So I broke down and ordered the Carli ball joints...

[CRuth]

My mechanical skills are bit less than yours. I probably would have just accepted their explanation. Good thing you looked. Mind telling us what the bill came to? I'd love to do the same thing someday. Maybe when I win the lottery

 

[foolkiller]

Is the truck quieter going down the road? Are you getting better mileage? Any other pluses or minuses?



Thanks and I'm sorry to here about your troubles.

not quieter as i can tell, i am getting better mileage but i've been in less than desirable driving conditions to figure exactely... head winds, off road stuff, and tourist traffic jams in sedona to mention a couple.



the first two hours out of san diego were typical conditions and i know what mileage i usually get there. judging by that short test, my initial estimate is 1mpg gain. hope it helps you



j

 

[foolkiller]

Which locking hubs did you get and what size are your tires?



I was thinking about doing the conversion but thought the hubs would stick out too far, it doesn't look too bad though.

i installed the Dynatrac lockouts... never had a problem with warns in my life, just too long for my tastes in this application.



i've used the lockouts already a few times and they seem to be stout units.



tires are 285/75/17.



j

 

[foolkiller]

If you used a credit card you have 120 days for a charge back.

I own a business and know all about it!

Rick

cash... ... ... and so it goes.

 

[WoodChuck]

Thanks for answering all the questions. Let us know when you get a chance to check MPG on the highway.

 

[foolkiller]

Hmmmmmmmm... ... Doesn't sound like the quality of work Mike does at Carli. There is two sides of the story here. Maybe Mike or Sage will chime in. I never heard (and I have/had Mike, Sage & Jesse work on my truck) of a bad install of any component of thiers or what they sell.



I don't know?. ?. ?. I am sure they would of worked w/ you to make you happy to solve the problem.

i truly wish i could say the same.



j

 

[foolkiller]

Thanks for answering all the questions. Let us know when you get a chance to check MPG on the highway.

still only a couple tanks through the truck since the mods but so far... .



1. 5 mpg gain in the city



1 mpg on the freeway



i can only assume the bigger gain in the city is due to not bringing the extra weight up to speed where on the freeway it's already up to speed and maintaining momentum takes less energy.



i still think i'm getting even better fuel efficiency than what i posted above because these results are including my urge to hotrod around a little more often lately.



oddly enough, the overhead reflects no increase in mpg, but hand calc does. my overhead is freaky anyway. i've seen it drop 3 mpg suddenly with no change in driving environment. i think it resets after a given number of key starts.



j

 

[Bob4x4]

i truly wish i could say the same.



j

The early kits did not have the dust seals and like most of us our best work is done when we don't have some one hanging over our shoulder. I have worked with Mike in the wilds of Baja and in a shop environment... ... . he is top notch all the way. All they asked is to bring it back in to do the rework. Standard industry practice.

Sounds like you are getting a chance to enjoy the truck,that's what it's all about



Bob

 

[foolkiller]

The early kits did not have the dust seals

i didn't pay them to install an "early kit"

and like most of us our best work is done when we don't have some one hanging over our shoulder

i watch closely for a reason and someone proved my practices are quite valid here. if i had not watched closely, the errors may have gone undetected and cost me dearly in the future. when someone is scrutinzing my work, i make extra darn sure it's done correctly. someone watching is no excuse. can't believe this excuse was even attempted.

I have worked with **** in the wilds of Baja and in a shop environment

congratulations

... ... . he is top notch all the way

i disagree..... remember YOU brought up names here. i recommend you edit the name out. it's the right thing to do.

All they asked is to bring it back in to do the rework. Standard industry practice

all i asked was for them to do the job properly for a given price and pointed out the seals left over prior to leaving. they chose to raise the agreed price and to not check themselves when i was clearly concerned about the extra parts. i even knealt down next to and told the installer that i was concerned the seals belonged and needed him to reassure me and he chose to not do the right thing. reread my post on what happened and you'd see why i didn't take it back... ... i already had it apart AND knew how to do this work. only reason they got the job was cause they quoted a false price that made it seem to be worth it. i was wrong. they took me for a ride and there is no way to deny it.



i even told the installer that i had read and reread the instructions and inventoried the parts and there were no extras and nothing missing. he didn't hear me i guess.



standard industry practice??? you're kidding. the only thing standard industry practice should be is doing the right thing. the "standard" sucks bob.



bob, i know who your current friends are and i have seen you change your mind on who that is over the years. and more importantly, i have witnessed how strong your opinions can be toward some of the companies you feel wronged you in the past. if this happened with K or D companies, you'd be in this thread shoveling coal on the fire. and that's fine. but why you would try to justify someone wronging me??? i can't imagine... except that you're buddies with them. hope it lasts... . no mean intentions. i really hope it does last.



i know these guys have done some good things, i can read, that's why i called them, but in my case, i got taken for a ride, even after letting them know something wasn't right.



they know the truth. what they're telling you?? who cares... . i don't. i already know what happened. and what they offered to do..... which was caca.



and yes, i am enjoying the truck, thanks.



peace, j

 

[TCDiesel]

Hmmmm standard Industry practice?So practicing on Footkillers truck is OK? than turn around on insult and charge more for it? Here is a case of a simple mistake that has blown into a disaster that could have been completely avoided if humble enough to admit a small error was made and correction preformed... that what separates great from just the good. I"m am sure that company has read this thread although not commenting have benefited. .

 

[foolkiller]

I"m am sure that company has read this thread although not commenting have benefited. .

good comment. that's actually what i'm hoping for here..... that they see the results of letting quality slip and don't let it happen again. a few hundred bucks won't make a difference over time.



one of two things will happen... .



1. they'll either continue to see the customer as the problem and make future mistakes and experience a deteriorating reputation.



or B. they'll tighten up quality control and make sure they treat the customers to what they expect in a shop with a good record and full of "experts" to do the work. the missing dust seals ended up being only one of a few things i found that were wrong.



lets hope for the latter as good shops these days seem to only last until they think they're making enough profits to forget the customers needs and rest on their laurels.



doubt i'll get an apology as these guys are young and operating on a lot of pride. good for them.



they know what the right thing to do is. it's just a question of whether they'll choose to do it. i'm relatively sure they've discussed this situation. based on one of the more recent post, they're discussing it with someone.



j

 

[foolkiller]

it's not over i hate these guys.

so 5 months later and i'm still dealing with crappy parts and service from these guys.....



ever since i had these guys rip me off, my truck's steering has been very twitchy. it would track straight but was hyper sensitive (twitchy) and would not "return to center" i was going round in circles trying to get it to drive the way it did before these "experts" got thier hands on my truck.



believe it or not, i was NOT connecting the problem to the thread topic because i really believed i was going to adjust out the problem but a few days ago i stumbled on a thread discussing over tightened ball joints and decided i had to check it out. the thread specifically stated the moog lowers being over tightened could cause the symtoms i had... ... .



yesterday lifted her up, popped off the wheels, disconnected the tie rod ends, and here's what i found.



drivers side was working perfectly.



passenger side ball joint movement was so tight, i struggled to move the knuckle... AHA!! i expected to loosen up the lower and free it up..... but NO, no change with the lower loosened... loosed up my very over priced CARLI UPPER and clearly, it was the culprit. everything came loose.



the lower torques up fine with no binding but when i put any tightness on the CARLI upper, things bind up. i have to leave it with about 30lbs of torque. any more than that and it binds.



so i now have the truck on the road with one upper ball joint under torqued so it will steer correctly and have new upper ball joints on order and the tools to replace them... ... which if you've read the whole thread, you would see why this is very enraging.



HOLY CACA..... what a complete and utter waste of time dealing with CARLI SUSPENSION and their crappy parts has been.

 

[TCDiesel]

Footkiller, Even though this may now have been Discovered, is the Vendor going to replace them, I have a hard time believing that a Company with such a impeccable reputation is NOT going to take care of this.

 

[Andy Morrison]

Sounds like you got ripped off big time. Thanks for letting us know how this company treats customers when things go wrong. There is no defending this. Unless of course your in the tank for them. I was planning on getting upper ball joints from them when i'm in need but now I'm having second thoughts.

I'll wait and see how they settle with you in the end.

Stick to your guns, defective parts and shoddy work are big time liability issues.

 

[nickleinonen]

beginning to sound like "if you want it done right, do it yourself. "

warrenty stuff i let the dealer do as i didn't want to do it. now that i am out of warrenty stuff i don't want to do i am still going to do as i am not paying some shop rate of $100/hour [average going rate around me] for them to charge me 8 hours for something the flat rate guy will get done in 3-4 hours.


coming up i know i have upper & lower ball joints, u-joints [rear] and brakes up front. . not really looking forward to doing the ball joints

 

[foolkiller]

"impeccable reputation"..... nice. that's what got me into trouble to begin with.



can't do much more till monday.



there's confusion with the vendor..... i acually paid KLM for the ball joints but they really didn't have any... ... so, blah, blah , blah..... next thing i know my truck is on the rack at the carli shop for disassembly while they were "having the ball joints made up". that's right, they did a rush job to have them fabbed up while my truck was on the lift already.



"in the tank for them" i think that would mean i like them... ... . not the case. i don't expect much from them. i'm certainly not going to let them touch my truck again and one of the ball joints appears to be good... ... most they could do now is send one joint as a replacement for me to install. i think they'll stick to what they already offered... . bring it to them to screw up some more, or i get nothing. more of my time, fuel, money, and i'd still have to go in and check their work to make sure it's done correctly.



i'm so freaking embarrased to be taken like this... . and now i get to hang my head and redo the ENTIRE job myself AND buy the tools i should have bought to begin with.



on a side note... . the military has these "auto hobby shops" where i'm doing all this work at. i'm spending a lot of time there due to the carli screwups. i used to do a lot of auto maintenance and there are a lot of young folks that pull their cars in there to do light maintenance that weren't taught how to do it..... , they see me in there with, what looks to them to be a big job. they assume i must know what i'm doing and ask me for help. now i'm in there helping all these young folks fix their vehicles. it's kind of fun.

 

[TCDiesel]

Footkiller, If they are willing to let this go to the point of tarnishing their reputation, over something they should take care of, it's a bigger mistake then the poor workmanship.

 

[DonFitzwater]

There is no replacement for doing it yourself! I have had similar things happen here in Alaska as we are no different up here. Shoddy workmanship and **** poor management are everywhere. I use only one "Front End Shop" here in Fairbanks and almost never take my truck to the dealer any more. I go see the owner of the dealership and make a deal with them to let me install my own parts due to overwhelming tech screw ups in the past.



Oh, by the way Carli folks, I just placed an order for suspension for my wifes truck with another company after listening to this ordeal. You really should make a better effort to bring a happy ending to this story.

 

[DWeiler]

There is no replacement for doing it yourself! I have had similar things happen here in Alaska as we are no different up here. Shoddy workmanship and **** poor management are everywhere. I use only one "Front End Shop" here in Fairbanks and almost never take my truck to the dealer any more. I go see the owner of the dealership and make a deal with them to let me install my own parts due to overwhelming tech screw ups in the past.



Oh, by the way Carli folks, I just placed an order for suspension for my wifes truck with another company after listening to this ordeal. You really should make a better effort to bring a happy ending to this story.

Was thinking the same thing ,for my 2007 i was going to try Carli but the Kore on my 2001 has been great----better stay with them.

 

[dan.poitras]

I am sitting on the fence about purchasing upper ball joints from these fellas for a fleet of six trucks. Let's see what happens