Read it and weep.

http://www.fastq.com/~sschaefer/arb.html

I never even got a responce. This was last summer. June 2002. Since then I bought the ARB front locker and rear Prado springs and shocks.

 

You read all that and still don't see the problem?

Just kidding. The problem is fixed for me, yes. But if ARB made it clear as to what they mean by their labels, it would have been right the 1st time.

 

:cry:

Oh well. If you went through all that and never heard from them, I sure won't be surprised if this is the end of the line for me.

 

the other day, I had an e-mail from Tim Lund at ARB, asking for a copy of the shop receipt. I received this from him today:

"Tom,

I have submitted your claim into corporate. We will know in about 20 days,
though I don't think it will be a problem.


Best Regards,

Tim Lund
Tech Supervisor
Air Locker, Inc."


That would be sweet, but the best thing would be if they told me that going forward, they would specifically state how the rear coils should be installed.

 

Mertztr,

What a pain! I'll be doing my install within the month, and am curious how its going to turn out. I was looking at another site (Slee off-road), and got the impression from their directions that in the U.S, the coils were labeled as LH and RH, and should be installed accordingly. The "international" coils that are labeled as DS and PS have to be examined due to differences in what side of the vehicle th driver sits. So, if you followed the labels, and got a tilt, it should be their fault. Anyways, I'm hoping my install goes okay, but I'll be taking a pretty close look at the coils.

David

 

Sorry to hear your having such a stink with the install... Mine seem to be labeled correctly and the install went great. The only thing was it took the guy 4hrs (good thing they were flat rate)

Good luck!

 

Listen, I'm not trying to pizz you off but I can't believe you took it to a shop to swap the springs around because it is about the easiest thing in the 3rd gen suspension to do. I say, you fixed the problem so let it go. and if it was their mistake, so be it, it was a mistake. sorry if it makes you mad for me to say that but these are the kinds of things that drive prices up, they have to recoup the loss somehow so then if they pay the "drop in the bucket" enough times it starts to effect their bottom line.

 

The rear coils were secondary to the main reason we went to a shop. The main reason was to replace the coils from the front. There's nothing here that's driving prices up. It wasn't just a "mistake", its a problem with their practices. And if no one brings this stuff to their attention, then it just continues to happen. You'd probably feel differently if you went through it.

 

I read somewhere, about the install for OME lifts, that you have to use the opposite side from the label. I am not saying that you are right or wrong, but that it has been stated in a couple of places.
I do think that this alone should warrant the label change for their coils.


As was stated earlier, maybe you should judt let it go. I know you don't want to hear that, but some things are not worth the time and effort

Good luck though

 

Fact is, ARB can't get their story straight.

 

I feel your pain mertztr. All I do all day is work with people in production that want to put bandaids on problems. What ever happened to getting to the root cause of a problem? Action plans, that's what we need to see. If not, than OME will continue to have problems, and people like me will think twice before buying their product.

Its the same reason American car companies failed to adopt SPC until the Japanese took the market share, then Ford decided it was a good idea. Quality not quantity.

Sorry guys, I am at work right now, and very glad its Friday!

 

Do you work in Quality Assurance also?

 

Yes sir. Actually, quality control...slight difference. Semiconductors. And you?

(I take it you feel my pain)

 

Almost the same. I work for a Defense Contractor that maintains a database of semiconductors for the military and various private companies. We are in the process of moving the company into the ISO standards. Writing procedures and trying to get people to start implementing the steps we are putting in place. It's funny, the people that work here seem to think that you are out to get them, or checking up on their work for personal reasons. Nobody understands us


Small world Who do you work for? We have a group that contacts manufacturers all the time for status info on parts. I used to work in that group until I was promoted to the QA Department.

 

Well, it was a do-it-yourself shop where we could use a vehicle lift. It was much, much safer than using the old jackstands and floor jack method (I know, I've done it). Plus, we also switched out the 882 with 881 for the front coils and the shop has a hydraulic spring compressor, also, much safer and easier. Plus, neither of us have anywhere to work on the truck since we live in apt.

What will hurt ARB much more in the long run is their lack of quality control. If customers don't speak up and inform companies of their shortcomings, then nothing will ever improve. How many people in the US don't read forums, and don't know about Tom's labeling mix up? How many of those WILL take the springs to a shop and have them install them? After mixing up the springs, the shop will then charge ARB much more than $20 per hour.

The idea here is to make ARB realize that the mix up WILL eventually hurt their bottom line. If they have the right people running things there, they will take corrective actions to reduce the mixup occurrance and prevent any further charges.

Steve

 

oooh, semiconductors...Me too. I'm on the other side of QA, QA comes to me to find out what is wrong with our parts.

 

There is hope for the American economy! Good to know you guys are out there.

 

I did. I need to find another Software QA job.

FWIW, next time just work on the truck in your drive way. Air tools and a lift is nice, but all the work I did was in my garage with jack stands and a cheepo floor jack.

It gets me by. I have also compressed over 10 strut packs by hand. Anyone want to arm wrestle?

It's not that hard.

 

Hey All,
I’ve been into this so-called sport for a short time (about a year).
One thing I’ve learned is that there very few manufacturers that cater to the 3rd gen 4Runner. Most of the products are made for other vehicles but fortunately work on ours. You will find that most products are not plug and play. There always seem to be some type of modification you will make so that it works for you and your rig.

Geez I felt like Master Kan speaking to Kwai Chang Caine in the Kung Fu TV series. he he

 

Oh we definately would have done it in our driveways, except we don't have driveways. I'm sure Tom feels the same way, but I want to stay in good standing with my neighbors and the apartment management. So far, they haven't said anything about me always changing oil, painting my bumper, etc and I don't want to push it by having tires and tools sprawled everywhere.

I know some people go to big parking lots and work on their vehicles, but I'd feel even funnier about that.

Steve