Accompanying image for Forty-eight days. Nineteen emails. One guard shack.  And it was worth it.

 

Forty-eight days. Nineteen emails. One guard shack. And it was worth it.

That's what it took to get my pride and joy back where it should be: on the road.

Build Blog
 
SVT_MAN - Jun 08, 2017

 

The Back Story

In the middle of April 2017, I became involved in a warranty claim procedure with Eibach, the manufacturer of the coil over kit that is currently installed on my Mustang.  (The vehicle pictured above, actually.)

The reason?

My vehicle’s driver side strut shaft snapped off while performing a routine parking maneuver in my girlfriend’s driveway.  

So, long story short: for the next agonizingly-long forty-eight days, my car was un-drivable.  

Days.  And Days.  And Daze.

But maybe forty-eight days doesn't seem that long to you.  Fair enough.  

In fact, I planned for you to say that.  But you're wrong.

Want proof?  Well, here's the timeframe breakdown, complete with more iron-clad facts than a Donald Trump tweet:

(For the purpose of complete objectivity, I'll refer to myself as the "owner" from here on.)

  • April 15, 2017
    Vehicle suspension shatters into millions of pieces.

    Owner experiences deep depression.  (Actual footage below.)

    Thumb cat depressed

  • April 16, 2017
    Owner's girlfriend's father welds part back together.  
    Part re-installed.  
    Owner drives vehicle home.  Owner experiences deep relief.

    Thumb relief

  • April 19, 2017
    Owner calls Eibach.  
    Eibach informs that part eligible for warranty.  
    Owner dances and rejoices like merry peasant.

    Thumb peasant

  • April 28, 2017 
    Owner removes part from vehicle.

  • May 1, 2017
    Owner packages part.  Ships to Eibach.

  • May 5, 2017 
    Eibach receives part.  
    Owner realizes part no longer in vehicle.  
    Vehicle no longer drivable.  
    Vehicle on jackstands. 
    Owner experiences deep depression.  (Actual footage below.)

    Thumb cat depressed

    • May 6, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 7, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 8, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 9, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 10, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 11, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 12, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 13, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 14, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed

    • May 15, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 16, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 17, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 18, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 19, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 20, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 21, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 22, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 23, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 24, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)
       
      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 25, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 26, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 27, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 28, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed


    • May 29, 2017 - Owner experiences deep depression. (Actual footage below.)

      Thumb cat depressed



    • (Tired of scrolling?  See. It was a long time!)


    • May 30, 2017
      Owner informed Eibach warranty honored.   Eibach part shipped.
      Owner dances and rejoices like merry peasant.  

      Thumb peasant



    • June 1, 2017

      5:00 am 
      Owner takes day off from work.
      Part scheduled to arrive.  
      Owner dances and rejoices like merry peasant.

      Thumb peasant


    • 5:01 am
      Fed Ex alerts owner that part will now arrive June 2nd due to shipping delay.  
      Owner believes Fed Ex should be reserved special corner in hell.

      Thumb fedex

      5:02 am 

      Owner calls Fed Ex corporate.  
      Asks where part can be delivered for June 1st.  
      Fed Ex informs owner: "nothing they can do."  
      Owner believes Fed Ex should be reserved special corner in hell.

      Thumb fedex


      5:03 am
      Owner spends 3 hours working way up Fed Ex corporate phone chain.

      Thumb kermit


      10:00 am
      Owner posts diatribe on Facebook.  Subject? How Fed Ex should be reserved special corner in hell.

      Thumb fedex


      10:01 am
      Owner informed that package will be held in sorting facility for pickup June 1st!  
      Owner dances and rejoices like merry peasant.

      Thumb peasant


      3:02 pm
      Owner arrives at sorting facility.  
      Owner experiences deep anxiety at site of guard shack.  
      Owner proceeds through enormous, intimidating metal detector.

      Metal detector guarded by black-ops Marines.

      Thumb man shooting gun

      3:03 pm
      Owner out of guard shack.  
      Owner experiences deep relief.

      Thumb relief



      3:04 pm
      Package procured.
      Owner in relative disbelief.  

      Thumb disbelief

    • June 3, 2017 5:00 pm

      Part reinstalled in vehicle by owner.  

      Owner rejoices.  
      Dances like a merry peasant.  

      Thumb peasant


    • 6:00 pm
      Owner drives car like stolen.  (Actual footage below.)
       Thumb stolen mustang

      (Also, that Fed Ex driver was fine.  In case you were wondering.)


    Iron-Clad Facts.  Indisputable Evidence.

    So now that it is well-established with iron-clad facts and indisputable evidence that forty-eight days is an enormously long time to wait, let me just say this: 

    I'm glad I stuck it out.

    The Eibach Pro-Street S coilover kit continues to impress me.  I am very grateful to Eibach for coming through for me and honoring their warranty.  

    Even if it did feel like an eternity before I got my part back.

    Faulty Vendor?  Faulty Owner?


    When you get down to it, although it was frustrating to wait, I don't think the time delay was entirely Eibach's fault.

    Some of the blame is squarely on me.  Why, you ask?

    Well, one definite knock against me is that I did not take pictures of the part after it failed.  While I can't be too hard on myself given the circumstances - after all, the suspension fix happened around midnight on Easter morning - this is a definite knock against me.  

    I would say, "maybe next time" -  but, of course, who wishes for this to happen again?

    Lesson Learned

    So here’s my advice to all of you out there:  

    When a part fails, if there is even a remote chance of it being warrantied, take a picture of it.  You'll be glad you did.

    There will probably be much less back and forth with the vendor.  Who wants to send 19 emails back and forth?


    Back on the Road

    At the end of the day, my car is back together.  

    And for that, well .. there's just one way to describe the feeling:

    Thumb peasant

    (Sorry.)


    Bonus!


    Perhaps some of my giddiness surrounding the car being fixed was also because of the new set of rims that I acquired thanks to Dream Machine Video SeriesDon Ford.  

    Since he moved his 2002 Mustang GT convertible to 18 inch rims and staggered stance tires, his trusty 17 inch Torque Thrust IIs needed a new home.

    I was happy to oblige and provided one.

    It's hard to go wrong with Torque Thrust IIs.  They just look so fantastic:

    Thumb 20170607 194746
    Sorry about the bird dirt though.  Car was bombed while it was sitting at the alignment shop.

    Oh well.  

    Could be worse though ...


    Thumb bird drt


    Next Up?

    Superfluous amounts of animated gifs in blog posts, probably.  

    Then subframe connectors.  Stay tuned.

     
     

     

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    Authored by SVT_MAN


     

    Featured Vehicle

    1999 Ford Mustang

    Engine

    Liters: 4.6

    Cyliders: 8

    Vehicle Category

    American Muscle

    Performance

    0-60: 5.5 seconds

    1/4 Mile: 14.0 seconds @ 98.0 mph

    Top Speed: 142 mph


    Horsepower: 260 @ 5250 rpm

    Torque: 302 @ 4000 rpm


    Transmission: Manual (MT)

    Weight: 3200

    Appearance

    Exterior Color: Dark Satin Green

    Interior Color: Saddle Leather

    History

    Mileage: 111000

    Ownership: Currently Own

    Overview

    This is my weekend cruising car for driving on the backroads.

    Modifications:
    - K&N Cone Air Filter
    - Smoked Headlights
    - Eibach Pro Street Coilover Kit (set to lower about an inch)
    - Mach 1 Grill Delete
    - Raxiom LED Third Brake Light
    - SVE FR500 Style Steering Wheel
    - Torque Thrust IIs
    - Sony MEX-XB100BT head unit
    - Steeda Tri-ax Shifter
    - Maximum Motorsports Full Length Subframe Connectors
    - Steeda Bump Steer Kit
    - Fully Independent Rear Suspension (from 2001 Cobra donor)
    - Full Tilt Boogie Racing Bushings



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