Ch. 7 Bankruptcy Filed 9/6/18

2 main issues with it for us....

1- Space/Packaging. The bumpers are designed slim, and inherently the guys that want a dual swing pretty much every option available on the bumper including back up lights. This means the available space for latches for the 2 arms is at a premium near the mid point of the bumper. The less space, the less options we have for latching the bumper strongly and securely.

2. Time. Dual swing outs take a lot of time to build onto a bumper cleanly and straight, let alone the fab time of 2 separate arms ahead of actually welding them to the otherwise completed bumper. A single swing out takes the better part of a day to fab and add to the bumper already, then adding the second arm nearly doubles that fab time. Being a small shop it isnt uncommon for me to personally devote an entire week each month to adding swing arms to some of the recent rear bumper builds, now if we make those dual swing out's we just couldn't keep up(yeah, I personally do each tire carrier myself). And unfortunately skilled labor around us has been harder to find than I think it should. With swing out's we're dealing with tolerances down to about a quarter of a degree from square in any direction.... Finding other employees/fabricators that will uphold those tolerances for me has been basically zero.

Another thing to consider is that all I have really touched on is the fabrication/reproduction of a finalized design. Now getting that initial design nailed down, then transferring it to the whole bumper line up(because I'm sure if a guy with a 3rd gen or 1st gen sees a bumper with dual swing for a 2nd gen they'll want it too) is a considerable effort and consumes a lot of time. Just look at Pelfrey- they hadn't finished their carrier design yet for the 2nd or 3rd gen's yet, only the 5th gen 4runner to my knowledge. It seemed they had been working on the dual carrier design for the better part of a year just to get the main design figured out, and then still taking additional months to iron out the details and kinks to work on their other bumpers. The cost to add a dual swing out to the bumper is a hefty amount, so if that swing arm has any sort of defect or fails 6 months down the line while someone is miles out in the mountains or desert because the design was not tested thoroughly, well that customer is going to be pretty pissed off. And now the fab shop may find that this could be a defect in every one they've built since that order that they may need to fix/update too which is a huge hit to deal with as well.

 

Thank you for the explanation. Glad you hold your bumpersto tight tolerances and produce good quality products.

I am willing to pay a premium if you guys ever decide to make a dual swing out!

 

We have them. But pulled off the site from slow sales, we now mainly offer them as part of armor packages with other parts so people arent waiting too long for just a skid and we don't have to keep a shelf full of skids that arent moving.

 

Think this stink will hurt Tacoma sales, or maybe close the gap on those west coast market adjustments for the Pro?

 

Wish I would have seen your post last year when you got the wrong one by mistake.

 

I still don't understand how they ran out of money if they don't even produce the bumpers themselves. There is no way they could have run through all that money just by placing orders with Lasernut and whatever it costs them to weld on the hoops. Perhaps they got in over their head with the new bumper development, but that should have been done with money not sourced from deposits from orders for existing products. The rub for me is that they started asking people to pay by ACH after they knew they had issues, and then when they knew they were either going to have file bankruptcy or get outside investors to kick in $ (only two options) they told people to hold off on requesting refunds without telling them that if the investor meeting doesn't go well they would be forced to file bankruptcy. The group buy from HI and the just the way they took pre-orders for the new bumper also raises red flags for me. All together it just smells like fraud.

 

No doubt. I think you have a career in analytics ahead of you.

 

Been monitoring this very closely. Locked Off-road wants to help anyone out who was affected by this. We are a little low on inventory but we have a shipment of everything on order and will be here October 1st. So if you have interest, we can start shipping everything October 2nd. We will do 20% off.

Here is the link to our website : http://lockedoffroad.com/

If you want in, PM me and we can get squared away and I will keep a running tab of what everyone wants.

 

BUT WHAT ABOUT INSTANT GRATIFICATION FOR INSTAGRAM?

Have you considered offering vinyl wraps for the tailgate that looks like dual swingouts?

You're welcome. Standard royalties apply.

 

I'm sure Toyota will have to sell off the Tacoma line to stay afloat.

 

Holy fuck this thread was better when it was locked.

 

Adding both of you to this thread if that is ok...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/pelfrey-informational-thread-one-post-condensed-version.567463/

 

sounds good. Thanks Brotha

 

To date if you have or have not received your funds back I STILL need to here from you criminal investigation is underway. I need your contact information first and last name, an email address you can be reached at and a phone number you can be contacted at.

Thank you all

 

just got my paperwork for the ch7 filing. its official.

 

Strange question.....I received a letter informing me of the Chapter 7 filing.
I have received my products, last pieces in April.
No monies owed. No products not provided.
Am I listed just so I am aware they filed for bankruptcy??

 

I received one too. Anyone who purchased anything recently like I did will be getting one too. Even if you received the product.