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Beware your Roll Bar Parts

asw20c

Well Known Member
I discovered today, after completing the assembly of my roll bar that the F-01431A parts are defective. When I couldn't get the rivet holes of the assembly to line up on the right side of the roll bar with the roll bar base I called Vans for advice. I'm talking about half a rivet-hole misalignment. What I learned was that the forming process of these heavy duty parts is not precise and it is possible for the flanges to be uneven, and if severe enough can cause the problem I was experiencing. I didn't even notice it when I was riveting everything together. I followed the plans precisely but still ended up having some difficulty with some of the rivets, but in hindsight the defective parts explain why that was so. Vans advised to check the flange lengths and sure enough on the right side the inboard flanges of the fore and aft roll bar halves were indeed noticeably longer than the outboard and therefore are causing the hole misalignment. Not sure if this is a "gotcha", but for those about to start section 37, beware. Check those flange lengths before you start assembling the roll bar! None of mine were equal, but those on the right inboard side were noticeably longer and accounts for the misalignment problem.
We get so used to everything being so well made in these kits that it never occurred to me that the part could be defective. Normally if something doesn't line up correctly I always assumed it was because of me. In this case it wasn't.
 
I just wanted to add a follow-up to this post. Van's handled this issue professionally and quickly. After I sent photos and measurements there were no questions asked except for me to verify the replacement parts order that they are sending.
 
I've just had a similar issue with the C-01409 canopy rail angles.
This is a curved angle piece, so not a simple brake form. It must have moved during forming as the flange widths in the centre vary by 0.25" com paring left to right for symmetry. Curiously the outer portions remained symmetrical at the ends.
This picture shows how much non-symmetry there was on one flange in the centre.
Van's acknowledged the error and are sending a replacement when the next batch is ready.
 

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