Outer Limits 4x4 Board

ferrit wrote:it still drives fine, but the bloody axle has touched the sump once because the friggen springs are too low! (need to extend the stops too)

waiting for OME to get their arse into gear and send up the two leaves from melbourne atm.

So Ferrit, what was the outcome of the springs in the end.??

Trains

My mates old man put some of these in his 60 series he called emu. His front springs sagged really badly after 6 months he was refused waranty by the local dealer because they didn't fit them.

I love it when old threads get reborn :-)

As for ARB, my father spent stupid $$$ with them on a cruiser. They damaged items and didn't fit it all properly. I.e. how about filling up your brand new shiny truck with glowing ARB bits proud as punch and having diesel pour all over the ground because they didn't properly connect the hose with the long range tank? and this was a simple and minor issue.. I won't bore you guys with the other (many) problems he had with a large Sydney ARB shop.

Suffice to say everything got sorted EVENTUALLY but it took a long time and a lot of arguing.

I won't buy anything from them and I also echo everyones comments about the ARB poster earlier being a **** and hurting their reputation.

They are apparently #1 but they charge $$$$ and don't provide service. While I know a heap of people who have no issues with their gear, I seem to know a LOT of folks unhappy with fitment, service or gear failure... no more and no less than other brands but every single person is much angrier cause they paid top $$ for the item.

As for saying more failures due to more sales - what a BS argument, this is only acceptable to a point and then you have to look at profit margins as to the quality of the item you sell. Returns are costly to process, but if you don't accept them (store / company policy) then your $$ stays nice N high without the incentive to ensure the manuf you are using has appropriate quality control (or your own QA oversight - again more $$ eating into the profit).

In short - support the little guys, remember charity begins at home... each Aussie business you support keeps the country going!!!

trains wrote:

ferrit wrote:it still drives fine, but the bloody axle has touched the sump once because the friggen springs are too low! (need to extend the stops too)

waiting for OME to get their arse into gear and send up the two leaves from melbourne atm.

So Ferrit, what was the outcome of the springs in the end.??

Trains

ARB was very helpful and did a heap of running around for me, checking out details and checking the springs over- In the end, because im running a heavier front end (1KZ weighs slightly more than a 3L, 2 batteries vs 1, winchbar with winch) than what a maxed out 3L front would deal with (max 1 battery, winch, bar) ARB didnt have a spring pack to suit, and noone else could help either.

So I ended up dismantling the front leaves, and the set of old Medium duty rear leaves and combined the two main leaves from the front pack, with two lift leaves from the rear pack, and then the load leaves from the front back and bolted it all up.

it sits nice and level now, doesnt have any sag and while it will still touch (havent extended the bump stops!) its nowhere near as frequently and takes some SERIOUS impacts to get it to touch.

The only problems i have is a mystery clunk when i turn corners that i need to track down (only happens at speed, and on left handers, so i think its the stock drag link touching a U bolt...) and if i do my u-bolts down hard enough to seat the packs on the mounts fully it warps them horribly because of the bent mounts- the u-bolts are still torqued to 100lb/ft, but not reefed down hard. Im not too fussed because its all going to be thrown away when i weld in the coils in the future!

Interesting thread, someone has a bad experience, and several others also voice thier experience, showing a trend, but those who have been through the brainwashing process refuse to believe there is a CUSTOMER SERVICE issue, rather than a product issue.

I have been fitting the Aformentioned Reasonable Byproducts and using them for many many yeras, and there is no doubt that the customer service, stock levels, quality, and disrespect of the consumer have all been getting into the wrong area for sustained business growth and market appreciation.

Just the way they advertise thier new shock absorber is totaly taking the piss out of the customer, by what they state, vs what they are, and how they work, and as long as they keep this disrespectful type of marketing going, it will end up effecting the whole range in the eye of the customer.

The powdercoat finishes are rubbish these days, especially bull bars and roof racks, like the legs we fitted onto a rack this week, do up the bolts than hold it to the brackets, and all the powdercoat cracks off, bullbars that rust through the thin parts of the powdercoat, difflocks that arent as strong, in the new design, and you cant buy previous difflock parts any more, so you have to buy a new one instead, the Dakar leaves that come from the cheap manufacturers overseas, and on and on it goes....

We replace more Obsolete Mildly Exciting expensive suspension than anything esle, when people have spent good money, and it doesnt perform as expected, because the marketing isnt correct, they then look for options, which works very well for us, I must say.

I wouldnt like to be a dealer of said product that has to deal with the average person expecting what the marketing is trying to enforce though.

Its illegal for them to not cover warranties due to fitting unless they can PROVE the fitting caused the problem. Its up to them to actually prove it too not just guess. That means the testing (metallurgy etc) is done at their cost and the ownus is on them to cover their products regardless of fitting

Just my 2c

arb383 wrote:

"all products can and do fail in any industry."

a fair point, nobody's perfect.

"and if your policy as a company was to have a totally unconditional
warranty you would be out of business real fast.and broke."

I think you should look outside the little box your world seems to be.

Here are a list of companies that I have dealt with, that are at the top of their respective markets
who do offer fantastic warranties. (according to you they should all be out of work! ):

Pelican Cases - I use and abuse these at work and play.
While I haven't had to claim anything under warranty yet,
their reputation seems pretty solid.
This is from their website
"For more than 25 years, Pelican's guarantee has been
simple: "You Break It, We Replace It...Forever""

Maglite - I think they may have dropped back to a "Limited Warranty"
now, but I still recently got a complete new switch assembly for my
old 4D maglite under warranty. It showed massive amounts of use
and abuse. I think the switch assembly actually broke while hammering
in some tent pegs. No problems with the warranty. No questions asked,
not even a receipt!

Antler Luggage - I'm not sure what the warranty specifically covers,
but I snapped the pull-out handle off my suitcase and it was replaced
under warranty, with no receipt, and no questions!



There are plenty of companies (I work for one of them) that have got to
the top of their markets by offering a top quality product, and building a
reputation for a fully backed warranty. (It doesn't matter if you are selling
consumer goods, cars, or machinery. It's the same deal)

Personally I fly all over the country repairing machinery.
If we get a warranty call from a customer over the other side of the
country, I'm on the next plane over there. No questions asked!
That is how the company has grown to be one of the largest in the
industry ($4Billion turnover).
I'd love it if you could pop on over and tell the CEO that we should stop
with an 'Unconditional Warranty' on our products because we may go out of business!


Anyways, that's my 2c

looks like a bad time too be admitting i just got a job with the company mentioned above, fitting the above products.

ehh the pays good.