My Experience With CBI Offroad

No I get that. If if the powder coating was free it would Be one thing but they charge you top dollar for it so when you receive them they should be damn near perfect.

 

That always kicked my ass

 

Well... install day came and I thought it was good to go but we don't always get what we want in life. Shop advised the slider frame has to be pushed up against the truck frame in order for them to work properly, jack was used to hold it in place before tightening.

1st photo driver's side


2nd photo passenger side


I'm being told the problem is the holes on the driver's side slider are supposed to be higher therefore it allows the slider to sit lower and it's pushing into the pinch weld that holds the fender. He has 2 solutions for me, bend/beat the pinch weld back to clear (this will damage the paint) but he says if object is struck on the trail these sliders do have a bit flex and it may push into the pinch weld so he does not advise that route because of where the bolt is in the photo above is too close to bend/hammer. 2nd option he can elongate the hole on the frame slider, move it downward to clear but he will have to weld it to the frame this way since it will not be sitting flush with the frame at the bottom. I'm screwed this way because I can never remove the driver's side slider down the road if I sell the vehicle.

CBI is aware of the issue and advised this is an issue they see time to time with the Tacoma and I'm trying to have them send a new one. This item is advertised as direct bolt-on so I'm not welding it to my truck nor do I want to pay the labor for all that. I'm not too sure how this is a problem with the Tacoma? Why not just make the mounting an inch lower to match passenger side? I can fit my finger between rocker panel on passenger side but driver side cannot.

Went for test drive, slider rattles against the pinch welds anytime there is compression on the shocks and to avoid further damage to pinch weld they're going to have to come off. Back to square one again, hoping they can make this right for me because the passenger side sits amazing. I had sliders on my 2nd gen and never had this issue and I think that might be the same frame as 3G if I'm not mistaken.

 

Sorry to hear you had a similar experience and that and sounds like a hassle, if I was closer to their HQ I would drive these back and return them but I paid $300 USD just to ship them to the border to bring back to Western Canada so I'm SOL on that front.

 

Can you return them and order from another vendor? Seems like the hassle isn't worth the effort.

 

Damage is never on top of the rock sliders on the trail and you should know this, it would be on the bottom or side and very easy to cover up with spray can for rust. Of course I am going to keep them wrapped to protect during transport especially if I chose the top plate option to double as a step, they look really good I think. If I bought used set different story and expectations, I'm not purposely trying to bash these against rocks to be cool they're there in case it does happen because the rocker panels are pain to repair/replace and honestly I was T-boned in my previous 2nd gen but because I had sliders it destroyed the car that hit me. Funny part is that my sliders arrived with paint scraped off on top already despite the packaging. Oh well it is what it is, lesson learned.

 

Unfortunately I can't, see my post above yours. Plus I'm not going to pay another $300 USD to send these back.

 

Sucks you had to deal with missing hardware. I think we have all been there…sometimes figuring it out before hand, other times while your shit is on a lift. It happens…just don’t get caught up in it.

Don’t expect any company to pay for your time, it ain’t happening.
On another note if it makes you feel better, my CBI swing out popped open doing 80 on the hwy due to a failing latch.

Did I get pissed with CBI for not responding, yeah a little. Did they make the latch…Nope. Did they make a design that would allow the bumper to open if said latch failed, indeed they did. Who is to blame?
Probably my ass for not hitting the latch with corrosion protection. Sometimes we all gotta take a little blame OP.

You should have seen the guys face I passed who was pulling a small glider in tow!

Damn 35” tire swinging over into his lane, while he was pullin his little plane lol!

 

Also, it has been my experience to have things shipped raw, and powder them locally. Sucks to get a newly powdered something and you don’t even get the chance to beat it first lol
Also having them bare and just using a rattle can works the best IMO. You can easily touch them up…can’t do that with powder unless you wanna play around with a heat gun.

 

Not sure if you saw my post above but my problem is now more than missing hardware, I'm not even frustrated anymore it's just sad at this point. I wasn't trying to have CBI pay for the labor, I asked for a small discount on my next order which would in turn make them more money and it was a nice order (bumpers and skids). That order has now been cancelled and I have sliders that don't fit and I've been at the shop twice already, for sliders.

I wouldn't say I'm caught up in it, was frustrated yes but TW members deserve to know this information to perhaps save them the headache in the future from certain vendors.

 

Since we are talking about experiences, you may want to reach out to @JDEMELLO for your next armor up. He has some sweet designs and I have had nothing but good experiences with them.

 

I labeled which missing pieces were missing in my initial post did you not read? The stick nuts go inside the part of the frame where it's angled you can't just use a normal nut that came with it since it would not hold onto anything the hole is too big... so I should go to my local shop and have them fab up some plates with nuts on it because it wasn't shipped? Besides my problem now is more complicated than missing hardware, the driver's side doesn't clear the pinch weld so they are no longer on the truck. Check my post above to see photos of what I mean, maybe you have a better solution?

Turns out the parts list they have is for a short bed Tacoma, they don't even have the correct parts list so what is there to even check? Long bed uses more hardware and different hardware now that I know instead of the J hooks on the short bed the long bed uses a carriage bolt at the rear and there are 2 other bolts at near the front that are also different, when you don't get provided the correct hardware list you can't properly check. Yes I should have opened and checked but when the list is wrong it doesn't matter. Also it's common practice when there are 60+ pieces of hardware, a list should be shipped with the package, mine didn't come with any. I had to wait for an email for the correct list of hardware after I initially got the wrong one online. It's almost like whoever was working shipping/receiving that day was on the nod and just grabbed random parts and thew it in a plastic bag. I can find the nuts and bolts easy if they're missing but the ones I was missing I can't find at local hardware store, they are specific for the Tacoma and made in house from CBI.

 

I don't think you understand, there was no parts list shipped with the package and the one on their website is for a short bed which uses different hardware and less hardware however the website does not specify this it only says "2016+ TACOMA". I had to send them a picture of what I got and have them tell me what I was missing because they didn't even have the correct hardware list. Can't check with no list or at the very least a piece of paper should have been shipped with the sliders especially when there are 60+ pieces.

Wrong, that video is a short bed. As per CBI's email the long bed does not use the J bolts but instead a carriage bolt at the rear end and the hardware list is also different which they did not provide with the shipment.

See what I wrote above, no hardware list provided with shipment. Was given wrong one for short bed and had to email them photos of what I received for them to determine what was missing. Also as a business owner if you tried to make me buy the missing hardware that you were supposed to ship in the first place I would just do a charge back on my credit card. Not only was it missing hardware but they also do not fit on the driver's side. I didn't pay for slider's that were made wrong and that's up to the company to make that right if they choose to. The profit margins on these are more than high enough to cover shipping hardware, your business would not last very long with that kind of customer service.

I never made any threats to CBI to cancel any order so I would check your reading on that. I simply expressed the inconvenience and asked nicely for a coupon code on my new order due to the money I was out to pay the shop. After they emailed back and ignored the request only then I decided to cancel my next order. I've dealt with companies where small gestures like that can go a long way. In marketing coupon/discount codes are a good way to get the customer to come back and choose your brand so I figured it was worth asking.

I didn't bother them once I got tracking info for the missing hardware so you got the timeline all wrong and I didn't receive the missing hardware until a week later. "OP is still mad because they won't discount"? No, I cancelled my new order so a discount is not needed and these sliders are already off the truck.

You are reading my post wrong, this is more of me asking if other's had similar experience with CBI's customer service or QC which is what I asked in my initial post and clearly some are. This isn't about me wanting to be mad at anyone, TW members deserve to know if a company should be reconsidered. Stay on topic and answer the question I asked.

Now that they don't fit properly due to a manufacturing issue (check photos in post above), what would you do in this case Mr. Business Owner when your customer can't even use your product?

EDIT: Spelling + grammar

 

Asking for a coupon code on a future order is not the same as asking for them to pay for the labor cost at the shop, after all the initial fuck up was on their end and that led to inconvenience and time/money wasted for the customer. I think it's fair of customer to ask for a coupon and they fully have the right to deny me but from a business owner perspective when you can make it back ten fold or more on the next order the customer has already placed, why not just make the guy happy? Everyone wins in the end that way, they make more money and get bumpers and skids out the door and I get the parts I want with a 5% discount to cover some tax/shipping. I wasn't asking for 50% off LOL anything would've been appreciated, a small gesture from them for not sending the correct parts.

 

So what's the plan? Sell them, modify them to work, credit card transaction dispute? CBI is an authorized vendor on TacomaWorld, but I'm sure you knew that. When life gives you lemons...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/cbi-off-road-fab.95/
https://cbioffroadfab.com/warranty/

 

Is there any chance they installed the sliders incorrectly and on the wrong side ?

 

I think several people in this thread are entirely missing the point or are just looking to be douche canoes.

I’m pretty sure OP was upset on how CBI handled the situation after their goof up and was pointing out their shitty customer service. Not the actual goof up (forgetting to put hardware).


however @CBI Offroad Fab and @prInsu have shitty customer service.

 

CBI does not value their customers at all!!! I worked at an offroad shop. Ordered a front and rear bumper for a customer. Was told ETA was 12 weeks (this was pre COVID). Week 16 rolls around and I call for a quick update as I know lead times are just an estimate, my customer wasn't too salty and a very patient person. Said it was just about to enter Fab. Cool. Week 22 rolls around I call for an update. Was told it was about to enter Fab. Raised some concern that I was told that 6 weeks ago and they said not sure why someone told you that as the current rep I was dealing with physically went back there to check on the order and it indeed was in fab. 2 more weeks go by and I check in and they said coming out of fab and will go ot powder coat, should ship out end of week. 2 more weeks roll by and again was told just entering powder should ship out by end of week. Again raised concern and was told that the previous update of entering powder was wrong as it still had not gone through fab. Anyways the latest update was correct and it did indeed ship out. Product arrives very scratched up and actually rusting through some areas of very poorly applied powder coat. They agree to have a local shop pay for a fresh powder. We get it all off the pallet and notice all hardware and part such as tire carrier mounting points and latches are all missing. They ship me the replacement stuff. 4 weeks go by between waiting for powder coat and my customers schedule to line up to drop the truck. We needed the truck for 2 weeks for install everything he purchased. $32k worth of accessories; ARB BP51 lift kit, method wheels, toyo tires, CBI front and rear bumpers, rci skids, SmartCap camper shell, bed slide, roof rack, lights all around. During install we noticed we are still missing a few small pieces, the biggest concern was the plate that goes over the pivot point for the swing carrier. The overnighted the plate. Arrived and we attempted to weld it on but something wasn't lining up right. Our sales rep argued with me that he packed the part himself so it's for sure not wrong we are just trying to install it incorrectly. We go back and forth trying to explain it for about an hour at which point he gives me one of their fabrication techs numbers to send pics and see what's going on. Tech asks for pics but just by explaining it over the phone he is 90% sure they shipped us the wrong piece. I send the pic and he confirms it and will have the manager reach out on what can be done as they do not have apiece just on hand it would be fab and sent out. Manager said sorry it would be weeks to get another piece we will just have to make it work. I asked if we will get a credit of some kind back since now we will need to come out of town pocket to pay our tech to fabricate/mod this piece to make it work. The manager said no as this is our fault for taking so long to say things were incorrect. I was blown away at this response and level of customer service from that. We sold this product with the reputation of CBI in the Toyota community. I personally or professionally will never recommend CBI again.

 

Actually the initial fuck up was on your end. You didn’t inspect the shipment. How do you know beyond reasonable doubt that it wasn’t lost in transit by the freight company? Why didnt you verify the correct sliders before accepting shipment? You keep making mistake after mistake and then blaming CBI.

Enough with the entitlement mentality.

You accepted the shipment, period! You assumed the liability. You told the freight company and CBI that you had everything you ordered and it was correct. You signed your name saying it was all good.

So when you signed your name you were lying?

Hardware lists arent that common, some do it but not all, even big companies like GenRight and Advanced dont include hardware lists

bullshit 32k in accessories...maybe $15k

 

This whole thread is insane. I have been working on cars lomg before the internet and we had to learn by calling people and talking to people to see what works. I have also worked on projects where there is very little aftermarket supoort. Want a rear bumper? Have someone make it. Want sliders? Again have someone make it.

That said I have bought a lot of parts that were supposed to fit but didnt , were supposed to work as they said hut didnt. That is all part of customizing cars.

The Tacoma on the other hand, has been nothing short of a joy. Everything I have. bought works as it should. I have an endless supply of parts to choose from. I have kings on order-waiting until february..no big deal..I cant do that so easily for my '74 Bronco.

I have driven 2 + hours to find the right shops too. I have a fabulous mandrel bend shop in San Diego that I have spent a night in a hotel to get quality work done. BUT..that is on me. I make sure they have everything they need. The distance makes checking parts more of a necessity. Even without the distance, I dont want to be the guy holding up an install bay that costs the shop $ because of my poor planning.

Sure there customer service could be better. But be grateful they made these parts to begin with. Trust me I have worked on cars where there is zero aftermarket support.

Their mistake leaving parts out but the ultimate responsibility falls on you for not checking the parts off the truck. unbolting from the pallet, tossing the pallet, and orotecting the powdercoat with a couple of moving blankets would have solved this. By getting into thr custom car game and supplying your own parts this is 100% on you OP.