here's my opinion:
I've had nothing but good things to say about my JD arms. I bought them about 3 years ago, so maybe their customer service changed. It was a woman (debbie) that I talked to when I got mine and she was very knowledgable and helpful. As for how long it took, when I got mine she said it was good I was ordering +2's instead of +2/+1's because their fabricator makes them in batches and they were out of +2/+1's so it would be a 4 week wait. Still, they should have told you that when you ordered them if they didn't.
The JD's use VW-style ball joints which are smaller than some A-arms which use chevrolet style ones. Pretty much everybody uses automotive ball joints. I've never heard of one snapping with normal use though.

[cnbmcdermott]

I don't know how you can slam jd's customer service. We have bought from them for years and have never had any problems or have heard of anyone having any problems. It sounds to me like you wrecked your bike and you are lashing out at others. I don't recall you saying that their product broke? You really should take responsibility for your own actions and not try to blame someone else.

[Moded86R]

I have also always recomended JD A-arms.I just don't like the way there swingarm looks.Unless they make one that looks like a stock style one.I would be happy to buy one of them.


I have had my A-arms for a long time now.I can't remember if it was 3-4 years ago.But so far no problems

[Ralph]

:D

[Cole Trane]

Holy Crap!!!! Does nobody read the posts posted after the first one?!?! I never said anything bad about the product of JD's. I just didn't like the customer service. Then if you'll read on, we come to a aggreance that he'll sell me one and give me another for free. Another thing cnb, how are you gonna tell me that I wrecked my four wheeler another way, when there is no way you could know that. Quit making stipulations that you have no proof of!! Please people, just lay off of me. There is no problem between me and Dave now. Thanks
Cole