DJ1

Then why aren't the LOD's, WKO's, and Shrocks not failing even though they are bolt-on after at least the last 5 years of many forum slider threads? Same with the Poison Spyder's knockers? Their attachment points aren't failing....

I'm just trying to understand why those mfg's haven't had any reported issues with their bolt-on's and they were some of the first to sell to the JK crowd so there will be a larger sampling of them out in the field....


True but at the same time your bolt-on PreRunners haven't been on the market very long. Also, yours came into the market where there are now a plethora of offerings to saturate the market which means less market share per mfg.......


* Believe me man, as a CA resident I want to help a local business that is not run by a bunch of commie retards to succeed......






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PsychoCupcake

My mistake. I checked the other side. Didn't realize that.

VKS

The average Jeep owner isn’t going to hop on a forum and explain how a part failed. Definitely some will, but they’re in the minority. It’s purely a game of odds, we got unlucky. I’m not going to point fingers at other companies failures and issues, that’s not what we do. We built some of the nicest, highest quality parts on the market. 99.9% of your customers are happy with our products. There is always going to be the occasional issue, I personally stand behind every product that leaves our shop and do whatever is necessary to make them happy. Unfortunately some people you cannot make happy, I’ve learned this over the years of us being in business. I’ve personally sent out $1000’s of dollars in parts and covering freight when we really shouldn’t of, it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Just like here, sending out the products we offered is $700-800 in products and freight. 99% of companies would not do this, but we do. I know the strength of our products and I know their uses, their failure points, I design them, hell, at times I personally build and weld and package them.

I’m not going to continue a debate having to point out other manufactures imperfections.

If there’s anything else we can help with…we’re always here.

DJ1

That's not what I've seen. Yes you can't "save" everyone but if there has been an issue, I'm pretty sure people will post it up. Just look at all the posts regarding RK's control arm joints as an example and as a result, RK has had to make changes to make their products better.


We already spend a good deal of $$ on the vehicle itself. When we purchase aftermarket parts, especially one's made in the USA, we expect a certain level of quality. If this were a Smittybuilt part, I could give 2 shits but it isn't.



So if you know their failure points, what changes are being made in future designs such that there are no "failure points"?


Either way, fair enough. Good luck with your business.




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VKS

Every single part has a failure point, doesn’t matter what it is. In the images and posts made from the actual customers products in question show what failed. The bolts broke/stripped/sheared. This is a simple one. There is a very simple way to remedy this from happening. All of which I’ve gone over in previous posts.

Your original comment was sufficient “Fair enough. Good luck with your business. “ which you edited to pile on about “no failure points” which doesn’t exist. Everything has a point of failure.

To bash our quality is completely unwarranted. If your unhappy about a product you purchased from us let us know. And if you really deep down feel that you purchased a part from us that you feel will “fail” or the “quality” isn’t what you expected and its compaired to “Smittybuilt quality” shoot me an email and we will refund your money. vick@vksfab.com

BoraBora

You were already too generous earlier. Refund him if they fail


...and he had them welded on.

skulldaddy

Here are my pics. My attachment points are all fine. So them being bolted, or welded is not the issue here. The issue is that these sliders are designed entirely to mount too close to the body OR the posts are bending in/up. Again, I am not an extreme wheeler. I don't land overly hard. I'm not skinny pedal happy. As the pic shows in the OP, I take of my Jeep. So I am REAL disappointed this happened on a set of $500 sliders that I thought were intended to protect the body of my Jeep. And as mentioned, there are multiple companies who have BOLT ON sliders where this isn't an issue that we've heard of.

My pinch seams are not fine. The rears are a lot worse the fronts. But this is both sides, front and back, that they've made contact.

driver side: front and rear, then pass side: rear and front





photos photos

kjeeper10

Think the longer bolts would help?

I believe this is them

skulldaddy

I did source my own longer hardware to mount them. The attachment points are all firmly attached and show no signs of failure.

DJ1

So the solution is to weld them on. To you and the others who keep pushing "weld", well if I wanted a damn weld on set in the first place, I would have bought a weld on set in the first place.


I haven't been bashing the product. However, because you personally designed the product and hell, maybe you even personally welded, packaged, and shipped my set as well, you are simply allowing your ego to get in the way of listening to your customers and as a result, are taking these posts as a bashing. Nothing I can do about that. That's on you brother. I already told you I'm trying to help your business out and I'm doing this by trying to help YOU, THE OWNER AND OPERATOR, identify what the damn issue is.


What you most likely don't know is that I can't count how many times I have actually referred your PreRunner sliders to others on this forum. As far as "looks" go, more than a handful of times I have put your weld jobs next to my Genright Aluminum products. Nobody here is arguing the craftsmanship in that BUT because your bolt-on design was very "SIMILAR" to one which many have used here over multiple years WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS (that would be the LOD's), I mistakenly thought yours would be the same in quality and function. Basically I expected this set to be equal to or better than the LOD's.


The only bitching I've ever heard about the LOD's is with regards to the tapping of the frame holes and the original powdercoat job which they have now fixed. Imagine that, LOD actually listened to it's customer base and now offers their signature sliders with a zinc-enriched 2-stage powdercoat. Because of that corrective measure, they have a better product to offer customers.


But hey I understand, you've been doing this a long time. You've thought about every "failure" point in advance. No way that a craftsman of your degree and stature could ever make a mistake. Tom Brady has never thrown an interception. Michael Jordan has never missed a shot. I get it.


Now here is where I bash the product. It is very clear that something is faulty in the design and/or how your sliders mount on. So if your bolt-on PreRunner sliders can't take the beating from easy rock gardens, then maybe you should advertise them as "For Fire Road and/or Overland Use Only" because as it currently stands, it seems these "bolt-on's" cannot handle any rocks whatsoever. It's best to let potential new customers go to better bolt-on options out there instead of getting just a sexy looking "STEP" with weld-jobs that give mortal man (and woman!) a chub (or a funny feeling in a woman's mons venus).


You have what could be a great product Vick. Unfortunately with these bolt-on PreRunners, you are only 80% of the way there. So my question to you is, are you willing to put in 80% more effort to achieve that last 20% to perfection? That's all on you man.


Right now I'm on the fence on just selling these and taking the loss. If you're going to let ego get in the way of putting a better product out to market, then I don't even want to bother returning them for a refund.



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