Thoughts on buying a glider from Fitzgeralds

Jeez. I posted what I saw with my own eyes, and what Chad and Jack told me. They have a reason to lie? Do I?
Whatever. Yeah OK, Fitzgeralds are perfect, everyone else is crap.
Feel better about yourselves now?

I'm outta this one. Seems like facts seem to go amiss in places, when folks have the "special" glasses on.

 

Brother I'm not saying it didn't happen, but a tech told you its a fitz motor so that's makes it gospel...they are their competition.. I would have simply questioned why they are performing warranty work.

 

And....they are NOT doing warranty work. The rebuild is being paid for by Fitz, by credit card, using parts that Fitz is sending them. After looking at the parts myself, I feel for the owner of the truck.
I know these guys personally, to say that Fitzgeralds is any kind of competition is utter nonsense. I seriously doubt any Detroit shop (Not owned by Detroit BTW) cares less about them. They have plenty of work without trying to talk junk about some outfit in Tn.
Even Fitzgeralds website does not state it's a Detroit reman motor. Either way, spend yer money and carry on.
How come no one has spoken up about it? Who knows. Doesn't change facts though IMHO
Folks seem mega defensive about Fitzgeralds gliders in this thread, for some reason......
Martin

 

I thanked you for your reply because I see now that it is legit.

As far as defense... my guess is as I described earlier that ton of people have opinions on gliders and those us with them are generally of the notion that it was the best financial move we've made. So we get rubbed wrong when tons of opinions come out and not true experiences.

Not sure I'll every know what cheap internal are in my motor and it does make me wonder. But at at almost 7 mpg running hard and 75 mph I can't imagine any other rig.
As soon as she paid off the plan from the day we bought it was to put the elusive 575 HP Detroit 14l in!. So the ol 12.7 only needs to hang on couple more years and it will be put in local truck.

 

cowpie was not talking about anything you said. Only stating that you can get a reman detroit engine in a Fitzgerald glider. I never looked at there web site to see if one is offered only know for a fact that when I ordered my truck it is your choice for a reman from Clarke Detroit or a in house motor. Just donot know what cheap brand of parts fitzgerald is using but guess this must be fact because someone told me at a truck stop he had a friend that his uncle dad that drove for dealer in Texas that had a rebuilt shop in Ohio told him that they using cheap parts.

 

Why would any quality shop use out side parts? Why would said quality shop use junk parts? If this quality shop builds this engine with junk parts they are liable for the engine because they did the work with full knowledge that said engine was build with improper parts. Does this shop stand behind it work?

 

A friend of mine bought a Fitz Coronado early last summer. It's a 12.7 with 600HP, 3.36 gears, 10 sp, low pro Mich X Energy 22.5's. No problems so far, with about 90k on the clock. He averages 6.8 ish mpg, prob averages 68-70K gross, and keeps it at 72-74 mph every chance he gets.
He is happy with it and I think he would buy another.

About the 12.7 with 600 hp. The engine has a BW turbo and a PP exhaust manifold, and the tag on the valve cover and the passenger visor both say 600HP. But I did not know this option was avail. It is really geared nice for the way he likes to drive, and will effortlessly stroll along at 70-75 mph. But, the 3.36 seems to leave you in no mans land on a 55 - 60 mph 2 lane, and mileage suffers there. A 13 sp may have been a better call.

 

About this guy with the wrecked Detroit motor in the Pete, do we know that he was great at maintenance? How did he drive? agressive? passive? etc. Point being, a bad driver and poor maintenance can wreck a motor even if it is new with great parts. Without knowing how he drove, what quality of maintenance the motor got, etc, How do we know it was junk parts from Fitz?

 

Last post in this one...
The guy is an unknown quantity. The parts inside the motor (pistons, liners, bearings) WERE aftermarket parts, not OEM Detroit.
I have absolutely nothing against gliders, they are a great idea if they fit your operation.
All I wanted to do, was post what I saw with my own eyes, in a Detroit shop.

Martin