Pretty Pissed Off (Shop Install Gone Bad but A Happy Ending)

Damn that sucks. Have you ever measured before you lifted it? 23 3/10 seems a little shy on the lift and just looking at the gap of the wheel wells is very small. Maybe looks like a solid 2” lift?

 

I would not consider going back to "Trick or Treat Trucks". Totally amateur hour stuff. I'd like to use the word "mediocre"...........but I won't......

 

1st world/3rd gen problems.

 

Im going to offer a different perspective, not meant to offend.

:rant_begin:

Going to try and make this short-ish and sweet. Posting from my laptop then will upload photos from my phone so you can see what I'm looking at.

So I picked up a Radflo 2.5 coilover kit with Toytec BOSS rear shocks w/ resis, Boss4x4s shackles, carrier bearing drop kit, and differential drop kit from Darren at Boss Offroad. Speaking to Radflo, they coilovers come preset at roughly 2.25". Also to be installed were 2" Bora spacers to retain the TRD off-road wheels (placing my offset at +9) with 35x12.5r18 Nitto Trails.

Dropped my truck and all suspension off at Trick Trucks of Edgewater, MD two days ago and they "installed" the lift and did the alignment. I could have done this myself over the weekend, but I'm busy with work and the kid so a shop was the most practical. SEVERAL issues when I picked it up today with a NEW drop off date set for 2/21/2020.

1. They installed and aligned the Radflos at the preset 2.25" height, then proceeded to make "adjustments" to the CMC and wheel well liner. WHY THE HELL would you start with the most invasive process first (see #2 and the shotty #3). Why not crank them up to 3" and see what you're working with before chopping?

Because it does not matter. The tire needs to clear through the entire range of travel.

2. Front wheel well liner was completely butchered. Large 12" x 7" section was completely removed from behind the bumper caps due to rubbing. Not heated up and formed, not melted or lightly trimmed, completely removed.

This one is my opinion, but if that’s how you want it, gonna have to do yourself. I’m surprised a shop did it that nice.

2a. When doing the initial #2, whatever f*cking cutting tool they used they cut into my Ecoological Bumpershellz that were paint matched. Granted, I bought them to simply cover the chrome end caps until I got an aftermarket bumper later in the year, but he proceeds to tell me the rubbing cause a portion of the passenger side end cap to sheer off. What? Come again? Clear teeth marks and a cut 1/4" into the lip of the end cap. Don't lie to me, I'm not an idiot.

See #2.

3. CMC completed, but looked super rough. Picked a 1" shard of metal from the CMC area off when I got home. Just doesn't look clean to me.

Yikes, that’s shit.

4. They didn't even install the carrier bearing drop kit! Both bushings were thrown in the box with my take off suspension as "leftovers." WHAT?

Do you get any vibrations at stop start different than before? If not better without.

5. A DAMN VALVE STEM CAP IS MISSING. Small, but bro come the F on.

Bastards always loose one of mine, hard to find the nice ones.

Shop manager gave me the "we've never installed with these coilovers so we weren't sure how the adjustments affected the load on the coilover." Dude, start cranking and use a tape measure...are you serious? Then said since it was done, let it settle and bring it back in two weeks when they have an opening and they can crank it up and realign it and see where they're at. So they threw everything together at the 2.25" ride height and severely butchered my liners/CMC and aligned it and gave it back to me today. I couldn't leave the truck as I need transportation for work.

I'm going down there tomorrow morning first thing and listing out all the problems. I'm going to request they adjust it to 3.25", realign it, and order me new wheel well liners that I'll reinstall and shape accordingly. The Bumpershellz I can ignore as they will be trashed in the future anyways and the damage is minimal. We will see how it goes.

Sort of just venting, but I'm heated. Problem is I have a temper, rather large, and covered in tattoos....so I know when I go down there tomorrow to confront the shop manager it will get ugly based on appearances alone.

Currently center cap to fender I'm at 23 and 2/10ths driver side, 23 and 3/10ths passenger side.

How it sits:



:rant_over:

 

From the parts list you got it's pretty clear you did your homework and knew what to expect on the tire clearance. Did you discuss that with them? Did you tell them what height you wanted, or that you wanted the inner fenders to stay whole?

Not excusing what they did, I'd be pissed if somebody did that sort of shit to my truck. In my experience if you're going to be particular about how something is done, you've got to have a discussion with the person doing it and confirm that they're on the same page. Unfortunately a lot of hacks are out there doing work on cars that they don't think the owner will ever inspect. That's why nobody fucks up my truck except me.

Shitty that they did that man. If they had any sort of respect they should have worked out the details first or called you for an "ok" before cutting anything.

 

They should have called before hacking away at the truck, especially before cutting any steel. The liners are not a huge loss, they're easily replaced but hacking up the cmc like that....damn. On a positive note, the truck looks badass

 

Its definitely only about 2" since they installed the Radflos without adjusting them. They just tossed them on and started cutting instead of adjusting them to the appropriate height and going from there. 2.25" is what it comes from Radflo set at (called and spoke to one of their techs) and the shop did 0 adjustments at all. Said they weren't familiar with them and didnt want to touch them.

Everything was discussed beforehand but I think since I was paying for the work to be done for me, they figured I had no idea what I was talking about. Definitely will never go back for a new project but hope they can mend the problem they created.

 

@Vizsla entire range of travel would have been cleared with at minimum 3" and MAYBE some slight rubbing that would need adjusting.

The liner heating/forming I agree with you with. I would have gladly taken it back with liner rub and adjusted to my liking. Problem is, no call was made stating the amount of cutting that was to take place. Could have all been avoided by several different approaches.

The CMC I have nothing to compare to but just off face value its hideous.

And I KNOW RIGHT WHERES MY F'ING VALVE STEM CAP.

In all seriousness I've calmed down some since last night, but that can easily change if I go in there later today and they tell me to go pound sand. The things done are fixable and the bumper endcap mangling will be covered by a replacement fender liner section. Once raised, realigned, and they replace the liners (fingers crossed), I can make adjustments at my father's garage as necessary. Hes Macgyver, just wasnt practical to have him and I install the lift with our schedules and kids/grandkids.

Will keep everyone posted

 

Hey I'd be pissed too. I usually am pissed when I trust someone to do work for me. I generally don't pay people to do work for this reason. The problem is that most people wouldn't know the difference between what you asked for and what you got. They see a newer truck and some fancy parts and they think this guy picked up the off road mag and put his finger down on some parts and said "I need that!". They should have spotted you and given you what you want, but in a world of mediocrity, going the extra mile is scary business.

 

Oh I 100% agree. They saw me and figured they could get away with the hack job they did. I came from a DD Jeep Liberty on a custom 3.5" lift and 33s. All work done by my father and me. We used to wheel a LT 4link Jeep XJ with an Atlas and 38" boggers that we fabbed ourselves as well. We (mainly him lol) are quite capable of installing a plug and play kit from a reputable suspension dealer.

The bed is made, just hopefully their response to my concerns is a good one.

 

We're pulling for you. In my experience shops often fail to do the right thing unless 51% of their customer base depends on it. I would be extremely happy to be surprised in this case.

 

Luckily they're a smaller, franchised out chain. Only 9 locations. So hopefully being smaller they need to retain a good public image and make it right. I've only posted here but I have no issue blasting social media, BBB, Yelp, their FB page, etc. Anything to warn others of their failed service.

 

Sorry to hear that. It may just be the location you went to. It sounds like they definitely did a poor job. I have used their location in VA in the past and they were very helpful and mindful of what i wanted. I would most likely give them one chance to fix the issues and then find a different shop to go to for anything else.

 

Update 2/6/2020:

The manager of the location gave me a call at 0830 this morning. He said he came in early to do some work but saw my email and he is super concerned. The photos I sent him were reviewed and he does not like what he sees and agreed with the less is more theory that the truck should have been adjusted to height first and then trimming/heat gunning conducted as necessary.

He says hes going to fix this 100% and he would appreciate the opportunity to do so. Hes ordering all new wheel well liners this morning and will figure out how they can get me back in the shop sooner than the 20th to get this handled.

Shane is the reason I settled on going to their shop. I think hes a good dude and was sincere and knowledgeable when I was discussing my expectations of the truck before setting an installation date. Going to give him the chance to handle it the right way. Guess we will see then.

Appreciate everyone's input here folks.

 

If you give that shop an earful, DO NOT leave your truck there again.

 

Nah. The email was well written and laid out everything systematically void of emotion. Spoke to the manager on the phone and everything was calm and explanatory. Definitely dont want to shit where I eat.

 

Good to hear

 

Looks like a good opportunity for the shop to make it right, and you know enough to know if they fix things. But any more work on the Tundra ought to be somewhere else. Good luck!

 

Did they hire new Techs? If not....you may as well let the local High School Shop Auto class learn on it, lol. There is the old often true saying, "fool me once...shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." New cars have 30,000 parts on average. Are you going to check every one, every time you go to that shop? I am just a worry wart, though. Surely they will fix it proper.

 

Oh hell no hah. Anything else, and there will be, will be taken elsewhere. Already been in contact with Harrop for a TVS2650 so I'll be shopping around for a shop for that shortly

 

Yeah but between the manager reaching out and the actual owner corresponding with me via Facebook messenger, I think it will get sorted out appropriately.

 

Sounds like the makings for a nice build thread in the future!! I’m sure others along with me would love to see the outcome!

 

I have one here

 

Sub’d!!

 

You have the upper hand now. Continue to be nice and smiley until you get everything to your satisfaction. As above posts have said, if you go in HOT you will eventually get burned even more. They admitted to the debacle, now request that only the best tech do the work, and that ANYTHING that varies from what was discussed, will be an immediate halt of work and a phone call for approval. Make them see that the only way to do the work, is the right way, not hack-a-fuckka-truck.

 

Wow, I would be one unhappy camper. Sorry OP. I cant believe shops like this are in business. I would sue them for the cost of repair.

 

Sucks that happened but with 35s the cmc and liner mods have to happen even at 3” of lift. That’s all over this forum. This is why I always do shit myself can’t trust anyone anymore. Hopefully that shop makes it right. And defiantly don’t go back there!

 

Yeah and I understood this. But the extent to which they went just hacking away was absurd. The CMC was a gimme but even that was less than satisfactory.

 

They just need to get a better welder on it and clean up the CMC. Shouldn't be that big a deal. With your offset and tire size, I don't think there's any way around cutting the liner. Bumper shims would help, but I don't think you'll be able to just heat and massage it to fit.