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View Full Version : The Vendor Satisfaction Thread



ATL ZJ
11-20-2008, 01:06 PM
Mods, if this belongs in another forum, feel free to move it.

Since I've just finished a build, I thought it would be helpful to share my recent parts-sourcing experiences with others. Hopefully this will benefit you if you are on the hunt for parts. Feel free to contribute your own experiences, but try to keep your comments simple and positive.

Far Exceeded expectations:

Downsouth Motorsports- purchased Fox coilover shocks. Wonderful communication. Excellent quality and price. Free shipping. Sonny, the owner, discussed shock valving with me for 20 minutes and valved shocks for free.

Performance Offroad Systems- TC powersteering pump and remote reservoir. Excellent quality product. Sean spent hours answering my phone calls and emails. Had a problem with my order that was handled smoothly and professionally.

Ruffstuff Specialties- 14 bolt brake brackets, link brackets. Extremely quick, cheap shipping. Product is always superb quality. A huge time saver. Fast responses to product questions.

Bluetorch Fab- brackets and gussets. Expensive, but arrived less than 24 hours after my phone order.

eshocks.com/egauges.com- coilover springs. Best pricing I could find. Fast shipping. The second time around, I was ordering gauges and they showed up within 48 hours of the time I clicked "order".

Summit Racing- griffin radiator, cragar wheels, magnaflow muffler, summit line lock, QA1 springs, etc etc. All orders to date have arrived less than 24 hours after my internet order.

Jegs- fuel system plumbing supplies. Found what I needed much cheaper on race-mart.com, called Jegs and they were able to price match. Was given an employee's email address and told to email the links to her. Could not have been much easier.

McMaster-Carr- miscellaneous hardware. Best online shopping format I have ever experienced. Most products received within 24 hours, all within 48 hours. Far cheaper than local hardware store prices and much higher quality.

4x4oil- synthetic p/s fluid. This stuff is awesome. I had a gaping hole in my p/s system that was dripping fluid and the rest of the fluid was completely aerated, and the system still performed flawlessly. Great product and it goes without saying that Dirk is wonderful to deal with. I'm now an amsoil preferred customer as well, to lock in dealer pricing year-round.

Moonworks- First purchase was a couple heims from him and that turned into ordering more stuff than I can remember. Good prices, great communication, and always quick shipping. Even added a new vendor to his list at my request. Super professional method of sending a printed invoice, although I think he could save the stamp and just email it ;)


Met expectations:

National Tire and Wheel- Interco 40" LTBs. Prompt delivery, decent communication. Lowest pricing I found, although I have since been informed that 4WP would have been cheaper.

Trail Gear- Creeper joints. Decent quality, great pricing.

PSC Motorsports- most of full hydro parts. Pretty good quality. Surprisingly good pricing through one of their independent dealers. Customer service was very responsive to replacement/exchange issues.

Yukon- shafts, gears, etc. Purchased through Wayne Hartwig (www.alljeep.com (http://www.alljeep.com)) who had amazingly low prices compared to other vendors I shopped. Super quick shipping. I had one issue with incorrect shims in a Dana 60 install kit that Yukon refused to help me with, but Wayne got it squared away quickly.

Speedway- brake parts. Best pricing I found and good shipping times.

Clearwater Hydraulics- misc. hydraulic fittings. These guys have a huge searchable catalog of almost every hydraulic fitting you could want. They also ship pretty quickly considering they are in Idaho.

Copperhead fab- brackets, dana 60 cover kit, and summit machine bushings. Prices are exceptional, but I had to drill out all the holes due to the taper left by the plasma cutter. Received incorrect bushings and took a very long time to receive replacements. Had to pay shipping back for incorrect bushings and was never refunded. Decent communication. Almost in the "not meeting expectations" category.

Northwest Fab- 1350 ujoints and yokes for np205. Very high quality product and good communication. Shipping took a couple weeks due to the border crossing.

Rock equipment- air shock parts. good product and knowledge direct from Tony.

FOA shocks- 16" reservoir coilovers. Brief, but quick and effective communication. Easy to order, good looking product, reasonable shipping time.

Ballistic- miscellanous tabs, rod ends, Blue Coil coilover springs. Great prices and quality products, but their shipping is very slow compared to other suppliers in the west half of the US.


Did not meet expectations:

Great Lake offroad- Had major issues with receiving the beadlock kit I ordered. Took almost 5 weeks from date of order after 2 week timeframe was promised.

AZ Driveline/ Driveshaft superstore- took 7 phone calls and a month to receive my full order of driveshaft parts. They gave me the runaround and did not return my calls when they said they would. The driveshaft tube I received was far thinner than promised- I paid for .120 and received .090 (at best). The tube is so thin that it dented the first time I tried to change a ujoint in the shaft, despite me being extremely careful. This was possibly the most unpleasant customer experience I've had to date. These guys are thieves. STAY AWAY!

SirFuego
11-20-2008, 04:17 PM
I'll edit this as appropriate in the future...

Met or Exceeded Expectations
Tom Woods - Awesome customer service. They accidentally shipped the wrong length driveshaft and immediately were willing to correct it by overnighting the shaft across the US at no cost to get me to on the trails.

Aussie Locker - Prompt shipment. Lockers were received next business day (though Rochester is an hour from Buffalo, so I guess I can't be surprised). 8.8 locker was supposedly on back order, but it was shipped immediately, too.

Moonworks - I guess I can't say that he "far exceeded" my expectations, because they were already high given the other feedback I've heard. But you get the picture ;-) I finally had a reason to order something from him and the shipping was prompt and responded to my voicemail extremely quickly.

KOR - Just ordered a steering box brace from them. Shipped promptly and transaction was smooth.

Summit Racing -- Have made multiple orders from them and their "ground" service might as well be "next day" for in-stock items.
Clayton Offroad - Kit was shipped promptly and axle brackets were shipped when they said they would be.

Crane Hi Clearance - Josh was very down to earth to talk to over the phone. Diff covers were shipped promptly.

Creston Auto Recycling (Ohio) - Found them through car-part looking for a replacement wheel for my Ram 1500. Called them up, gave them the part number, verified the condition of the wheel, got a shipping quote, and it shipped that same day.

RuffStuff - Have ordered a few things from them over the years and have never been disappointed. They have great customer service and keep the customer posted with the status of their order.

Did Not Meet Expectations
4wd Hardware - Prices over the phone were inconsistent with website and they would not honor the lower price. The rep I had on the phone seemed very unknowledgable and was somewhat rude discussing the price discrepancy.

Skid Row - I waited over a month to get my engine skid and needed to keep calling them to eventually find out what was taking so long. They eventually shipped one from Rubicon Express...

Rubicon Express - I had the engine skid shipped via ground from them since I still had over a week before my big trip (which keep in mind I had this skid ordered for over a month from Skid Row). RE sends the wrong skid and refuses to overnight it despite my situation and the fact that it was their error.

BigDaveZJ
11-20-2008, 04:19 PM
So if someone bought an RK kit and they're still alive to tell about it, isn't that technically exceeding expectations? :flipoff2:

ATL ZJ
11-20-2008, 04:33 PM
So if someone bought an RK kit and they're still alive to tell about it, isn't that technically exceeding expectations? :flipoff2:

Ha, good point Dave. Maybe we should use a "reasonable person" metric to define expectations. How did the purchase price of the item compare to the value you received?

SirFuego
11-20-2008, 04:39 PM
Why don't we just rate them according to the UPoSiNBaDToCu's: Underlying Pillars of Simply Not Being a Douche to Customers :D

MUDDTRACKS
11-20-2008, 05:19 PM
Far Exceeded Expectations
Speedway Motors
disc brake brackets for the 9" fast shipping with-in 3 days great price and product.

Summit Racing
proportionaning valve,Alloy USA 9" axles,tune up shit and a few other hard to find parts super fast shipping some stuff came in less the 48 hours from time of order. great price great product


Met Expectations
RuffStuff Specialties
44/hp diff cover Great price great cover But shipping was slow mght be because on my paypall but took about a month to get here.

Did Not Meet Expectations
ballisticfabercation
had ordered 2 sets of link tabs and a Steering Kit 3/4" with Standard Spacers and only got half of the joints and the dom. Then after a few emails was going no where, still haven't got the 2 oother joints weld in bungs or the link tabs. Shipping was really slow and response time suck. oRDERED ALL THIS ABOUT 3 MONTHS AGO:smt068

canadian_driver
11-20-2008, 08:01 PM
some of you know i work in an offroad shop some dont so i deal with lots of these companies first hand and often

Far Exceeded Expectations
Bc broncos
procomp wheel and tire as well as suspension (tho that might have changed since kenny left)
clayton offroad
kevins offroad
moser
hanson offroad
PRP seats
tmax winches
reid racing

Met Expectations
ORO suspension
ruffstuff
spidertrax
redart seats (beards seats) very nice and helpful people and a great product. but thier seats are a pain to get, takes for ever
summit racing
RK (despite their product being mostly crap, they have always been more than willing to help me out)
arb (both usa and aus) (again, product not the best, but they ARB people are very helpful, they also sent me a sweet hat)
JKS
EBC brakes, good product, never had a complaint so ive never had to call about customer service
rubicon express
skid row skid plates
dynabead
midland radios

Did Not Meet Expectations
skyjacker
poison spider
energy suspension
hella lights
warn
GLO
extreme axles sales
any lift manufacturer that isnt listed above
cobra radio

BigDaveZJ
11-20-2008, 09:27 PM
Exceeded Expectations
Clayton Off Road
4x4Oil
KOR
Ruff Stuff
Aussie Locker
Currie
Formatt Fabrications

Met Expectations
Summit Racing
Discount Tire
4WheelParts
SpiderTrax
4WDHardware

Did Not Meet Expectations
Rubicon Express (great products, big time logistical issues though)
PSC Motorsports (understand it was out of warranty, but at least replying to emails asking if there was anything I could do to alleviate the problem at all would've been nice)


All of those are pretty much based on quality of service, not necessarily the quality of the parts. RE is really the only one where the two aren't similar though.

Kirsch98ZJ
11-20-2008, 10:20 PM
Exceeded Expectations:
Rock Krawler- Got the very last production ZJ LA for well under retail (im local) They also replaced a bend disco no problem and gave me all the hardware for free when i lost it.
Tom Woods- Rep on the phone was very thourough and specific in giving details to measure for the length of a new DS and SYE on my 242. Order arrived promptly.
4x4 RockShop- Ordered a Skid Row Transfer Case skid and arrived less than 48 hours after order
AussieLocker- Quick shipping. Bill, the president, is a really good guy. Down to earth to talk to
Crown- Replaced my grenaded axle shaft promptly with no questions asked

Met Expectations:
Summit Racing- Good service but took a little longer than expected to receive the steel wheels i ordered
Rusty's Offroad- Quick shipping and good quality for their intake tube and d30 diff guard

Did not meet expectations:
4wd Hardware- Shipping takes forever, i also have a discount through my local club which after asking the salesperson several times if he remembered to apply it was not applied. Then had to jump through hoops to get the money i shouldnt have been charged back.
4wd parts- Took 2 weeks to ship me a catalytic converter

Pearce
02-19-2009, 10:15 AM
Far Exceeded expectations
Downsouth Motorsports- coilover shocks, great price, free shipping, excellent info and fast shipping.

Performance Offroad Systems- full hydro system, and Blue Coil springs. By far the best information I have ever gotten from someone over the phone. Sean will spend any amount of time to be sure you are getting the right setup for your application.

Ruffstuff Specialties- 14 bolt brake brackets, link brackets. Great prices quick shipping.

McMaster-Carr- random hardware and other stuff. As was mentioned by Cam by far the best website ever. I actually got one product the same day I ordered it. If not then, next day. Of course they have a shop in Atlanta.

Met Expectations
Offroad Overstock - DIY Bead locks.
National Drivetrain - Gears, install kit, locker - got a good price on the combo
Extreme Axle Sales - D60 shafts - got a great sale price
Jegs - steel wheels - as expexted good price good shipping
4 Wheel Parts - Best price on swampers but due to swamper took a while to get tires. Not 4WD's fault.
Solid Axle - diff covers

Did not meet expectations
Ballistic Fabrication - joints, bushings, brackets/tabs, inserts - While I think they have the best prices and great product selection. Shipping is terrible! It should not take weeks to ship an in stock product. All other vendors I used typically shipped with in a few days if it was in stock. Won't be ordering from them again. I wish I had seen Muddtracks post here before. At one point when I call they had something like 300 orders that still needed to go out.


I'll add to my list as I get a few more things.

ATL ZJ
05-26-2009, 03:18 PM
Updated to include recent vendor experiences.

MoonWorks
05-26-2009, 05:30 PM
Thanks for the great feedback everyone!!!

dp96zj
07-14-2009, 08:14 PM
Far Exceeded expectations:

MoonWorks OffRoad: Ordered some RE stuff through Matt, it came quick and in perfect condition. Customer service is second to none; he helped me out on what exactly I need to order, was willing to work with me on shipping charges, and proved to be a great person and vendor. His customer service has won me over; dealing with a guy who gives out his cell number and answers ALL of my questions is a sign that he really wants the customer to be happy. Great guy, great vendor.

CrawlerReady: Ordered some stuff through Tyler, and it was extremely easy to get everything all lined up. Some was shipping through him, and some from RE. I got the stuff from RE when it was supposed to, but the pucks were late. ***However, this was not Tyler's fault (turned out to be an error at my local post office).*** Although it wasn't his mess up, he was more than ready to put some more pucks in the mail so that I'd have them asap. Great guy, communicated with me a lot until the issue was resolved (aka when the post office finally got it right). Great vendor, will do business with him again!

Kevin's Off Road: I've ordered stuff from them multiple times, first the rad support and then some JKS stuff. Everything arrived on time, and included exactly what I asked for. Before I ordered the rad support, I had some questions, and Kevin personally answered them. I've also been in contact with Bryant a ton, all of these guys know their stuff and are very customer-oriented. Another great company.

Met expectations:

Kolak: Ordered some small stuff through him, he answered all my questions and made purchasing extremely simple. It took a while to receive the parts, but it's because they were on national backorder, so it was out of Nick's hands.

Summit Racing: Ordered a cooler, then 5 steelies from them. Shipped quick, shipping is hella cheap, had no problems at all. Won't hesitate to buy from them again.

KC Hilites: Ordered a set of new Daylighters through Amazon.com, and the bulb burnt out in one of them about 3 weeks in. I contacted KC, and they replaced it, no questions asked.

Rubicon Express: Great product, shipped on time, no complaints at all.

AllJeep.com (Wayne Hartwig): I ordered an 8.8 flange through them. Great, quick communication. Processed the order quickly and I received the flange in just a few days.

PolyPerformance.com: Ordered some hood vents and other smaller miscellaneous items, they all arrived on time and in great condition.

RadiatorExpress.com: Ordered a radiator for the ZJ from them. Great pricing, got free shipping, arrived carefully packaged, etc.

McMaster-Carr: Great place to order from if you need some specialty bolts/etc. Shipped quickly, the only thing I don't like is that they don't tell you how much shipping will cost until AFTER you've placed the order. I would like to see all the costs up-front, but I guess that's just how they do business.

Brazos Valley Drivelines (Bryan/College Station, TX): Good place in the College Station area if you need anything drivetrain related done.

Did not meet expectations:

Ballistic Fabrication: Great products, really slow shipping. It seems that this is a common trend for those that order from B-Fab. Don't order from them unless you have AT LEAST a month or two for the parts to arrive. Seriously.

ZJones
07-14-2009, 08:48 PM
Far Exceeded Expectations:

Kevins Offroad: They have helped me so much with my jeep over the last couple months. I got a great price on my Clayton install which was lower than what they quoted me. Took the time to cancel my order when I found a rear bumper for have price on craigslist. Bryant has answered all my questions by email on the same or next day. He even helped me after business hours on a weekend install my sliders, that right there is great customer service. They have a customer for life.

Ironrockoffroad: They have also been great to work with. I had a problem with my rear track bar and they replaced it free of charge.

Moonworksoffroad: Haven't technically ordered anything yet but come Thursday I will be. He has been very very helpful answering all my questions so far. I will be ordering lots of stuff for my axle build from him.

Does Craigslist count? lol I've bought both my bumpers, my axles, my jeep, an aussie locker, sold a 8.8, and found some chromoly axle shafts. I love craigslist.

Met Expectations:

Kolak: I don't think Nick ever sleeps. He is always at the computer ready to answer emails. I ordered my front long arms from him not to long ago. If the shipping didn't take almost a month I would have put him in the exceeded catagorie.

Did Not Meet Expectations:

Iceland Offroad: I would put this company under Met Expectations but I still don't have the second half of my refund back from when I cancelled my order over 2 months ago.

chadjans
07-24-2009, 05:17 PM
Did not meet expectations:

Great Lake offroad- Had major issues with receiving the beadlock kit I ordered. Took almost 5 weeks from date of order after 2 week timeframe was promised.



Were your rings even 1/4" thick? My room mates were made out of a guage material and not fractional. They weren't even 1/4" thick. They coned like three dimensional bannana's.

ATL ZJ
07-24-2009, 05:24 PM
Were your rings even 1/4" thick? My room mates were made out of a guage material and not fractional. They weren't even 1/4" thick. They coned like three dimensional bannana's.

I will have to stick a caliper on them and see. They looked equal to 1/4" or close just by eyeballing them.

later edit: I stuck a caliper on them and they are exactly .250" thick.

canadian_driver
07-24-2009, 05:50 PM
mine are from GLO and they seem to be 1/4 thick, but they have coned terribly

ATL ZJ
09-16-2009, 11:28 AM
Here's a link to a similar thread on a regional board that includes more vendors... http://hardlinecrawlers.com/forums/index.php?topic=2039.0

SirFuego
09-16-2009, 11:58 AM
Updated mine to give a :smt023 to Moonworks.

bshows73
09-16-2009, 02:54 PM
Thanks everyone for the great feedback!

dp96zj
12-11-2009, 03:46 PM
I'm btt'ing this because I've added more companies, but also in light of recent events (the currie-axle story), can this thread be stickied somewhere that gets alot of traffic?

canadian_driver
12-11-2009, 10:37 PM
whats the currie axle story?

SirFuego
04-20-2010, 03:16 PM
Updated with a thumbs up for a recent order from KOR!

bshows73
04-21-2010, 11:55 AM
Thanks again! Also anyone who orders from us and is a MC member gets a discount on any and everything! Just shoot me an email or PM and we will get you taken care of.

SirFuego
04-21-2010, 12:04 PM
Thanks again! Also anyone who orders from us and is a MC member gets a discount on any and everything! Just shoot me an email or PM and we will get you taken care of.

Haha. I should probably have checked on that before ordering. I'll remember that for next time.

Jeeptech01
03-07-2011, 09:50 PM
Completely sucked

www.autopartsdealer.com (http://www.autopartsdealer.com)

Sent me a product that had been opened and refused to exchange it. Horrible cust service. Here is a link to the whole story

http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=312305#post312305

Sudz
03-07-2011, 10:51 PM
Completely sucked

www.autopartsdealer.com (http://www.autopartsdealer.com)

Sent me a product that had been opened and refused to exchange it. Horrible cust service. Here is a link to the whole story

http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=312305#post312305
1caveatemptor agrees, they suck - http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Auto_Parts_Dealer

Jeeptech01
03-08-2011, 01:26 PM
Yea its pretty awesome since they go at you with a loaded question the minute you contact them. Once you fall in their trap thats it they are no longer listening. I called the BBB as well.

BigDaveZJ
07-26-2011, 05:03 PM
Need to add an "Exceeded Expectations" to the list, it's more of a tow rig vendor though, but with the amount of coin most people drop on their stuff, the more info out there for research the better.

Brian's Truck Shop aka BTS
3 years ago the stock 4R100 tranny in my F250 went south and we bit the bullet and dropped approximately $5,000 on a new BTS transmission. It had been FLAWLESS since day one and I have been extremely happy with the perfomance of the tranny. A couple weeks ago I started having some issues where it felt like the tranny was going into 3rd gear and the torque converter was locking up when starting off with a load on the vehicle. I called the shop and after a brief conversation they put Brian on the phone directly. I described to him the symptoms, and he immediately asked me about the condition of the alternator. It was a reman that I put in 3 years ago, so it could be suspect. He talked me through his thought process of the how the alternator was messing the vehicle speed sensor and how he had seen this a couple times recently. I had a lifetime warranty on the alternator, so I took it out when I get home and perfect, worked just fine. My tranny is almost a year out of BTS's warranty, but Brian still took the time to walk through everything with me and make sure my truck was back up and running, even if the part at fault was not one I bought from him.

rstrucks
07-26-2011, 10:04 PM
Add RPM Offroad. I called in my order on Monday morning and had parts at my house the next day. Granted it was a small order and I'm not that far from them but it was quick none the less. I also got some honest answers about the hubs vs. drive flanges vs. 300M hub gears that I appreciated.

Also, Denny's Driveshafts. He went through a lot to make sure I had a driveshaft in time for me to go wheelin'.

ATL ZJ
07-26-2011, 11:58 PM
x2 on RPM. They had my 14b grizzly locker to my door in an insanely short amount of time (I think it was under 24 hours) and I am at least a 4hr drive from their shop.

geeteesjeep
07-28-2011, 09:33 AM
Anybody have trouble with North West Fab cable shifter? We did the 231/300 in my son's XJ 6 months ago. One cable has broke at the shifter. He called them and they are going to send a new one at no charge. That's a good deal as long as it don't keep breaking.

SirFuego
09-15-2011, 01:39 PM
Updated to include Summit Racing to my list under Far Exceeded Expectations. The distribution center is only a couple hours away, but I'm still surprised when stuff arrives less than 24 hours with regular "ground" service.