Redneck Ram Expereince - WARNING!

[JLZBUB]

I place a lot of value in customer support and I think how a business responds to customer and product issues matter. If you feel the same, then weigh this accordingly...

I made the decision to upgrade my 2022 JLUR Xtreme Recon steering to a hydro assist system. The Redneck Ram was recommended to me. I reached out to West Texas Offroad (WTO) and spoke with Matt. I didn't have the luxury of taking my rig out of service long enough to ship them my gearbox for modification and await the return, a 3 week +/- process, so I opted to select the new gear box option. I placed the order on May 17th and it eventually arrived on June 26th. My local pro shop, Accessory Outfitters, was selected for the installation since I am not able to do the required welding. After installation the system was tested and found to be faulty. It was found that when WTO reassembled the gearbox, a seal was installed incorrectly and was damaged/crushed allowing a significant leak. WTO sent a new seal and the gearbox was rebuilt and reinstalled. My issue with WTO at this point is that they cost me money. Their error resulted in nearly $1K of additional labor cost to diagnose, remove, repair, and reinstall their product. I have reached out to WTO multiple times and I'm getting the silent treatment.

My warning is this, unless you are able to install this product yourself, you are at risk of eating ANY expenses resulting from WTO's errors... they simple don't care and haven't the ethical fiber to accept accountability.

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[mgroeger]

I place a lot of value in customer support and I think how a business responds to customer and product issues matter. If you feel the same, then weigh this accordingly...

I made the decision to upgrade my 2022 JLUR Xtreme Recon steering to a hydro assist system. The Redneck Ram was recommended to me. I reached out to West Texas Offroad (WTO) and spoke with Matt. I didn't have the luxury of taking my rig out of service long enough to ship them my gearbox for modification and await the return, a 3 week +/- process, so I opted to select the new gear box option. I placed the order on May 17th and it eventually arrived on June 26th. My local pro shop, Accessory Outfitters, was selected for the installation since I am not able to do the required welding. After installation the system was tested and found to be faulty. It was found that when WTO reassembled the gearbox, a seal was installed incorrectly and was damaged/crushed allowing a significant leak. WTO sent a new seal and the gearbox was rebuilt and reinstalled. My issue with WTO at this point is that they cost me money. Their error resulted in nearly $1K of additional labor cost to diagnose, remove, repair, and reinstall their product. I have reached out to WTO multiple times and I'm getting the silent treatment.

My warning is this, unless you are able to install this product yourself, you are at risk of eating ANY expenses resulting from WTO's errors... they simple don't care and haven't the ethical fiber to accept accountability.

Interesting, I too ran a Redneck Ram and had nothing but positive experience with them and the input they gave me. That was on a Jeep that I bought that had their ram already on it.
Fast forward to my current Jeep. My buddy has a shop and does the porting of the box himself so that is the route I went and we went with a PSC ram. I can tell you first hand it is VERY easy to pinch that seal as we will be replacing mine soon since it has a very small leak because it got pinched.
Questions:
What in the world are you welding?! On both setups we welded nothing.
$1,000 additional labor?!?! That shop is f'ing you blind. We had to pull the box a few times for a different reason and you can pull that box, take it apart and have it back installed in about 1 hour. So you've got a $15 o-ring and an hour of labor, two hours max. You can diagnose the problem in about 15 mins once you see the leak. So you are looking at around $300ish to fix this problem and they charged you $1000?!?!
I'm not saying Redneck Ram should blow you off but if you came knocking for $1000 they probably figured you were trying to scam them.

 

[grimmjeeper]

Probably welding on the bracket for the mount on the axle side at least.

 

[jadmt]

https://www.westtexasoffroad.com/installation

 

[JeepinJason33]

In the auto parts world, most of the time the labor would be reimbursed to your "professional" shop if the part was proven defective out of the box. However, if you install it yourself, the labor is not reimbursed.

Generally, if the part was not found to be defective until after you drove it for a while, the part would be covered, but not necessarily the labor. It depends on what agreement the shop has.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

This is the problem when you supply parts to a shop for them to do the labor on. I’m going to guess at least part of the issue was that you chose a shop that may never have installed that system before.

Also, when you put time constraints on a job, the probability of mistakes or issues tend to rise.

I’ve learned not to let people learn on my vehicle.

I’m not saying all of the above is your case, but it’s something for others to consider.

Also, more and more often it seems that products are shipped damaged or defective. It seems to happen so often now that I’m often reluctant to order things, asking myself if it’s a need or a want.

 

[mgroeger]

Probably welding on the bracket for the mount on the axle side at least.

Oh, I just went with the NextGen bracket on the axle side.

 

[XtremeRetard]

Yep, exactly why while painful, its better to work on the jeep yourself.

 

[GtX]

OP has two threads.
Both blasting suppliers.

 

[mgroeger]

OP has two threads.
Both blasting suppliers.

I thought his lack of response and ludicrous dollar amount seemed odd. Thanks.

 

[Pig-Pen]

from my experience over the past 30 years modifying vehicles, the company will replace the part but never cover the cost of labor. it sucks but that's part of the game. imagine people who have an engine shipped and then installed only to find out its defective and have to have it removed and shipped back. ive seen that happen many time with built motors but they never pay for the shops labor.

 

[JLZBUB]

Redneck Ram update: I reach a settlement with West Texas Off-road (WTO). In lieu of any monetary reimbursement, I offered to drop this case if WTO would make an agreed value donation to their local Veterans Association. I am satisfied that they have meet these terms and provided verification of the donation.

 

[JeepinJason33]

This is the problem when you supply parts to a shop for them to do the labor on. I’m going to guess at least part of the issue was that you chose a shop that may never have installed that system before.

Also, when you pit time constraints on a job, the probability of mistakes or issues tend to rise.

I’ve learned not to let people learn on my vehicle.

I’m not saying all of the above is your case, but it’s something for others to consider.

Also, more and more often it seems that products are shipped damaged or defective. It seems to happen so often now that I’m often reluctant to order things, asking myself if it’s a need or a want.

You are right, I missed that part of the story. If the shop did not purchase the parts, they will not get reimbursed for the installation. Most shops will not install customer parts for that exact reason.

 

[c20040215]

Interesting, I too ran a Redneck Ram and had nothing but positive experience with them and the input they gave me. That was on a Jeep that I bought that had their ram already on it.
Fast forward to my current Jeep. My buddy has a shop and does the porting of the box himself so that is the route I went and we went with a PSC ram. I can tell you first hand it is VERY easy to pinch that seal as we will be replacing mine soon since it has a very small leak because it got pinched.
Questions:
What in the world are you welding?! On both setups we welded nothing.
$1,000 additional labor?!?! That shop is f'ing you blind. We had to pull the box a few times for a different reason and you can pull that box, take it apart and have it back installed in about 1 hour. So you've got a $15 o-ring and an hour of labor, two hours max. You can diagnose the problem in about 15 mins once you see the leak. So you are looking at around $300ish to fix this problem and they charged you $1000?!?!
I'm not saying Redneck Ram should blow you off but if you came knocking for $1000 they probably figured you were trying to scam them.

What length of the ram did you go with? I have the stock Rubicon axle, what length should I go with?
I recently bought a low mileage steel steering box I plan on sending it to Redneck. And buy their ram assist package.

 

[mgroeger]

What length of the ram did you go with? I have the stock Rubicon axle, what length should I go with?
I recently bought a low mileage steel steering box I plan on sending it to Redneck. And buy their ram assist package.

6.75" on a stock Rubi axle running RPM 2.5 ton tierod.

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