Can't argue with that! Hats off to JB Fab!!!! ;D
OOOHHHH, I could very much argue with that..... But, my intent here was not to deal with JB Fab's business practice in a public forum (as JB stated,
I did send him 2-3 PM's regarding this kit), but since JB decided to bring this public, there are 2 sides to every story.
First, I spent too much time deciding how to reply to JB's post here - I specifically did not want to deal with them (or for that matter any vendor which service does not meet expectation) publically as I really get sour when I read vendor bashing posts as there are always two sides.....
Regarding the exchange/return, JB will 'happily' exchange the WHOLE unit - it will cost me ~$40 in shipping and 2 wks time for this stuff to hopscotch back and forth across the country. This was a non-option for me at this time and I know that is my business, but my point in the original post was to find a REAL answer to making what was sent to me work before I starting modifying it.
The real issue here is that JB made a decision not to offer an NV3550 kit on his website - his business practice is his business, but he needs to decide whether he will sell out of his own garage OR thru vendor agreements, especially if he continues to build products in the present manner.
The specific problem is that JB decided to use a different diameter mounting bolt/diameter than Ford - I'm sure it's cheaper to stock a kit with a 1/2" bolt rather than a 5/8" (or a specially designed piece like the allen head bolt AA provides with their kit which uses the stock 5/8" Ford diameter setup)....
Also, it is interesting that AA builds their kit to work with the "stock" T-shifter - this would infer that they keep the shift linkage in a similar geometry to the 'stock' setup; and, in fact their kit DOES work with all of the stock parts. The only change is to use their mounting bracket (rather than the 3sp adapter which is removed) and a specially made shorter 5/8" sleeved bolt to attach the stock shifter to the bracket as the stock mount uses a much longer bolt.
Fast forward to me, buying a twin shift kit from JB's website: no option for the NV3550 listed and the 'stock' T-shifter works with the AA NV3550 conversion. Is it MY mistake that I ordered a 'stock' twin stick for a T-shift D20 when the NV3550 option was not offered on their website because of some absurd agreement with a vendor?? (who BTW does not divulge that their 'kit' is made by JB, but that's another issue) Whether I am to blame or not, my real problem is that JB in their infinite wisdom decided to cut costs and do their mount with 1/2" hardware rather than 'stock' 5/8", therby allowing no way for me to mock up the twin stick in the truck without reaming out their parts (and being fair to them, killing any opportunity to return them if I couldn't modify the kit to work).
I asked JB via PM if they could send me correct diameter bushings (and some info or the like) to at least get this kit on the truck - making a tweak or drilling a new linkage mount hole to make things 'perfect' would be a simple task for me. The 'pay shipping both ways and wait 2 wks' answer from JB (for an issue that I still can't comprehend is my fault) was unacceptable IMO as I am certain that making this kit work will be far easier than the HP D44 (with Auburn Ected Max) swap I finished up last month. My response to their 'offer' was it is far easier/cheaper to ream the parts out to 5/8" and make them work - maybe others would disagree (and I'm OK with that - I easily modified this kit)....
I have used 3 vendors on the drivetrain in my build - AA for the NV3550 kit, Core shifters for a short throw NV3550 unit, and JB Fab for a twin stick. 2 of the 3 are stellar firms whose products are designed for skilled installers; but, the quality of the parts and the logic of their design are quickly observed. The third firm is what it is.
