Update:
Opted out of fixing my turbos.
Elite gave me a very fare credit for the remaining parts that were good towards a new set of jr high powers.
That was also the most time effective option as well.
I'm very excited to get these on and see how they do.
I will say, putting it mildly, im less then thrilled with the product backing provided by RCD during this.
I believe in loyalty. I follow that by buying everything from the same vendor/sales person In effect to build loyalty, regardless if they are they best price, in hope of being taken care of if something ever happens.
What I spent on my truck in aftermarket parts pails in comparison to what I see here almost daily.
But I still hoped it would mean something when my situation came about but instead it were like I was a 1st time buyer that was looking for a handout.
I just feel like as a good returning, loyal customer it would of carried more weight....I was wrong.
As much as I don't even want to comment on this, because of the situation and whats being said about a lack of "loyalty" I feel I have to.
Dan came to me early this year with a truck with parts that had been purchased by the prior owner, pretty normal scenario.
Over the past year, I've developed a pretty good relationsip with him. Often calling me just to chat for a minutes, go over little quirks with the truck, as well as purchasing little parts here and there.
Honestly, Dan has been been one of my favorite customers to deal with for the last year.
This situation is an oddball one for sure, but I don't see how its a lack of loyalty, or communication for that matter.
A while back, I was contacted that Dan believed he was having issues with an up pipe on the truck, purchased a year before by the prior owner.
Naturally, as any warranty claim works, I said grab me a couple pictures, and that I'd start the process. Dan sent me a picture of the up pipe, with VERY slight distortion starting to show.
I would like to interject here, and ask how many of you know of ANY manufacturers offering any type of warranty to someone who is not the original purchaser of an item?
At that point, I instructed Dan to do 2 things.
Option A. Dont drive the vehicle, it was time to get it off and in for inspection.
Option B. Drive like a grandpa and keep an EXTREMELY close eye on it, and if anything changed.
Sounded like a plan, he'd get to it when he had time..
Next time I heard from Dan, he'd noticed it had started to have a slightly pin hole leak at the bellow. Not a problem, send me the up pipe, we'll install a new HD bellow, and get you back on the road. Like I always tell people, send them both if you'd like, and I'll inspect both. Better to do everything than in 2 were there to be another potential issue.
Up Pipe shows up, and goes to the machineshop. Failure analysis shows this up pipes has been over 2000 degrees long enough to color distort the flange itself, where as the other side has not. Instant red flag that something else was going on.
We placed Dan's up pipe in the fixture we use when we build our up pipes, and it was so egg shaped at the end and distorted, that it wouldnt even line up.
This up pipe was officially compromised, past the point of return, and rigging it with a bellow would have been a poor idea, so I told Dan that it 100% needed to be replaced. Feeling for him, I said I would sell him up pipes at our exacting cost, for less than I myself even bought my own..
Dan was on some hard times, and I had one set of up pipes left, so I pulled my last set from inventory and waited till he was able to come up with the cash, which happened to be on a weekend. I had them Next Day Air Saturday Delivered at 75.00 below River City Diesel's cost to even help him out with the situation, even though I had no obligation to do so, and actually got a lecture from my warehouse guy over it..
I specifically stated to Dan, make sure you inspect your high pressure turbo to make sure nothing went through it, and make sure nothing looks out of whack, even suggesting taking things apart.
Dan assured me he completely inspected the turbine housing of the high pressure, and there was 100% no chance anything was in there. Good deal, truck is up and running, Dan's happy, and no issues..
A couple weeks later I received a rather irritated phone call from Dan telling me that he was driving his truck, heard a slight change of exhaust note, along with an odd squealing noise. Alarmed by this, I immediately contacted Nathaniel, getting an RMA for both Dan's turbos, along with setting things up for him so all he had to do was remove and ship them to elite, and that they would probably even take care of him out of warranty, as it was a few months over on his turbo's, which he had purchased from me as well..
When the turbo's arrived, the high pressure was inspected, and a partial sleeve of a HD bellow was found inside the turbine housing, mangled in the vane's and around the turbine itself.
This trash had also wiped out the turbine wheel on the low pressure turbo. Both turbo's were considered compromised, and needed repair.
The immediate phone call to me was that our new up pipes had failed, and that we needed to step up and make this right. Not an issue, lets get another warranty claim started so we can determine where the failure had occurred.
Dan decided to inspect the up pipes himself before pulling them off, and cleaned them and inspected them with a mirror inside. Both liners were completely intact with no wear or any shape of distortion.
At this point, Josh and I decided to chop up Dan's old up pipe which was still here, so it happened..
The liner in Dan's originally failed up pipe had been so hot it had literally melted and disintegrated. So how does happen? Injector issue? Running a vehicle with a failing up pipe very hard? Poor quality tuning? I cant really determine that, but stainless steel analysis does not lie, this sucker had been hot, and I mean glowing hot..
Upon Nathanniel's determination, the high pressure would need to be replaced with a good core, and Dan would probably need a low pressure turbo core as well.
I had picked up a set of cores a few months back from my friend Dusty on here, knowing that I would be swapping chargers again later this year. My low pressure was already gone, but I offered to send my high pressure core to Elite for Dan, again, knowing he was tight for cash at the time, even know I had paid for the core myself. Not a big deal right.
At this point, we were simply waiting to determine what exactly needed to be done with Dan's turbo's to get them going, and I have my high pressure here waiting. I spoke with Tadd Friday about some stuff for myself, and we were going to try to hammer out the exact cost of what he could get the price down to. Anything we could do to help Dan out was appreciated..
Mind you, I've been pushing to get this done while also being in and out of the office, mind you my father and I farm together, and it's my busiest time of year, calling after hours and emailing off the clock, usually within a few minutes..
I received an email yesterday from Dan, here's the email, and the response.. less than 3 minutes after I received it
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--Email
What is the psi rating for your up pipe bellows.
Who is the manufacturer.
Any more follow up with Tadd.
--Response
I couldnt tell you off hand buddy, Id have to look into it for ya, which I will gladly do
And no, we talked about it on friday, but I havent heard back since, I have to follow up with him on my stroker assembly later this week and I will make sure he hasnt forgotten about me
Thanks
Jared
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This thread then came up within a couple hours, and no email response back from Dan
Definitely seem's like a lack of loyalty on my part Dan.
Definitely irritating when I take my personal time in the field to answer emails and follow up stuff when I'm busy enough. It wouldn't bother me, but when you go out of your way to help someone only to get bombed out of nowhere, really pushes your buttons.
This is why I am becoming a firm believer that noone should get a special deal, because when is enough enough?
Really irks me that this has come to this Daniel, as all I want to see is your truck back up and running and you happy, but we're not throwing the term loyalty around with me, because anyone who knows my character knows its not something I lack.
Regards
Jared
