Slow Boy Racing

[clipseguy95]

Slow Boy Racing has some nice deals and a ok reputation, but in my experiance the customer service, and several parts had some serious flaws...

Last fall I ordered a Evo 16g and a 2g install kit among other upgrades for my 95 GSX, expecting a rather painless install. What i got was a J-pipe that didn't fit that had loose welding metal still inside the pipe(broke off easy. good thing the jpipe didn't fit or i wouldn't have notced the metal scraps, and might be out 1 motor), and a turbo-exhaust gasket that expanded over just a month of mostly un-spirited driving. When i took the turbo off for porting, 2 bolts were seized, and incidently broke trying to remove them with an impact gun because the gasket had expanded into them and locked them in place. After going through 2 packs of cobalt bits, i finally dropped it off at a machine shop where even they had a tough time and ended up charging $60. A modest price as they went through a few bits too on the hardened steel. As for the j-pipe, I ended up using a freinds from dejon tool that he had lieing around, though he pesters me about is as he wants compensation, or it back so he can sell it.

The worst part of it was SBR didn't even consider that they might have made a mistake:

Johnathan,

We have now sold nearly a thousand 2g install kits and haven't really ever
gotten any complaints on it's fitments. We have installed over 400 in our
shop and have not had the problems that your telling us about.

The only way it could hit the fan would be if your 2G has been tapped in
the front and the rad support is not truely upright or has been pushed in.

We have installed to many of these kits for them to just not be correct.

Cragger

Please note my car has been in no front end collisions, and has no front end frame or radiator issues, everything is in spec, and if i felt this weren't the case i would immediately put the blame on my car.

Well I hate being told I'm wrong, and being a college student i don't have extra cash to buy parts that i allready paid for once, PLUS $60 for the machine shop. so A month or so later i had the car in the garage again, got pics, and sent them on their way to slowboy as proof, asking for a j-pipe that worked or what it's worth, and also a gasket that wouldn't expand and eat turbo studs.

J-pipe that doesn't fit:
http://www.phikappatau-longwood.com/images/other/jpipe2.JPG
A little more to the side... shit fan is sitll in the way.
http://www.phikappatau-longwood.com/images/other/jpipe3.JPG

Distorted Exhaust Gasket:
1) Port Matched? Not anymore...
http://www.phikappatau-longwood.com/images/other/diff2.JPG
2) Funny those holes lined up fine when this was all new. (Note: this is a ~6cm hole on a spare ex. mani. used simply for comparison)
http://www.phikappatau-longwood.com/images/other/Mani.JPG
3) Grooves in hardened steel cause by expanision into the turbo studs...
http://www.phikappatau-longwood.com/images/other/diff3.JPG
4) Comparison of mine(top)against a friends 7cm gasket(beneith), that is way older and more abused than mine and STILL maintains it's circular shape.
http://www.phikappatau-longwood.com/images/other/ONTop.JPG


Then, as is typical in these situations, I received no replies. I sent a second e-mail, just incase they missed it somehow... Obviously that wasn't working. Finally I called and after waiting on hold for about 30 minutes, talked to Mark who at first said it was impossible for the j-pipe to not fit (what ever happend to the customer is always right) but finally agreed that if I shipped it to them they'd look at it. well why even waste the 10 dollars, i'll just expand the holes, prob what I should have done in the first place but of course back then i didn't have the experiance i got from atempting to drill through broken turbo studs. They said there was still nothing they could do about the gasket except send me a new one, well I don't want their gasket if it's the same one! been there, done that, wasted $60 bones + bits. So I'm looking for a better gasket, anyone know of any?

Now that wasn't horrible costumer service, at least after waiting on hold I was able to accomplish something. And in their deffense, while my stuff was on order in the fall, I did call and get shipping info and things like that without a problem, But just the lack of concern for the customer after trying to use the parts sucked. Companies should stand by their work and when a customer orders (in the case over $1000 in parts) the company or shop should show some level of concern when somethin ain't right, the customer shouldn't have to send e-mail upon e-mail, and call and explain, and whine, and compromise before getting some understanding. And the e-mail from Cragger was almost asking for this review, he coulda been way more friendlier about it, HECK he could have suggested to expand the J-pipe holes, that AT LEAST solves the major issue, BUT obviously he'd rathern say something was wrong with my car.

So that's my experiance with slowboy, hope yours is better, if you order the 2g install kit, be sure to check your pipes for barely attached metal/welding scraps, and port out your gasket bolt holes to prevent seizure later on.

[GVR4Stinger17]

I know many people, including myself that have had problems with slow boy racing. When I ordered my bastard 20g it took six weeks for me to finally get it in. When I did get it, it was packaged very poorly and the wastegate was totally trashed. I have a friend that ordered a turbo XS manual boost controller that slow boy said would be delivered within a week. It took them an entire month to ship it to him. All they did for him was refund the shipping cost. My advise is to never buy ANYTHING FROM SLOWBOY RACING!!!!

[DR.Spock]

sometimes you gotta be careful when looking for the better deal. theres times when you gotta bite the bullet and pay for the best. especially on big parts like turbos, motors, intercoolers, ETC. when im looking for parts i look around but most of the times the price difference is minimal. the first places I look at is ROADRACE ENGINEERING and FORCED PERFORMANCE. they never let me down in my 4 yrs of working on dsm's.

[NoidGST]

i had the same problem with my j-pipe from slowboy, all i did was grind away some of the plastic on the fan and it fit. i also had trouble getting the one bolt on because of the pipe flaring out and getting in the way of the bolt.

[SpoolingWOT]

Though I do not have alot of experience with SBR, it has been pleasant so far. I would not recommend the SS braided oil return line, just huse some regular heater hose and you should be fine for that.

My turbo works well and the install kit fit flawlessly.

You are right, your J-pipe is messed up, and that should not happen with your exhaust gasket. I think for posterity, they should take care of you. They don't have to kiss your ass, just fix the problem and you are on your way. You just happened to be the unlucky one. I have always found SBR to be great on the phone, and my parts have always come in ontime - and well packaged.

It is unfortunate that you had this experience with them.

Of note - this post - helpful that it is, and I am sure everyone on this board is glad for the info - it treads the line when it comes to the rule of airing your issues and complaints with a dealer. I have to say, you worded your post well and I am impressed with the delivery of the issue. I am in no way going to stick up for SBR - I just hope you can get your situation fixed.

Good luck and thank you for the information........

[Turbocharged]

Good luck getting your situation resolved. I had issues with SBR as well. I wont get into it because Im sure you dont want this thread locked. Needless to say, I went AGP and never looked back.

[LuckyThirteen]

SBR is located about 15 minuts away from me, in Indiana, PA. i have been down there quite a few times with my buddy when he bought some parts for his 1-gen Gsx and they have been nothing but helpful and all their parts have fit great to. i guess if i go there when i get a DSM i might eventually have a bed experience with that shop but until then SBR is tha place to go for me. On a side note this kid I know from my class Miles works there and might be able to help with some of your problems.

[Asmodeus]

I was introduced to Slow Boy from a friend of mine that dealt thru them almost exclusively. Everytime I found something he could get it cheaper, or better thru them. Then my other friend got an SRT-4. Since they now supposedly support other platforms other than the DSM, I suggested he shop there since I had heard great things about them. Everytime he called to order, they were busy. "got this big bad ass evo were workin on right now" "we're great" blah blah kinda stuff. He ends up buying a FORGED blow off valve from them that doesn't blow off... After many attempts to blame him for it not working. (A monkey could put a blow off valve on...) We realized the problem. The diaphram had pin holes in it you could only see when it was expanded! They said not their problem. :eek:
Funny, then who's is it?
~Another amusing fact, since my buddy caught up with them up at Pittsburgh Race Way this week. That big badass evo they were so intently working on laid down a "track stomping" 13.7... To my friend's 13.9. All he had was a short throw, intake, and the mopar bypass plate. :D
NOT A TRUE SPECIALIST SHOP!

[clipseguy95]

Thanx for all the feed back and input guys!!

Like i said, I tried many routes to get compensation for the problem but the only solution they had was to send the j-pipe back and i really didn't feel like wasting another 10 bones for them to say "No dude, it's fine, your car is deffinately messed up" as i'm sure that's what i'd hear. And then i'd have to pay for them to ship the damn thing back.. bull shit

I never thought of cutting away plastic on the fan, but that sounds like a good solution that I will try in the comming weeks.

I still need a gasket that maintains it's circular shape.

Since they wouldn't help me, this is my way of helping out the community, and maybe getting back at them, maybe they'll feel the hurt and quit wasting money on slow evo's. Maybe they'll lighten up and start writing helpful e-mail replies, or reply at all. Either way the only way i will take this review down would be for them to refund the value of the j-pipe and the price of a new gasket.. not even $100 bucks, but the frustration and piss poor service is why this review is here.

-jon

[boostedtsiawd]

Good luck getting your situation resolved. I had issues with SBR as well. I wont get into it because Im sure you dont want this thread locked. Needless to say, I went AGP and never looked back.
AGP?? I didn't have any luck with them. I had a turbo "rebuilt" by them and a couple hundred of miles later I decided to have it check by another. I told them I just had it rebuilt and they said it was impossible. The turbo must have had a few thousand miles on it. AGP really never said anything else about it. Not a good experience.

[4g63 gst]

SBR is located about 15 minuts away from me, in Indiana, PA. i have been down there quite a few times with my buddy when he bought some parts for his 1-gen Gsx and they have been nothing but helpful and all their parts have fit great to. i guess if i go there when i get a DSM i might eventually have a bed experience with that shop but until then SBR is tha place to go for me. On a side note this kid I know from my class Miles works there and might be able to help with some of your problems.


I live like 10 min from them too .. im over in Blairsville. I have a friend in class at wyotech who works there and ive talked to one of their managers for a while there one day and it seems like the people are alright. But ive never bought anything from them substantial .. besides the ss oil feed line i bought.

Had no problems so far

[jprescott]

I have ordered a couple thousand dollars worth of parts from them over the last year or 2 and have never had an issue. Shipping is always FAST and the parts always fit. Maybe try talking to Mike about your problem and not the sales guys.

[boostedcustomz]

I ordered a gauge pod from them. They sent the wrong one and it took over a week for them to send me a shipping label to return it. I then sent them an e-mail telling me to just refund me my money instead of sending me another one. So what do they do? They send me another pod. Takes days to answer e-mails and no one ever answers the phone.

[AWD_XTC]

When I was at Wyotech I had my first TSI, I went to slowboy and told them I was interested in running low 12's or high 11's. I was basicly treated like they did not need my money and they acted like it was impossible for me to do any of the work myself. I was kinda pissed off so I said I would just go somewhere else. The reply I got was where are you going to go. I only had one word for them BUSCHUR.

[ooljima]

hmm.... wow so many complaints. i usually only deal w/ RRE or my sis' BF for basic parts. RRE didnt have a part once... and they sent it 3 days later w/out charging me for shipping. one of the guys there is a comedian and it's always a good time dealing w/ them. i should try buschur sometime though... they seem to be good.

[Gunner]

i just get most of my parts from extremepsi.com. anything over $75 is free shipping and they have most everything you can want including sbr stuff.

[NeEmo6]

Me and a few of my friends have been dealing w/ SBR for a couple years now, and havent had any problems w/ any of our parts and we always get to talk w/ someone on the phone. But in this cut throat business just takes one bad experience for a customer to take their business elsewhere.

[SlowboyNRS]

I was introduced to Slow Boy from a friend of mine that dealt thru them almost exclusively. Everytime I found something he could get it cheaper, or better thru them. Then my other friend got an SRT-4. Since they now supposedly support other platforms other than the DSM, I suggested he shop there since I had heard great things about them. Everytime he called to order, they were busy. "got this big bad ass evo were workin on right now" "we're great" blah blah kinda stuff. He ends up buying a FORGED blow off valve from them that doesn't blow off... After many attempts to blame him for it not working. (A monkey could put a blow off valve on...) We realized the problem. The diaphram had pin holes in it you could only see when it was expanded! They said not their problem. :eek:
Funny, then who's is it?
~Another amusing fact, since my buddy caught up with them up at Pittsburgh Race Way this week. That big badass evo they were so intently working on laid down a "track stomping" 13.7... To my friend's 13.9. All he had was a short throw, intake, and the mopar bypass plate. :D
NOT A TRUE SPECIALIST SHOP!

Slow down there big guy, the MR at the track was Marko's bone stock daily ride. The project evo made 546awhp on 100 pump. Make sure your story is straight please.

Nate
SBR

[SlowboyNRS]

Apologize on behalf of myself and SBR for your j-pipe issues. Some may take back their words if they knew who supplied the pipe kits :rolleyes:. If you are still having problems or just need a contact here, my extension is 18.

Nate
SBR

[jprescott]

You tell 'em, Nate.

And for the record. I know the Slowboy guys.. Yes, all of them, personally and not once have they been either cocky or have an F.U. attitude toward anyone that I know of. As a matter of fact, SBR does a great deal for our local club. And I mean A LOT!

Also, I have NEVER called slowboy and not talked to someone. I can either get Nate, Matt or Cragger on the phone and if need be, Mike. I have probably called about 50 times since I have been dealing with them and have always gotten through. You guys who say you can't get through are full of shit.

You all need to understand that in this business, it is hard to tell what has failed because of slight product imperfections and what has failed because of customer stupidity. Because of that, if every shop gave refunds everytime someone broke a part, there would be no shops and we would all be driving civics.

[anconover]

Ive had OK luck with SBR. Few things were on the very slow side etc. Few friends have had worse luck. I still dislike the fact they push topline products to customers. the whole 'Ive never had a problem with them' excuse sucks. Karking gave my buddy the same line. 131 miles later, the gears locked up in the housing, killing the motor. Proof has been shown often that topline is crapola.

Otherwise, i guess its not a bad place to get parts from...

[BlinginGSX]

You asked about a non-expanding gasket. RRE sells SS gaskets for pretty much dirt cheap. I decided to buy one of theirs to replace my 2nd FP copper gasket that had melted and blown out. Haven't taken the turbo off yet, but it seems to be holding pretty well.

[SlowboyNRS]

Ive had OK luck with SBR. Few things were on the very slow side etc. Few friends have had worse luck. I still dislike the fact they push topline products to customers. the whole 'Ive never had a problem with them' excuse sucks. Karking gave my buddy the same line. 131 miles later, the gears locked up in the housing, killing the motor. Proof has been shown often that topline is crapola.

Otherwise, i guess its not a bad place to get parts from...

Not sure what some peoples problems are with the Topline products, as I said before WE have never had one fail on us, that is why we continue to use them in all of our motors, including all the race motors for my awd and the rwd car. The speratic failure leads me to believe its end-user error.

But thanks for the compliments, i think lol ;)

Nate
SBR

[jprescott]

the whole 'Ive never had a problem with them' excuse sucks.
Why? These threads are for people to share their experiences. If I cannot say "I've never had a problem with them. They rule. They are the end all be all of DSM shops." then why can someone's opinion who posts about a negative experience be accepted? You want pics of the IC piping that those guys overnighted to me at a moments notice to prove the fitament is good? Would you like to see my MAFT that runs like a champ? Would you like to see the suspension set-up that I got from them before the weekend because I needed it on the car (last Friday)? Wanna see my intake pipe/filter that got damaged in shipping and the replacement they sent me? If so, I will gladly post pics of the parts.

Top line products are fine. I know I am not the only one that run their lifters, etc. and don't have problems.

I just hate how these threads turn into bash fests where people start posting things like "OMG, a friend of a friend's uncle bought some stuff there and it was teh SUCK!". People like that need to GTFO.

Those of you who have had legitamate problems, I feel for you. Seriously though, if talking to the sales guys gets you nowhere, talk to Mike.

EDIT: anconover, I misread your post. Don't consider the above directed at you.

[Spoolin69]

I have had nothing but AWSOME luck with SBR!! I use them ONLY for my parts and I will continue to do so!! I've only had one problem with them. They did not ship out my translator and all it took was a phone call and about 5 mins of time to get it shipped out that day--for FREE-- The guys at SBR do the best that they can and it is not their fault for some of the things that come into their shop that are not good. I don't think that they make all of their pipes, they just order them in and send them out, the bad product should be returned to them so they can send it back to their vendor and get you a new one. I like dealing with them I have spent around 3k their and I will continue to do so. They have helped me any time I need help and if Cragger could not help me he found someone that could. Quit the BASHING and sent your damn pipe in and get a new one.
Shane

[ClayCollins]

I haven't had a very good experience with SBR. The majority of the people in this thread relate to the fact that the shipment of product is too slow. It's completely unacceptable to over promise a customer, "it always worked for me" mentality. Shipments are constantly late with this company, I suppose this could be induced due to a small inventory. I don't plan to shop there again, they always seem to under deliver. I would rather pay 5% + on a product that is compliant.

- Clay

[grimyth]

Hmmm My expieriences with SBR have all been pleasant ones...especially since i am in Kuwait right now they have always been able to help me...as for shipping im not quite sure really because i just orderd a bunch of stuff (prolly bout 6k worth) for the talon to be there when i get home...its usally there within a week or 2 thru ground. And when i did have problems they were quick to fix them...i found that if u wanna talk to someone... (if u wanna talk to parts press 1 etc...etc... well the easiest way is to talk to the sales department thats what i do and iv ealways been helped or directed to the person who can help....this is a business and if u dont get an answer call back in 15min or so u will get an answer....as for parts i cant say yet because i havent put them in (still overseas) but the customer service has been wonderful.

Russell

[Infinity]

My expierience with SBR has been mixed. Pretty much all the guys at SBR have been great. I remember ordering my N1 catback from them and it took about 2 and a half months for me to receive it. Yeah that sucks, but its ok, whenever I would call and ask whats up most of the guys there would say actually tell me the truth. The vendor has shipped it yet, having some back order issues, we're sorry.
However, Mike. The owner or whatever, yeah, his story never worked. Whenever I called and he picked up the phone, he would always say, its being shipped now, its being shipped right now, or tommorow it will be shipped. Was there a shortage of N1's? Apex'I the parent company itself got me an N1 in 1 day from california, that's the other side of the damn country. And yet SBR, a 2 hour drive away from me couldn't get it to me in 2 months.
Basically, Mike, yeah he always gave me the run around. The other guys were cool and wouldn't mind saying that I do recommend them, just deal with the other SBR guys, try not to deal with Mike.

[SlowboyNRS]

I haven't had a very good experience with SBR. The majority of the people in this thread relate to the fact that the shipment of product is too slow. It's completely unacceptable to over promise a customer, "it always worked for me" mentality. Shipments are constantly late with this company, I suppose this could be induced due to a small inventory. I don't plan to shop there again, they always seem to under deliver. I would rather pay 5% + on a product that is compliant.

- Clay

I'm not only saying "it always worked for me." Yes, the topline products have worked for me, but have also never failed on any motor I have ever built for my personal cars, anyones car at the shop, any shop motor installs, for our RWD modified car, for my AWD race car, or any SBR motor for which we installed the topline products. It is not a mentality, but simply tried and true. I stand behind the product because I believe they are great quality and that the failures associated have been from poor installation.

Nate
SBR

[SlowboyMR]

~Another amusing fact, since my buddy caught up with them up at Pittsburgh Race Way this week. That big badass evo they were so intently working on laid down a "track stomping" 13.7... To my friend's 13.9. All he had was a short throw, intake, and the mopar bypass plate. :D
NOT A TRUE SPECIALIST SHOP!

Now thanks.. even as crappy as it is i did run a 13.4 which could have been better.. but either way it is on a bone stock evo, no boost controller, nothing. that was the first time it was at the track for baseline runs. Like Nate said earlier the BIG BAD ASS evo you were talking about and a stock srt would hardly be race ..LOL

the first places I look at is ROADRACE ENGINEERING and FORCED PERFORMANCE. they never let me down in my 4 yrs of working on dsm's.

As for this, I think its funny. B/c who do you think the Jpipe and L pipe come from in our kits?? oh yea RRE.. so i guess maybe the review on the J pipe would be for them!

as for the gasket. Yes i was willing to replace it. i have sold a couple thousand of those 7cm. This is the only post or complaint i ever had for expansion. I had them on both my dsms. Replaced turbos and reused the gasket. If you didnt like the product, I am sorry. But i was williing to replace it.

If we can help in any other way.. let us know.

Mark
SBR

[GPTourer]

I've had good experience with Slowboy and I would use them again. I ordered a flappered Evo3, 7cm gasket, and ported Evo3 mani from them about a year ago and they arrived in a timely fashion and packaged very well. The gasket has held up no problem and I didn't run into any problems and they are on my car currently after about 8000 miles of varied driving.

I later ordered one of their return line kits and Aeromotive AFPR. Again, well packaged, timely delivery, no problems. I had a couple of questions about the install and the settings and I was able to get through to them most of the time - however, it was tough to get someone on the phone a few times who could answer questions, but I've run in to that everywhere with various DSM vendors, and customer service for a lot of different products, not just parts - it's no big deal. I eventually got things figured out on my own and with the help of the forums, so its all good.

[Asmodeus]

Actually the run I saw was the 13.8...
Didn't see the 13.4,
*hands over apology*
And this wasn't a sister's brother's cousin's nephews story.
Who do you think has to trouble shoot when he couldn't figure it out?
Who found the pin holes?
Who tried everything slow boy said FIRST because I recommended him to you based on the GOOD reviews I heard and I had faith in your knowledge and expertise.
It just makes my blood pressure soar when he would have bought it from modern performance if I hadn't chimed in and said you deserved the money, being the ONLY good shop in PA. Then he gets a hard time. Not to mention the shift kit he actually let big foot put in because you guys were so busy.
BIG FOOT, need I say more? :rolleyes:
I'm not bashing, you just let me down. :(
Does that make more sense?
~one more thing, if I had a Big Bad Ass Evo... I wouldn't be posting, or working, or eating, or sleeping. I'd be driving it. So I get it. But, I was trying to help you out. Do you think he's going to stop with just a silly BOV? He plans on full stage II with toys, FMIC, ect ect ect. Money I tried to put in your pocket. The stage II w/ toys is over $1200 alone isn't it? That would be why I got so bent, follow?~ ;)
Not to mention my OWN toys I will soon be buying because my 2.4L turbo engine is getting closer to completion. BTW I need a 7cm gasket... lol... :D
Do I seem like such a dick now? :cool:

[ooljima]

a business is not perfect because there are problems that cannot be controlled by one subject. there will be disappointments in both parties. all in all, second chances should be given to a vendor to really see what they are willing to do.

[XakEp]

As for this, I think its funny. B/c who do you think the Jpipe and L pipe come from in our kits?? oh yea RRE.. so i guess maybe the review on the J pipe would be for them!


ICE BURN

GJ pointing that out.

[SlowboyMR]

Actually the run I saw was the 13.8...
Didn't see the 13.4,
*hands over apology*
And this wasn't a sister's brother's cousin's nephews story.
Who do you think has to trouble shoot when he couldn't figure it out?
Who found the pin holes?
Who tried everything slow boy said FIRST because I recommended him to you based on the GOOD reviews I heard and I had faith in your knowledge and expertise.
It just makes my blood pressure soar when he would have bought it from modern performance if I hadn't chimed in and said you deserved the money, being the ONLY good shop in PA. Then he gets a hard time. Not to mention the shift kit he actually let big foot put in because you guys were so busy.
BIG FOOT, need I say more? :rolleyes:
I'm not bashing, you just let me down. :(
Does that make more sense?
~one more thing, if I had a Big Bad Ass Evo... I wouldn't be posting, or working, or eating, or sleeping. I'd be driving it. So I get it. But, I was trying to help you out. Do you think he's going to stop with just a silly BOV? He plans on full stage II with toys, FMIC, ect ect ect. Money I tried to put in your pocket. The stage II w/ toys is over $1200 alone isn't it? That would be why I got so bent, follow?~ ;)
Not to mention my OWN toys I will soon be buying because my 2.4L turbo engine is getting closer to completion. BTW I need a 7cm gasket... lol... :D
Do I seem like such a dick now? :cool:


I do understand where you are coming from on that. All i can say is call in and ask for me. I will see what i can do to help you out and your buddy if he is having problems or even just questions as to what to do next. and i never said you were being a dick :D

Mark
SBR

[mindslayer]

I don't have any problems with slowboy racing. I been around theh dsm for years. And order stuff from almost all the major and lil vendors out their. And even tho over the years things has change. SBR have what u need in stock or if they don't depends on the situation they will hook you up.And their price are good and shipping is good.

[16g-95GSX]

As for this, I think its funny. B/c who do you think the Jpipe and L pipe come from in our kits?? oh yea RRE.. so i guess maybe the review on the J pipe would be for them!

as for the gasket. Yes i was willing to replace it. i have sold a couple thousand of those 7cm. This is the only post or complaint i ever had for expansion. I had them on both my dsms. Replaced turbos and reused the gasket. If you didnt like the product, I am sorry. But i was williing to replace it.

If we can help in any other way.. let us know.

Mark
SBR

I think the original intent of this thread was not about the quality of the product, but rather the means in which the customer service was handled after it was found that the product was faulty. The J-pipe clearly did not line up, and upon calling SBR he wasnt treated friendly in the least. The response from SBR was simply that they had never had an issue with them before and the pipe fits perfectly. Personally from my standpoint the way this issue has been handled looks poor. It is the complete intent of these threads to show the problems that certain customers get with vendors in hopes that times like these, where issues are pretty much out of the hands of the customer, can be shown to the community so that others may see how a vendor handle situations. In this case the issue was just further exacerbated by the gasket being bad. It, after very minimal use, stretched as it can plainly be seen. As the gasket stretched it then pushed itself into the turbine bolts and caused them to seize and break when the turbo was removed shortly down the road after its initial installation. These arent any dinky bolts, they are extremely hardened steel and they had to be removed by a machine shop as any drill bits used to instantly killed even using every variety of bit and lube under the sun.

So to say that this thread should be about RRE's quality I feel is wrong, you should acknowledge it as a customer service complaint not a product quality complaint in the case of the J-pipe.

[Van]

B/c who do you think the Jpipe and L pipe come from in our kits?? oh yea RRE.. so i guess maybe the review on the J pipe would be for them!

If you are a middleman vendor then you should back the product since you are selling it with a little bit of profit from being the seller. So instead of selling it, then blaming your supplier, it is my opinion that you should buck up and back that product or quit selling it for profit.

Bottom line people, is that you need to eliminate the middle man/dorm room vendors like this. There's no excuse for this type of post from a vendor selling any product. Do your homework and search for customers who've had issues with this vendor. They're not hard to find. ;)

[jprescott]

I am speaking for myself here but, small businesses or "middle man" vendors are what allow us to get our parts all at one place. I would rather deal with a "middle man" and be able to get parts from 5 different companies all at once than deal with 5 different orders from 5 different vendors..

[DR.Spock]

So to say that this thread should be about RRE's quality I feel is wrong, you should acknowledge it as a customer service complaint not a product quality complaint in the case of the J-pipe.

yes, and i noticed on the RRE site where you see the j-pipe they tell you that you have to trim some of the fan shroud for clearance. so its just a little warning before you buy it from them. since you sell the same thing it should also be on the SBR site. but I couldnt find it anywhere. i figure if someone were to buy it from SBR they might be thinking its a simple bolt-on thing with no cutting or trimming involved. personally i dont care, if it happens to me ill have to go into Mcguyver mode but others wont be as forgiving and understanding.

[nukefission]

This discussion is still civil, which is good, but it can easily deteriorate given the divide in opinions about the vendor in question. Let's try to keep that from happening.

[SlowboyMR]

If you are a middleman vendor then you should back the product since you are selling it with a little bit of profit from being the seller. So instead of selling it, then blaming your supplier, it is my opinion that you should buck up and back that product or quit selling it for profit.

Bottom line people, is that you need to eliminate the middle man/dorm room vendors like this. There's no excuse for this type of post from a vendor selling any product. Do your homework and search for customers who've had issues with this vendor. They're not hard to find. ;)

Ok, i may see this as hypocritical. This is saying you bought your ACT clutch from ACT themselves. Your walbro pump from walbro. and not from any other middle man vendor? i assume not b/c no individual can even buy from walbro. Now, should we post that the install kit may need some minor trimming of the fan on the site ? yes i feel thats a good idea. When your ACT goes bad. who deals with it? ACT no matter where you bought it. The vendor will tell you " we will have to get ahold of act, or here is their number". What makes a J pipe different from a clutch on product issues? now could it have been sent in to look at ? yes. If i remember correctly he wished not to. Which was fine b/c there really wasnt an issue with the Jpipe, just our lack of supplying the info on the site about the required trimming.

If this makes SBR a bad vendor, i guess i will have to take that brand.Once again i apologized for the situation. I also offered if there was anything i could do to help, to please contact me directly.

Mark
SBR

[16g-95GSX]

If i remember correctly he wished not to. Which was fine b/c there really wasnt an issue with the Jpipe, just our lack of supplying the info on the site about the required trimming.

Mark
SBR

http://www.phikappatau-longwood.com/images/other/jpipe2.JPG

Look at this picture, how blatantly apparent is it that this pipe is NOT correct? Do you mean to tell me that this pipe is designed so that the pipe jabs into the fan shroud? There is obviously plenty of room for this pipe to have been welded at a better angle, dont kid yourself and say that there isnt an issue with this pipe. He declined sending it to you as it would have cost him more money for shipping on a pipe he's already fully paid for.

[ClayCollins]

I will never order anything from this company, your response is completely unacceptable. It amazing how your trying to justify your situation. :rolleyes:

- Clay

[Spoolin69]

http://www.phikappatau-longwood.com/images/other/jpipe2.JPG

Look at this picture, how blatantly apparent is it that this pipe is NOT correct? Do you mean to tell me that this pipe is designed so that the pipe jabs into the fan shroud? There is obviously plenty of room for this pipe to have been welded at a better angle, dont kid yourself and say that there isnt an issue with this pipe. He declined sending it to you as it would have cost him more money for shipping on a pipe he's already fully paid for.
Yes the pipe looks f**ed Why don't you call Mark and work this out? I'm sure that he'll help you out or hell any of the guys at SBR will be more than willing to help you out. They have never screwed me over that's not their goal!! Just send your pipe in it's that easy!! Customer service only works if they can get the damaged or bad goods back so they can assess them and make a decision on what the problem is. They are trying to help you out and you are just being to stuborn to realize it. They will continue to get ALL OF MY BUSINESS because their customer service is THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS in my opinion. They always take the time to answer my questions and problems without eaven batting an eye. Keep up the good work Mike, Mark, Cragger, Nate, and everyone else at SBR!!!!! :)
Thanks Shane Steffens

[GPTourer]

Yes it is a hassle, and it would suck to have your car down because of one simple part - but no matter what you have to contact the vendor and you have to send it back for them to look at it. That's just the way it is with anything.

[clipseguy95]

Yes the pipe looks f**ed Why don't you call Mark and work this out? I'm sure that he'll help you out or hell any of the guys at SBR will be more than willing to help you out. They have never screwed me over that's not their goal!! Just send your pipe in it's that easy!! Customer service only works if they can get the damaged or bad goods back so they can assess them and make a decision on what the problem is. They are trying to help you out and you are just being to stuborn to realize it. They will continue to get ALL OF MY BUSINESS because their customer service is THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS in my opinion. They always take the time to answer my questions and problems without eaven batting an eye. Keep up the good work Mike, Mark, Cragger, Nate, and everyone else at SBR!!!!! :)
Thanks Shane Steffens

First off, customer service for a part doesn't require sending the fualty one back.. I bought a laptop from a company called Seneca Data (through xtremenotebooks.com) That had a faulty DVDR drive, i was able to get them to send me a new one in the mail, try it out, and then send the fualty one back...

Secondly, i took me an e-mail, and rude e-mail back from cragger, an e-mail to them with pics... a 2nd... no repplies, and i then had to call them and wait on hold for 30 minutes before they said "No that's not possible, and we can send you anther gasket but it's the same one" And honestly i didn't trust wasting $10 to send the pipe up there and never see it again or have to wait months and months... Nor was i can install a 2nd gasket, and have to take my shit to the maching shop again when more bolts break. Just no point I have wasted enough money and time on this whole thing.

SBR, your customer service has been horrible, just as 16g-95gsx said, this thread is about the means in which the problem was handled. There was deffinately a "We don't give a damn" attitude and who wants to do business with a company that won't stand behind their product and support it constructively. If the reply to my first e-mail had been "It requires some trimming of the fan" That would have been acceptable! I think you guys get the point, and I think you still don't really give a damn, your just trying to save face. I don't blame you. I'm out.

[GPTourer]

If they were rude to you on the phone/over email then that's one thing, I can't stand getting brushed off over the phone either, I don't care how cheap the part is, or how "simple" it is to them. But the laptop is not a good analogy. You can obviously keep using the computer without the DVD-R player, but you can't cut off the end of the pipe and send it back - it is all or nothing. They have to have the pipe to determine if it is faulty, instead of it being the case of a DSM with frame damage.

[Asmodeus]

I wanted to stay on point. So I left out the fact that I work in a retail store. I sell products similar to being a middleman that are backed by the manufacturer, not me. I try and skirt the lines when I think the situation demands it but in the end I have a bottom line. Something consumers are quick to forget. The attitude that ANY retail store/shop should eat it JUST CAUSE is a horrendous error in your thinking. Just because it may be easier for you, does not mean that its fair. In fact, the person responsible for the creation of the product should eat the monetary dick, as, they made it. If SBR made your pipe in house that's their place to pay. They don't, so RRE gets a faulty misbent pipe back. SBR gets their money back and you get a new pipe. The time required for such actions can be a severe inconvenience to any consumer. As the middle man I'm usually just as pissed because I'm a human too... you think I want you to be angry? NO. Bad for business. And because I actually care! I want you to be happy with me and our products/services! I want to take pride in making you feel good as well as handling your needs. That is my starting goal in any transaction. Some people may not share the same values... but the same goes for parenting... :rolleyes:
I believe the MAIN issue in this whole thread can be summed up with one simple point. SBR, you guys built your business by word of mouth out of a basement did you not? Because you gave a fuck. Because you were good. And because you treated people in a way that made them come back. Please do not lose the passion about cars that made you great. I know you're WAY on the map now, but the smaller "feeling" specialist store that takes an interest is what put you where you are. That is the attitude you and your sales people must maintain. The people who know you all personally will stand up and fight because they know you guys rock. Those of us that do not know you by name may take your attitude the wrong way. But if you made us feel like we knew you too... and backed it up with some kick ass customer service... everyone of these complaints would be null. I am in no position to tell you what to do, but my family owns 7 retail stores and more are on the way. We started in a teeny tiny half store. I think you're biggest problem in all this is the way you guys can SOMETIMES come across. I'm sure once we get to know you, the kick ass expert comes out. Let us get to that point without feeling like we're bothering you. :cool:

[16g-95GSX]

If they dont want to be held responsible for a pipe, and instead want to hold RRE solely liable, then have RRE sell the pipes, dont be a middle man. Being a middle man is great, but honestly I feel if something goes wrong then you should step up and take responsibility, even if in the end the middle man will simply be the one to get his money back from the original parts creator, RRE in this case. No warning about clearance issues on their webpage? Seems like a problem with SBR's website doesnt it? My point is, dont brush an issue off as if it isnt your problem just because you didnt originally create the part. You are selling the part through your own site, and therefore should be the first to be responsible, even if you will wind up getting your money back when you finally send the part back to the original company that created it.

[madaba]

i generally have bought my parts from slowboy because they used to have decently quick shipping. i would usually get my parts in about 2-3 days which was nice, but here lately, it's been about a week to receive anything. i've also tried to deal with sbr with a warranty issue on a turbo before, and just like the rest of you have experienced, there was no way it was their or mitsu's fault, only mine and would not warranty it. while i still buy from sbr occasionally, i wouldn't buy anything from them that might fall under a warranty like a turbo or motor, and i always hope that my parts show up right so that i don't have to deal with their horrible service to get them replaced.

[K_Mans_TSI]

i've been dealing with them for around 3 years or so and occasionally i run into little mixups that need remedied but it's always been taken care of so i can't complain about that, quality control looks a lil rough on those jpipes as i've had 1 fit on a 2g before and 1 needed a little trimming. most of the stuff that i've bought from them were name brand motor parts as they are the only people that carry such a big selection of parts...i'm a guy who likes to buy his shit and have a machine shop do the work not purchase a 3k dollar head or a 4k dollar block....and they fit those needs.

[Stormbird]

Quote:"As for this, I think its funny. B/c who do you think the Jpipe and L pipe come from in our kits?? oh yea RRE.. so i guess maybe the review on the J pipe would be for them! "

That sure doesn't look like my J-pipe that I got from RRE. The finish is different, the welds aren't as clean and the bolts are different. Maybe they're different from 2 years ago but I wouldn't think so. I did have to hack the fan a bit to make it work. That should be somthing all the vendors should tell you about if its necessary.

J

[JessGST]

I've been buying from Slowboy for over a year and haven't had any big problems with them. They left out a gasket once, but I called up and they mailed it out that day. I actually ordered about $500 worth of parts from them that I should receive any day now :D

[SlowboyNRS]

Quote:"As for this, I think its funny. B/c who do you think the Jpipe and L pipe come from in our kits?? oh yea RRE.. so i guess maybe the review on the J pipe would be for them! "

That sure doesn't look like my J-pipe that I got from RRE. The finish is different, the welds aren't as clean and the bolts are different. Maybe they're different from 2 years ago but I wouldn't think so. I did have to hack the fan a bit to make it work. That should be somthing all the vendors should tell you about if its necessary.

J

Trust me, they're right from RRE. We supply the bolts. Take a look at our FMIC j-pipes, we make those in house.

Nate
SBR

[shabby]

This post actually made it on here. A stock 2g boost gauge? Must be the super rare 2G autometer gauge they put in the 99.5 GSX niner edition.

Good job moderators, this is why I LOVE DSMtalk.

Nate
SBR

Between dsmracing702's post and your's 15 minutes passed, you expect one moderator that moderates this forum to have taken care of it? He doesnt sit on his ass in front of his computer reading this forum 24 hours a day, have some patience next time.
And if you would of taken care of your customer(clipseguy95) in the first place maybe this whole thread wouldnt be here, so whose fault is this?

[boostedcustomz]

This thread needs to be closed. I honestly cannot believe someone would post stuff like that on here.

As for Slowboy Racing, I really think you need to re-evaluate your customer service. I have a friend that spends PLENTY of money at your shop, and I hope for your business sake he doesn't read any of this.

[Van]

who wants to do business with a company that won't stand behind their product and support it constructively.

Not smart people. For me, the blaming of their supplier here, in an open forum, kind of proves what I'd always heard and saw posted of SBR many times over. I've done business with RRE, dozens of times over the past five years and not once, not one time, was a gasket left out, was shit late or delayed, or have major fitment problems like has been stated here. Like was stated above, take care of your customers and back any product you sell or WE the CONSUMER will take you out of the game.

Now they resort to slamming the moderators here with only ten posts. Nice job. Do your homework people.

[eviltalon91]

ive ordered from SBR a few times....their service blows!!!!!!!!!!!! They told me the first time when i ordered some suppprting mods, "everything is in stock and it will ship out tomorrow"...I called twice a week until it arrived and they told me every time that it was shipping out today and it would be there at the end of the week ......3 weeks later it arrived :mad: ....i live about 5hrs away from SBR....for UPS that is about 2 days with processing and stuff.....My latest order....some stuff was on back order....they told me it was instock...everything else i ordered came in on time, yet still parts are on back order, I hope my stuff comes in so i can get my car back on the road....i sure hope i can do it soon......

[clipseguy95]

Trust me, they're right from RRE. We supply the bolts. Take a look at our FMIC j-pipes, we make those in house.

Nate
SBR

You know Nate, it's funny that you say you supply the bolts, because my kit didn't have any bolts!!! the one bolt you see in the pics is out of an import metric bolt kit that my friend had..

so if you supply the bolts, but didn't in my kit, + all the other 3 threads of problems, then don't you think it's neive of me or anyone to "trust" you or sbr at all??

[SlowboyNRS]

You know Nate, it's funny that you say you supply the bolts, because my kit didn't have any bolts!!! the one bolt you see in the pics is out of an import metric bolt kit that my friend had..

so if you supply the bolts, but didn't in my kit, + all the other 3 threads of problems, then don't you think it's neive of me or anyone to "trust" you or sbr at all??

Arguing aside, have you tried to contact either Mark or myself about getting this resolved since your initial post? We can argue all day long about who was right, but without resolving the initial problem neither of us will get anywhere.

My extension is 18, feel free to call me at some point today. We can take care of the j-pipe and work somthing out to compensate you for the inconvienences.

Nate
SBR

[SlowboyNRS]

Between dsmracing702's post and your's 15 minutes passed, you expect one moderator that moderates this forum to have taken care of it? He doesnt sit on his ass in front of his computer reading this forum 24 hours a day, have some patience next time.
And if you would of taken care of your customer(clipseguy95) in the first place maybe this whole thread wouldnt be here, so whose fault is this?

I assumed that language would be censored before it even hit the forum. I apologize if I offended you and in no way was it directed towards you, just my previous experiences with DSMtalk. I also find it humorous you pass the blame to me, while others have complained about SBR passing the blame to RRE. Ironic.

Nate
SBR

[nukefission]

This thread needs to be closed.
Don't worry, it will be eventually. It's only a matter of time.

A word of thanks to Dave for coming to my defense. I monitor threads in here often but sometimes it's not often enough. The comment that was posted (and subsequently deleted) above was completely out of line and inappropriate.

As a mod, I must remain impartial, but you guys are making it awfully hard to be. Remember, posts in here must contain positive or negative feedback on the vendor. Bickering over the finer points of life instead will only result in the thread being closed.

[onegeeTSI]

In Nate's defense, I've had issues come up with the pushlock system I bought and overnighted. It didn't work out the way I planned but he was more than willing to work with me. He told me to ship it back and then we'd go from there.

Now I could have argued on the phone and bitched about things but that wouldnt solve anything. I believe that Nate honestly does try his best to help out. I'm in the process of shipping the stuff back. I'm asking for store credit because I do plan on purchasing a DSMlink and would be more than happy by supporting SBR and buying it from them.

Thats my experience and it has always been a positive with SBR.

-Randy

[Keaka26]

Well, my only experience with SBR didnt go well. Some of you may remember it from a long time ago. I ordered a 1g rebuilt shortblock. It visually looked good, except that one freezeplug was missing. Then, on the first drive, ANOTHER freeze plug popped OUT of the block and the car lost all of its coolant, overheated and toasted my cylinder head! Awesome. By the way, I didn't get shit from SBR, not even $1 or an apology. Will never buy from them again.

[16g-95GSX]

Arguing aside, have you tried to contact either Mark or myself about getting this resolved since your initial post? We can argue all day long about who was right, but without resolving the initial problem neither of us will get anywhere.

My extension is 18, feel free to call me at some point today. We can take care of the j-pipe and work somthing out to compensate you for the inconvienences.

Nate
SBR

He has tried repeatedly to contact you guys through email. Even after this post was created he then emailed you in regards to it and still to this day has yet to hear back from you

Honestly I dont feel this thread should be closed as long as it stays on target. This is a vendor review forum, and what better review then a seeing a vendor actually handle his customers. This definately gives any viewers a first hand experience at how this vendor is handling a situation.

[nukefission]

Honestly I dont feel this thread should be closed as long as it stays on target. This is a vendor review forum, and what better review then a seeing a vendor actually handle his customers. This definately gives any viewers a first hand experience at how this vendor is handling a situation.
Right, which is why, in case you didn't notice, I haven't closed it yet.

[jivemastert]

i ordered tranny fluid from them and it came rather quickly, but then i ordered their 3500 racing clutch and they told me they would ship it that day and i called a day after it was supposed to arrive (my car was on a lift at a dealership waiting for this thing) and they said it was supposed to ship out "today".

If you're not happy with your service from them, then just stay on top of them. Their products are awesome, so it's worth it in the end.

[jivemastert]

i ordered tranny fluid from them and it came rather quickly, but then i ordered their 3500 racing clutch and they told me they would ship it that day and i called a day after it was supposed to arrive (my car was on a lift at a dealership waiting for this thing) and they said it was supposed to ship out "today".

If you're not happy with your service from them, then just stay on top of them. Their products are awesome, so it's worth it in the end.

(it wont let me edit for some reason, so im quoting...)
I have been communicating with Nate via email about a noise im hearing in my car after the clutch install as well. SBR seems to be trying their best, so don't be all down on them everyone.

[Van]

they told me they would ship it that day and i called a day after it was supposed to arrive (my car was on a lift at a dealership waiting for this thing) and they said it was supposed to ship out "today".

If you're not happy with your service from them, then just stay on top of them. Their products are awesome, so it's worth it in the end.

So it's worth it to have a vendor flat out lie to you about shipping a product that you paid for; I never knew. Sorry Victor.

[jivemastert]

So it's worth it to have a vendor flat out lie to you about shipping a product that you paid for; I never knew. Sorry Victor.

look, no doubt I was pissed when I found out and the dealership was even madder cause they wanted my car off the lift, but at the same time, it's over and it's done with and I'm extremely happy with my product. I would shop their again because their customer service and tech support is good, always willing to help. When I ordered my clutch I asked if they had one that wasnt painted red so i could slip it by the warranty company and the guy on the phone (i forget the name) went and looked to see instead of just going "na, what are you stupid? why even ask?" the fact that it was shipped out 2 days after it was promised is trivial in the end. now if i order something from them and it is a huge order and it gets promised to be shipped out that day, i call 2 weeks later to ask where it is, and it's still not shipped yet... then i'd be pissed.

and as far as the "paid for" part... if you pay by credit card and your bill comes and you still havent received the product yet, then you can call your credit card company and tell them and they will delay the billing of it and not pay the company until it has shipped. i know because i've done a lot of online computer purchases and months go by without hearing anything, and so i call the credit card company and tell them.

i feel that a lot of you are being really down on slowboy here... the only person i think really has something to beaf about is the guy with the motor that trashed his head and sbr did nothing about it, but i dont know the whole story so i cant even say for sure about that. every other problem could have been solved with a phone call. i know what it's like to get swamped at work. sometimes you put people off.... sometimes they dont mind, sometimes they do. usually when someone is bothered at me for not getting back to them promptly (i work at a help desk at rda) they call me.

[anconover]

some people have good luck, some people are going to be die hard vendor fans even if they get the run around (like you did). I myself, stick to the vendor's who have never let me down, (RRE, DSMotorsport) etc. Ive had problems with SBR, friends have had way worse problems with SBR, and theyve always seemed cocky to me.

you cant get mad at people for disliking a vendor for w/e reason.

[jivemastert]

some people have good luck, some people are going to be die hard vendor fans even if they get the run around (like you did). I myself, stick to the vendor's who have never let me down, (RRE, DSMotorsport) etc. Ive had problems with SBR, friends have had way worse problems with SBR, and theyve always seemed cocky to me.

you cant get mad at people for disliking a vendor for w/e reason.

im not mad, im just asking people to reel it in here. everyone seems to be really down on them over trivial stuff. i could see if 90% of their stuff they sent out was broken or whatever then fine, they would suck, but the fact of the matter is, their products are good and they have great customer service. if you are unhappy with something they are doing, then call them and they are always willing to help you out. that doesnt seem cocky to me. i have delt with RRE, Prostreet, etc etc and they always seem to be all about business... "what do you want?..... ok, will ship it out soon...." you know? not that this is a really bad thing, but i like to be able to call a shop and be like "what do you reccomend? can you possibly do this for me?" etc etc and not have them get exasperated with you. thats why im happy with them.

[anconover]

well, if i ran a business, i think id be all about business so i could pay my bills and live. people keep bringing up 'their products are good'. Does SBR make everything they sell, because it seems to me they sell the same products everyone else does.

Anyway, ive found their technical help poor. I dunno how many times friends have called asking them questions, and get people saying 'i run it, seems great', 'ive had no problems with it', 'i have absolutely no idea, i just answer phones, lemme find someone'.

[4SFED4]

I've done business with RRE, dozens of times over the past five years and not once, not one time, was a gasket left out, was shit late or delayed, or have major fitment problems like has been stated here. Like was stated above, take care of your customers and back any product you sell or WE the CONSUMER will take you out of the game.


I got shipped the wrong stuff from RRE once about a year ago, they did however correct the problem. I don't consider shipping time great from either vendor. When there was a mix up RRE should have 2 day aired my item that I needed since it was they're mistake. A year before that an order I had from RRE, parts were left out of what they labeled "full 1G urathane suspension kit". I called they said certain items weren't available that I DID find elsewhere.

I have dealt with worse vendors than SBR, but it is not relevant to this thread. I haven't dealt with any flawless vendors, I guess its just what you decide to put up with. I still do business with SBR and they have fixed any issues in the past I had. I am still waiting on a set of custom Ross pistons, which a wait on custom items is understandable. I called about them on Friday, so we will see how it goes.

[GPTourer]

and theyve always seemed cocky to me.


Funny you mention that, all of them seem cocky to me. RRE, Buschur, Slowboy, FP. Phone conversations are usually curt and terse as if they are all trying to hurry you off the phone because they're all too busy working on whatever to be bothered with menial problems. I think the only exception was Hahn because they have a jovial, patient and nice woman who answers most of the time. I know how it is with the local shops I've been too. They have their "regulars" who hang around and talk trash, ask a bunch of goofy questions, never buy anything but just take up space. So it usually puts the employees in a "mood" where they are short with everybody. But it should never transfer over the phone to a paying customer. It doesn't matter if its a $49 j-pipe, or a $4900 shortblock. But that doesn't really bother me, as long as they get the order out in a timely fashion and as long as everything works like it is supposed too.

[generalchaos]

Im gonna throw my 2 cents in here.

First of all, as much as a shop tries to make everyone happy they cant. and a lot of the unhappy customers here seem to just be whiney.

I've dealt with slowboy a few times and theyve always been helpfull to me. I've even wasted their time with a few pointless emails but I always bug nate since he replies to me. shipping was always fast to.

Im about to drop $10000 or so into my fricken dsm and like 7-8000 of it is going to.....slowboy! They have a lot of parts I want, and id rather buy from the same place, especially seeing how ive had 0 problems with them.

Some of you guys have to realise things cant always ship out right away. if your ordering a lot of parts expect it to take some time, especially if its something thats made to order like an exhaust, and they dont always have things in stock, and sometimes they may think they do when they dont. They are human, things do happen.

They also seem to try and resolve any problem that may be defected, and I personally would have told you "to bad" about that j-pipe. Stop and think for a minute how many IDIOTS mod dsms? and yes, ive seen people even screw up a BOV install, dont overestimate people when it comes to cars. but seriously, if you couldnt make that j-pipe fit, I hope to god you dont go farther with the car because all you had to do was barely trim the plastic around the fan! whats so hard about that?!

As for the cockiness I dont see it. I consider myself somewhat knowledgable and I consider them the same, so when talking about certain things if they and you know what your talking about already, then theres no problem. if your a noob then yes you may see it as sort of cocky, but im sure they get tired of explaining the same stupid crap to 200 morons a day.

but it sucks if you guys ran into BIG problems and they didnt want to resolve it, but ive never seen a legitimate case of that myself, but I do know they will be getting my money, and im sure things will go smoothly, even if there are a few bumps in the road, thats life, I expect the posibility.

now back to my regular schedule of bugging nate via email :cool:

[clipseguy95]

Im gonna throw my 2 cents in here.

First of all, as much as a shop tries to make everyone happy they cant. and a lot of the unhappy customers here seem to just be whiney.

I've dealt with slowboy a few times and theyve always been helpfull to me. I've even wasted their time with a few pointless emails but I always bug nate since he replies to me. shipping was always fast to.

Im about to drop $10000 or so into my fricken dsm and like 7-8000 of it is going to.....slowboy! They have a lot of parts I want, and id rather buy from the same place, especially seeing how ive had 0 problems with them.

Some of you guys have to realise things cant always ship out right away. if your ordering a lot of parts expect it to take some time, especially if its something thats made to order like an exhaust, and they dont always have things in stock, and sometimes they may think they do when they dont. They are human, things do happen.

They also seem to try and resolve any problem that may be defected, and I personally would have told you "to bad" about that j-pipe. Stop and think for a minute how many IDIOTS mod dsms? and yes, ive seen people even screw up a BOV install, dont overestimate people when it comes to cars. but seriously, if you couldnt make that j-pipe fit, I hope to god you dont go farther with the car because all you had to do was barely trim the plastic around the fan! whats so hard about that?!

As for the cockiness I dont see it. I consider myself somewhat knowledgable and I consider them the same, so when talking about certain things if they and you know what your talking about already, then theres no problem. if your a noob then yes you may see it as sort of cocky, but im sure they get tired of explaining the same stupid crap to 200 morons a day.

but it sucks if you guys ran into BIG problems and they didnt want to resolve it, but ive never seen a legitimate case of that myself, but I do know they will be getting my money, and im sure things will go smoothly, even if there are a few bumps in the road, thats life, I expect the posibility.

now back to my regular schedule of bugging nate via email :cool:

I'm glad they've been helpful to you... But you've got a lot of nerve attacking my "know how" with triming plastic away, after all, i have a supra SMIC which means i've CUT UP MY FRAME! so plastic is nothing to me... Infact i had to port the bolt holes on my defective exhaust gasket so i could re-use it after it expanded and f'ed up my turbo bolts... i'd say i'm pretty resourful.

Whiney??? you must have missed the post about the shortblock, You can't denny that he has good reason to be pissed.

don't see the Cockiness? You might want to read the part of this thread where one of the SBR guys bashes the mods about a post that had only been up for 15 minutes... while ignoring all the legit posts that actually applied to them and this thread.

The thing is there are other businesses out there that we have all dealt with that seem to have a better grasp of knowing what's in their own store, getting things out on time, and knowing about their products... From this point on I will gladly cut a middle man out if it means getting proper information about the product and good service, even if i have to order $10000 in parts from 5 different places.

Let's keep this on target, attacking me about my "know how" or anyone for that matter does not have anything to do with slowboy. If you want to know how DSM savy a person is, PM them, keep it out of my thread.

[jprescott]

...and would require about an inch of trimming, and there is not an inch of plastic there to me trimmed as there are coils for the fan in the plasic housing.....

Napa sells slim fans that work great. I got a set of 12" fans for $80. They work great w/ my FMIC setup. Maybe check that out if you decide to keep the pipe. Just a thought.

[clipseguy95]

Napa sells slim fans that work great. I got a set of 12" fans for $80. They work great w/ my FMIC setup. Maybe check that out if you decide to keep the pipe. Just a thought.

That's a pretty good deal, But the point is the kit shouldn't require slimlines, or it should say "May require trimming, or slimlines" on their site... ya know?

Thanx for the suggestion though.

[jprescott]

That's a pretty good deal, But the point is the kit shouldn't require slimlines, or it should say "May require trimming, or slimlines" on their site... ya know?

Thanx for the suggestion though.
I feel ya.. the site *should* say something even if only 1 out of 1000 DSM'ers needs to trim the fizzans.

OT: You from F'burg VA? If so, coming to GT8?

[clipseguy95]

I feel ya.. the site *should* say something even if only 1 out of 1000 DSM'ers needs to trim the fizzans.

OT: You from F'burg VA? If so, coming to GT8?

According to SBR earlier in this thread, RRE says their j-pipes require trimming, SBR just doesn't mention it on their site.. tho i think SBR was just trying to save face, i actually don't believe the pipe came from RRE at all, the welding was piss poor with scraps dangling inside, whoever made it not only couldn't weld, but obviously got the angle a bit wrong.

Check your PM's about F'burg

[generalchaos]

if your so savy then why call about it being defective when you could have just trimmed the plastic and be done with it and avoid this whole thing?

and no I did not see the part about the shortblock but people kept repeating the same things so I skipped over a bit, feel free to point me to it though and maybe I will change my mind.

but you do realise these are AFTERMARKET parts, they will NOT fit like oem. with your logic of stating it may require trimming, that means they can just put up a huge disclaimer about how aftermarket parts should be installed by professionals and may require modification? thats what ebay sellers do who sell cheap shit, and people still complain, but hey it said it right in the auction didnt it?

really just making a big deal out of nothing here, unless that smallblock situation is bad but I havent read it yet.

[16g-95GSX]

He bought a Jpipe that didnt fit. There was no mention that the pipe would ever require TRIMMING OF FANS. Take a look at the picture he posted. It is extremely apparent that the pipe could and should have been welded differently. You pay 80 dollars for a faulty part, that doesnt seem to be whining to me. For your sake I hope all $8000 of your fricken parts arrive perfect and without a hitch.

[Asmodeus]

According to SBR earlier in this thread, RRE says their j-pipes require trimming, SBR just doesn't mention it on their site.. tho i think SBR was just trying to save face, i actually don't believe the pipe came from RRE at all, the welding was piss poor with scraps dangling inside, whoever made it not only couldn't weld, but obviously got the angle a bit wrong.

Check your PM's about F'burg

I would seriously like you to read these posts more carefully before you respond.
Being the over dedicated fan boy with literacy problems may be your strong suit... but it is quite unwelcome here.
Maybe nice big pictures in the beginning of the thread showing exactly what he meant would assist you. Then your response would be an informed one. The general atitude of the shop was also in question, multiple situations and issues were presented, big/small. The idea was to get his issue resolved since he had attempted to contact the vendor w/ no luck, as well as share other people's dealings with them. Evidently this was akin to opening a can of worms. :eek:

"I've dealt with slowboy a few times and theyve always been helpfull to me. I've even wasted their time with a few pointless emails but I always bug nate since he replies to me. shipping was always fast to."
~
"Some of you guys have to realise things cant always ship out right away. if your ordering a lot of parts expect it to take some time, especially if its something thats made to order like an exhaust, and they dont always have things in stock, and sometimes they may think they do when they dont. They are human, things do happen."

About all you needed to say. Both were either about your experience, or related to topics of slow shipping.
:rolleyes:

[generalchaos]

He bought a Jpipe that didnt fit. There was no mention that the pipe would ever require TRIMMING OF FANS. Take a look at the picture he posted. It is extremely apparent that the pipe could and should have been welded differently. You pay 80 dollars for a faulty part, that doesnt seem to be whining to me. For your sake I hope all $8000 of your fricken parts arrive perfect and without a hitch.

trimming of the plastic AROUND THE FAN. whoopdie fricken do. I would have had that platic trimmed in 5 minutes then your ready to go.

and there will be hitches, get a new hobby if you expect there not to be.


edit: Id also like to point out to anyone reading this, that I highly doubt any shop out there has 100% absolutely great, never had an issue feedback.

[Asmodeus]

I believe the idea was that his pipe in particular was of piss poor quality. Not all of them. Maybe his was worse than others, especially if there was welding scrap still inside the pipe? Maybe his was more twisted thus force feeding it into the fan? Maybe that slipped by...
As far as this "trimming fans" battle you're ALL right. Yes they should post it, any upfront info before you get started is always helpful. You get in there take stuff apart... aw... I need a F%$*ing saw? Damn... put it back together... go get said saw... start all over. Follow?
But again, you should always be ready for the "simple bolt on" to turn into the "cut this, weld this, glue this, oops broke that!" install. It does end up that way quite often.
So drop it. :rolleyes:
And again, nobodys perfect.
fanboy... :D

[anconover]

hes got the right to bitch even if it woulda fit with a little trimming. it shouldnt need trimming, nor does it mention it. he got a 'defective' product.

and this thread isnt about the 100% feedback from other vendors. its about sbr, so other vendors really have nothing to do with this thread....

this thread isnt meant for people to argue how since they had a good experience that those who dont seem to like sbr are dumb and wrong.

post your experience, and let those decide if they like SBR or not for themselves. You can argue how u <3 sbr, and how he coulda just trimmed the fan and itd be fine, but know what, i still hate SBR and ur not gonna change that ;)

[nukefission]

Observe how, as the argument continues, the grammar and punctuation in each consecutive post gets worse and worse. You folks are getting too wound up.

Enough with the fan business. Give me something new to make fun of.

[jprescott]

Give me something new to make fun of.
I am hung like an elevator button. :(

[billsbury]

I ordered their FMIC for my 1g and after I installed the FMIC I proceeded to install the UICP where I ran into problems. The TB elbow is set at a weird angle making the UICP have a kink in it. The fitment of my UICP makes me cringe evertime I try to get things lined up. It does line up but its not a great fitment.

I need to finaggle it together everytime I take off my UICP and want to get it back together. That is about the only problem that I have had with a SBR prodcut.

[SlowboyNRS]

If you would look closely at the name on the very first post, you know, the one with the "Big pictures", you would see mine... IE I started this thead :rolleyes:

I am begining to side with nukefusion here, keep my thread on topic, being a smart ass like Asmodeus here only makes you look stupid, and causes other people, like me, to rebut. Read the whole thread if you are responding to a post, otherwise just post your experiance with SBR. I Don't wanna see this thread closed because I am still dealing with SBR and will want to share whats currently going on at a later point.

Can you give me a way to contact you? I personally have yet to recieve an email, nrs@slowboyracing.com, nor a phone call, 724.349.8417 ext.18. Please contact me or give me a way to contact yourself so we can help out. I cannot aid or fix this situation until you contact me or someone here. I'm trying to stay out of this argument as much as I can and deal directly with you in a civil manor. :)

Nate
SBR

[drivemusicnow]

And thats how a good vender handles things... the fact that hes posted his personal extension previously in the thread, and still hasn't recieved a phone call means that you really don't care all that much about getting this fixed do you? Any vendor is going to have good and bad days/sales/products. It just happens in this "custom" business. hell, the way SBR is handling it is FAR superior to the way some of my problems have been resolved.

[clipseguy95]

And thats how a good vender handles things... the fact that hes posted his personal extension previously in the thread, and still hasn't recieved a phone call means that you really don't care all that much about getting this fixed do you? Any vendor is going to have good and bad days/sales/products. It just happens in this "custom" business. hell, the way SBR is handling it is FAR superior to the way some of my problems have been resolved.

I guess it's time for more facts again:

Last Tuesday, the day nate posted his extenion, I called around 2pm and got Cragger, He said Nate was busy tuning a Supra, and the owner had paid for 4 hours of Dyno Time. Cragger took my name, number, and reason for the call, and told me I might not get a call back that same day. It is a week later and I never got a call back. The way they are handling this now is 5 months overdue! all I can say is it's about time..

Anyhow, I have now e-mailed nate and hopefully will have better success over that medium of communication.

[nukefission]

I have now e-mailed nate and hopefully will have better success over that medium of communication.
Without question, you will have better success if you actually TALK to someone on a telephone, because you have his undivided attention. I swear, have we become so email-dependent as a society that people are scared to use the phone now?

It's just like finding a job. No recruiter will give you the time of day if you email them once. Call frequently, on the other hand, and you will get his/her attention.

[clipseguy95]

Without question, you will have better success if you actually TALK to someone on a telephone, because you have his undivided attention. I swear, have we become so email-dependent as a society that people are scared to use the phone now?

It's just like finding a job. No recruiter will give you the time of day if you email them once. Call frequently, on the other hand, and you will get his/her attention.

Normally I'd agree with you, and after all the e-mails i sent and never got shit out of I know exactly what you mean. However I didn't have any real success calling them either.

I did have great success talking with Nate over e-mail today, his replies were within a few minutes of my e-mails, and we solved the issue of the J-pipe. He is e-mailing me a shipping label to send the j-pipe his way, when upon i will receive a refund for the defective pipe. I was really pleased with the attention I got from Nate today and though I probably will never order from SBR again, I feel like if I had to as a last resort, There is at least one person at SBR who is willing to help with these problems when they arrise.

[Spoolin69]

Normally I'd agree with you, and after all the e-mails i sent and never got shit out of I know exactly what you mean. However I didn't have any real success calling them either.

I did have great success talking with Nate over e-mail today, his replies were within a few minutes of my e-mails, and we solved the issue of the J-pipe. He is e-mailing me a shipping label to send the j-pipe his way, when upon i will receive a refund for the defective pipe. I was really pleased with the attention I got from Nate today and though I probably will never order from SBR again, I feel like if I had to as a last resort, There is at least one person at SBR who is willing to help with these problems when they arrise.
That's good that this got resolved. I think that if you would have done this earlier that things would have been much different.....(ex-this post). They have always treated me with respect eaven when I was a noob back in the day. I'm happy that you were treated very well in the end. i'm in the process of returning a UICP that is rusting and they said no problem ship it back and they will look at it and take it from their, but on the downside my car is now out of commision...Oh well though I can deal with that little bump in the road.
Shane :D

[hybridshooter]

I have never had any problems with them at all, although I have not ordered a large amount of parts from them. I ordered under $100 worth of parts, but they were always fast at responding, very courteous, halpful, and fast shipping. They even sent me a Christmas card last year :D . It's good to hear that your issue was resolved, and to know that even when problems arise, they are fixed.

[4SFED4]

SBR got back to me about the Ross pistons and suppositly I should recieve them directly from Ross in 2 weeks.

[talon167]

I bought my 2g install kit from them and there was a small hole in one of the J-pipes and it DID hit the plastic surrounding part of the rad fan. I used a dremel to make it fit and some JB-weld on the little hole.

I was NOT happy, but forgot to bitch at them about it.

[talon167]

Oh, and when they sent me my 16g they forgot to send me the little banjo bolt that feeds the oil into the turbo. So, I get the whole thing installed and realize that bolt was missing and had to put my t25 back on and had to wait almost a month before I could get my 16g back on...

[dynasty82]

everything ive ever purchased for my car has been from sbr. as for the j pipe it was a tight fit but it did fit. you gotta remember that the j pipe is a custom piece and you cant expect it to be perfect for everyone. shipping has always been great and the help i got from the guys at sbr is great. my evo 16g install went great and i havnt had a problem with anything ive ever purchased from sbr. ive built my entire motor from things from them alone and havnt had any problems. but if you want to complain about something not fitting perfect then maybe you should invest in getting a j pipe made custom for your car.

[Chad Simes]

everything ive ever purchased for my car has been from sbr. as for the j pipe it was a tight fit but it did fit. you gotta remember that the j pipe is a custom piece and you cant expect it to be perfect for everyone. shipping has always been great and the help i got from the guys at sbr is great. my evo 16g install went great and i havnt had a problem with anything ive ever purchased from sbr. ive built my entire motor from things from them alone and havnt had any problems. but if you want to complain about something not fitting perfect then maybe you should invest in getting a j pipe made custom for your car.

Vary True, but if you are paying them that much money for a piece that should fit, then it should fit. In the long run if you get a custom J pipe from a shop you might end up paying more but it will be done right, but if you have someone like sbr that do this sort of stuff for a living then its going to be cheaper sometimes. I got some stuff from SBR and I haven’t had a problem with it...yet :D

[iowaboostin]

I've always had good experiences with SBR.. my latest one was when I ordered my clutch. I talked to the guys on the phone (if I can't do it in person, I always order on the phone), got everything ordered and done with in less than 10mins. I got the clutch in the mail very soon, it was nicely packaged, everything came with it and overall very good.

Vary True, but if you are paying them that much money for a piece that should fit, then it should fit.
Don't expect anything to fit perfectly when the shop doesn't have YOUR car there to check fitment. Every car is a little different.

[flinguist]

Oh, and when they sent me my 16g they forgot to send me the little banjo bolt that feeds the oil into the turbo. So, I get the whole thing installed and realize that bolt was missing and had to put my t25 back on and had to wait almost a month before I could get my 16g back on...
Yeah, they forgot to send the oil return line gaskets with my install kit, but they sent 'em out right away when I told them about it. However the oil supply line fitting that goes on the oil filter housing had the incorrect thread. That fitting is BPT (British pipe thread), not NPT, which is what they sent.

[crystalM3th]

I order from SBR all the time. They have always answered the phone and responded to my emails. Sometimes the part or parts I buy were on backorder but that is something beyond their control. All DSM vendors have had customer service issues at one point or another. Being that there are so many more vendors now than a few years ago, vendors realize that we have choices and do not have to settle for bad service. They all sell parts that we need so the only thing vendors can do is provide good customer service to attract our business. I rather spend a few extra dollars on parts from a vendor with good customer service than save a bundle through some fly-by-night vendors that just see us as $$$ signs. In conclusion, SBR is on the right path. They support the DSM community and provide plenty of choices for parts. When you do as much business as they do, there are bound to be some problems here and there.

[Chad Simes]

That’s what I was suggesting that for something like that where there are problems I would just have it fitted at a local shop. In the end I would take my car down to the shop and have Joe Shopsmith fit it because it’s fast and easy. I would have to supply a flange and he would just have to bend the pipe. Getting the stainless steal is easy too, go to your local bone yard look for a pile of stainless steal, pick up a 3 foot section, it should cost 4 dollars and go to the shop. If you don’t want to do all of that because it requires too much work order one. That’s why SBR is out there so you don’t have to go to extreme lengths to put your car together.
I dont need to take my car to the shop cause everything is done right the first time.

[GODspeed1320]

sometimes you gotta be careful when looking for the better deal. theres times when you gotta bite the bullet and pay for the best. especially on big parts like turbos, motors, intercoolers, ETC. when im looking for parts i look around but most of the times the price difference is minimal. the first places I look at is ROADRACE ENGINEERING and FORCED PERFORMANCE. they never let me down in my 4 yrs of working on dsm's.

Same here. FP.com has shipped perfectly on time and im very happy of there rapping in double bubble rap. It's fun to pop.;)

[Nait Sirhc]

I'd just like to chime in a positive vote for Slowboy.

I ordered a 57-trim from them for a very good price. It took quite a while to arrive (about 3 weeks) but I'm patient and it was well worth the wait :)

The only complaint I have is that I ordered the oil feed & oil return lines with the turbo, and they sent me one straight line and one 90 degree line. I would have liked two 45s, but its alright. I just used the straight line and some heater hose for the other.

Turbo sure is sexy, by the way.

http://www.echoradio.org/~nait_sirhc/turbo.jpg

[Froyd79]

As for a review they are top notch. Hand delivered parts and are located 2 hours away. That was after I left a set of pistons on the counter while trying to get a buttload of stuff.

[4SFED4]

I recieved my custom Ross pistons today. My wait was within the time frame Slowboy promised me, so I still give them the thumbs up and they will continue to get my business ;)

[bazeng]

2 thumbs up for slowboyracing..

im located all the way in AUSTRALIA and they look after me. =)
always willing to talk on the phone, everything is always in the box as promised.

much better than the others workshops i've tried to contact..

but phone contact is a must for me as it seems my emails dont get through

[DR.Spock]

they had some great prices on some tein flex's so i tried to order online but my transactions wouldnt go through. double checked with my bank and yeah the money is still there. tried again but nothing. WTF :confused:

shipping is free if i order online but if i call they'll charge me, so i prefer not to pay shipping, hey im cheap, im a dsm'er :cool:

[btrux06]

guess ill jump on the band wagon, im local and for the most part think there ok, two little things, i also had a problem when using there turbo gasket, i kept breaking my studs or stripping them and now that i think about it probably cause my gasket was warped and rubing into the bolts, like the earlier pics in the thread show it longer on one side, also i should probably keep this on a more private note with them but both that last two times i went there to pick up parts they tryed charging me a bit more money then the listed price on the internet site, like 30 or so more dollars for something around 200 dollars, there fault not mine

[SBR INC]

they had some great prices on some tein flex's so i tried to order online but my transactions wouldnt go through. double checked with my bank and yeah the money is still there. tried again but nothing. WTF :confused:

shipping is free if i order online but if i call they'll charge me, so i prefer not to pay shipping, hey im cheap, im a dsm'er :cool:

Dr. Spock,

Give me a call and I'll give you the free shipping over the phone since the order won't go through on the site ;) . 724.349.8417

Nate
SBR

[DSM Loki]

i ordered all my parts from slowboy, it took a while because of backorders but any time i called i had all my questions answered and recieved everything in perfect condition. slowboy will continue to get my business whenever i need.

[NeOzz1]

I would also like to give slowboy the thumbs up. I have only ordered rotors from them but I did recieve them in a timly fashion and had no problems throughout the whole transaction. I would also like to add that I called them in the middle of the day and talked to them for about 15 min (I informed them at the begining that i did not intend to buy anything right away) about there engines. They were not cocky at all and stayed on the phone long enough to answer everyone of my questions. After I used up there time i realized 1 min after we hung up that i forgot to ask something so I called back right away and talked to the same person and still was very happy with how I was treated and they even asked if I had and other questions and told me to call if I did. Two thumbs up to them, I have a big build up in the near future and they will be the shop that recieves most of my business.

Thanks SBR

Justin

[valo]

SBR once again comes through for me. Even emailed me to let me know that my order went through. I didnt think it would go through with me being in Iraq. Shipping was a couple of days on a full exhaust. Thanks Jay, thumbs up from me. :)

Jayson

[Keaka26]

I would also like to give slowboy the thumbs up. I have only ordered rotors from them but I did recieve them in a timly fashion and had no problems throughout the whole transaction. I would also like to add that I called them in the middle of the day and talked to them for about 15 min (I informed them at the begining that i did not intend to buy anything right away) about there engines. They were not cocky at all and stayed on the phone long enough to answer everyone of my questions. After I used up there time i realized 1 min after we hung up that i forgot to ask something so I called back right away and talked to the same person and still was very happy with how I was treated and they even asked if I had and other questions and told me to call if I did. Two thumbs up to them, I have a big build up in the near future and they will be the shop that recieves most of my business.

Thanks SBR
Justin

Huzzah for SlowBoy Racing, thank god that they are fully capable of packaging a set of rotors and placing a stamp FIRMLY on the box. Praise be to them.

Seriously, start praising them as soon as you order something that can't be filled by a chimp. Most of the "thumbs ups" come from people with relatively simple purchases.

I might also add, that even if some of you guys have had good experiences, that still doesn't say much. Theres a lot of complaints about SBR, but lets just say 7/10 customers are satisfied (I think thats a more than fair estimate at this point) . That means that 30% of their customers are unhappy. Do you really want to support this kind of business?

[4SFED4]

Not many people I know of run a perfect business.
My problem is it seems there are a alot of whinny babies on the internet that complain and don't even take the time to attempt to contact a vendor/seller by any other means than email that may rarely get checked if things become busy. You see it on Ebay all the time, thats why I carefully read Feedbacks and gather my own opinion before I buy from someone.
As far as SBR goes I have made several purchases over $500 with no serious issues.

[DSM Loki]

i ordered everything for my engine rebuild from them, not all that simple to efficiently package everything, i got all my stuff, not a single problem with anything, thats whyi reccommended them to all my friends that weren't sure where to order parts from. they take the time to talk to you and answer any questions you may have, thats the best thing a company can do, no matter how busy they are, they take time to talk to the customer. word and mad props to SBR, especially nate, as confusing as my order got at times he was extremely patient.

[Keaka26]

Hah, again, its easy to ship parts. Now, I never disputed the fact that they are friendly and helpful over the phone. It's when you are having problems that you start getting pissed at them.

I'd hardly consider complaining about blowing a freezeplug out of a new "rebuilt" shortblock something that warrants the name "whiney baby". Specially when that freezeplug basically destroys those nice new piston rings, melts the headgasket and warps the cylinder head.

Afterwords, when SBR claims the freezeplug blew because "the unbroken in piston rings caused excess coolant pressure, which resulted in blowing the freezeplug." Total horse-shit. Thats how they take care of the customer...They feed you bullshit to make up for poor workmanship and then leave you out in the cold. Yay. Call me a whiney baby, I don't give a shit.

[Idaho_GST]

yea ive had some minor customer issue problems with them. got it resolved and i do have to say all the stuff i have bought from them has shipped incredibly fast. after we got a couple hickups worked out, they were awesome.

scale of 1-10 id say a 7 or 8

[stapl3]

I've dealt with SBR 3 times.

First was a turbo and it didn't hold/push PSI. Junk.

Second was injectors. These were received right away, but the package had a FIC return address on it, meaning they didn't have anything to do with the sale at all really.

Third was a turbo again. Why I did it to myself again I don't know, but the compressor housing was a boost leak (I fixed myself).

Reviews like this with SBR is nothing new at all. I remember years ago reading about SBR motor builds taking months to do and them failing right away. I wouldn't recommend SBR to anyone because of my experiences, but I wouldn't cringe if someone told me they ordered something like brake rotors or injectors from them. It's just the things they make/touch I'd be most worried about.

[K_Mans_TSI]

I've dealt with SBR 3 times.

First was a turbo and it didn't hold/push PSI. Junk.

and how did you handle that?

Second was injectors. These were received right away, but the package had a FIC return address on it, meaning they didn't have anything to do with the sale at all really.

they stock FIC injectors says so on the site did you think they made them there?? FIC services them

Third was a turbo again. Why I did it to myself again I don't know, but the compressor housing was a boost leak (I fixed myself).

I remember years ago reading about SBR motor builds taking months to do and them failing right away. .

from what i understand they didn't do motors in-house then they sent them out....but they have a ful machine shop next door now

[e_burger]

i live near sbr and go in all the time. they're very helpful and i've spent over 500 bucks with them. i would recommend them to anyone. after seeing a couple of there cars in the 9's and 10's i think anyone would buy their products!!!

[Keaka26]

Hah, again, its easy to ship parts. Now, I never disputed the fact that they are friendly and helpful over the phone. It's when you are having problems that you start getting pissed at them.

I'd hardly consider complaining about blowing a freezeplug out of a new "rebuilt" shortblock something that warrants the name "whiney baby". Specially when that freezeplug basically destroys those nice new piston rings, melts the headgasket and warps the cylinder head.

Afterwords, when SBR claims the freezeplug blew because "the unbroken in piston rings caused excess coolant pressure, which resulted in blowing the freezeplug." Total horse-shit. Thats how they take care of the customer...They feed you bullshit to make up for poor workmanship and then leave you out in the cold. Yay. Call me a whiney baby, I don't give a shit.

Besides all this, they told me I'd have my block (that they billed me for right away) within a week, 2 max. It took a few months.

[gvr4dsmer]

I've purchased 70% of the stuff for my gvr4 from SBR they have always been great to deal with, and I don't think I've had any problems with them. I've spent upward's of 4k there and live 600 miles away things seem to ship fairly quickly without snag's. What's really nice is the fact that for instance I recently broke my 3 to 4 shift fork in my 90 fwd tsi, mistu wanted 37 bucks for it cragger got it for $22, OEM mitsu!! I think since they moved shop and began to grow so fast (there site got nearly 6 million hits last month! of course they don't sell anywhere near that, but they are becoming very popular) they don't want to turn down orders and they are just running at max capacity. They are bound to make mistakes. I do agree though, that they should follow a more responsible course of action other than blaming the customer. And maybe "eat" an order every once and while in the name of customer service. I know other venders who have and do. I gotta say though, if you want oem parts they have some great deals, They have been vendor wise, among the best that I've dealt with, and will continue to do so...
Sam

[stapl3]

and how did you handle that?
Parted out my car.

they stock FIC injectors says so on the site
And they did.

did you think they made them there??
No.

FIC services them
Obviously.


from what i understand they didn't do motors in-house then they sent them out....but they have a ful machine shop next door now
They put their name on it, they're responsible.

[gvr4dsmer]

Slowboy does have a machine to deck block's and head's, and they can do full valve jobs and head rebuilding, as far as machine work goes I think they send the rest out, the do hot tank, clean, and media blast in house though. The machines they do have are high end units and work in very close tollerances. It's sad though I've read a dozen or more story's of big mistakes with short and long block's, and they don't seem to stand behind there work as much as other shop's would. If you send them the defected part back and it should be at their cost, and they find a flaw a new part should be awarded or a full refund given. Seem's slowboy need's to expand more to better handle the incoming bussines, or even make sure the customer know's it may take month or more to get thier order. If they loose the order so what I'm sure the folks that have had trouble with them have coused at least 3 other potential cutomers not to do bussines with slowboy. That's a problem because the 3 that will no longer order are most likely dsm owners, It's most likely best to just turn down the order or place the buyer on a waiting list than loose them for good.
Sam.

[anconover]

i live near sbr and go in all the time. they're very helpful and i've spent over 500 bucks with them. i would recommend them to anyone. after seeing a couple of there cars in the 9's and 10's i think anyone would buy their products!!!


thats the worst reason ive ever heard to order from someone. "they are fast, so ill order parts from them!" seeing as 90% of the products they sell, they have nothing to do with other than stocking them from other companies, and shipping them out.

[XakEp]

i live near sbr and go in all the time. they're very helpful and i've spent over 500 bucks with them. i would recommend them to anyone. after seeing a couple of there cars in the 9's and 10's i think anyone would buy their products!!!

I guess that since that dude in TF&F has a fast RX7 then you're going to run out and buy what he has then, right?

:rolleyes: x infinity

[K_Mans_TSI]

I guess that since that dude in TF&F has a fast RX7 then you're going to run out and buy what he has then, right?

:rolleyes: x infinity


i did what of it

[nukefission]

<Homer>

Boring. :rolleyes:

</Homer>