Hey guys, its been ages since I've been around here but I figured that you all should know about this.

Tuesday night I made a U-turn in my '07 Sport w/ the RRO Lift. Heard something snap then a clicking noise. I pulled over and found that the extension bracket for the Sway Bar linkage arm on the passengers side had snapped in half between the two bolt holes.

Now luckily I had a friend with AAA and a truck I could borrow for the day yesterday but this could have been an extremely costly issue for me (cost me the better part of a day at work as well). The linkage arm bent and is only a $55 (canadian) part but what if the now jagged edge of the bracket had gone through the sidewall of my tire if I was going faster? The linkage fell between the strut tower and the tire and rubbed the raised lettering off of my new BFG A/T's.

This is a major safety issue as far as I am concerned and I was quite shocked to find out that RRO must know about this issue as they have re-designed these parts and are now sending me two replacements. As far as customer service goes I was more than a little disapointed. I called yesterday morning and was told all they needed was my order number (stored in my work email) I came into work, a 30 minute drive, and called them back with it only to be told that I needed to send in a digital picture of the broken part in order to recieve a warranty replacement. I had to drive back home to get the picture. I was expecting some high turn around on this item so I could have my truck back on the road. I requested overnight delivery and was told that is not possible and it would be sent UPS (not comforting because UPS lost my first lift kit and the replacement for it took over a month and a half to get to me). I don't know yet if there will be any duty charges on these warranty parts.

Overall I am glad that I am getting parts for both sides since the other side is bent and has sever stress cracks in it already. This part is grossly underdesigned and they must have realised that to re-design it. I strongly suggest that anyone with the RRO lift kit have a very close look at these brackets and start registering your complaints with Rocky Road if they are bent at all. Get your replacement parts now because it sure doesn't seem like they are going to recall them.

For now (since I can't borrow the old man's brand new Chev for too long) I took some 1/4" thick (the RRO part is only 3/16") Stainless Steel Flatbar (its what we had at work) and made my own brackets. My Riot is back on the road but its unlikely I will be buying anything designed by Rocky Road again considering these parts broke under normal driving conditions, what quality is there behind their parts that get tortured off road?

Long post and a bit of a vent, but you all should know so this doesn't happen to you. Check those brackets!!!

Oh thatīs sad to hear. Hope you can get it fixed soon.

WOW nice to know......

Sorry this happened to you but good to know. let us know when you get the redesigned parts. Id like to see exactly what was changed.

Could you post the pictures of your failed part?

humm.... maybe I'll cancel my order, they have not shipped mine yet wonder if they will charge restocking?

humm.... maybe I'll cancel my order, they have not shipped mine yet wonder if they will charge restocking?

Why would you want to do that? The part's been re-designed. :smiley_thumbs_up: The breakage is just part of growing pains - the guys running the lift are essentially on the bleeding edge. It's a risk you take with such a new product (both the Patriot and the lift). The customer service seems to be a bit disappointing, though, if past customers weren't notified, but right now there are no other options.

Yikes... I was thinking about ordering a lift from them this summer but now I'm not too sure.

Re-designed does not mean fixed though... Growing pains huh? What if it did go through his tire at 75 mph? That is a MAJOR safety issue... and it is an excuse to save $1,000 with the lift at around 400, tires 500 plus mounting. Not to mention the warranty. And really the kind of off roading I do hardly warrants a lift, I just think it looks better. I think I can get that look though with my other ideas. ;)

So what exactly is RRO replacing? Is it the extention bracket for the sway bar linkage arm? It sounds like it bent the linkage arm...is this being replace out of your own pocket through Chrysler/Jeep?

Some pictures of the orginal part, part location on the truck, and the re-designed part would be a great help...

Are there other lifted MK's with the redesigned part from RRO? If so, how is it holding up?

I don't think anybody knew it was redesigned, except for the people it broke, and who knows how many that is? Which calls into question whether it was actually redesigned. I canceled my order, and will be waiting a few more months on it... RR customer service sucks by the way.

Re-designed does not mean fixed though... Growing pains huh? What if it did go through his tire at 75 mph? That is a MAJOR safety issue... and it is an excuse to save $1,000 with the lift at around 400, tires 500 plus mounting. Not to mention the warranty. And really the kind of off roading I do hardly warrants a lift, I just think it looks better. I think I can get that look though with my other ideas. ;)


Unfortunately that is a side effect of moding your vehicle. aftermarket parts are never made to the riggorous factory specs, and sometimes things break. I think for this to be properly addressed RR should include longer sway bar links to compensate for the lift. Once again they need competitiong from another company with a more complete kit to raise the bar.

Jim, I don't think it is blowing it out of proportion, we don't know his driving habits but they can't be worse then mine, I drive a good 75 mph on a daily basis, sometimes more. I live in a rural area where dirt roads are not uncommon, and in fact I play on them quite often especially in the rain, with lots of mud... and pot holes.

You are correct in saying we don't know the re-design date because they didn't send out a bullet on it, which they should have if there were any known problems, as a heads up, that's what businesses should do, they did not.

Re-designed does not mean fixed though... Growing pains huh? What if it did go through his tire at 75 mph? That is a MAJOR safety issue... and it is an excuse to save $1,000 with the lift at around 400, tires 500 plus mounting. Not to mention the warranty. And really the kind of off roading I do hardly warrants a lift, I just think it looks better. I think I can get that look though with my other ideas. ;)

Yes, growing pains. And it's not just aftermarket stuff. Look at the infamous Explorer Firestone tires. Look at Liberty ball joints. Look at the Patriot's flappen hoods and leaking cargo lights. All the research and specifications in the books don't mean a thing until you get real-world testing. The earlier in a product's lifecycle, the more potential for problems (yes, even life-threatening problems) you will see. It's a risk you take with being the cool kid on the block.

I have put about 7000 KM on my lift (I installed it in Mid January and have done several snowboarding and climbing trips since). Two months ago I had it in the Ghost Valley, a popular climbing destination in Alberta. There are roads of sorts but they are of the very large gravel or scree type rock. They are pretty rough but I could have made it in (with the exception of one river crossing) in my 1969 Caprice.

Potholes and speedbumps, nothing out of the ordinary for regular Edmonton driving. Nothing that is memorable at all.

The issue here isn't so much the part failing. I can agree with anyone saying that there are growing pains. Maybe its the fact that I am an engineer but looking at the part in retrospect I can see how and why it failed. The part is far to thin at 3/16 of an inch to handle the forces applied to it. One simple weld or making it 1/4" flatbar would likely be more than enough to strengthen it up.

There should have been something posted here. We are their testers as the first buyers of this product. In my opinion a good company would be involved with their customer base. Create a post asking how things are working and if any improvements can be made, let us know what improvements have been made.

I have pictures but I cant use photobucket at work. Will have to post later.

In the mean time I can forward them to anyone that wants to see. PM me.

Thanks for getting those pics JeepJim... That was the other thing they could do to fix this problem. There are not that many of these lifts out there. This is definately a problem and personally I think they should be replacing these without any hassle for anyone who has the old ones.

The customer service comes in when I was forced to drive an additional 70 km's to get a picture of a broken part that they knew would break. The part breaking, fine, it cost me the money to replace the linkage and a day at work but its the picture that cost them any future buisness from me.

Thanks for all the info Jim. It looks like they did a very strong redesign. that definately eased my worries for ordering a kit.

just read your blog and was thinking of getting a K/N air filter ,How much of a differeces did it make, ps just bought 2007 steel blue patriot with 31000klm 4x4, power group ,yes fabric,anyway

When there was an issue with a part they should have posted here about it. This is the forum that they used to rally support for actually designing it, its where people have reviewed it and talked about the quality and help others out with questions about the lift kit. I would guarantee that more (all?) have been sold in large part due to this forum.

just read your blog and was thinking of getting a K/N air filter ,How much of a differeces did it make, ps just bought 2007 steel blue patriot with 31000klm 4x4, power group ,yes fabric,anyway

Wrong thread dude.

With all the things RRO should have done aside i say, now that everyone knows there are redesigned parts, contact RRO if you have a kit with the old extensions.

Here is the photo RRO sent me upon request:
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/2653000-2653999/2653175_28_full.jpg

I can't believe some of you canceled orders with out talking to them about this... All I can say is WOW!:doh:

Above and beyond the added triangle support, is the thickness still the same as the original?

Originals were 3/16". That looks thicker than 3/16" to me.

Maybe a forum wasn't the way to announce the problem. Something should have happened and I am curious to see if they will replace non broken ones. Like i said, they demanded a picture of the broken part before they would warranty it and were un willing to ship the parts over night so I could repair my Riot. If I wasn't a little creative I would be without a vehicle right now.

Basically, it boils down to this: The product has been upgraded to address the issue. Be wary of RRO if you are someone that values customer service.

My experience has left me with a bad taste, if they start replacing them for people who have not had them break yet then maybe they would be worth looking at again. As it stands I will not recommend them or buy from them again.

Well, I suppose its a good thing that it doesnt matter to me what you think I am demanding. Overnight to Canada is not impossible. I have done it in the past. Not only that they shipped it UPS standard, not Air or anything special, the same wait that it was lost the first time I ordered from them.

It certainly disabled my truck enough for the day that I missed out on $400 of work, cost me $60 or so for the broken part and two trips in and out of the city because they neglected to tell me they needed pictures.

you stated the RRO mounting bracket broke and the extension arm bent... that in itself does not disable a truck. Now if it had punctured the tire that would have disabled the truck but only until you replaced the tire. The fact that the Sway bar can be disconnected and driven means your truck is not disabled.



I can sympathize with you for being pissed off but truly did you have to skip more than half a days work? I mean come on its four bolts to disconnect a sway bar.

Does anyone else feel he is asking too much or am I just a dick?

your just a ...... What time is it in germany anyways? you must be tired. :zzz:

jk everyones entitled to their opinion. We all react crazy when we are mad and he has every right to.

Missing a sway bar does NOT disable a vehicle, it just means that you should not try any high speed cornering unless you are a qualified driver. Many off-roaders don't even run sway bars because it can limit articulation. Model A Fords never had a sway bar and they weren't that popular up until the '70's.

More:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sway_bar

I have the old kit and the left front braket on mine was bending and I had to tightin my bottom bolt every two weeks. I just talk to JP and I'm going to send a picture of it to him so he can send me the new ones. I will also upload it in this forum too so everyone can see.

When the drive is as far to work as mine is then yeah, it does take a good chunk of time.

You need to keep in mind that this was passed off as an easy to install kit. I am hands on as the next guy but I dont know all there is to know about suspension. To me Jeep decided this vehicle needed a sway bar for a reason. As a result of that I am not too keen on driving with out it, that is more than a fair reason for me to be unwilling to drive it. It was near 2 oclock when i found out that i could drive with out it, at that point the day was mostly gone.

Its pretty simple:

1) Their part was very poorly designed.
2) They redesigned it and neglected to inform their customers of the issue when, at highway speeds the issue could be a safety hazard
3) Their customer service department was not clear as to warranty requirements and gave me mis-information resulting in over an hour of driving time wasted
4) They would not make any effort to expedite getting the parts to me

As for the parts not being required clearly the sway bar is providing a significant enough function to carry forces strong enough to cause the bracket to fail in both bending and shear. As the owner of a new vehicle i was comfortable enough modifying this to the point I have, I am however not comfortable driving it with components disconnected. People need to be informed of this because i believe it to be a safety issue and possibly a very expensive problem.

Had i been on the road trip i am leaving on tomorrow and somewhere in the mountains with this a tow would have cost a small fortune, the replacement tire had the tire popped would be very expensive and road side would clearly not have covered it.

As it stands it sounds like at the very least one person has found their brackets to be bending and will hopefully have them replaced prior to being left on the side of the road stranded. You need a 17 mm and 15mm wrench/rachet to pull these out if those do break on you before you get your new brackets JeepNewbee.

I've pointed out the problems I have had with it, I believe thats the purpose of a forum. I expect better customer service, so i've simply stated that if you are like me that you consider what I have said.

Quiff69 - I certantly do appreciate the info, my brother has a 2007 Pat and I fell in love with it, so much that I got a 2008 about 4 months ago, but about a month ago, the same thing happened to my bro's pat, the extension arm bent and don't tell him this....but I thought he had done something wrong, well, till this day, he's still waiting on his parts too and he's been very dissapointed, and I do thank you because it's algo good to hear the negative side of things as well... so I'm gonna hold off on getting a kit.

my 81 VW Vanagon breaks sway bar linkages on it's own accord. I removed them 3 years ago. Just tak'er easy.

I have to come to quiff's defense here. If it happened to me, I'd be really po'd. Further, due to the fact that I am not a mechanic...if I saw a part of the suspension was broken, I would assume it was an essential piece and I wouldn't have driven it either.

That would have scared the hell out of me. Obviously you guys have dismissed the fears by explaining that it is not essential...but at the time, I would have been forced to rearrange my day just like quiff did.

You do your title as

*****RRO LIFT KIT ISSUES******

like the sky is falling, poisoning the water for RRO and their efforts to get these to us and throwing others into a panic. Congratulations!

You say you're not mechanics but you're ready to lambast a manufacture on their quality without even taking 30seconds to do a Google on what broke and how it may affect your steering? But you had the time to post you complaint, right?

I am very appreciative for what RRO has done for the MK's and I won't hesitate to buy from them again!

Suggestion:
Drop the wrench, back away from the vehicle and then call someone to weld the hood shut so that YOU don't get yourself in another bind.

Another word of caution: don't put a hot cup of coffee between your legs and spill it.

Above and beyond the added triangle support, is the thickness still the same as the original?

The new brackets are 1/4".

You do your title as

*****RRO LIFT KIT ISSUES******

like the sky is falling, poisoning the water for RRO and their efforts to get these to us and throwing others into a panic. Congratulations!

You say you're not mechanics but you're ready to lambast a manufacture on their quality without even taking 30seconds to do a Google on what broke and how it may affect your steering? But you had the time to post you complaint, right?

I am very appreciative for what RRO has done for the MK's and I won't hesitate to buy from them again!

Suggestion:
Drop the wrench, back away from the vehicle and then call someone to weld the hood shut so that YOU don't get yourself in another bind.

Another word of caution: don't put a hot cup of coffee between your legs and spill it.


And what if it had been a dangerous issue? You'd rather him post his title as something else? He alerted everyone to a problem which I have to assume was his intent...he never said that other users' vehicles were going to explode.

The only thing he lambasted was the customer service. In truth, RRO has previously had a poor reputation for customer service on both this site and others. Its possible that they handled his call poorly.

Even my post on the forums you moderate was meant to alert people. And I qualified the fact that it was POTENTIAL DANGER in the original title. Everyone who read it got to decide for themselves if it was a horrible problem or simply a defect. At least you were warned.

Gramps, you must have taken it to heart because you mentioned that you would be checking yours when the weather cleared, and acknowledged that you had the original/faulty design.

Quiff69, well done. Better safe then sorry. :smiley_thumbs_up:

Also, on a side note, I talked to RRO today and asked if they had plans to expand their MK lift lineup to include a premium lift (kind of like the Liberty has 4 different lifts varying in cost and depth). They responded that they were giving it some thought but nothing would be out until after this summer.

Hopefully, if they do anything, the extra parts would be easily integrated into the existing lift so that current owners could easily upgrade if they wish.

I'm not going to bother to qualifing your over reaction to something that you admit to knowing nothing about. How foolish and a waste of time.

I'm not going to bother to qualifing your over reaction to something that you admit to knowing nothing about. How foolish and a waste of time.
I for one, appreciate that quiff has brought this about to the forums, for current owners/potential owners to read about troubles that he's had with his lift kit. This is no different than having current Patriot owners post about their troubles with the vehicle itself, and the customer service they receive at their own respective dealerships.

If you're not interested in reading about troubles that someone else has had with a product that you also own, then give it a rest. I'd much rather hear about problems like this ahead of time before I order myself a lift kit, and end up experiencing this first-hand (or possibly something even more worse).

I'd much rather hear about problems like this ahead of time before I order myself a lift kit, and end up experiencing this first-hand (or possibly something even more worse).

Some good things have come of this. Those who haven't ordered yet can rest assured that RRO has made an effort to correct the questionable piece. JeepJim did a bit of research and provided us with pictures to distinguish the added support from the original design, and TJinWV must have measured the thickness of his unit to determine that RRO has also increased the thickness from 3/16" to 1/4".

BLOODY HELL! THERES A LIFT KIT FOR THE PATRIOT?????:wow::confused::D

had to add a lil humor to such a serious thread... o btw, took a look at the mounts on the compass and as of right now its lookin good. no cracks/fractures to the visible eye.

Its pretty simple:

1) Their part was very poorly designed.
2) They redesigned it and neglected to inform their customers of the issue when, at highway speeds the issue could be a safety hazard
3) Their customer service department was not clear as to warranty requirements and gave me mis-information resulting in over an hour of driving time wasted
4) They would not make any effort to expedite getting the parts to me


This is actually why I canceled my order, and Jim, the reasons I 'took it to such extremes' was because if there is another problem, we would not be notified, if I had a problem with it I would be without a vehicle for more then a day or two, and that really isn't an option for me, I depend on my car, and there is no back up besides $30/day in a cab... if not more, sense the day I bought my Jeep it has been still once, and that was just because it got hit, and needed body work, thank goodness I had a rental, because I needed to go to Philly that night to pick something up for work, that I could not work without.

And, I am in a customer service oriented business, and really the customer service and turnaround is uncalled for. They can't be that busy it takes 2 weeks just to ship one measly kit. I've dealt with plenty of other small businesses in the past, and they have always had it in the mail in three days or less.

Thanks Quiff69 and JeepJim for your efforts with this issue. :smiley_thumbs_up:

You have both renewed my confidence in this lift kit...although, RRO is starting to live up to its word of mouth reputation that I was aware of prior to even hearing Jeep was going to build a Patriot...I still believe in their products and I'll be upgrading my MK in the coming months with some of their stuff unless more companys jump into the MK market soon.

BTW - I don't see the need to jump all over members...this is only going to scare members away...the forum is meant to work through identified issues and inform the MK population.

Jim, to reply to the comment you posted before you edited, I get notices on every recall, and if I don't take care of them immediately at my every 3K oil change, they run a recall notice and service bullet search on my VIN, Lifts do not have this kind of check, check, and recheck I get every 2-3 months.

If this was really meant to be 'for off road use' then do you really think the first one to receive the lift would be a 2wd every day driver? This is just a way to cover their asses when something really bad happens. Same way NiteShades is for show cars only, same with almost every other aftermarket parts.

And really who are you to talk about off roading, you said going on a grassy hill was 'off roading'? Maybe its just a German thing, but here in the states, we call that driving.

I am sorry but I would put money on the fact that you were pissed and when you found out they wanted a receipt or order number from you, you got more pissed and probably went off on that tangent and probably did not allow the representative to complete his sentences... I have been pissed too and I know thats how it goes. So the poor representive probably never had the chance to tell you he wanted a photo of the damaged part.

__________________________________________________ ________________________


Here is the part that truly scares me now. There are people on here who own 'Riots willing to tear apart their own Jeeps suspensions, put them back together with another companies parts added in and replacing others and have no F*#&ing clue what the parts do or what they are for? Jesus Christ!

In my opinion if you don't know about your suspension and what parts do what you have no business modifying it! Especially since the Kits Instructions states right on them this kit is ment for off-road use! And its quite obvious you dont have a clue about off-roading because you would know in many occasions you should actually disconnect that sway-bar!

liftedMK I am glad yours aren't showing stress... If I were you would see about getting it strengthened so it doesn't break or bend. I would also call RRO and see if you could get the newer version of the part.

I actually was quite calm and easy to get along with during the first phone call. It was pretty simple, something broke and needed to be fixed, not a big deal. Once i found out that they knew there was a problem, made me drive home to get a picture of the item they already knew there was a problem with and refused to expedite the repair parts for me, that is when i got pissed off. Regardless of what anyone says about a sway bar being required or not I was not comfortable driving with out it. It was put there for a reason and whatever that may be I decided that it was important enough I did not want to drive without it. That is a decision I have the right to make based on my investment of over $20k.

liftedMK, and anyone else who'se kit is the old style but not showing signs of damage YET, call RRO and ask for the new parts. Please let us know if they will supply them for you free of charge or not. It is my belief that knowing this is an issue and not contanting their customers is a problem, knowing this is an issue and not replacing them if the customer contacts them is even worse. That would speak volumes about Gramps' and JeepJims precious RRO.

You guys can chill with the personal shots here, all i've done is relay my experience with them. If I am mistaken and talking about our experiences with our Jeeps is not what this forum is for let me know and I will unsubscribe. I contributed quite alot to this site for a few months and have done alot more to my jeep than most of you have so you should try and avoid bashing me on a personal level. I am very mechanically inclined, as such i know that you dont mess with two things, steering and brakes. Suspension is a significant part of your vehicles ability to steer.

Jim you comment on car manufacturers making you do the research to find out about potential recalls and problems with vehicles. This site is probably the most in depth info you will find on the Riot and no where on here, up until i made this thread, was there any information about faulty parts for this lift.

You do your title as

*****RRO LIFT KIT ISSUES******

like the sky is falling, poisoning the water for RRO and their efforts to get these to us and throwing others into a panic. Congratulations!

You say you're not mechanics but you're ready to lambast a manufacture on their quality without even taking 30seconds to do a Google on what broke and how it may affect your steering? But you had the time to post you complaint, right?

I am very appreciative for what RRO has done for the MK's and I won't hesitate to buy from them again!

Suggestion:
Drop the wrench, back away from the vehicle and then call someone to weld the hood shut so that YOU don't get yourself in another bind.

Another word of caution: don't put a hot cup of coffee between your legs and spill it.

You do realise that there is a quality issue with these parts am I right? Wether or not I know what the part is for does not detract from that. Don't need a hood to drive a car but people who'se hoods are jumping on them are pretty pissed off about it, should they just pull the hood off?

Getting personal really goes nowhere you realise that right? All you have done is detract from a valid complaint about the quality of a part and a justifiable comment on the quality of customer service that I recieved. Wether someone takes this information to heart or not is up to them. Explain how I got myself into a bind by a purchased part being EXTREMELY underdesigned. You'll also notice that this part does not require opening the hood, so welding it shut would likely not help things at all would it?

I am a bit disapointed with this forum, really guys, taking shots at someone for making a legitimate post about an actual issue. It appears that a number of people have taken this info and its helped them out, pretty good since its been up for less than 24 hours, isnt that the point?

off topic: It was my understanding that taking shots at members was the JP way of life, just look at all the compass bashing that goes on even tho they really are the same jeep. as far as info goes, there is some good info but i have found JF to be much better and more friendly. less here say and more knowledge.

on topic: RRO is sending new brackets. :)

this thread should be locked by now. it has served its purpose. CLOSE IT!

See now you just arent listening. When a sharp edged, elastically deformed piece of carbon steel has been wedged between the strut tower and a rubber tire, rotating at a pretty significant rate, that creates a danger. Now i'm no engineer... well, actually I am, although i deal in metal not rubber... but it seems to me that since a nail will puncture the much thicker rubber on the bottom of the tire, the thinner sidewall would also be at risk.

If people choose to drive without the sway bar thats their call. Apparently the part is required as it was transfering enough forces to bend and shear a 3/16" piece of steel.

I appreciate that RRO has redesigned the part, my issue with customer service is that they require a photograph to replace it (and they didnt tell me this at first, costing me a significant amount of my day). They should not require a photo because this is a defect in workmanship. If they step up and start replacing the parts for anyone who has the old verison of the parts I will withdraw what I have had to say regarding their customer service.

It is only a matter of time before your brackets break, why should you be left on the side of the road because they didnt want to fix their errors. And yes, you will be left on the side of the road with not only the cost of a tow, but a flatdeck tow or the use of a dolly because you can't tow the 4wd version (and since this is for off road use only who would put it on a 2wd right?). The only way around being left stranded is to carry a 15 mm and 17mm wrench so you can disconnect everything WHEN it does finally break.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg153/quiff69/DSC08093.jpg

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg153/quiff69/DSC08092.jpg

I agree with liftedMK. Lock the thread.

If you own the lift, call and ask for the new parts, they will break eventually. Judge for yourself on their service based on your experiences with them. Someone please PM me and let me know if they replace them for you wether or not they have bent yet.

Good grief what a wank fest!

Okay, quiff, I can understand being pissed off. But in my opinion you are going a tad far. Parts break. It is never nice, but it happens.

On the other hand, some of you seem to have the attitude that if anyone dares to criticize The Holy Lift Kit Company, it is a personal insult to you. Do you guys own stock in the company or something?

Sheesh... I think I'll go look at some other web sites for a while.

Please stay tuned for a comedy break...

TJinWV must have measured the thickness of his unit to determine that has also increased the thickness from 3/16" to 1/4".

:doh: :pepper:

Please stay tuned for a comedy break...



:doh: :pepper:

:wow:.....oh cripes! Well, taken in that light, I pity you sir! :D

This has gotten way off topic now. I think we should have a thread made with the information on the bad parts and what needs to be done to get new ones and sticky it.

quiff, I appreciate the information. Keep it up.

quiff69, thanks for posting about the part failure, and about your interaction with RRO customer service. This is all valuable information for people who have installed, or are thinking about installing, the RRO lift.

I dropped an email to Glenn yesterday and this is what we have:



Hi Glenn,
I've just read about the sway bar bracket extensions bending/breaking on the early Patriot/Compass lift kits. Mine do appear to be bent. I'm in NO panic but what do I need to do to get replacements or fab my own?

Thanks!

Bob

Bob,

OK. Got back into my shop after being in Mexico for the last month. My info was out of date. Apparently we have had 3 of the swaybar pieces fail. Considering we're shipping hundreds of these all over the world, that's not bad. BUT, we did do a redesign on the kit, has beefed it up and gusseted the part so it can no longer break. We send out free replacements to anyone who has one of the original parts and expresses concern. So just give our shop a call and we can do this for you if you want.

Thanks.

Glenn Wakefield
www.rocky-road.com
Rocky Road Outfitters, voted Top Ten All Star Manufacturer by Four Wheeler magazine readers.

http://www.rocky-road.com/


Their number is 800-801-7271.
__________________

I dropped an email to Glenn yesterday and this is what we have:





Their number is 800-801-7271.
__________________

Thats appears to explain any customer service issues. Thanks for the info Gramps.

Well seeing that I will take back a few of my negative comments on it. My experience was still not good having to get them a picture. Are they requesting pictures from the rest of you?

Ok here what I see in a nut shell:

This is a major safety issue as far as I am concerned and I was quite shocked to find out that RRO must know about this issue as they have re-designed these parts and are now sending me two replacements. As far as customer service goes I was more than a little disappointed. I called yesterday morning and was told all they needed was my order number (stored in my work email) I came into work, a 30 minute drive, and called them back with it only to be told that I needed to send in a digital picture of the broken part in order to receive a warranty replacement. I had to drive back home to get the picture.

First off Major safety issue? Come on guy in the photo it took you two days to post here shows that the way it broke it could never have "punctured" the tire like you say it could. Tires are approximately 1/2" think and with the ball joint attached to that bracket it would not ever puncture the tire. Now I am no financial genius but I know I never keep financial records and online purchase orders on my computer at work. They just aren't the safest of places to keep such vital information and its not their fault you chose to do such a thing. All most all stores require a receipt for replacement of a damaged product, so this isn't such an absurd request. But anyway now that you drove 30 minutes to work only to get that order number you had no plans of ever returning home right? Then whats the big deal about driving home to get the photo? You were going home anyway... And why would you be pissed about them wanting photos? Its not to proves its broken or to prove you actually have the kit. Its so they can see how your part failed so they can continue to develop the over all product and continue to make it safe for you, your family and everyone else on the road.


For now (since I can't borrow the old man's brand new Chev for too long) I took some 1/4" thick (the RRO part is only 3/16") Stainless Steel Flat bar (its what we had at work) and made my own brackets. My Riot is back on the road but its unlikely I will be buying anything designed by Rocky Road again considering these parts broke under normal driving conditions, what quality is there behind their parts that get tortured off road?

I am glad to see you edited that so you no longer say it disabled your Jeep... But you could just as easily disconnected the bar too and kept it from happening again since the use of flat bar is, and I quote "a major safety issue". The thickness isn't the key to the updated part its the addition of the side welded to it so it doesn't bend.

I would also like to point out after my posts were deleted you went through and changed yours... How convenient.

Its pretty simple:

1) Their part was very poorly designed.
2) They redesigned it and neglected to inform their customers of the issue when, at highway speeds the issue could be a safety hazard
3) Their customer service department was not clear as to warranty requirements and gave me mis-information resulting in over an hour of driving time wasted
4) They would not make any effort to expedite getting the parts to me

I would like to comment on a couple of those points:
1.) actually their original part was the same thickness as the stock mounting point so they followed Jeeps specs.
2.) I can't argue and won't this one other than to say many car, baby seat and other manufacturers fall to the same prey.
3.) The photo probably wasn't for warranty purposes it was probably to help further develop the part so it does not continue to happen.
4.) They had no reason to expedite the parts any faster than how you originally had them shipped. It did not disable your Jeep in any shape or fashion. I mean you probably could completely removed the kit in 3 hours and still made it work for part of that day if you didn't want to drive the 'Riot with the sway bar disconnected (which is what I would do if this ever occured to me). You would want to slow down for corners but its the fastest and safest way to temporarily fix this issue.

Jim, I get notices on every recall, and if I don't take care of them immediately at my every 3K oil change, they run a recall notice and service bullet search on my VIN, Lifts do not have this kind of check, check, and recheck I get every 2-3 months.
WhatARiot thats great, I am glad to hear you have a good dealership and service department. But thats the dealership and they are actually a third party not Jeep themselves (many dealerships are named after their city or even their owners). They are actually licensed sales representatives not the actual company and they get paid by you so they should do that leg work for you. No one here has probably ever had Jeep or Chrysler call them about a Recall or TSB unless forced to by the US DoT.

You do realise that there is a quality issue with these parts am I right? Wether or not I know what the part is for does not detract from that. Don't need a hood to drive a car but people who'se hoods are jumping on them are pretty pissed off about it, should they just pull the hood off?
Yeah and their thread titles weren't *****PATRIOT HOOD ISSUES****** and didn't say "the rattling of my hood is a major safety concern... They said hey my hood shakes a little now and asked if anyone else had this issue. Just like the water leaking in from the roof. They didn't post *****PATRIOTS LEAK COULD KILL YOU****** come on water does leak past bare wires by the over head light right? DC kills faster than AC. If you touched the water in the right circumstances it could kill you... but did they do that? No. they all kept level heads, posted concerns, and asked questions.

Well seeing that I will take back a few of my negative comments on it.
Ok then take it back you can still edit your posts since you have done so already...

Hopefully you can all see the differences here.



Now that all that is over. I want to apologize for some, but not all of my previous comments (which were deleted)... but alot of you jumped on a band wagon here that was (the way I see it) being driven by disappointment, misunderstanding and probably a little anger. Hopefully you all can see and agree to that?

More from Glenn:

Only a few problems have been reported, but as soon as the first report came in, we beefed up the system. All new kits have the beefier setup and all older kits are being replaced free of charge.

I updated our website to "let the truth be known" on the redesigned setups available now :)
Maybe pass on the info...

Glenn Wakefield
www.rocky-road.com
Rocky Road Outfitters, voted Top Ten All Star Manufacturer by Four Wheeler magazine readers.

and BTW, I do not have stock in RRO but I do support small independent businesses that try to bring the things to market that I want that NOBODY ELSE can be bothered to do. I have received no freebies from RRO, I have paid for it all.

From Glenn's previous reply it appears that he was out of town when you had your problem. Not all employees are good at handling customer complaints and I feel sure that the person you talked to was doing a CYA until the boss got back. It is unfortunate that yours broke when it did and you had a poor experience with RRO, all of mine have been excellent!

Pics of mine after 6K miles, no off-roading, no where to go.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x51/Gramps_album/Driversside.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x51/Gramps_album/Passengerside.jpg

Yeah and their thread titles weren't *****PATRIOT HOOD ISSUES****** and didn't say "the rattling of my hood is a major safety concern... They said hey my hood shakes a little now and asked if anyone else had this issue. Just like the water leaking in from the roof. They didn't post *****PATRIOTS LEAK COULD KILL YOU****** come on water does leak past bare wires by the over head light right? DC kills faster than AC. If you touched the water in the right circumstances it could kill you... but did they do that? No. they all kept level heads, posted concerns, and asked questions.



You are comparing leaks and a vibrating hood to suspension issues? Any sane person can feel pretty positive that a leak will not pose them too much danger. Likewise, unless someone had a reason to believe that the flapping hood would actually open while driving, I'm sure it would be judged as a mere inconvenience.

On the other hand, suspension, steering, etc seem a little bit higher on the priority of list.

I can agree with a lot of what you say, but give the guy a break. His title was well done, in that it was able to draw the attention of those people who needed to read the post.

I would like to comment on a couple of those points:
1.) actually their original part was the same thickness as the stock mounting point so they followed Jeeps specs.
2.) I can't argue and won't this one other than to say many car, baby seat and other manufacturers fall to the same prey.
3.) The photo probably wasn't for warranty purposes it was probably to help further develop the part so it does not continue to happen.
4.) They had no reason to expedite the parts any faster than how you originally had them shipped. It did not disable your Jeep in any shape or fashion. I mean you probably could completely removed the kit in 3 hours and still made it work for part of that day if you didn't want to drive the 'Riot with the sway bar disconnected (which is what I would do if this ever occured to me). You would want to slow down for corners but its the fastest and safest way to temporarily fix this issue.

1.) But the original part wasn't being used in conjunction with a lift and perhaps bigger tires. Does changing the angles with a lift add extra stress?
2.) -
3.) -
4.) Did they reassure him that it didn't disable the Jeep? You guys have, after some research. Did they? Did they explain that it wasn't needed, and thus he didn't have to tow it or miss work, etc? That probably would have helped a bit too.

now uncle don't get me started again...

Jim are you from RRO? Sure seems like you are all about drumming up business for them, and defending them with your rumor control, and contacting them so the people on the forums would 'chill out'. On here and the 'other' site. Who made you the jeep patriot resource center? And really, if you were truly into off roading you would not have picked a 4 banger pat....

They should have put the new beefier title up the day after they redesigned it, with a note that any of the earlier lifts may have a problem, and they will replace the parts for free, if they want to.

I am really thinking of getting it for my birthday if there isn't another lift out, or will soon be out, but for now I need to focus on other things, and let this sit.

Jim are you from RRO? Sure seems like you are all about drumming up business for them, and defending them with your rumor control, and contacting them so the people on the forums would 'chill out'. On here and the 'other' site. Who made you the jeep patriot resource center? And really, if you were truly into off roading you would not have picked a 4 banger pat....

They should have put the new beefier title up the day after they redesigned it, with a note that any of the earlier lifts may have a problem, and they will replace the parts for free, if they want to.

I am really thinking of getting it for my birthday if there isn't another lift out, or will soon be out, but for now I need to focus on other things, and let this sit.

I guess that does it for me. All of you posers and wannabees have a good time bashing everybody that tries to give you good info that you refuse to accept.

I don't know Jim and I don't know Glenn, but I do know some pretty bad attitudes.

Adios!

Jim are you from RRO? Sure seems like you are all about drumming up business for them, and defending them with your rumor control, and contacting them so the people on the forums would 'chill out'. On here and the 'other' site. Who made you the jeep patriot resource center? And really, if you were truly into off roading you would not have picked a 4 banger pat....

They should have put the new beefier title up the day after they redesigned it, with a note that any of the earlier lifts may have a problem, and they will replace the parts for free, if they want to.

I am really thinking of getting it for my birthday if there isn't another lift out, or will soon be out, but for now I need to focus on other things, and let this sit.

What ever dude... I will only answer your first question with questions of my own so you can think about your question and answer it for yourself.

Where is RRO located? Where am I located? What do I do for a living?

So, no I have no affiliation with RRO other than I too bought a kit from them. Trust me dont think I contacted them just for your knowledge... I was worried because my 'Riot does travel on the Autobahn (Yes I am stationed in Germany). I would almost guarantee my rates of legal speed are higher than yours therefore if it was a danger I would stay off the autobahn. Once I knew I was safe then I shared the information with all of you! Trust me none of you on this forum are that important to me...

And your "rumor control" comment told yourself for voting down on cardomain... big guy because that was the only place I wrote "rumor control".

What ever dude... I will only answer your first question with questions of my own so you can think about your question and answer it for yourself.

Where is RRO located? Where am I located? What do I do for a living?

So, no I have no affiliation with RRO other than I too bought a kit from them. Trust me dont think I contacted them just for your knowledge... I was worried because my 'Riot does travel on the Autobahn (Yes I am stationed in Germany). I would almost guarantee my rates of legal speed are higher than yours therefore if it was a danger I would stay off the autobahn. Once I knew I was safe then I shared the information with all of you! Trust me none of you on this forum are that important to me...

And your "rumor control" comment told yourself for voting down on cardomain... big guy because that was the only place I wrote "rumor control".

I actually never voted on your Pat there Jim.... until mine somehow ended up out of the top five, then I singled you... And you know darn well I am on CarDomain...

I quote
"I just want people on the forums to chill out"
"What day did the new brackets start shipping? Exactly, This way I can confirm mine is new or old so I can post photos of the new if mine is to show the differences"
Note not so I can keep an eye on the kit, or get the new one, or stay off the autobahn... or whatever.
"I'll be posting photos of that bracket mounted on mine to help others see you defiantly updated the design..."

In other words "Here, I know best, listen to ME! I already did your leg work, you can come to me..." It is pretty simple for anybody concerned about receiving the new v old to call up with a simple question "Hi how am I supposed to know if I have the new kit, or the old kit" You approached them with "Hey can you tell me if mine is new, so I can post pics of mine and, can you send me pictures so I can post them on the forums, so everybody will know what is what, oh and to make 100% sure mine is the new kit " Big difference.

I think you took my post a little to literally, it was meant to imply that the way you speak it's as if you're with the company, it was a rhetorical question. And if you read correctly I mentioned you contacted the company, you wouldn't contact a company in the fashion you did if you work for them....

And in all reality your legal rates of speed might be higher, but trust me, we don't follow our speed limits here in the states, and autobahn speeds are reached here every day on roads not meant to be driven on at over 100 mph, so to imply you are at greater risk isn't really true.

Closed... grow up guys.