where do we begin.
First off I hate putting a company on blast.. but I've already heard a few others getting jacked by them after my experience, in addition the issues I've dealt with have been SAFETY issues which really are not acceptable from anyone.
I cringe at the thought that if the truck caught on fire on a trip to a remote area, that my fiance and myself could have really been hurt or have died from exposure. this is why I feel like I have to share this.
I have tons of emails, phone calls, pictures, and videos but going to try and keep it short and direct. Thank God for written email..
for the TLDR skip to the bottom, it took 2 years and 7 months to finally get my fj60 back and it had serious safety issues and unacceptable build quality.
When I first talked to RSO, I was in communication with Mike Francis. I hadn't heard much about the shop, but their social media, and website as well as their endorsement from Georg of valley hybrids made me feel comfortable trusting them. ( I had asked Georg to take my truck in for the swap, but after a year of signing up for his waiting list.. and him not getting back to me.. i get it he's busy.. I decided to go with RSO.
11/2016 Mike said swap would take 3 months.
3/2017 paid deposit for parts to be ordered
5/2017 finally they were ready to take my fj 60
10/2017 drivetrain finally gets pulled and transfer case rebuilt
12/2017 vortec engine sitting on engine mounts
lots of emails and calls left asking for updates with no responses
finally get response saying they were busy opening up their body shop.
3/2018 some updated pics of transfer case and arb air compressor and spod installed...
3/22/2018 have serious phone call and they promise truck will be done by end of april
5/2018 get some updated pics of working on gas tank. and ask why delivery is being pushed and no response.
5/21/2018 updated pics of evap and gas tank.. and they say they are working on other engine components.
6/2018 i start talking to Tyler, mikes son for updates as well as Mike
7/2018 they start working on AC and ecu.
8/2018 they start working on exhaust and AC is still not done
9/2018 lots of phone calls and messages left, finally get a response from mike
"Kevin sorry I haven't responded. Every time I sit down at my desk somebody comes and grabs me and then I forget what I was doing. "
10/2018 i sent "
Their response was
11/9/2018 : I resent the above email and demanded a firm delivery date and update and mike sent the following.
I asked for WEEKLY updates going forward.
11/13/2018 I connect with the other fj60 owned by "Ivan" thats been stuck at the shop similar to mine, and we reach out to RSO together. Tyler says my truck will be up and running but not finished by 11/30 the promised date.
2/2019 obviously my trucks not done, nor is Ivan's we go and visit RSO. Car is still not drivable.
3/27/2019 first time i see the car move on its own power from a video they sent me.
From April all the way until November it was them fixing electrical, various other issues, evap, and passing the REF for the Carb sticker.
I FINALLY GET THE TRUCK BACK
I finally go to pick up my 60, and Tyler knows that I'm going on a long trip into Utah from CA to propose. I told him this emphasizing I really need this truck to be "ROCK SOLID" so we don't get stuck out there.
I pick up the 60, i'm excited, Im driving 2 hours home, and near home it starts dying on me. I'm able to limp it home, and after diagnosing with Tyler over the phone he think's its the MAF. I go and replace the MAF, thought it was a little better.. keep driving it trying to find any bugs and get confident for the trip.
Fill up the gas tank and at a stop light someone yells at me to pull over , that my car is gonna catch on fire. , and I've got gas pouring out of the EVAP canister under the truck.
After hours of mud research, I realized RSO removed the fuel vapor separator so that when the gas tank is full the evap just gets flooded with gasoline. I paid to have the truck towed back to RSO and I told tyler whats wrong and he reinstalls the vapor seperator and i go pick it up again.
Link to video, i was lucky the tow truck driver was willing to tow it with the gas coming out like that.. evap gas leak video
I put more miles on the truck and head out on my trip to UTAH.
I am not sure how, but by God's grace we made it back alive. Out on the top near toquerville falls in a fierce sub zero windstorm my power steering hose blew.. luckily my friend was able to take us into town to get new hoses and fluids... but imagine sub zero temps in the dark, sideways wind with power steering fluid on your face. I was pissed.
The Gas smell started to return, through out the trip, front drive shaft would hit the pan on any medium sized bump, random lights on my dash started to go out, the gas gauge was soooo innacurate i had no idea how much further I could go, a ton of coolant leaks..
On my 2nd trip after UTAH, I was out at Anza Borrego desert, and after a fill up Gas is once again pouring out of the top of my fuel tank. gas tank leaking video
When I get home I drop the fuel tank again and realize they used JB weld to patch the tank... which was now leaking, and not only that they butchered the fuel sending unit mating face so that fuel was spewing out of there as well and now the tank wasn't usable cause they butchered it.. To fix this all properly i ended up buying a fj62 tank and redoing it all myself.
one last story, I paid these guys to install arb lockers front and back.
i told tyler to look at tthe front locker when i sent the truck back to him to fix the initial evap gas leak... because from my test on jack stands it wasn't working... he told me he tested and it is working great, and that i wasn't testing it properly. I took his word for it.. fast forward and this past week I finally get a chance to look into it...
Front is still not locking according to my tests. I inspect the air line going into the diff housing... and when i pulled the brass fitting off... it was just a hole. where the F is the brass line that goes to the locker?
how the heck does Tyler test the locker when it's not even freaking connected??
great now i have to tear the front axle apart to see what the hell is really installed in there.
First off I hate putting a company on blast.. but I've already heard a few others getting jacked by them after my experience, in addition the issues I've dealt with have been SAFETY issues which really are not acceptable from anyone.
I cringe at the thought that if the truck caught on fire on a trip to a remote area, that my fiance and myself could have really been hurt or have died from exposure. this is why I feel like I have to share this.
I have tons of emails, phone calls, pictures, and videos but going to try and keep it short and direct. Thank God for written email..
for the TLDR skip to the bottom, it took 2 years and 7 months to finally get my fj60 back and it had serious safety issues and unacceptable build quality.
When I first talked to RSO, I was in communication with Mike Francis. I hadn't heard much about the shop, but their social media, and website as well as their endorsement from Georg of valley hybrids made me feel comfortable trusting them. ( I had asked Georg to take my truck in for the swap, but after a year of signing up for his waiting list.. and him not getting back to me.. i get it he's busy.. I decided to go with RSO.
11/2016 Mike said swap would take 3 months.
3/2017 paid deposit for parts to be ordered
5/2017 finally they were ready to take my fj 60
10/2017 drivetrain finally gets pulled and transfer case rebuilt
12/2017 vortec engine sitting on engine mounts
lots of emails and calls left asking for updates with no responses
finally get response saying they were busy opening up their body shop.
3/2018 some updated pics of transfer case and arb air compressor and spod installed...
3/22/2018 have serious phone call and they promise truck will be done by end of april
5/2018 get some updated pics of working on gas tank. and ask why delivery is being pushed and no response.
5/21/2018 updated pics of evap and gas tank.. and they say they are working on other engine components.
6/2018 i start talking to Tyler, mikes son for updates as well as Mike
7/2018 they start working on AC and ecu.
8/2018 they start working on exhaust and AC is still not done
9/2018 lots of phone calls and messages left, finally get a response from mike
"Kevin sorry I haven't responded. Every time I sit down at my desk somebody comes and grabs me and then I forget what I was doing. "
10/2018 i sent "
Hey Mike and Tyler,
I'm at the verge of contacting the Bureau of automotive repair, Better Business Bureaus, and an attorney if it gets to that point.
I need a solid delivery date of my truck and I need weekly updates. I understand you guys are busy but so is everyone, and I specifically went with you guys because I was told by Mike that this project would be done in approximately 3 months. This project was started in March of 2017 , you guys have had possession of my truck since May of 2017. That's 1 year and 5 months and the truck is still not finished.
I've missed countless trips, with family and friends in the off road community, Ih8mud, TLCA.
Please respond promptly, I understand you guys are running a business and do not want to start posting for advice in how to resolve this with RSO performance in the off road community before giving you guys a chance to make this right. "
Their response was
Kevin I appologize I thought tyler had responded and he thought I had so that's my fault. We are not at the shop this week as it's sema time but I'll have my guys at the shop send me some pics. I had issues with the ac lines as when I went to connect to the adapters at the compressor I found out my hose company put the wrong ends on. We got that fixed and hoses installed. We purchased an AFE cold air intake to replace the factory GM tube and are fabbing up an air cleaner and box pre mass air flow. Let me get pics and I will forward them on to you
11/9/2018 : I resent the above email and demanded a firm delivery date and update and mike sent the following.
Kevin,
I spent some time looking over what we need to do to complete your project and we will have you finished by Nov 30
Thank you,
Mike Francis
I asked for WEEKLY updates going forward.
11/13/2018 I connect with the other fj60 owned by "Ivan" thats been stuck at the shop similar to mine, and we reach out to RSO together. Tyler says my truck will be up and running but not finished by 11/30 the promised date.
2/2019 obviously my trucks not done, nor is Ivan's we go and visit RSO. Car is still not drivable.
3/27/2019 first time i see the car move on its own power from a video they sent me.
From April all the way until November it was them fixing electrical, various other issues, evap, and passing the REF for the Carb sticker.
I FINALLY GET THE TRUCK BACK
I finally go to pick up my 60, and Tyler knows that I'm going on a long trip into Utah from CA to propose. I told him this emphasizing I really need this truck to be "ROCK SOLID" so we don't get stuck out there.
I pick up the 60, i'm excited, Im driving 2 hours home, and near home it starts dying on me. I'm able to limp it home, and after diagnosing with Tyler over the phone he think's its the MAF. I go and replace the MAF, thought it was a little better.. keep driving it trying to find any bugs and get confident for the trip.
Fill up the gas tank and at a stop light someone yells at me to pull over , that my car is gonna catch on fire. , and I've got gas pouring out of the EVAP canister under the truck.
After hours of mud research, I realized RSO removed the fuel vapor separator so that when the gas tank is full the evap just gets flooded with gasoline. I paid to have the truck towed back to RSO and I told tyler whats wrong and he reinstalls the vapor seperator and i go pick it up again.
Link to video, i was lucky the tow truck driver was willing to tow it with the gas coming out like that.. evap gas leak video
I put more miles on the truck and head out on my trip to UTAH.
I am not sure how, but by God's grace we made it back alive. Out on the top near toquerville falls in a fierce sub zero windstorm my power steering hose blew.. luckily my friend was able to take us into town to get new hoses and fluids... but imagine sub zero temps in the dark, sideways wind with power steering fluid on your face. I was pissed.
The Gas smell started to return, through out the trip, front drive shaft would hit the pan on any medium sized bump, random lights on my dash started to go out, the gas gauge was soooo innacurate i had no idea how much further I could go, a ton of coolant leaks..
On my 2nd trip after UTAH, I was out at Anza Borrego desert, and after a fill up Gas is once again pouring out of the top of my fuel tank. gas tank leaking video
When I get home I drop the fuel tank again and realize they used JB weld to patch the tank... which was now leaking, and not only that they butchered the fuel sending unit mating face so that fuel was spewing out of there as well and now the tank wasn't usable cause they butchered it.. To fix this all properly i ended up buying a fj62 tank and redoing it all myself.
one last story, I paid these guys to install arb lockers front and back.
i told tyler to look at tthe front locker when i sent the truck back to him to fix the initial evap gas leak... because from my test on jack stands it wasn't working... he told me he tested and it is working great, and that i wasn't testing it properly. I took his word for it.. fast forward and this past week I finally get a chance to look into it...
Front is still not locking according to my tests. I inspect the air line going into the diff housing... and when i pulled the brass fitting off... it was just a hole. where the F is the brass line that goes to the locker?
how the heck does Tyler test the locker when it's not even freaking connected??
great now i have to tear the front axle apart to see what the hell is really installed in there.
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