Flaming River steering column

[Joyridin]

I bought a Flaming River steering column about a year ago. It has been a real POS. I am just wondering how they are working for anybody else that is using them?

I was at Goodguys and asked if they had a rebuild kit as the shaft is really loose in my unit. The guy stated I had to send it in and have it repaired. I asked if the shaft should have .05" of play. I didn't get a good answer. For those of you using a FR column, does the main shaft have a lot of play? Mine is about .05" and every bump you hit, you can feel the column vibrate.

As I was standing there talking to the FR guy, I reached down and grabbed the end shaft of a column they had for show. It was a lot worse than mine. At a car show the other day, I did the same to an Ididit column and felt no play. Now I am wondering if the FR column is just garbage?

[Sheepdip]

I originally put a FR Column in my 49 Chevy pickup and had nothing but trouble with it as it seemed to just rattle loose in the tilt mechanism area. I sent it in for repair to FR and with labor and shipping both ways could have almost bought a new column. Not to mention it was still loose when I got it back!

I called FR to complain, and their answer was to ship it back and they will assess it for repair....Huh??? You just had it for repair!

Needless to say I wrote FR off and moved on to one I got off eBay and have been trouble free since.

[Joyridin]

Originally Posted by Sheepdip

I originally put a FR Column in my 49 Chevy pickup and had nothing but trouble with it as it seemed to just rattle loose in the tilt mechanism area. I sent it in for repair to FR and with labor and shipping both ways could have almost bought a new column. Not to mention it was still loose when I got it back!

I called FR to complain, and their answer was to ship it back and they will assess it for repair....Huh??? You just had it for repair!

Needless to say I wrote FR off and moved on to one I got off eBay and have been trouble free since.

Ok.. sounds like mine. When it was brand new, I plugged in the wring and subsequently melted the main power feed wire. They had put the turn signal switch screw through the wiring harness. I called to get a new harness. I would put it in. They basically accused me of hooking the pre-wired harness in wrong.

Note the are 5 miles from my house. They are a customer of ours and use the product we sell to manufacture the columns. I bought from them simply because they buy from us. Boy, did I screw up!