Long Travel BS Thread

Email I find best. When I’ve called I get the new kid who doesn’t seem to know what’s going on.

 

Christmas came early

 

what LT kit are you installing ?

 

I have a wicked Creations 3.5" that's been on my truck with mid travel coilovers. Just looking for a lil upgrade

 

I have a call and email list a mile long. Unfortunately phone calls don’t solve everything.

But a bigger question of mine, why is nobody from JD active on the forums? Quite clearly they are fed info from here. Yet never do they appear to clear confusion or issues. Seems like a wise business practice to have someone at minimum popping in from time to time.

 

If the vendor has a social media manager then they'll possibly monitor. Typically they monitor META apps. Otherwise it's not worth the money.

 

They do.

 

** I'm going to start with a disclaimer here because some folks have the opinion that I am associated with those guys ie: I've had people pm with questions as if I were an employee there. Harry was working on his truck while mine was in their shop and I offered to help him build his new dash and then the fenders and bedsides too so I ended up being there at least one day a week for a year + in my free time. That is the only reason folks may have seen a lot of posts with me " working " there. I got to know everyone there a bit during that time and yes I would consider them friends but I am in no way an employee etc. In my experience spending all that time there J&D are super nice guys and they have been in the off road community, racing & in business with a super solid reputation for something like 25+ years.


So, everything I am about to type while taking my morning shit is just my opinion and in no way represents Harry or anyone at JD.



RE: But a bigger question of mine, why is nobody from JD active on the forums?

What shops are consistently active on the forum ? Answer - none. Why ? This forum is a fn nightmare for most business, it's full of people that don't understand that all of these shops are predominantly mom & pop businesses that need to have their heads inside welding hoods 8 hours a day but everyone wants them to be on this forum and shooting the shit on the phone 8 hours a day... and fyi this forum is a minority percentage of all of these companies business. Their ( all shops ) phones are ringing non stop 7 days a week & this is just one of a dozen popular off road forums. You've only been on this forum for a couple years so you might not realize just how many companies once had a regular presence on here then grew to regret it and backed off. Again, you haven't been around long enough to remember the shit shows on here with a lot of other companies...major brands - parts that didn't fit, broke, ca's that didn't fit into oe mounts, bushings that self destructed rapidly.

RE: Quite clearly they are fed info from here.

They have a couple of dealers that are forum members that is how they get " fed info "

RE: Yet never do they appear to clear confusion or issues. Seems like a wise business practice to have someone at minimum popping in from time to time

Now that you are starting your own business I hope you end up on the receiving end of this and have an epiphany someday...think about the double edge sword.
You for example - you frequently post harsh and derogatory things and you seem to make assumptions that the things you have run into are not " one off " issues but somehow representative of everything coming out of the shop & I can't think of anyone else that has reported the negative customer support issues that you have ? I'm not going to rehash your specific issues but let's be real they have sold tons of the taco products and out of that qty in the multi 100's ( maybe 1000's ? ) there have been less than a handful of people with issues on this forum and multiple people stating " yup I called they took care of it ". On multiple occasions you have taken direct shots at the quality of their work IE: your clevis with a tiny separation at the end of weld - regardless of the cause ( if my memory is correct it was a 60 mph stuff ) instead of just calling the shop you jumped on here and said something to the effect of " it's indicative of tac and go welding " taking a direct stab at their craftsmanship...ffs these guys build TT's and have been welding longer than you've been alive. Then recently you took some more stabs about the uniball cup issue and again instead of just polite discussion you chose to make an accusation that they probably weren't following a procedure that Joe Jack at Bubbas Backyard Mud Truck Shop would even do with a stick welder in the dirt IE: jigging and using cup plugs. IDK maybe you don't realize how you come across but dude LMTY - people like you are the exact reason why so many manufacturers have bailed off of this forum because they only have limited choices...eat crow and ignore your derogatory posts, tell you where to put it publicly or ignore you so it's a no win for them.


ffs they build $250k ++ trucks all day every day. Shop is filled with tube chassis builds that start out on the frame table, this truck for example was built while I was hanging around there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=par8P6FZPiA&t=11 you really think that the same people that build that stuff 24/7/365 don't know how to weld or design parts or is it more likely that simply during mass production a few items out of hundreds may have defects ?


Everyone got accustomed to Harry's presence on the forum but that " JD Thread " is not / never was a JD Fab Thread it was Harry's personal thread for his 3rd gen he had for a bit then it morphed into a JD Thread because Harry was working there and he was active on the forum. He was just being cool continuing to provide support on that thread and not to diminish his involvement there / here but he was never an owner at JD Fab or a " marketing manager " or " tech support " he was just an Toyota enthusiast working at JD Fab that was helping everyone on his personal time. I don't want to put words in his mouth but I feel confident in saying that it turned into a nightmare for him rapidly. He was going into work early and staying late just to make up for the countless hours he spent answering calls and forums etc and news flash - he wasn't on the clock for any of that it was all lost production time. I can't tell you how many times while we were there working on his truck on a Sunday that he would answer texts & calls or help customers for free that broke shit doing stupid shit that was in no way a warranty issue...just spend HOURS being a nice guy and loosing time on his truck.

 

Profound words!

As far as my short experience with JD, it has been pretty good, not perfect but good, and Jessie, "over the phone" invited me up there to try and sort out my rear suspension. So I have to give a positive for him telling me he would try and help.

 

I understand every bit of what you’re saying. And yes, I speak how I feel on things. I don’t sugar coat. Some like it, some don’t. But it’s just me.

I have never once said anything derogatory about who they are. I have however called out blatant lies. Travel numbers etc.

I quickly lose respect for companies when they can’t be transparent with their clientele. It’s on the same basis of a blatant lie.

One can sell products based on factual statements without over inflating and overhyping everything they sell to get every last penny.

Nobody is pulling 13 with the 2.25. Nobody is pulling 14 with the 4. Nobody is pulling 17 or 19 with the SUA.

Everybody slammed marlin for the exact same thing with the RCLT. But because it’s JD it’s ok?

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Great humans? Yes it does seem as such. They treated me great for the most part.

Just my two cents.

 

Anyone have SA or thoughts on this?

 

LCA? Torque to torque specs and it'll close up. if it doesn't, call whomever made the arm and ask

 

So it IS possible, just in a different manner.

 

Make sure you cycle it. Because your u bolts will be making love with your frame.

 

That isn't my truck. That is a JD fabs customers truck

 

I don't know first hand as my LCA's are uniball pivots, but what do your alignment cams look like?
Possible that the arms are so torqued in the pivots that its gapped on one and destroying the other.
I'd check torque too. Mine will usually close up around the misalignment spacers when snug vs torqued. or when removing gently pry open to get things to drop out and they don't rebound until squeezed again.

 

Smashed out a 1/4” 7075 front skid today. Should have paint on the chassis this weekend, then we turn the other direction. Finally.

 

After the crazy quote I got for what i'm calling 8 pillows from an upholsterer I decided to try it myself to make a headliner of some type. Got some 2 inch high density foam and some leather looking vinyl and did this so far. I'll be gluing the fabric to the foam and it will sit much tighter and nicer is my hope. In the pic the fabric is just being held by some pins but I wanted to see what it looked like before I glued anything.

 

meh…unless you leather wrap and baseball stitch the whole cage like the SMP taco there really is no point

if you are using a rattle can spray adhesive make sure that you use a good amount on both surfaces but you have to be careful not to make lumps in the spray adhesive or it will show through the vinyl. if you end up with any wrinkles or lumps use a hand held steamer to reactivate the adhesive and rub one out…er i mean rub it out

 

I bought a glue that can be sprayed from a paint gun. all the youtubers say stay away from the spraycan stuff if you can