Defender Roof Rack update

[1USMC]

This is just a general update on the Defender Roof rack for anyone interested in them.

My story started over a year ago when I saw Gulf550 mount one on his Commander. ( so all this is Gulf 550's fault !! LoL) I thought it would work good for me and my intended application for it. I finally ordered it in February of LAST year. I then ordered the driving, backup and side scene lights for it.

My lights have been lonely, sitting in the garage all by themselves this last year ! I ordered the rack from 4 Wheel Parts. Every 2 or so months I would call to check on its status. They would call Off Road Unlimited ( owner of Defender Roof racks), and the reply would always be, " would be shipped in the next 30-45 days".

After 5 months I called ORU and was told they had lost their old manufacture but had a new one that was just coming up to speed and I should have mine in approx .. you guessed it .. 30-45 days !!

I have continued to call both and continued to get conflicting storys..... Last week the update from 4Wheel Parts was that it would now be this summer before shippment.... So once again I called ORU, acting like a new customer, and was told they are completing all their back orders and if I ordered the rack then, I should get it in approx 2-3 weeks. ??

Called 4 wheel parts... again they say ORU are not manufacturing any and still expect shipping this summer. Wondering if ORU was just wanting to get more orders on the books ???? ( or not prioritizing 4Wheel Parts orders ??)

4 Wheel Parts have been very polite and have offered me a $50 discount on any future order if I do not cancel this rack order.

Soooo.. Some day I hope I can complete my last major project and mount my lights...

I'll update again with any new relevant info.. hope this helps anyone thinking about the Defender Roof rack. I do like the rack ! Just wish I had better luck in trying to get it ...

[07JeepXK]

I would have cancled the order already if it was me. If you want my $$ I want my parts!!!!

[Gulf550]

I will say that sucks. When I got my first one, there was some quality defects, so Offroad unlimited said they would replace it. It took almost a year to get my replacement. I will say, I do love the rack though. :)

[superacerc]

And I love the one they replaced yours with lol.

[1USMC]

And I love the one they replaced yours with lol.

Yup & you beat me to it ..Lol..

Update.. I called ORU and they said a week or so... So I called 4Wheelparts... Had a longer talk with them and .... They got back to me and I learned that ORU and 4Wheel Parts are now "sister" company's ( 4wheel bought/bailed them out?).

The new racks are on a ship at sea.......
Should be in the states at the end of Febuary.....
Then sent to Texas to a warehouse and in my hands by mid March....

My first big off road Jeep Jamboree is Mid March.. Hoping it arrives and I have time to mount it and my lights by then...but I'll believe it when I see it..

[1USMC]

Wasn't there a movie called “The never ending story “ ?

I think it was about a Defender roof rack.. ya ya that’s it !!!


Called 4 Wheel Parts today, for an update….they said they would check with the manufacture on the status of my Defender roof rack.. after a long wait they said the new racks did not meet quality control and was not shipped to the USA.. ???
I had been told previously they had been already shipped .

So now the mid to the end of summer for the next expected delivery date. Again…???

Called ORU.. this time I was told they had them in stock and could be sent out tomorrow ???

Called back to 4WP’s , the operator said the only order they have for me is with Smittybilt ????

Gave them my parts #ORU45505 & ORUDS24-6 , from last Feb 2012.. she said the part #’s were recently changed to S/B45505 & S/BDS24-6 . A Smittybilt part number ????

Called Smittybilt, at least I got the same story from them about the status of the racks.. ...

So I now have a supervisor from 4WP’s working with me .. I know a little late… He said that 4WP’s relationship had soured and they did not like working with ORU and stopped using them,( OK what about the sister company stuff ?) or using them for some of their products ( the defender roof rack). He said the SB Defender roof rack should even be better… ?...

The supervisor said he would check on the exact status of this order and get back to me very soon.

If I trusted ( and I don’t) that ORU had a rack in stock..and ordered one from them, my cost would be $240 more than when (if) I get one through 4WP’s.
With the stories I heard about ORU in reference to their rack/ quality/ customer support and now the cost difference, what is a few more months ??

Ouch.. This was to be my last major mod (rack&lights) … I was really wanting to finish her up and take some final photos…

So back to the movie… I guess I’ll be the Guinea pig ( or sucker Lol) for the “ new and possibly improved” Defender Roof rack.
I wonder how many more sequels I will have to make ….. ??

Stayed tuned …. But please don’t hold your breath !!

[Matt]

holy f'in hell man!!! :(

[criket]

You could have had one custom built by now with the time and money you got in this "unicorn" defender rack.

[1USMC]

You could have had one custom built by now with the time and money you got in this "unicorn" defender rack.



No Sh** .. and I think I'm still paying interest on my CCard on this .. Grrr..

[1USMC]

OM G .... I just received an e-mail that my rack should be here by next week. Of course I could be just dreaming.

I'm busy again now.. so IF i receive it and IF it is the correct one and IF.. ( you get the idea ) > it may be a month or so before I can finish the wiring and install the rack and rack lights .

Who Knows....

[superacerc]

Crazy hire long it's been.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[1USMC]

Lets see, I forgot what chapter I was on........ Oh ya... Pi .... the never ending number.....

Well it ARRIVED !!!

Took a quick look at it at my friends shop ( free shipping there) looks OK so far with out pulling it out of the box.

So I took the mounting pieces home and had to go outside and tinker to figure out how it mounts.

The instructions and labeling of parts seemed slightly confusing ( could just be me LOL), and no matter how hard I tried to figure it out something didn't add up. Yup.... it was the parts......missing pieces in the mounting kit !

My Luck at least is always consistent !

So now a call to the new proclaimed "owners" of the Defender Roof Racks ( Smittybilt ) and they will sent me the parts ASAP, but not until after I have to go back to work.

So.... a lot closer ( barring any other surprises when I actually unpack the rack itself) than I have been in the past.

So.... perhaps in another month or two I can link this thread to my " Defender Roof Rack Installation" thread.

( I still don't care what Matt did..... Its going ON... LoL ...)

Mmmmm... Now what comes after Pi ????

[Matt]

lol damn dude...

Hey I'll sell you a Rola :p

[1USMC]

lol damn dude...

Hey I'll sell you a Rola :p



I bet I could get it and install it before this one is even close to being ready !! LOL... :(

[Matt]

I bet I could get it and install it before this one is even close to being ready !! LOL... :(

I'd say that'd still hold true if I hand carried it to Texas for you!

[1USMC]

I'd say that'd still hold true if I hand carried it to Texas for you!


:( ... Yup ...:(


P.S. You can use that as an option now if you find out you need to catch up on some sleep.

[1USMC]

.
Lets see where was I at the last update ????

Oh ya .... FINALLY arrived ... then the missing parts .. will be sent out ASAP by Smittybilt and when I get home the next time its all ready to go .... you all know better !!!

Need a snack or cold drink..nows the time.

So.... after working with a great Smittybilt representative on the phone, trying to figure out the missing pieces and their names and promising me he would send them out ASAP... I finally arrive home ( 3 weeks later .. another story LOL) and looked around in a large pile of mail and a few boxes my wife had stacked for me. I did not find a box from SB.

So I called them back up an spoke to one of their reps, MIKE.

I explained ( briefly) my very very very very very long history of this order and the previous reps promise to send the missing parts. MIKE said their was no record of my previous call and he would need all the order numbers and previous correspondence and preferably photos before he could consider sending out a couple of dollars worth of missing parts ( out of a $600 order) THEY failed to send correctly in the first place !!

I told him about how the previous rep had even taken the time to pull one of the "kits"of his shelf and was looking at the parts and instructions along with me. Mike said that I had probably called some other vendor by mistake and had a conversation with the wrong company !!!

He was rude and condescending on the phone and treated me like I was some sort of con-man and trying to scam them. Thats why the burden to legitimize my problem to him was all on my shoulders !!!

End of conversation.... but not the story if you are familiar with my " Defender Roof Rack " journey LOL.....

My wife had placed a couple of small boxes in a place I had not seen.... and YES a box from Smittybuilt !!! Yaaa it finally over.!!!. now all I need is to find the time to mount it and my lights !!!!

Oh come on.... you all know better by now ;-)

The box had a small ziplock bag with a few lock and flat washers in them... very good if they where the missing pieces !!!! But and yes .. they where NOT.

Some of pieces I was missing are part of a two piece "clamp" that sort of sandwiches around the rail and when tightened clamps the rack mount to the rail. Unfortunately the top piece of the two are labeled in the instructions as " flat washers". They are about 3X2" and square sided with two sides curved down to better clamp the top of the rail.

Are we having fun yet !!!

Now I went back and looked up my phone history and found my first phone call to THEIR company. The box even had the same phone number on it and was sent out a few days later after my first call. ( the first rep really did go out of his way to help me and I must make that known to be fair).

Now I have sent a very long e-mail to MIKE at SB with a photo of the kit all laid out. I told him ( among a lot of other things) that since he has such a good handle on everything , he can figure out what pieces I am missing so there will not be any future misunderstandings in the future !

So I guess I will now be in the market for another roof rack as he will probable never reply. ( emoticon > smiley face , but with fire shooting out behind it ).

Stay tuned.... I will start getting my kid up to speed on this journey so she can continue updating my thread for me after I am long gone . LOL

;-(


Oh almost forgot..... remember the $50 credit from 4Wheel Parts I was promised if I keep my order for the rack.

After I received the rack I called them as had been waiting for a while to order something I wanted to get for the Jeep and had been waiting for the credit . Guess what.. yup >> what credit they said !! I politely explained that a little over a year ago they said and shortly there after they confirmed etc etc etc etc.... and I said etc etc and they said etc etc.......

OK, I did upon return from work, have a credit card from 4WP but ... wait for it... $25 dollars ... Why am I so jinx'd on this order ???

Another round of phone calls and crying and begging and ..... OK they upped it to originally promised $50.

Mmm now I wonder if I could just weld the rack on .....

[Matt]

This is absolutely unreal man......

[superacerc]

I world have turned very violent already.

[1USMC]

Matt > Oh and I and think you read it before I remembered to add the 4WheelParts story at the end.. LOL..;-)(

[pjmjr508]

Your way to nice man, I would have yanked my order so long ago.

[1USMC]

Well approximately a week after I sent Mike my "nice" E-mail..... he sent me another hardware box # DS24-6.

Today I had a few minutes to lay it out and see if I finally had all the correct pieces...

The parts list six base plates.... and they show, in the diagram below and parts list 12 "flat washers " two for each base plate, they are used over the top of and sandwich the factory rail between the base plate and the flat washers. It also shows in the diagram and in the parts list Phillips screws to clamp the two together.

Well my first kit did not have any Phillips screws or any flat washers as depicted in the diagram. They did have 1" bolts to clamp the two pieces together and only 6 flat squarish washers with two curved edges. The 6 washers and bolts vs. screws appear to be a better design than in the diagram. BUT there was only 6 vs. 12 . Even the first company rep said there should be 12.

Interesting the " new " box also only had 6 and did not have any bolts to secure the 3 rack pieces together. So between the two boxes... I FINALLY have the rack and all the parts !!!!!!!

Now I'm going to try and find some time and see if I can get it installed.




I'd love to install the light bar at the top of this photo on my baby..... but it goes on one of our new ( to our Department ) vehicles.

It was over 100 today and after laying it out, I worked for an hour on just one light clamp.... it's going to take a while...but at least I'm finally in control of the install after a year and 1/2 LOL...




https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/07/DSCN1019_zpsc749bfdb-1.jpg (http://s911.photobucket.com/user/rgerd/media/Roof%20Rack%20%20Lights/DSCN1019_zpsc749bfdb.jpg.html)




Oh and darn... my Defender plates " fell " off also.....




https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/07/DSCN1024_zps6f001003-1.jpg (http://s911.photobucket.com/user/rgerd/media/Roof%20Rack%20%20Lights/DSCN1024_zps6f001003.jpg.html)

[Matt]

I really want to see you blow this thing up on a bombing range or something....

[valpacer]

I really want to see you blow this thing up on a bombing range or something....

LOL ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Mate, that is patience past any normal expectations!

[superacerc]

I've got one of these up for sale now. Its in north seattle with pjmjr for $120.00. Has a cb mount already on it. pm him if you want it. It was made in 2009 when these seemed much easier to get.

[Ross]

pm'd

[1USMC]

I am VERY Happy to report .. yes .. Its Finally Installed.!.!. Good things happen to those that wait.... at least thats what I keep telling myself LOl.....

So for my ( I can't believe I can actually type this, didn't think it would ever happen .. ) Defender and Lights Installation Thread see >

http://www.theultimatejeep.com/showthread.php?2503-Defender-Roof-Rack-and-Lights-(FINALLY)-Installed