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Terrific Aftermarket Fob I came across

KC10Brain

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Did mine over the weekend. Taking apart OEM fob was easy following video directions. Putting AJT together was though because of the battery...but...common sense kicked in :CWL: I basically ended putting the top and bottom cover halfway and then got a thin blade which I used to push the metal border of the board that way the battery could set in.

I even did it twice, since on my first assemble I did it with the little triangle provided for the lock and unlock, so decided to open it again to remove it since I did not like the "click" feeling and second time applying this method was so easy even a caveman can do it lol.

Planing on maybe getting the gray case.

Regarding size and quality....10000000% better than OEM!

IMG-8514-copy.jpg
Looks cool, but will it fit in a hitch safe? or a master 5500 so I can lock my key while I surf?
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Shots

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It should. The stock fob reportedly does, and this is smaller than that.
 

LateBraking

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I think I've assembled and disassembled this thing more than anyone on this forum thus far. Maybe 8 or 9 times as I kept trying to change things on it, testing fit and feel, look of things, etc. I screwed up painting the thing with rattle can spray paint (I'm not much of a painter) and I decided I didn't want to deal with it and ordered another one. So there's my 9th or 10th attempt at assembly. I've now got it down to about 3-5 minutes to open and shut this thing, but I have to say that putting the two halves together annoys me each and every time.

Haven't followed every post in this thread but I read a defensive post or two on here. While I do think that some people could use a quick beer break if you've been trying to put the two halves together for over half an hour, I think we also have to beware falling into the trap of essentially "victim blaming," or blaming the consumer for poor design. For example, if someone were to go to a restaurant and eat, they shouldn't get blamed for contracting food poisoning, the cook should. Samsung is getting criticized for screens breaking on its new folding phone, and that's the right response. Buyers shouldn't be blamed because they were stupid enough to purchase an Android platform product instead of getting an iPhone like the rest of us. (I'm kidding!) "Criticism is a powerful force for good. Nothing improves without coming to terms with its flaws."

I personally don't care about the finish or the texture, and I bought a second key for a reason: it's comfortable and looks good. That said, the battery and assembly really needs to be addressed in a future version 2 in my personal opinion. I might not have gone through all this had I known how much of a pain it was going to be, I may have just gotten a leather fob cover to stop the blasted key from springing out all the damn time. I don't know. I'd be on the fence, I think.

Final score: 6.85 out of 10.

P.S.: If anyone wants one of these for cheaper, I'll sell you my old one for $25 shipped. We all know it's $37.99 new + $4.00 for the extra buttons. Will come with all unused brand new keys from the new set I just purchased (the old spare keys were all destroyed during experimentation in case you're curious). It looks worse in person than it does in photos, but good option if you were going to custom paint yours anyways. Hit it with a bit of fine grit sandpaper, elbow grease, and some better rattle can paint than what I used.

IMG_6599.JPG
 
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Twmcneilly

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Would you have any words of wisdom to share with us for how you accomplished the in-fill painting of the words? Iā€™m planning on doing exactly what you did with the red panic button and black ā€˜otherā€™ buttons. What did you used for paint and brushes for the white in-fill? Thanks
 

LateBraking

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Sure thing. I'm actually not doing it on the second key set (not yet anyways, don't want to open this thing up again). I grabbed these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006MZOSA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016ONQOEW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The smaller brushes came in handy. The brush that comes with the enamel kit is too thick. I was going to do the "panic" in yellow or red, and the yellow (lighter of the two) red work pretty nicely in that kit if you want to do that (tested them on the other spare disposed-of keys before I decided to get boring and just do white across the board). Basically, fill in as precisely as possible, some spillage is okay. Let air dry. Take a very light amount of the paint thinner in the enamel kit, wipe *lightly* until the excess comes off. Rinse and repeat. You will need multiple coats as the paint fades a bit as it dries/shrinks/evaporates. I would not use nail polish/acetone aggressively, it will melt the plastic of the keys when you begin to scrub and your key will begin to flake. The paint thinner included in the Testor's kit when used lightly works fine to remove over-paint (not sure if it has acetone in it or not and how much of it is acetone). It's not included in the kit but I'd probably see about getting a bottle of small modeling clearcoat to finish up with, seal and protect the white underneath. I tried hitting the entire key with satin clear Rustoleum which is how I ended up where I ended up.
 

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PeeCeeJunior

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I think I've assembled and disassembled this thing more than anyone on this forum thus far. Maybe 8 or 9 times as I kept trying to change things on it, testing fit and feel, look of things, etc. I screwed up painting the thing with rattle can spray paint (I'm not much of a painter) and I decided I didn't want to deal with it and ordered another one. So there's my 9th or 10th attempt at assembly. I've now got it down to about 3-5 minutes to open and shut this thing, but I have to say that putting the two halves together annoys me each and every time.

Haven't followed every post in this thread but I read a defensive post or two on here. While I do think that some people could use a quick beer break if you've been trying to put the two halves together for over half an hour, I think we also have to beware falling into the trap of essentially "victim blaming," or blaming the consumer for poor design. For example, if someone were to go to a restaurant and eat, they shouldn't get blamed for contracting food poisoning, the cook should. Samsung is getting criticized for screens breaking on its new folding phone, and that's the right response. Buyers shouldn't be blamed because they were stupid enough to purchase an Android platform product instead of getting an iPhone like the rest of us. (I'm kidding!) "Criticism is a powerful force for good. Nothing improves without coming to terms with its flaws."

I personally don't care about the finish or the feel, and I bought a second key for a reason: it's comfortable and looks good. That said, the battery and assembly really needs to be addressed in a future version 2 in my personal opinion. I might not have gone through all this had I known how much of a pain it was going to be, I may have just gotten a leather fob cover to stop the blasted key from springing out all the damn time. I don't know. I'd be on the fence, I think.

Final score: 6.85 out of 10.

P.S.: If anyone wants one of these for cheaper, I'll sell you my old one for $25 shipped. We all know it's $37.99 new + $4.00 for the extra buttons. Will come with all unused brand new keys from the new set I just purchased (the old spare keys were all destroyed during experimentation in case you're curious). It looks worse in person than it does in photos, but good option if you were going to custom paint yours anyways. Hit it with a bit of fine grit sandpaper, elbow grease, and some better rattle can paint than what I used.

IMG_6599.JPG
That lettering looks great.

I donā€™t know if anyone is victim blaming here. Some of us just had an easier time than others or figured out another way. It looks like AJT has a fairly standard ā€˜chassisā€™ they use for a variety of cars and getting that to conform to the OEM circuit board isnā€™t easy. If theyā€™re guilty of anything itā€™s glossing over the absolutely hardest part of the install and then downplaying itā€™s difficulty. They should have spent a few more minutes going over alternate assembly steps because we are all potentially destroying something that will cost hundreds of dollars to replace. Thereā€™s not an insignificant financial risk to using this key fob.

But I really like it so Iā€™ll give him a mulligan.
 

LateBraking

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"Victim-blaming" didn't quite impart the meaning I was trying to convey. I thought I recalled some heated/ridiculing commentary being exchanged in the thread in older posts. Honestly didn't read all the posts in the thread and I didn't look for it because it's not all that important other than as an observation I've had both on this forum as well as other forums, where a new or relatively new product that can stand to have design improvements implemented is shielded from criticism due to some weird, inexplicable phenomena of blaming the buyer for buying said new product.

For what it's worth, I myself put a YouTube video up of my alternative method of assembling the product earlier on in the thread in the hopes that it'd help someone else out, but I also think its good for everyone else to really know what they're getting and have an honest and open debate about the pros and cons of a new product, whether it be a $10 or a $100 or a $1000 item. Reminds me of my M.O.R.E. dead pedal when that came out. Feel like the sharpness of the pedal and the design of it should have pressed a bit more by people to encourage revision. I ended up splitting my finger open while installing that thing, sharp edges suck.

Like I've said in practically every post I've made in here to the point that it's getting repetitive: I do like it, else I wouldn't be using it. But like my M.O.R.E dead pedal, it honestly could do with a minor design revision.

End of the day it's just a comfortable key though, and what I really want is my stuff from Metalcloak. Ha!
 

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Hello everyone. I have been asked by a couple of people about the possibility of a leather FOB holster for the AJT FOBs. I did get one to see about prototyping something. However before I go thru the time and expense of doing so, I thought I would try to gauge how much interest there would actually be.
The AJT FOBs address many of the issues with the OEM i.e. size, key popping open etc. The only advantages to me doing a leather holster would be the carry options and the leather .. because leather is really nice. :)
Due to the shape of these, they will be significantly different than the OEM FOB holsters, but I believe I can do them with and without button windows and with the same clip options ā€¦ just checking the water ā€¦
Thanks in advance for any insights or interest
 

NickTinVA

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Hello everyone. I have been asked by a couple of people about the possibility of a leather FOB holster for the AJT FOBs. I did get one to see about prototyping something. However before I go thru the time and expense of doing so, I thought I would try to gauge how much interest there would actually be.
The AJT FOBs address many of the issues with the OEM i.e. size, key popping open etc. The only advantages to me doing a leather holster would be the carry options and the leather .. because leather is really nice. :)
Due to the shape of these, they will be significantly different than the OEM FOB holsters, but I believe I can do them with and without button windows and with the same clip options ā€¦ just checking the water ā€¦
Thanks in advance for any insights or interest
Yes please. You do great work!
 

Twistedfab

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I just got the AJT fobs and found that the quality is just not there. The mold has some imperfections and the fob feels real cheap. I am returning mine and staying with the original fobs.
 

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I just got the AJT fobs and found that the quality is just not there. The mold has some imperfections and the fob feels real cheap. I am returning mine and staying with the original fobs.
Agree with you completely. Wish I would have but got too excited about doing the little project. It is no where near worth the cost.
 

Twmcneilly

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FE4496EA-29AC-482A-96C1-9E6A33344D36.jpeg
With a little inspiration I took my fob apart today and swapped out the black buttons for red ones, and filled in the lettering for a more professional look.
I used several coats of model paint and let it dry completely. Then I used wet 600 grit sand paper, followed by 2000 grit to sand off the high spots and leave the lettering perfectly filled. Iā€™m completely happy with my color-matched fob. Well, I do wish the blue part was Ocean Blue Metallic, but I donā€™t think it would hold up as well as the blue plastic.
 

spurly

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I went ahead and ordered one today. Even if it feels a little on the cheap side as a few others mentioned, I'd rather deal with it than having the key constantly opening in my pocket. Now I just need to find a key blank.
 

spurly

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My AJT fob showed up while I was in Colorado, and to say the least I am a bit disappointed. The fob case is ok, it does feel a cheap, but maybe that's because there's no weight to it yet. (It's still sitting empty on my counter while I get a key blank cut) But the buttons are really disappointing. To make the buttons out of the same extruded plastic as the case makes them feel really cheap. I would have gladly paid a bit more a set of silicone or rubber type button similar to the OE fob.
 

mazeppa

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Just laundered my AJT fob, full cycle through the washing machine and dryer. Found it completely dissembled in the dryer, luckily, I found all the parts in the dryer, the transponder did stay in its case half. I used a new battery when I reassembled, tried it out, and it STILL WORKS. The Fob may not have taken on any or very much water in the wash cycle, but flopping around in the dryer completely disassembled it. I thought this was going to be an expensive mistake.

Side note: Unbelievably I put the case halves back together on the first try, I was always dreading to ever have to repeat this process.
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