Finally getting around to installing the tire carrier portion of my rear bumper and man is it more difficult than it should be!

The turnbuckle mounting setup is garbage. Both ends are a severe interference fit, even after the paint has been worn off by prying and hammering the rod ends in into place. And on the carrier side the mounting holes are off by nearly half a bolt diameter. I've been filing and sanding at those holes for a while now, but they are pretty inaccessible due to the weldment geometry. I either have to go buy a Dremel to open them up enough to get the bolt to fit through or just go down a size on the bolt and have some play in it... Until then I have a trailer lock holding one side on so I don't have to take everything back off when I drive to work tomorrow. And the rod ends were both fairly seized. I was able to work them loose enough to move with some oil and a lot of leverage but there are dirt and fibers coming out of the bearing on one side.

I'm going to send them an email to see if I can get new rod ends at least, but I am quite disappointed in the lack of quality control, especially considering the issues I'm having are on moving assemblies and in areas that are extremely difficult to rework.

Just thought I would share my thoughts as I have been a big fan of PSC previously but have often heard stories of their quality levels declining.

 

Pictures would be really helpful. Did you buy it new or used? Have you tried emailing PSC?

 

I have a picture of the hole misalignment but its hard to see much other than a bolt going through crooked. It was purchased brand new.

Overall I'm just pretty let down with the build quality. The fitment was pretty poor and the issues are all in some of the hardest to access areas.
I sent them an email but realized today that it was stuck in my outbox, so I'll see what they say but I don't expect much to be done about it (its not like I'm going to disassemble it to try and return it at this point).

I was able to get it to work by filing what I could of the hole to get it a bit closer (its such a tight area that maneuvering a dremel or file around is quite difficult), and then shaving the rod ends down to give some clearance so the crooked bolt would fit through. I think it will work alright but spending over an hour repairing part of a $1600 weldment isn't the most fun, especially when it should have easily been caught during fab.

I plan on getting rock sliders and fenders soon and I've really liked the PSC options but if they cant manage to keep a few welded tabs and holes lined up than I dont know how much I trust them with some of the more complex assemblies. I've already heard people mention the fenders being a pain to install.

 

Are you talking about the piece that attaches the carrier to the tailgate so they open together?

I don't have a PSC carrier, but I have a similar mechanism on my JCR Offroad carrier.

 

In general, I think PSC is still really solid, but just not quite the same since Transamerican acquired em back in 2015. I'd be really frustrated spending that much money on a quality piece and then having to deal with that. I wouldn't say that issues like this are the norm though. In regards to things like hearing the fenders are a PITA to install....I'd just say that most fenders are in general. I think any time you're dealing with drilling and nutserts, you have potential to run in to many types of issues that are sometimes self inflicted.

 

Yep. The tailgate side wasnt too bad. The tabs were just too close together so the rod end that mounts between them was a press fit, even with all of the paint removed.
The carrier side was all sorts of messed up.

 

This reminds me of my corners...my driver side PSC corner was wayyy off and needed a little custom fabbing.

Definitely still shoot them an email. For the ridiculous prices we pay for their 'quality' they should at least be aware of this issue. I totally understand not wanting to exchange the carrier at this point, but give them a little smack off their high horse. Seems their QC has gotten a little lax. When I sent pics of the corner not lining up, they sounded surprised and responded with "you're the first person this has happened to."

Good thing Crawler Conceptz exists now Gotta love free market capitalism.

 

My corners matched up really well. Now, I chose not to follow the directions and installed my passenger side first.....only to realize why you should to the driver's side first due to the gas spout dictating things...

 

Yeah Resharp I believe it. My passenger side fit like a glove, it was just the driver side that was off. Don't get me wrong, PSC is still a great company with good quality products...but sometimes ish happens. Not a big issue for me, but someone less mechanically inclined would've been furious.