Ididit column and turn signal switch

[wmhjr]

OK guys, looking for a solution here. Take a look at the picture below:



The steering column is an Ididit column. The switch is an SL5 from Ron Francis. You can see the black ground wire with a ring terminal, underneath the philips screw which secures the signal arm to the column. Directoy on top of that you can see the horn cam.

The problem: Even after I ground down the top of the screw (after this pic was taken) to the point that there is only a small "philips" recessed head remaining, I cannot get any clearance between the screw and the horn cam. As a result, if you bump the switch at all or sometimes when the steering wheel is turned, the cam bumps the screw, ground circuit is completed, and the horn fires.

I talked to Ron Francis (waste of time) and Ididit (who is trying to be helpful). Ididit acknowledged that the design leaves something to be desired, and they've run into this before. Ididit is the largest distributor of the Ron Francis lever/switch.

I'm wondering about maybe drilling another very small hole to secure a ground just inside the column case so the ring terminal is not under the screw anymore. However, I also think there needs to be some sort of insulation around the base of the lever so it doesn't accidentally ground against the column housing. I should probably have anticipated this when I installed it, but I never really thought about it and just followed their instructions. It didn't become apparent until after I not only finished the wiring - but started actually TURNING the wheel on the car with the ignition on. Otherwise, you'd never know the issue is there unless you knew to look for it.

For the moment I've remoted the spring clip and the horn cam and spring. So, no horn temporarily.

Any ideas from some of you fabrication geniuses out there? I've got to believe some of you guys have used these items before?

[wmhjr]

OK guys, here's what I have found so far. I think we've got a solution. This is apparently a known problem.

I called Ron Francis - they were absolutely no help whatsoever. Claimed they've "never had this complaint before" - which just from carefully looking at it, seemed EXTREMELY unlikely to me. Even before I talked to anyone else. Let's just say I think maybe Ron Francis lost their value and edge some time ago, and have been resting on their name rather than their product and service.

I then had a few conversations with Ididit. Very different story. Ididit was very aware of the potential problem. Further, when they install these items they actually modify the "stalk" for this very reason, as they have to date not been successful in getting Ron Francis to correct the design flaw. They actually "press" the flat installed end of the stalk in order to reduce its thickness. While my column was purchased through Frank from Ididit, I didn't decide to use these switches until later, and then I bought them directly from Ididits supplier- Ron Francis - because I was also ordering some other unrelated items. Because the design flaw is not published I had no way of knowing the issue. There are a couple other tricks Ididit suggested, and we're working together for a solid resolution.

Bottom line? If you want to use these talk to Ididit first. They've been standing behind their stuff and have been good to work with. Ron Francis? Uh, not so much. They knew they had a design issue, they had requests to correct it, they didn't, then they denied any knowledge of the whole issue.

[Jim Nilsen]

This is good info for me as I am thinking about a new steering column from Ididit and this will keep me on the right track since I am usually thinking on the savings side of the dollar and try to get less thinking it is more savings at the time.

It almost sounds like Ron Francis is taking lessons from Accel on how to deal with the problem. Accel is getting better so I guess someone has to pick up the slack to keep the balance of good and bad in the industry.

It's too bad companies have to be the way they are sometimes. It only takes a general manager that is caught between the accountants and the workers and is more worried about the bottom dollar than the bottom line. Never let accountants run your business and your better off as they get paid right up to the point the doors close and ususally after too to explain the mess they created.

[wmhjr]

I honestly think that Ron Francis has been able to make some money just by selling the same old stuff they've had for a while, and have lost their drive - and have completely forgotten that the customer buys the product.

Ididit has been good to work with, and seems focused on solving problems. The contrast between the two companies is pretty stark. Ididit deserves credit for stepping up when a problem happened. Ron Francis deserves criticism for not only failing to do so, but for continuing to produce products with known issues and then failing to stand behind them.

[ron @ ron francis]

Hi, I'm Ron Francis. We did some investigating on this issue and found some miscommunication with ididit. To clear the record, we are more then aware of a problem years ago and had several years of trying to make our machinist and ididit both happy. We believed the problem was solved.

We were not aware of any recent problems until this customer called us. As we looked into it, we found it appears we never completely resolved the issue and Ididit never pushed us to do so. Anyway, when Ididit receives the SL-5 turn signal lever from us they press it tighter then our supplier felt was safe. Since Ididit has been selling them this way for probably 2-3 years, I am going to assume they are safe. Ididit is a first class company and if they feel it is safe, and now that we know there is another process to complete, we will have the supplier complete them this way.

Ron Francis Wiring is committed to first class parts as we have been for 36 years. Hopefully the action we've taken due to this one cutomer's comments is an indication that we do not "rest on our laurels or our name". If you have a problem you can contact our tech support and you can ALWAYS contact me at [email protected]. If anyone wants to return any products, we do so without any arguments although we would like to know why.

BTW, the gentleman who complained was offered a refund by both us and ididit.

Thanks for listening,
Ron

[parsonsj]

I think everybody has spoken their piece on this one.

jp