UPR Control Arms (U/L)

wythors said:

There's much better-engineered and higher quality stuff available for not much more money.

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StangGT1995 said:

There's been issues in the past with UPR that appear to have been corrected. I would never ever ever ever ever spend a penny on Granatelli junk though. JR Granatelli is a douche and I wouldn't do anything to support his business. My buddy's 12.80 Mustang on street tires broke the welds off the Granatelli control arms and he blamed my friend instead of the faulty product he sold, actually yelled and his Ford master tech dad argued with him that it was somehow their fault, and he hung up. It was about 1998, or so, but I'd still never give him money to this day.

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wythors said:

I won't buy from UPR because they flat-out steal other people's designs.

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NikwoaC said:

The stories I've heard about UPR... I don't know if I would call it "stealing" so much as I would call it "reverse engineering". Reverse engineering is used in all sorts of industries as common practice. If I work for company A and you work for company B, and you release a new design in a niche market and completely monopolize, why wouldn't I get my hands on one and figure out how to produce a similar competitive product?

I dunno, I guess it takes more than just a lack of engineering creativity for me to shun a company.

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wythors said:

A few years back on Corral, Hart Racing designed a billet vacuum tree to replace the plastic one on a Fox and posted it up on the forum. The very first order he received as from a lady that just happened to be the wife of the owner of UPR. Within a couple of months, UPR was selling an identical part. I'll try to find the thread from over there when I get home. The owner of UPR even posted on there and basically said "that's how business goes. Too bad."

If you want some good reading about how their customer service works, just read the first couple of pages of this thread. I really don't understand how they can stay in business with this kind of attitude.

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wythors said:

A few years back on Corral, Hart Racing designed a billet vacuum tree to replace the plastic one on a Fox and posted it up on the forum. The very first order he received as from a lady that just happened to be the wife of the owner of UPR. Within a couple of months, UPR was selling an identical part. I'll try to find the thread from over there when I get home. The owner of UPR even posted on there and basically said "that's how business goes. Too bad."

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wythors said:

If you want some good reading about how their customer service works, just read the first couple of pages of this thread. I really don't understand how they can stay in business with this kind of attitude.

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This is Joe Mainiero the Owner of UPR Products and I wanted to address some of the things I’ve seen and heard about regarding this issue. Quality and finish issues are one of our highest priorities so I want to make sure this is resolved the right way not the way it has been handled thus far. The way it has been handled is entirely unacceptable and a few employees’ jobs will be affected by what has transpired.

My father, Mark Mainiero, was just was alerted of a thread on the Corral about a defective A-arm that was purchased from one of our dealers. Bob Kurgan was the one who alerted us as he knows the high quality products we built and that we always stand behind everything we build and sell. To say it upset my father and me is a gross understatement. We have worked too long and hard to build the reputation and quality of our products to have to hurt it by ignoring customers.

I have contacted our mill and supplier about this issue with people not knowing about the specifics of 4130 Chrome Moly. The mill we buy everything from is Webco in Tulsa, Oklahoma and they said to be accurate on what the tubing is called is a common mistake with 99% of the people as they call it DOM. The correct name is “Cold Drawn Seamless” domestic material and we do not use (ERW) Electrical Resistance Welded seamed material. Both the supplier and mill said this is pretty common to have another company and many internet experts bash one another and I am not here for that. I am only here to educate anyone that is reading this and getting misinformed.

Below is the response directly from the supplier...

"I have attached a test report from our chrome moly tube mill on the 1-1/2 x .083 from our last order to UPR (Jan 2009).

As you can see, it meets AMS-T-6736, which is the main specification for 4130 chrome moly tube. This spec has replaced MIL-T-6736, although occasionally both may appear on test reports. You will also note that the material is SEAMLESS.

I can assure you NONE of the 4130 chrome moly tube we supply you (or to anyone else) is welded, nor is it produced by the ERW process. All of our chrome moly tube is cold drawn seamless. Additionally, we do not supply any Chinese chrome moly at all. That is our standard policy.

There are three primary producing mills for 4130 tube. Webco and Plymouth, both of which are based in the USA, and Benteler, which is based in Germany.

Historically, all three of these mills use “hollows” from Benteler. “Hollows” are what all seamless steel tubes start out as.

Most of the material we supply UPR is from the Webco mill."

Lou as far as that control arm I will guarantee you that there is no issue with it other than cosmetic and would be happy to have someone in your area grind the powder coating off completely and inspect it then post the results. Either way I want to make this right and fix the problem for you and if I had known this sooner I would have told you to send them back and just sent you a new set without the blemished powder coating. I have seen exactly the same problem before with the cosmetic finish and they get rejected.

We do stand behind the lifetime warranty on all our products without question and will never deviate from that as it is the most important part of a reputable quality brand. Any quality control issue or product issue can be addressed directly with me at upr3@bellsouth.net and I will correct them or show what the problem may or may not be in each case just to be fair to all parties.

I’m very upset at the comments between Jeremy, my manager, and Dave, Team Z, they both need to get a handle on this crap going between each other on other boards and cut it out. They have their personal battles back and forth on Yellow Bullet and it carried over on to this site when it shouldn’t have. It’s personal and has nothing to do with either company and to have UPR’s name drug into this really upsets me. Pat does not know Dave at all and I apologize for any comments and that were made that had a company signature with them. No one has the right to represent UPR this way and be so unprofessional.

There have always been people that have had a problem with UPR because we became so big and well recognized and dwarfed many companies over the years. UPR does not build any of its products in China at all. Everything we make and sell is Machined, Welded and Fabricated in Florida to control the quality and consistency without delay.

The China thing has always been a myth because competitors could never compete with us in price or overall quality without costing twice as much. UPR has always built very large quantities of everything it makes just to be the most competitive and largest brand available to Mustang Enthusiasts and Racers everywhere.

Sincerely,
Joe Mainiero
UPR Products - Owner

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Since I am the originator of this post, I'd like to take a minute here.

I spent a substantial amount of time this morning on the phone with Joe Mainiero. I want to first say that he handled this in true gentleman fashion. I can tell you that this man was VERY focused on contacting me and coming to a resolve. In the time I spent on the phone with him, I can tell that he takes a lot of pride in what he does and is proud of his company. He assumed ALL the liability for what his "employees" said, and did NOT ONCE try to pass the blame. THAT TAKES STONES AND SHOWS A LOT! There are few people that would do that in today's age.

Joe apologized, was ashamed and embarrassed with the way this was handled and went out of his way, above and beyond....to ensure my satisfaction and restore faith in their products.

I am a "PA Dutchman" (laugh if you want) and it is in our nature to be a hair stubborn (haha), but I'm also very impressed when someone steps up to the plate, admits error, and is DILIGENT in making good for it. If you look at my trader rating, I'm sure you can see that. Anyone that has ever dealt with me knows that I stand behind what I sell and if you are not happy...I'll make it right, PERIOD. I'm not in the parts business, but you can see with nearly 100 feedbacks on here, I definitely go through some parts.

I am not proud that this post has blown into the proportions that is has, but am happy to say that it has not gone unresolved. This could have continued in many splattered directions but has instead been handled in the BEST way. I absolutely commend Joe and Mark for this.

I'd like to thank Joe for the manner in which he handled this, his professionalism, and for just being a stand up man.

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Attached below are the findings about the A arm that was in question. Webco is the supplying mill for AED Motorsports who not only supplies UPR but also most of the major NASCAR and NHRA race teams throughout the industry. These two companies are some of the most upstanding suppliers out there and fully stand behind their product.

http://www.upr-images.com/PICTURES/A-Arms-2.jpg

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