Problems with the FFS Hi Spec Rear Calipers ?

[Alan_C]

Another month has passed. Any further news from Hi Spec? My car is now off the road on SORN awaiting rear brakes that work.

[whippit]

i'm going to call Hi Spec tomorrow, i've had enough of waiting ,
my brakes have not been used since i sorn'd my car six months ago,
the rear have leaked fluid all over my brand new s2 wheels, ,
in my opinion there not fit for purpose, in fact dangerous , they have acknowledged there is a problem with them, but still we wait , why should we put up with this,
i know bob has done his best with these Muppet's, but even a man with his experience is getting know where,
if i dont get the right answers tomorrow, i'm going to take legal advice,

[bobbrown]

Hope you get more out of them than me as I've been banging my head on what seems like a brick wall for months now.

That said when I spoke to them Friday they did say the machining should be done this week and then its just a case of getting them finished and assembled BUT I've heard all that before weeks ago now.
Like six weeks or so ago they said they were testing the prototype and low and behold they said the same thing again three weeks ago and early part of last week was told they were on test, I just do not know what to believe.

[RayD]

whippit

Remember a full refund is available … which, if you still have the originals may be the best option.

Ray

[whippit]

well i spoke to HiSpec on friday,
i wasn't in the best of moods after my nissan navara's engine let go,
if you think lotus parts a expensive how does £5700+vat for a short motor sound,

back to the story , the first bloke i spoke to was a total arse hole,
i explained the situation i was in, brake fluid all over new wheels, fed up with all delays, a product that was not fit for purpose,
all this bloke said was i should have read the enclosed letter on how to apply the hand brake only after releasing the foot brake,
i pointed out that i never had a letter, the phone went quite,

a new person ask's if i have a problem, told the story again, this time he was i lot more amicable , he explain that there ready to start production in the next week, true or not who knows, they have a working calliper that's on test, and all looks good, they have changed the seal design, two pressure seals instead of one and a O ring,
they have had to change the chamfer on the port a few times, all looks good,

he does go on to praise bob for finding the solution to this balls up, looks like we don't have to send are old callipers back, , there making complete units , no postage for us to pay ,
iv'e got to call him next friday to check there ready, who knows we might have the end in sight.

[PIT-STOP]

Hi, sounds promising,but I guess nobody is holding their breath. Only one question, how do I add my name to the formal waiting list please. My car remains off the road due to rear caliper problems, and if they have a fix I require it too please. Advice on this would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Steve A]

If we ever get our hands on this rear caliper it should be nick named the "FFS Hi Spec Rears"

[bobbrown]

This is getting f*****! stupid.................

Spoke to Hi Spec again today and they said they have them on test WTF! they said that 2 months ago and they are trying to machine the bodies..........

I really wish they would speak the truth and not just offer up lame excuses, to lie you have to have a very good memory and they don't!

Will Pi***d off

Bob

[Gazza]

Bob

Just a question/thought. Seeing as a full refund is available apparently, is there any other callipers out there that we could use or modify?

Would be good to get Hi-shit to refund all that money!

Don't bite my head off, just a thought remember

Gazza

[bobbrown]

Bob

Just a question/thought. Seeing as a full refund is available apparently, is there any other callipers out there that we could use or modify?

Would be good to get Hi-s**t to refund all that money!

Don't bite my head off, just a thought remember

Gazza

Wasn't even thinking of bitting your head off, might like to do it to Hi Spec, chew it up and spit out!

It is very tricky and I have look at most out there, I have done most of the work converting to a VW/Audi caliper but the caliper does not fit that well and requires modification which I want to avoid.
There is a Vauxhall one that may work better and have yet to get to grips with that one. All of these run on solid discs and are of a single piston sliding type.
They do have a slightly different mechanism for the handbrake and use balls on a cam rather than a multi-start thread.

If and when Hi Spec get around to making these if they have followed the points I raised they should have fixed all the issues, why they could not have done this some years ago rather than leave us with the grief I do not know and they have not intimated that any one else has the problem but I bet they do.

[Steve A]

It seems that Hi Spec are telling different stories to different people,

he explain that there ready to start production in the next week, true or not who knows, they have a working calliper that's on test, and all looks good, they have changed the seal design, two pressure seals instead of one and a O ring,
they have had to change the chamfer on the port a few times, all looks good,

he does go on to praise bob for finding the solution to this balls up, looks like we don't have to send are old callipers back, , there making complete units , no postage for us to pay ,
iv'e got to call him next friday to check there ready, who knows we might have the end in sight.well i spoke to HiSpec on friday,
i wasn't in the best of moods after my nissan navara's engine let go,
if you think lotus parts a expensive how does £5700+vat for a short motor sound,

back to the story , the first bloke i spoke to was a total arse hole,
i explained the situation i was in, brake fluid all over new wheels, fed up with all delays, a product that was not fit for purpose,
all this bloke said was i should have read the enclosed letter on how to apply the hand brake only after releasing the foot brake,
i pointed out that i never had a letter, the phone went quite,

a new person ask's if i have a problem, told the story again, this time he was i lot more amicable , he explain that there ready to start production in the next week, true or not who knows, they have a working calliper that's on test, and all looks good, they have changed the seal design, two pressure seals instead of one and a O ring,
they have had to change the chamfer on the port a few times, all looks good,

he does go on to praise bob for finding the solution to this balls up, looks like we don't have to send are old callipers back, , there making complete units , no postage for us to pay ,
iv'e got to call him next friday to check there ready, who knows we might have the end in sight.

The question is how much longer will we be fobbed off before we demand a refund
Bob your a saint for putting up with this company
If it was just me I would have told them to shove it long ago, but I don't want to mess this up for the others

[lotusgirlmarie]

Alternative option for you bob.

http://www.gartrac.com/shop/forest-grav ... brake.html

[Gazza]

In Red please Bob

[Steve A]

Alternative option for you bob.

http://www.gartrac.com/shop/forest-grav ... brake.html

Nice

In Red please Bob

What he said

I know it's easy to sit back and load the bullets for someone else to fire, but hasn't this has gone on for long enough ?
maybe it's time to give Hi Spec an ultimatum, give them two weeks to come up with the goods or we want our money back.
I can only speak for myself, but this is how I feel, the last thing I want is to give Bob any more grief, I'm willing to go along
with what everyone else wants, but as a collective group we need to air our views, it's better if we stick together with this.

[ailwyn]

Much as I want Hi Spec to turn this around I've invested more in this kit than the cost of the calipers... perhaps a different tack of "2 weeks or we have a chat with a load of car magazines about the quality of your calipers and customer service".... bad PR is likely to cost them a lot more than the refund to us, and therefore elicit a more enthusiastic response than we've seen so far..

[Monty]

I know it's easy to sit back and load the bullets for someone else to fire, but hasn't this has gone on for long enough ?
maybe it's time to give Hi Spec an ultimatum, give them two weeks to come up with the goods or we want our money back.
I can only speak for myself, but this is how I feel, the last thing I want is to give Bob any more grief, I'm willing to go along
with what everyone else wants, but as a collective group we need to air our views, it's better if we stick together with this.

But were only going to get a refund on the calipers, i`d rather wait and see if they get there act together but by then i`d end up looking silver as the silver fox

[Gazza]

I was thinking, Bob works his magic by machining a mm of our calliper brackets and it all fits perfectly

Can only hope. I'm sure Bob will let us know a reason why they won't fit at all

[bobbrown]

The ones on the Gartrac's web site would require some major work to get them to fit
1. they are lug mounted so new bracket required
2, the handbrake lever point no where near where we need it and would probably need new cables
3. they ain't cheap

to name a few of the problems

[Gazza]

Told you

[Steve A]

But were only going to get a refund on the calipers,

Rather in my account than theirs, whilst they have our money what's the hurry
I know it's awkward for you guys that have fitted the calipers as most of you already have, unless you have your old calipers
you have no other choice than hope they sort it
I'm still using my old set, as I ordered mine just before the problems started to appear on the forum,
I would have to be crazy to fit calipers that are well known to leak ,
also when braking going up a hill I would like the option to use the hand brake along with the foot brake(like any other car on the road)
And when I return to my car I would rather it was parked where I left it and not wondered off somewhere
An upgrade is suppose to be at the very least as good as what it has replaced,hang your heads in shame Hi Spec (as if they give a toss)

i`d rather wait and see if they get there act together

So would I but when will that be ?There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

we have a chat with a load of car magazines about the quality of your calipers and customer service

These magazines make too much money advertizing their products to upset them