Eagle crank

[Lee Thompson]

Eagle forged cranks to be available midsummer. Anyone wonder why they are going to be half the price of other forged cranks?
MADE IN CHINA !!!

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Yes, but!!

I have had several conversations w/ the folks at Eagle concerning the rods in my HEMI... They admit a "commie conection", BUT add that they "own" the foundry/forging plant, and all the products are made in house for them only...

I have also been told that about 60% of the production is far enuf off of spec, that those rejects are what we see on the mkt as "other" brands of rods, at even cheaper than Eagle's prices.

The "4340 AQ" rod/crank material is the bottom of the barrel stuff.

 

[86brick]

According to this thread http://www.turbobuicks.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005830 on the other board they (Eagle cranks and rods) should be shelf pieces by March '04, but now you're saying mid summer I personally don't care where they are made and I think it's important to remember that nobody else is stepping up to the plate to make/sell them!

 

[Nojug]

Im glad someone is making a more inexpensive crank for our cars but if its made out of Chinese junk I would stick with a cast crank. Or just spend the extra money for a Scat I would rather spend twice as much than have twice the headache.

 

[86brick]

Oh here we go again..... Why is it that before products are even out for our cars we have to bash them??! And then the Turbo Buick community wonders why nobody wants to make parts for our cars

We should try to state FACTS instead of BS rumors, but that's just my opinion.............

 

[Lee Thompson]

info

Heh--just passing along what the Eagle people told me yesterday @ the PRI show in Indy. First piece they recieved was so far out of specs that it was unable to be balanced. ---Don/t shoot the messenger!!!! I had to ask 3 times before he would tell me where they were being made.

 

[Mike Licht]

All of Eagles forgings are made there and so are 90% of the others be sold as "made in USA", maybe machined in USA, but not forged here. They may not tell you that or admit it but that is the way it is. Forgings from there are about 1/10 of the cost of ones made here. If you want it done here forget it because then you will be loking at a $3000 crank and everyone will cry about that too. Their Chevy cranks and cranks for other makes have done quite well and do everything they say they will. I have no doubt these will too.
Mike Licht

 

[John Wilde]

Mike,

Will they offer a wide journal for us want to be stage 2 guys??

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Re: info

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
Heh--just passing along what the Eagle people told me yesterday @ the PRI show in Indy. First piece they recieved was so far out of specs that it was unable to be balanced. ---Don/t shoot the messenger!!!! I had to ask 3 times before he would tell me where they were being made.

For you, Brick: I agree w/ Lee on this deal.
My machinist has had many of the Eagle cranks at his shop for use in SB and BB Chebbies....I've been there and seen the mess.
Out of round and tapered journals, OS and US journals, bent as much as .017" at the ctr main. How's that for fact vs BS rumors you mention??

As a side note: the SCAT crank I have for my HEMI is dead on the specs, well finished, and has passed mag inspection. The Eagle rods are another story....

 

[Nick Micale]

Originally posted by 86brick
Oh here we go again..... Why is it that before products are even out for our cars we have to bash them??! And then the Turbo Buick community wonders why nobody wants to make parts for our cars

We should try to state FACTS instead of BS rumors, but that's just my opinion.............

That is LOTS of peoples opinions!

If someone does not choose to buy "China junk", there are options. Find a used stock crank, a BMS forged one or a billet, stock stroke or stroked, from someone like TA Performance where they normally have them on the shelf.

We have used various Eagle cranks as well as other aftermarket ones, these are NOT a drop-in, stock replacement piece in most cases. Even the NOS Buick MS cranks and billet cranks we have done required some "touch up" for proper installation.

 

[86brick]

I know some guys down here with very fast turbo imports that are using Eagle's cranks and/or rods in their motors and they have nothing but good things to say about them (haven't heard any problems yet)....... The point I was trying to make is you should at least give them a chance (let somebody buy one and use it or at least try to use it) before you condemn them as "MADE IN CHINA" junk! As Nick said there are other options, but it seems to me like this crank would be a nice alternative because it should have the best of both worlds (strong piece that is readily available for a reasonable price).....

BTW Lee, I apologize if I came off as shooting the messenger

 

[turbo buicks]

what kinda import you talking about. some imports only need 200 hp to be "fast" so theres considerably less stress on internal parts than there is on internals of a 3800 lb brick making 600 hp/tq.

 

[86brick]

Originally posted by turbo buicks
what kinda import you talking about. some imports only need 200 hp to be "fast" so theres considerably less stress on internal parts than there is on internals of a 3800 lb brick making 600 hp/tq.

One is a single turbo Civic that runs low 10's (made 600whp on the dyno) and the other one is an AWD Talon that runs high 10's @130+mph (it is full weight so I'd guess it has to be making 500 or so HP at the wheels)......

 

[turbo buicks]

ok thanks for the clarification

 

[Race Jace]

you know it is sad that things are going that way. Have you ever been to walmart lately. they should rename that store the china outlet.

Being in the bussiness of making performance parts i can see it from a kinda insiders point of view. Since the tarrif on all imported material went into effect, to supposedly save the us foundries, poeple could buy the finished machined product from overseas cheaper than we could buy the material.

the thing we have to think about is this, we have a vendor that is silling to support us with higher than stock quality cranks and rods at a very affordable price. Are Crower, Scatt, Moldex crank manufactures going to suffer because we are going to buy some of our cranks from Eagle? After talking with them all at the sema show I think not. the only ones that even gave a damn about us buick guys that i could find was Eagle. So ya i hate the fact that it is china stuff but I think there is alot of merrit them taking the time to mess with such a small market. I think the parts are going to function fine but you will probable want to check your parts just to be sure and not just throw them in.

 

[DCVING 6]

Originally posted by Lee Thompson
Eagle forged cranks to be available midsummer. Anyone wonder why they are going to be half the price of other forged cranks?
MADE IN CHINA !!!

Ever notice all the steelmills in the US are gone? China is basically the Steel industry of the world. 1.3 billion people makes for cheap labor.

 

[RBE17]

Another way to look at this is that China probably doesn't have all the strict environmental policies in place as we do domestically. I don't work in a foundry and don't know how that could affect the forgings (and castings). What I do know is that not all metals are created equal. A simple example is that sometimes a grade 5 bolt from China might not equal the same material properties as a grade 5 bolt from the U.S. The biggest complaint I hear from products (auto and other markets) manufactured over seas is quality. If companies learn to control that, I'm guessing some of the stigmatism of "cheap chinese crap" would go away.

Later,


Steve.

 

[salvageV6]

I am almost getting over the stigma of the Made in Japan crap.

 

[Reginald West]

I can remember 45 years ago my dad cussing those dam cheap Japan nails.They got better with time and soon they were the only ones anybody would buy WHY ? Because the price was right.
Walmart would not exist if not for this concept and we would all be paying more for everything they sell.Give Egale a chance and lets see how it works out.It can't be any worse than the cam Goat Ropings we all have read about on this board.

 

[ESP Products]

The point is not China's quality, although it is questionable, but the fact that U.S. of A. jobs are lost in the deal. You have lower prices to start, BUT you lose many manufacturing and other jobs along the way. We, the USA, used to be the #1 in the world. But "Free Trade Agreements" designed to help our economy have shown time and time again that they have killed it. Pay attention to the details; look at the consequences; see the big picture. What happened to Europe "EU" in currently happening to us. Don't believe it? Look up FTAA on the net (Free Trade Area of the Americas). They just had a summit meeting in Miami of 34 nation; ... 34 other Nations deciding our future. Go United Nations (sarcasm).
I could get very long winded and technical and boring because I feel strongly about this subject. For more information you can go to www.thenewamerican.com This is an excellent publication. Last issue (bi-weekly) was titled "Engineered Extinction". They are hard on Wal-mart, and others, and you will see why.

Hope this helps,
John @ ESP
"Made in USA"