Here is my first contribution to a retelling of where and what has been happening with my truck for the last 4 months or so.

The second week of January, I called for a quote on time and money needed to get a 3.4 Dual Ultimate automatic into my 95 4-Runner. I received a bid over the phone and then again as an itemized e-mail. He said that parts cost needed to be covered up front and the balance at completion. The third week of January, I sent a cashier's check for parts and set up a delivery date of April 24th with completion scheduled for the end of May so I could wheel in Moab for Memorial Day. This was one week more than Mike said he would need to get it all done.

I called a week before Memorial Day to check on how things were since I had not heard anything lately about how the rig was progressing. Mike said things were behind schedule but that it ought to be done for me to take to Moab. I then flew out and arrived at the shop only to find it was not done and that I would be spotting and photographing for the weekend. Due to the Brown's generosity and Carole's willingness to give up her seat as passenger, I got to Moab and had a place to ride.

I then came back to Denver, a week after I had arrived, and the rig was still not done. Mike was optimistic it was near the end, so I stayed with Brown's a couple of more days and it did not get done. Finally it came to the point that I needed to come back to Wisconsin to see my bro graduate from high school. Mike called from the shop at 10 and came to Brown's to get the solid axle I had in Brown's front yard and take it back to the shop. I then flew home and said get it done without me looking over your shoulder.

June and July flew by without much progress. There was a bad adaptor, some exhaust issues, a bad computer, a bad wiring harness and just about any other issue one could think of. This was not entirely bad since my schedule was filled with weddings and work so it would have been nearly impossible to get out and pick it.

Finally I said call me as soon as it is done in August and I will drop all that I am doing to fly out and get it. Mike covered my first ticket to come back to see my bro and the one to come back and get it. On the 5th, I flew out to get the rig and finally get it home.

Things were going well until I saw something leaking out of the crawler. Sadly this was Western Iowa so turning around was not practical, nor was stopping permanently. They told me to check the fluids again and keep limping.

I got the rig home and found the crawler was filled with ATF. Cracking the fill plug got me an ATF facial rather than stinky gear lube. This was quite alarming, so I called again to see how to proceed. Norm said he and Mike needed to talk and that they were not ready to ship me the new coupler and seal that would likely fix the problem. I had no way to get the rig back there easily and no real time to do it.

As a result, Mike and his dad drove to Wisconsin with his dually and a flatbed to get my truck from my house here in Baraboo. They left on a Friday morning and got back late the next day in hopes of having time to get my wrapped for the Jambo in Colorado. They came out and took it back at no cost to me, only because they wanted to do it right.

Last Thursday I flew back to get the rig. I arrived as Norm was opening up for the morning and then hung around until 7:15 p.m. while they finished my winch off since I had only had the rig for 5 days in the last 4 months. Mike said to come back through on the way home from the Jambo to make sure all was well. I did so on Monday and it was all in order.

Tuesday night I got back into Wisconsin. The crawler was still filled with gear lube, the tranny with ATF and all gauges were reading where they should have been.

In summary, the project did take 4 times what it should have as per the original bid. Part of this was other jobs taking priority. In the end, Mike bent over backwards to get it done perfectly, cleanly and truly expertly. He drove to freakin' Wisconsin to get the truck so that he was sure it was put back perfectly. This is a man who has been dedicated to getting the job done right and went to great lengths to do so. If you need bolt on stuff, custom stuff, or anything in between, give Norm a call and take care of business. Let Mike stay in back and work on making cool stuff. Tell them some fat guy from Wisconsin sent you because you heard Mike did things right.

 

Sounds like they took good care of you in the end!!! Excellent!!

Mike

 

That's a looooooooooooong story, but a good one!

That really shows ORS' commitment to customer service!

I know they have been unexpectedly short handed lately and that surely can't make it easy to juggle so many intense projects.

Now you have one of the nicest 2nd gen. 4Runner's on the trail.

 

Thanks for the compliments.

This deserves to be more widely spread and it will be I suppose.

They are playing with a short stack and taking on some intense projects. They had two 3.4 swaps going at the same time plus other business.

Mike did right by me and I trust he can do the same with the rest. As I said anyone going out that way, tell him a fat guy from Wisconsin sent you.

 

Have you thought about getting Mikes 4-link SAS kit for your truck anytime soon? I think it is almost ready for production...

Should be really nice!

 

Where else are you going to go?

 

It is a 3-link and I have thought about it.

These guys deserve your business.

 

I hadn't talked to him about it in a few months, I thought it was supposed to be a 4-link? Oh well either way I'm sure it will be really nice.

 

Is it like Schaefers Off Road (not too be confused with Steve S)?

 

Shaffer's and no.

Sean is talking front and it is coilovers, 3 links and a panhard.

Mike, you are talking rear, which is what I would like, and that is 3 with a panhard too.

 

I'm talking stock and it was fine for the Hammers. What more could you ask for.

Time to spend money on something other than the truck. The ATV maybe?

 

after reading a few posts about various denver-area offroad shops, i recently chose to have off road solutions do my lift and some other suspension and steering work. i am quite pleased with the quality of their work, but what really sold me was the pre-sales consultation time that mike (owner) took one-on-one with me to describe in detail the extent of the work, review my needs and my opinions on what to do, and write up a good estimate once we arrived at the final plan. they kept me informed at all stages of the work. they are professional, friendly, thorough and easy to work with. i highly recommend them and will absolutely be a return customer.

 

MIKE at Off road solutions provided wonderful information with the product that I needed. Had a few questions for him and he answered them with full knowledge. Hopefully I'll be just as happy with the product. If the product is as good as the customer service, then I'll be happy for years to come. Thanks again Off Road Solutions for being a great place to purchase parts.

ORS

 

They have good products and support (when they answer the phone), it just takes a loooong time to get certain parts.

Their wiring harness almost took 8 weeks to arrive when I was told it would take 4 weeks. I ordered a 3.4 conversion kit in late June and I still haven't received their Marlin transfer case adaptor. My swap is still on hold waiting for this part. I understand that it's a part Marlin is fabricating and it's out of their hands, but I feel this timeframe is ridiculous.

 

Every part I have gotten from ORS has been great.

Every thing I have gotten from them has taken an super long time.

The BS from Marlin is out of everyone's hands. I have owned the adaptor you are after for more than a year and it has been a leaky piece of crap since day one.

 

I agree with the long time issue.
Ordered the skid plate for my tacoma in Feb
late may i got it
then went to paint and took another few weeks


a quality product, very nicely made just took forever to get. the paint delay was all me, but it is the same color as my truck and looks great.

 

This is supposed to be the one with the fix. You should contact Marlin/ORS about getting yours replaced.

 

I sold you your conversion.

I have talked to Mike and Marlin, no one has actually touched the parts that fix, but they swiped some tech from Atlas.

 

Wait, wait....what?

You work/ed for ORS? So this guy from Atlas is suppose to fix everything?

 

Yes, used to.

Marlin is swiping concepts from the Advanced Adaptors piece that allows you to put an Atlas behind this auto.

Rather than messing with making the freeze plug better, they are eliminating it and letting the ATF go through before getting recovered.