ats a arms
12-17-2003, 12:57 PM
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ats a arms
upon reading the posts here lately, about how everybody is interested in the group buy of the a-arms. i was introduced to this recent post that was on the ttora forum- i thought i would share it, here it is-----
AAAHhhh yes. Good old ATS... i could go on for hours about their service (or the lack there of...) and the quality of their parts... or their honesty... or their ........ (VERY VERY LONG)
I was the one of the first member's of TTORA to have the ATS suspension for the tacoma. i researched and researched and everything that i looked at told me that it was a great kit. i even read a mag article on an older 4 runner and that guy said it was awesome... So i saved my money for 6 months and decided to buy the ATS suspension. After about $200 in LD phone calls i had purchased my long travel suspension and my coilovers from King Shocks. I put down my Deposit and said that i would drop off my truck the next weekend. After i called them back they then told me that it was going to cost another $800-1000 to install it (never told me this before) so i told them that i would just install it myself. then they told me that i needed limiting straps, and a ton of other stuff. at an extra cost of course. Then they told me that i needed Manual hubs if i was going to drive on the street. (another extra cost) but that they had a guy that had the parts for the manual hub swap, Then i needed to pay them for extended axle shafts. and it kept costing me more money... The cost on their website said that the ATS "KIT" was $1500, and it had 2 upper arms, 2 lower arms, TRE's shock mounts, bushings, and some other small stuff. The weekend before i was to drop off my truck my invoice (not including the king shocks $1000) was almost $4000, and that's not including my $500 deposit.. I told them that they could take all of that extra crap and shove it... all i wanted was the "Kit" and the manual hub parts with the extended axle shafts (which included an extra front diff that had 4:10's).
I drive down to pick up all of my parts (7 hours) and expect to see this nice shop with all these badass trucks, but to my amazement, their shop was a small shack/shed behind a mobile home in a trailer park... instead of badass trucks, they had broken down old cars and tall weeds, when i got there i was lead to this box on the floor, and told there's your stuff. none of the stuff was labled, or organized. the hubs were all in pieces ina box with no bags for the washers or nuts (there were incomplete, i had to spend about another $40 on parts for the hubs) the spindles were not there, and the front diff had 3:42's (didn't find that out till i got home) while searching through the boxes to make sure i got all the parts i noticed that there were no shock mounts. i was then told that they weren't included in the kit. i pulled out the information and showed them where it stated that they were included. I was told that i had old information and it is no longer included and it was extra... I was soo furious and told them that if they didn't give me the shock mounts they could just take back all of their stuff and i wouldn't pay them (i later foundout that thay already charged my creditcard), i got my shock mounts. I also noticed that there was no installation instructions. ATS told me that they don't have installation instructions for a tacoma and i'd have to cope. after some complaining they printed me out an older truck's installation instructions. i would have been better off just leaving without all of that stuff and not paying.
Now on to the installation, It actually went pretty smooth, the TRE's were the only parts to give me greif. After the installation i took my truck to the alignment shop and was called within 20 minutes and told that they wouldn't be able to align my truck. after talking to the guy i asked him to get it as close as possible When i got it the front tires looked like this / \... Talking to the guy he told me that the upper arm wasn't long enough for the lower arm and that was what was causing the problems. i called ATS and tried to get them to help i took pictures and E-mailed them, and was told that i installed it wrong... WTF!! I installed it wrong? it only goes on one way!!!! and to boot i was installing it blind!!! When i asked what was done wrong they couldn't come up with anythign to back it up. I called Brett King at King shocks and talked to him about my situation. He suggested some softer and shorter coils. he overnighted me new coils and only asked that i return the old ones. no charge.... That helped out my situation quite a bit, but not all the way, After driving for a week i noticed that my balljoints were shot... OK i had 70K on them so i guess it was time to change them. well within a month the new ones were shot too (but i just left them im) The first outing was to Hollister hills and i was excited. I started to drive up Five Fingers and right from the top (35 degree angle plus) i hear a loud POP!!!, I fugure i blew the CV joint, Dickfoster puts a strap on me and tow's me up to the top. come to find out that it wasn't the joint, but the "Custom Professionally extended Axle shaft" from ATS broke in two....... I immediatly called ATS and chewed them a new hole, and was told they were shipping me out a new one, after a week of not recieving anything i called back, and after 6 months i gave up. I decided to ditch the ATS and go solid. Haven't looked back...
STAY AWAY FROM ATS!!!!! you will regret it.....
(And that's not even the whole story, there is much more to it than that)
Options Reply
Ads By Google
ase anybody was interested
AAAHhhh yes. Good old ATS... i could go on for hours about their service (or the lack there of...) and the quality of their parts... or their honesty... or their ........ (VERY VERY LONG)
I was the one of the first member's of TTORA to have the ATS suspension for the tacoma. i researched and researched and everything that i looked at told me that it was a great kit. i even read a mag article on an older 4 runner and that guy said it was awesome... So i saved my money for 6 months and decided to buy the ATS suspension. After about $200 in LD phone calls i had purchased my long travel suspension and my coilovers from King Shocks. I put down my Deposit and said that i would drop off my truck the next weekend. After i called them back they then told me that it was going to cost another $800-1000 to install it (never told me this before) so i told them that i would just install it myself. then they told me that i needed limiting straps, and a ton of other stuff. at an extra cost of course. Then they told me that i needed Manual hubs if i was going to drive on the street. (another extra cost) but that they had a guy that had the parts for the manual hub swap, Then i needed to pay them for extended axle shafts. and it kept costing me more money... The cost on their website said that the ATS "KIT" was $1500, and it had 2 upper arms, 2 lower arms, TRE's shock mounts, bushings, and some other small stuff. The weekend before i was to drop off my truck my invoice (not including the king shocks $1000) was almost $4000, and that's not including my $500 deposit.. I told them that they could take all of that extra crap and shove it... all i wanted was the "Kit" and the manual hub parts with the extended axle shafts (which included an extra front diff that had 4:10's).
I drive down to pick up all of my parts (7 hours) and expect to see this nice shop with all these badass trucks, but to my amazement, their shop was a small shack/shed behind a mobile home in a trailer park... instead of badass trucks, they had broken down old cars and tall weeds, when i got there i was lead to this box on the floor, and told there's your stuff. none of the stuff was labled, or organized. the hubs were all in pieces ina box with no bags for the washers or nuts (there were incomplete, i had to spend about another $40 on parts for the hubs) the spindles were not there, and the front diff had 3:42's (didn't find that out till i got home) while searching through the boxes to make sure i got all the parts i noticed that there were no shock mounts. i was then told that they weren't included in the kit. i pulled out the information and showed them where it stated that they were included. I was told that i had old information and it is no longer included and it was extra... I was soo furious and told them that if they didn't give me the shock mounts they could just take back all of their stuff and i wouldn't pay them (i later foundout that thay already charged my creditcard), i got my shock mounts. I also noticed that there was no installation instructions. ATS told me that they don't have installation instructions for a tacoma and i'd have to cope. after some complaining they printed me out an older truck's installation instructions. i would have been better off just leaving without all of that stuff and not paying.
Now on to the installation, It actually went pretty smooth, the TRE's were the only parts to give me greif. After the installation i took my truck to the alignment shop and was called within 20 minutes and told that they wouldn't be able to align my truck. after talking to the guy i asked him to get it as close as possible When i got it the front tires looked like this / \... Talking to the guy he told me that the upper arm wasn't long enough for the lower arm and that was what was causing the problems. i called ATS and tried to get them to help i took pictures and E-mailed them, and was told that i installed it wrong... WTF!! I installed it wrong? it only goes on one way!!!! and to boot i was installing it blind!!! When i asked what was done wrong they couldn't come up with anythign to back it up. I called Brett King at King shocks and talked to him about my situation. He suggested some softer and shorter coils. he overnighted me new coils and only asked that i return the old ones. no charge.... That helped out my situation quite a bit, but not all the way, After driving for a week i noticed that my balljoints were shot... OK i had 70K on them so i guess it was time to change them. well within a month the new ones were shot too (but i just left them im) The first outing was to Hollister hills and i was excited. I started to drive up Five Fingers and right from the top (35 degree angle plus) i hear a loud POP!!!, I fugure i blew the CV joint, Dickfoster puts a strap on me and tow's me up to the top. come to find out that it wasn't the joint, but the "Custom Professionally extended Axle shaft" from ATS broke in two....... I immediatly called ATS and chewed them a new hole, and was told they were shipping me out a new one, after a week of not recieving anything i called back, and after 6 months i gave up. I decided to ditch the ATS and go solid. Haven't looked back...
STAY AWAY FROM ATS!!!!! you will regret it.....
(And that's not even the whole story, there is much more to it than that)
Options Reply
Ads By Google
ase anybody was interested
12-17-2003, 02:09 PM
#2
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We have heard that sad story for several years now.
ATS even tells a different version.
If your looking for someone to stay away from, the name is Rockstomper.
ATS even tells a different version.
If your looking for someone to stay away from, the name is Rockstomper.
12-17-2003, 03:16 PM
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With my Total Chaos long travel kit, everything was included. The only stuff I had to buy extra was grease for the bushings, brake fluid and gas for my welder, to mount the limit straps. They even included the drill and tap needed to relocate the bumpstops. I did need to fabricate a simple press, to remove the upperball joint, but other than that, the installation went very smooth.
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