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Flaming River is a GREAT Company

2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  chrismike 
#1 ·
My 57 came with an Ididit Tilt Column. It is nice but it puts the wheel 2" closer to the driver. I don't like it. I set out to replace it with an Ididit non-tilt column that puts the wheel in the stock location.

At the Tri-Five Nationals last year, I instead bought a Flaming River Column. The sales guy told me that their tilt column would put the wheel in the stock location. That was August of last year.

When I went to put the column in 6 months later, I determined that it was better than the Ididit tilt column, but still would put the wheel 3/4" closer than stock. It was 1.25" different than the Ididit tilt. I was expecting 2" different.
I discussed it with the sales guy at Flaming River (same one who sold it to me). He offered to take it back. I live near to them, so my wife dropped it off one day. I got a refund - a 10% restocking fee.

I could not be happier with them. I loved the column but it did not put the wheel in the stock location and I really wanted that. They did what was needed to make me happy.

I WILL be buying columns from them for future products.
 
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#4 ·
Nice to know. Good service like this is how company's stay in business.
 
#7 ·
DadsBelaire, you have discovered, perhaps the hard way, the reality of the products that FR and Ididit sell.

It's great that Flaming River gave you a refund. Perhaps they could have done a better job of telling you what the situation was, but I guess the sales guy jumped on the fact that FR's column was shorter from the dashboard out than Ididit's, and didn't tell you it was longer than a stock column (or maybe you didn't ask that, but in a way that's no excuse).

Bottom line, any tilt column will move the steering wheel closer to you than a stock column. Ididit is indeed longer than Flaming River.

Another thing you can do on a 55-56 with floor shift is get a shorter column than they recommend. I originally bought a 30" column which is what they sell and recommend. I shortened it to about 28", which moved the cone part within 1/4" of the instrument bezel rubber ring. I don't know what you can do with an Ididit, maybe having a shorter one is possible but I don't know how much. I also don't know what you can do with a column shift with either brand, maybe not much. 57s will be different from 55-56 because of the way the instrument panel is built.

The other thing you can do with any aftermarket tilt column with regard to the steering wheel location is your choice of steering wheel and adapter. Some of the adapters for custom wheels are 3" thick and that's a big deal too. There's shorter adapters for some. Then there's the depth of aftermarket wheels. Stock wheels don't need an adapter at all.

I hope some of this can help those who are considering some of this stuff.
 
#8 ·
Great advice Rick! You da man!
 
#9 ·
So not to piss anyone off but I am trying to see how this is a "Great" company. They gave you incorrect info and offered to take it in return but you had to pay a 10% restocking fee.... Not sure I would call that "Great". What would have happened had you not been local to drop it off? Would you have paid shipping back too?

Great would be 100% refund OR making a new column that fit correctly, if they could. This sounded like standard customer service, which unfortunately is so rare we think it's "Great".

Good info on the fitment since this does seem to come up often. :congrats:
 
#10 ·
While it is true that the guy told me something that was not correct, I honestly do not feel that he did so intentionally. I was simply relieved to not be stuck with it after I realized 6 months later that it was not what I had wanted. If it was a week or two later, I would have not accepted a restocking fee, nor do I feel one would have been required.
I feel that I was treated well in the situation given the amount of time that expired between my purchase and the time that I tried to install it. Their sales guy was easy to deal with and was concerned that I felt the column was not as he indicated.
 
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