Solved - Southern Style Offroad Help? - Solved

[gregGX]

Hello-
I just received my Southern Style Offroad roofrack, and got it installed over the weekend. They seem to have changed the mounting platform from steel/aluminum 1" spacers to a 3D printed block of plastic, I'm sure its better in some way/shape/form, but I can NOT get this rack to sit down low enough to the roof, and the fairing shakes/vibrates at all speeds/bumps/etc, making the car nearly underivable. I'm wondering if anyone else has taken delivery of their new rack and had this issue, or if anyone has their previous mount and this was also an issue? I'm not sure what to do, sucks that I pulled the Blackline roof rails/crossbars off (a brand new truck) and now I don't want to drive this thing...

I'm thinking I either need to take the rack off again, shave the 3D printed 'mounts' down a couple millimeters, or I need to take the fairing off and expand the holes that allow it to attach to the rack, so that it will drop down a few millimeters? Here's a video showing how bad it is while stationary, and it's much worse while driving, since there is no perfectly flat surface to drive on.

I don't want to throw them under the bus, but not including any install instructions, and every install video out there references a metal spacer, seems like a massive oversight on their end, let alone changing things and not updating the product description - I'm not sure if they did any testing with these new 'mounts' but I have to assume this is the issue?

Thanks,
Greg

 

[gregGX]

Here it is in motion - sorry for the swearing (I have a potty mouth) -

 

[goosefacer]

I had a similar issue on my 4Runner with another company's wind fairing. Ultimately they had to add some additional supports to the design and sent me the new part free of charge. Hopefully SSO will take care of you because that's unacceptable considering how much the rack costs.

 

[Patassa]

Yikes. Sorry I'm of no help here but feel free to throw them under the bus. They are a bunch of clowns. They completely screwed up a very basic lift job on one guy's 100 series, which he had to pay to go get fixed at the dealership and wouldn't take any real responsibility. I took my car in for a diagnosis only to be told the most ridiculous things about torsion bars I've ever heard.

You'd think just copying a prinsu rack wouldn't be that hard.

 

[gregGX]

I had a similar issue on my 4Runner with another company's wind fairing. Ultimately they had to add some additional supports to the design and sent me the new part free of charge. Hopefully SSO will take care of you because that's unacceptable considering how much the rack costs.

Yeah, I was hoping this was a case of, you get what you pay for, given they're at the top or nearly the top, in terms of cost... I've been struggling to chat with anyone there, almost no responses to emails, and always talk to the same person on the phone, with no follow up..

 

[gregGX]

Yikes. Sorry I'm of no help here but feel free to throw them under the bus. They are a bunch of clowns. They completely screwed up a very basic lift job on one guy's 100 series, which he had to pay to go get fixed at the dealership and wouldn't take any real responsibility. I took my car in for a diagnosis only to be told the most ridiculous things about torsion bars I've ever heard.

You'd think just copying a prinsu rack wouldn't be that hard.

That's frustrating to hear, I thought I had done my homework and went with the 'best' - they also delayed shipping this out as they didn't have 'bolts'. So their 30-45 days became nearly 60, but I had to contact them to get any updates - as stated in another thread, we live in an era of customer service, and when you can't send a simple email stating there are delays, thats pretty bad...

 

[Patassa]

That's frustrating to hear, I thought I had done my homework and went with the 'best' - they also delayed shipping this out as they didn't have 'bolts'. So their 30-45 days became nearly 60, but I had to contact them to get any updates - as stated in another thread, we live in an era of customer service, and when you can't send a simple email stating there are delays, thats pretty bad...

To be fair to you and your homework, if they make a good product and support it, ordering something from them seems perfectly reasonable. The most negative stuff I've heard/seen has been in house services they provide.

 

[goosefacer]

That's frustrating to hear, I thought I had done my homework and went with the 'best' - they also delayed shipping this out as they didn't have 'bolts'. So their 30-45 days became nearly 60, but I had to contact them to get any updates - as stated in another thread, we live in an era of customer service, and when you can't send a simple email stating there are delays, thats pretty bad...

No excuse for lack of customer service/communication when you've paid this much. Might consider opening a complaint with the BBB - I had to go that route with a company that did some work at our house. Unfortunately, it was the most reliable way (albeit delayed) to get any sort of communication from the other party.

 

[r2m]

Here it is in motion - sorry for the swearing (I have a potty mouth) -

When I got my Gamiviti rack, I wanted a clear fairing since I had a full light bar in front. Gamivit only had black ones like you have so asked him for his template so I could make a polycarbonate (Acrylic) fairing. He was kind enough to send me one which I redesigned on my Solidworks to fit better. I too was worried about whistling, wind noise, etc. and I had a RTT that I wanted the fairing to fit perfect from the RTT down to the roof top. Thus I had to make it a little taller, adjusted the mounting holes and worked the contours a little more to fit the roof line. In the end it worked pretty good.

A suggestion for you may be a length of aluminum channel (1" x .5" x width of your rack) and some heavy duty double sided tape on the back side of your fairing. That will stiffen your fairing and keep it from flexing and flapping. If you want I offer the template of my fairing to anyone who want's it. Unfortunately we can't upload PDF's, so you'll have to PM me and I can send you the PDF. The PDF will print full scale in three 11 x 17 sheets. You cut them out and align the line on them to make one full scale template.

 

[Bang Bang]

Kevin, the owner, Catlin, their engineer and Lee their manager are all good friends of mine. I'm not going to make excuses for them but I can tell you they care about their customers and will help you get it straightened out. I get your frustration but give them a minute to get you taken care of. If you haven't talked to Lee then call back and get him on the phone.

As for the in house service, I have had my GX460 as well as my buggy over there for work without issue. Just because there was an issue with one guy doesn't mean you condemn the shop. Remember there is more than 1 side to every story.

 

[Banandalorian]

Are you missing a crossbar or 2 up front? On my Prospeed rack, you use one of the crossbars at an angle at the very front to attach the wind fairing and then a 2nd crossbar right behind the fairing.

From your first video, it looks like the flutter starts at the side panels a little forward of the roof bolts. I would move a crossbar up to the very front and see if that helps.

 

[gregGX]

Are you missing a crossbar or 2 up front? On my Prospeed rack, you use one of the crossbars at an angle at the very front to attach the wind fairing and then a 2nd crossbar right behind the fairing.

From your first video, it looks like the flutter starts at the side panels a little forward of the roof bolts. I would move a crossbar up to the very front and see if that helps.

Unfortunately, I have the first crossbar in the furthest forward position..

 

[gregGX]

When I got my Gamiviti rack, I wanted a clear fairing since I had a full light bar in front. Gamivit only had black ones like you have so asked him for his template so I could make a polycarbonate (Acrylic) fairing. He was kind enough to send me one which I redesigned on my Solidworks to fit better. I too was worried about whistling, wind noise, etc. and I had a RTT that I wanted the fairing to fit perfect from the RTT down to the roof top. Thus I had to make it a little taller, adjusted the mounting holes and worked the contours a little more to fit the roof line. In the end it worked pretty good.

A suggestion for you may be a length of aluminum channel (1" x .5" x width of your rack) and some heavy duty double sided tape on the back side of your fairing. That will stiffen your fairing and keep it from flexing and flapping. If you want I offer the template of my fairing to anyone who want's it. Unfortunately we can't upload PDF's, so you'll have to PM me and I can send you the PDF. The PDF will print full scale in three 11 x 17 sheets. You cut them out and align the line on them to make one full scale template.

If they're unable to figure this out, I may have to hit you up for the DIY option you've thrown out. Thanks for the offer!

 

[gregGX]

Kevin, the owner, Catlin, their engineer and Lee their manager are all good friends of mine. I'm not going to make excuses for them but I can tell you they care about their customers and will help you get it straightened out. I get your frustration but give them a minute to get you taken care of. If you haven't talked to Lee then call back and get him on the phone.

As for the in house service, I have had my GX460 as well as my buggy over there for work without issue. Just because there was an issue with one guy doesn't mean you condemn the shop. Remember there is more than 1 side to every story.

I have not talked to anyone, other than Kim, as she seems to be screening the calls for them. I've called three times and asked to talk to someone other than her, with no luck. She said she'd have someone call me today, and I called first thing this morning. Again, I'm not trying to throw mud, and totally get that EVERY company under the sun has issues, I just hope they are able to help me out - as it sits I've got a very expensive truck sitting in the garage, with ~1200 miles on it, and I nearly don't want to look at the thing, let alone drive it.

 

[Banandalorian]

Is the SSO rack (or fairing) supposed to touch the roof? My fairing is close, but doesn't touch the sheet metal.

2 things I can think of:

1) Take a look at the spacers used for the roof bolt holes. IIRC the front/rear spacers are different heights to better match the side rails to the roof line. You may have slightly taller spacers in front that should go in the rear to angle the rack?

2) Is the fairing supposed to have a gap between as seen in the pictures or should it be flush? If that fairing is meant to be structural and torque down to the 2 rails to lock them together, that could also be your issue.

 

[gregGX]

Is the SSO rack (or fairing) supposed to touch the roof? My fairing is close, but doesn't touch the sheet metal.

2 things I can think of:

1) Take a look at the spacers used for the roof bolt holes. IIRC the front/rear spacers are different heights to better match the side rails to the roof line. You may have slightly taller spacers in front that should go in the rear to angle the rack?

2) Is the fairing supposed to have a gap between as seen in the pictures or should it be flush? If that fairing is meant to be structural and torque down to the 2 rails to lock them together, that could also be your issue.

Great questions. Given the lack of instructions, and not really knowing what it should be, I'm not sure if its supposed to touch the roof. I assume yes, since they provide a piece of clear bra to put on, but that's an assumption.

1. the spacers were all the same 3D printed rectangular boxes - each one looked identical, and given they used to use a 1" metal spacer for all three mounting points, I'm guessing they are all meant to be the same size - their rack has an angle on the bottom section of the roof rails to account for the slope of the trucks roofline
2. Not sure which gap you're talking? The gap between the bottom of the fairing and the roof? Or the gap between the fairing and the roof rails? I'm also not sure what you mean "If that fairing is meant to be structural and torque down to the 2 rails to lock them together" means? I'm not sure what is being torqued in this reference?

Thanks

 

[Banandalorian]

I was referencing this gap. I would think, if there is no front cross bar, then the fairing itself is used to tie the front together. I wonder if this either needs to be torqued more so it's flush with the side bars and kind of locks them together? I'm speculating here based on other roof racks I had seen.

 

[gregGX]

I gave them a call again, as I hadn't heard back, and per Bang Bang's suggestion, asked for Lee. He called me back within a few minutes, put me on speaker with his engineer (forget his name), and they looked at the videos while I was on the line, and told me I had the brackets on the inside of the fairing, but they should have been on the outside. Per Banandalorian's last post, and what I was trying to do, it indeed needed to be reversed - attached is the 'correct' way to do it, in case anyone is curious, and it indeed did solve the issue, now its as quiet as the factory roof rails, and quieter than the factory crossbars.

Thanks everyone for the assistance on this, and glad that SSO was indeed good to the customer.

 

[jdam]

That's cool that you found a solution and that SSO was able to help you out. A suggestion - perhaps make an edit to the initial post noting that the solution was found? Not everyone scrolls to the bottom of these threads to find that it was fixed, and may affect their decision making especially if they like the product.

 

[Patassa]

Kevin, the owner, Catlin, their engineer and Lee their manager are all good friends of mine. I'm not going to make excuses for them but I can tell you they care about their customers and will help you get it straightened out. I get your frustration but give them a minute to get you taken care of. If you haven't talked to Lee then call back and get him on the phone.

As for the in house service, I have had my GX460 as well as my buggy over there for work without issue. Just because there was an issue with one guy doesn't mean you condemn the shop. Remember there is more than 1 side to every story.

Nah, pretty sure there is only one side of the story to this.

Torsion Bar Bracket upside down

I recently asked around about a recommended 4x4 shop that was well versed in land cruisers. The one I was referred to by 2 members of a local LC group was not aware that there was some change in staff. So I had them install a 1.5” OME kit on my 05 100 series. I could make this a long story...

forum.ih8mud.com

In addition to the bracket being installed upside down, he had several loose suspension bolts, including on the shocks and rear sway bar.