Keep this in mind when having expensive parts shipped.

You should be present and inspect the delivery before accepting the delivery.

Early in March I ordered a Stage IV rear drive with Wavetrac differential from RPM, in round numbers $3,300 delivered to my mechanic in California. RPM verified the address and discussed delivery with him.

About three weeks later the unit was delivered to him in a cardboard box strapped to a pallet with no obvious damage.

A week later my slot for installation came up, so with my help the car was put on a rack to begin the work.

But upon opening the box, it became obvious that one of the two studs on the input side of the unit was slightly bent. It was doubtful that the unit would fit into place with the bent stud. A closer examination revealed that the unit was loose in the box with no packing to secure it in place and at one time during the 2,000 mile transit, the stud which was bent had protruded through the side of the box. Probably at about that time, the truck driver threw another box or package on it.

A call to RPM resulted in the advise to heat the side case with the bent stud and try to remove the it. In further discussion RPM indicated that the stud problem was due to shipping damage and the cost of the time to make local repairs was on me, because I should have closely examined the unit at the time of delivery and notified RPM.

The stud broke when removal was attempted. RPM then offered to send a replacement side cover (this is the side that does not affect gear engagement) and also suggested that I could swap the affected side cover from my old unit. This side cover does have a seal and a caged needle bearing.

Further discussion with RPM indicated that the needle bearing should be fine and that later cases simply used a plastic bushing in this location. Based on that discussion, we did exchange the side cover off of my old rear drive after changing the seal. The needle bearing was in good condition, but it bugs me just a little.

I think that five minutes and five dollars worth of packing would have prevented this problem.

If I had discovered the damage upon delivery, I suspect that the trucking company would have pointed to the lack of adequate packing as the cause.

The new rear drive is now installed and quiet. I'll report on how it goes at Laguna Seca in a month or so after getting the car on the track.

 

Wow my diff from RPM was strapped down to the pallet with the box covering it. Damage would have been quite obvious.

 

You're right about inspecting any package, especially ones that contain expensive items, prior to the delivery driver leaving if at all possible.

 

same here

 

A great and useful reminder. Easy to get lax! Best wishes!