That's ridiculous. What would it have cost them to just replace that half of the shell? Now the word will get out and cost them all kinds of business. The price of those tents is way out of line and this situation is proof of that.
Bean! My FJ60 build and adventure (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter theron
- Start date
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We replied to Theron's post in his other thread regarding the tent, but we felt it was appropriate to reply here as well.
Thank you for the valuable feedback. Ultimately the damage on the roof of the shell was deemed to be caused by the user after an internal inspection and two separate independent inspections. Admittedly this process could have gone smoother on our end and we thank Theron for his patience and understanding. This issue hasn't been seen before so it was critical that it was inspected properly in case there was a flaw in our design or in our manufacturing process. There are a countless number of our tents not only in North America but also around the globe, some in the harshest environments this planet has to offer, none of which have suffered stress fatigue or weather fatigue as claimed.
In regards to the ladder failure - yes, there was a batch that had issues. We never tried to hide it nor would we ever deny that there was an issue. It took some time to address why they were failing, to discover which batch(es) were affected, and to come up with a viable solution for the future. A knee jerk reaction to a handful of isolated cases without properly assessing the situation could've caused more issues. To be clear, we used the same manufacturer for the plastics in our ladder for over a decade and never experienced any issues. When it was discovered they changed their manufacturing process and that was the cause of failure, we fired them. After this occurred, we felt the only acceptable approach was to go back to the drawing board and improve the design all together. All our new tents are using a completely new design that not only utilizes aluminum over plastic but the mount has also been redesigned. Trust us when we say its embarrassing and we aren't happy that there was an issue with the ladders, but we are confident this will never be an issue again in the future with the improved design.
Some of our customers use their tent exclusively on weekends to get away and others (like Theron) call them home for months on end while he explores roads less traveled. Customer satisfaction is a priority for us and that's why we offer a five year warranty on our hard shell tents. However, we cannot honor the warranty when failure is deemed to be caused user error. We understand and agree that failure is unacceptable and we hold our products to the highest standard. Lastly, to be completely transparent, we paid shipping both ways (truck freight) and we offered Theron a $500 credit towards a new tent. While this process took longer than we had hoped, we feel we've been more than fair accommodating Theron despite denying the warranty.
If anyone has any concerns, please feel free to call us at (908) 387-6701.
Thank you for the valuable feedback. Ultimately the damage on the roof of the shell was deemed to be caused by the user after an internal inspection and two separate independent inspections. Admittedly this process could have gone smoother on our end and we thank Theron for his patience and understanding. This issue hasn't been seen before so it was critical that it was inspected properly in case there was a flaw in our design or in our manufacturing process. There are a countless number of our tents not only in North America but also around the globe, some in the harshest environments this planet has to offer, none of which have suffered stress fatigue or weather fatigue as claimed.
In regards to the ladder failure - yes, there was a batch that had issues. We never tried to hide it nor would we ever deny that there was an issue. It took some time to address why they were failing, to discover which batch(es) were affected, and to come up with a viable solution for the future. A knee jerk reaction to a handful of isolated cases without properly assessing the situation could've caused more issues. To be clear, we used the same manufacturer for the plastics in our ladder for over a decade and never experienced any issues. When it was discovered they changed their manufacturing process and that was the cause of failure, we fired them. After this occurred, we felt the only acceptable approach was to go back to the drawing board and improve the design all together. All our new tents are using a completely new design that not only utilizes aluminum over plastic but the mount has also been redesigned. Trust us when we say its embarrassing and we aren't happy that there was an issue with the ladders, but we are confident this will never be an issue again in the future with the improved design.
Some of our customers use their tent exclusively on weekends to get away and others (like Theron) call them home for months on end while he explores roads less traveled. Customer satisfaction is a priority for us and that's why we offer a five year warranty on our hard shell tents. However, we cannot honor the warranty when failure is deemed to be caused user error. We understand and agree that failure is unacceptable and we hold our products to the highest standard. Lastly, to be completely transparent, we paid shipping both ways (truck freight) and we offered Theron a $500 credit towards a new tent. While this process took longer than we had hoped, we feel we've been more than fair accommodating Theron despite denying the warranty.
If anyone has any concerns, please feel free to call us at (908) 387-6701.
Well that seems reasonable.
Thanks for offering the other side of the story.
Thanks for offering the other side of the story.
I get both sides here too, but I ultimately feel a replacement was in JB's best interest. I hadn't heard of the brand before this. They could have said "here's another, thanks for your business, the support of our brand, and keep sharing your adventures with the land cruiser community." It could have been an investment on their part, regardless of warranty. But I respect their right to make that call. Keep at it, Theron. I enjoy reading your thread.
Yeah, definitely not worth the negative publicity. The going above and beyond would have made me a potential customer.
I appreciate the value of bringing in internal and external fiberglass experts, like JB did, to evaluate the cause of the failure, but I have a hard time believing that this specific failure was the cause of an impact. It's not impossible, I'm not saying that, but it's a hard sell, especially for the guy that paid 3k for a rtt that he now has to repair or replace.
I applaud JB for posting here to convey their side of the story. Some fiberglass tests, in a lab, attempting to replicate the damage seen here, caused by an impact, would help their argument.
I applaud JB for posting here to convey their side of the story. Some fiberglass tests, in a lab, attempting to replicate the damage seen here, caused by an impact, would help their argument.
Rockymtnreaper
Colorado.Cruiser
I have been following you on Instagram for months now (I'm always bothering my friends with your photos).. I finally came across this, and needless to say I am more in love then I was before. Keep this going strong! I'm excited to follow you with more detail on here! Sorry to hear about the rtt, hope you can fix it and keep using it... If you even swing back by Durango CO.. I would love to meet up!
Cheers!
Cheers!
I agree JB would have been better off to just repair or replace. They COULD be correct from an engineering standpoint. But from a marketing/management position, I would be screaming to make Theron happy. Apparently, someone saw the value in the publicity and gave him a brand new Erod drivetrain. That's a lot costlier than repairing a roof top tent.
Hey Theron,
what the heck are you carrying when in expo mode that weighs so much?? I know you've got the larger fuel capacity, but, jeeze, that rear spring pack looks like it came off a dump truck...
Thanks for sharing all your build details - I'm sure you're single-handedly causing the emptying of many bank accounts of folks aiming to emulate your rig.
Pete
what the heck are you carrying when in expo mode that weighs so much?? I know you've got the larger fuel capacity, but, jeeze, that rear spring pack looks like it came off a dump truck...
Thanks for sharing all your build details - I'm sure you're single-handedly causing the emptying of many bank accounts of folks aiming to emulate your rig.
Pete
- Thread starter
- #250
Ha! Weight adds up fast....I just went across the scales and I'm 6600lbs loaded.
It's a combo of: The rear 4x4 labs bumper weight w/ 10 gallons of gas + 5 gallons of water + spare tire hanging off the backside. Then the 40 gallon tank. Then the rear cargo/sleeping build out and the gear I carry. It's actually pretty minimal and I have stuff pared down but the stock ARB Heavy pack is only 400lbs each side if I remember correctly.
About 6700# is what I'm weighing. That's before my fatness gets in it. Air bags made the difference for me.
Been looking at tents for a minute. I live in so Oregon so Cascadia Vehicle Tents of Bend Or seems like a winner to me. Any opinions about CVT?
Good product, bad service
Really? That's a shame to hear. So is bad service just part and parcel of the vehicle tent game or has anyone found a North American manufacturer that's pleasant to deal with?
- Thread starter
- #255
I've never dealt with their service but word on the street is all of the folding roof top tents are pretty dang similar. CVT / Treeline / ARB / Tepui / etc etc....I couldn't tell you all the nuanced difference but the man who could is Tom @ Adventure Ready. He is a James Baroud dealer but he's a friend of mine and I've personally heard him steer people toward the right tent for them even if it's not a JB.
If you're gonna be using the tent often I 100% recommend saving up for a hardshell. With that said I have a long and deep love/dislike relationship with JB
Theron
Thank you! My lady and I travel a lot and are building a LC for that purpose. The hard shells are def the way I think too. I know you hear it a lot, but following your adventures was the trigger for a conversation between my lady and I about building our FJ up to what we want in a business/pleasure rig. We had been looking at brand new SUV's with a heafty price tag. After looking at your rig my girl asked if we could use that $ to build our FJ...All I can say is THANK YOU THERON!!!!!!!!!I've never dealt with their service but word on the street is all of the folding roof top tents are pretty dang similar. CVT / Treeline / ARB / Tepui / etc etc....I couldn't tell you all the nuanced difference but the man who could is Tom @ Adventure Ready. He is a James Baroud dealer but he's a friend of mine and I've personally heard him steer people toward the right tent for them even if it's not a JB.
If you're gonna be using the tent often I 100% recommend saving up for a hardshell. With that said I have a long and deep love/dislike relationship with JB
Theron
You guys must really "h8mud"... That is a lot of weight! I'd imagine that kind of mass would be tough to manage on sloppy trails. Well lockers might help...
Mount a .50 cal on the roof and you have a rig ready for War!
-MJ
Captain Sanuk
WAMPA
Really? We have a CVT and when the zipper handle broke we talked to them and they sent us a whole new zipper and a new tent at a really good discounted price. We needed two anyways so it worked out! We love them
Glad they responded to you quickly. I received a torn strap with the tent and got a replacement at a discount 9 months later. I also ordered a ladder extension. They sent me one that was beat up. They did discount the ladder after I brought it up to them. I think they are a company with good products and probably experiencing some growing pains.
At round up this year I met a few local who had a similar experience to mine.
Not trying to draw business away from them, just being honest about my experience.
RodrigzCrzr
SILVER Star
That is a shame a product that you enjoy so much and yet company has left you with a bad taste in your mouth.
