Pelfreybilt - See Update on Last Page

[fastdiablo]

FWIW, I spoke with Wells Fargo Credit card services about the situation, and they assured me my deposit to Pelfreybilt was covered by purchase protection. I put down $1,500 about 2 months ago on a dual swing rear. Very bumbed i'm now starting from scratch trying to find a good rear dual swing, might look at the ExpeditionOne. CBI rear has a bad rap. anyone have suggestions? Thanks

 

[LawnDart]

FWIW, I spoke with Wells Fargo Credit card services about the situation, and they assured me my deposit to Pelfreybilt was covered by purchase protection. I put down $1,500 about 2 months ago on a dual swing rear. Very bumbed i'm now starting from scratch trying to find a good rear dual swing, might look at the ExpeditionOne. CBI rear has a bad rap. anyone have suggestions? Thanks

Heftyfab makes a great one too. I don't know enough about the C4. But I like Chris' stuff.

 

[comtn4x4]

Heftyfab makes a great one too. I don't know enough about the C4. But I like Chris' stuff.

Hefty now only makes the rear in aluminum unfortunately. For me I think steel is the way to go on the rear.
Other than that I know Chris and his stuff is great, Been running my aluminum front for 3 years
I need a no cut rear bumper due to bumper cover damage above the cut line so I am thinking C4

 

[fastdiablo]

Heftyfab makes a great one too. I don't know enough about the C4. But I like Chris' stuff.

Agreed. I have Chris Hefty's front low-pro aluminum bumper, and it's well made. I looked at his rear bumper, but didn't love the latch system IIRC. I'll take another look.

 

[Soccer13]

Hefty favs aluminum bumper was created to be as strong as its steel counterpart I had it on my old 4runner (chris can explain in better detail than I ever could do if your really interested and only thing holding you back is that it’s aluminum I would call and chat with him)I do agree with the latching system being a bit cumbersome (uses a pin rather than true latch) trying to keep track of it as I was loading my dogs in and out I admit I misplaced it a few times but had spares) also really would have liked to see a locking mechanism for the swing out to stay open, parking on a hill was not great I had to hold the swing out open and try to leash up my dogs with the other. Other than that the bumper was awesome!

Agreed. I have Chris Hefty's front low-pro aluminum bumper, and it's well made. I looked at his rear bumper, but didn't love the latch system IIRC. I'll take another look.

 

[insomnia001]

FWIW, I spoke with Wells Fargo Credit card services about the situation, and they assured me my deposit to Pelfreybilt was covered by purchase protection. I put down $1,500 about 2 months ago on a dual swing rear. Very bumbed i'm now starting from scratch trying to find a good rear dual swing, might look at the ExpeditionOne. CBI rear has a bad rap. anyone have suggestions? Thanks

I'm taking the expeditionone route already. I might be out $1500 as well. So I dunno... it's just shitty all around....

 

[mtnbiker49]

Hefty favs aluminum bumper was created to be as strong as its steel counterpart I had it on my old 4runner (chris can explain in better detail than I ever could do if your really interested and only thing holding you back is that it’s aluminum I would call and chat with him)I do agree with the latching system being a bit cumbersome (uses a pin rather than true latch) trying to keep track of it as I was loading my dogs in and out I admit I misplaced it a few times but had spares) also really would have liked to see a locking mechanism for the swing out to stay open, parking on a hill was not great I had to hold the swing out open and try to leash up my dogs with the other. Other than that the bumper was awesome!

FWIW the latching mechanism aka pin REALLY sucks and is the reason I will never buy a bumper with it ever again.. I went through it once before and it was miserable. After less than a year of owning it, the hinge ultimately wore out which then required me to lift up on the swing arm every time I wanted to get in the hatch. It got to be about 1/2” off at the time I said I’m done with it. Ended up replacing the bushings and then the same thing happened in the same time frame. It made me not open up the hatch unless absolutely necessary.
Plus, you have to push against the tire while inserting the pin or else the tire swing will be a shaking mess.

No issues with their other products now.

 

[fastdiablo]

FWIW the latching mechanism aka pin REALLY sucks and is the reason I will never buy a bumper with it ever again.. I went through it once before and it was miserable. After less than a year of owning it, the hinge ultimately wore out which then required me to lift up on the swing arm every time I wanted to get in the hatch. It got to be about 1/2” off at the time I said I’m done with it. Ended up replacing the bushings and then the same thing happened in the same time frame. It made me not open up the hatch unless absolutely necessary.
Plus, you have to push against the tire while inserting the pin or else the tire swing will be a shaking mess.

No issues with their other products now.

that was with the hefty dual swing bumper and pin style closing mechanism?

 

[sactown]

Dayum, looks like I won't be ordering one of these after all. I hope you all get either your bumpers or your cash back.

 

[Xtremluck]

FWIW, I spoke with Wells Fargo Credit card services about the situation, and they assured me my deposit to Pelfreybilt was covered by purchase protection. I put down $1,500 about 2 months ago on a dual swing rear. Very bumbed i'm now starting from scratch trying to find a good rear dual swing, might look at the ExpeditionOne. CBI rear has a bad rap. anyone have suggestions? Thanks

Not sure why people are so down on the CBI rear bumper. I've had mine mounted for half a year now and have slammed it hard multiple times on rock shelfs, boulders etc with no issue at all. This is even with a full load on the swing outs (Extra fuel, 120lbs of bikes+rack, full size spare and full trasharoo). Not once has it failed me. Is the latch system and bumper the most robust thing out there? No, but it's a design that has been out for quite some time and seems to work just fine.

I also love Pelfreybilt's stuff as I'm running their front bumper and it has also been holding up great. I would have went with their rear (Glad I didn't) but didn't want to be the guinea pig on an untested V1.0 bumper.

 

[LawnDart]

Because it's a garbage latch design. The De-Sta-Co latches were never meant to deal with as much stress as what a swing arm system subjects those them to during off road conditions.

Why do manufacturer's use them? because designing a real locking system from scratch is tough.

The guy who posted about R&D taking a lot of time did nail that one point. The Pelfreybilt bumper should have shipped last year, and I was slated to get mine in time to run it through baja...LAST YEAR. But as they found out the design, while really awesome, required way too much adjustment during installation, and because of that when the vehicle was really flexed out, or parked at a severe angle, like up or down a hill, getting the gates to unlock would be difficult. So Pelfreybilt switched to a version of their cam latch that you can find on their Gen 2 bumpers. It was simple, proven, etc.

All of this is a bit moot right now obviously.

The CBI is a well built bumper that's unfortunately let down by some weak design elements in some key places.

 

[jhguth]

Is CBI the bumper that Andrew St. Pierre White trashed? If so, that explains why people suddenly don't like it

 

[LawnDart]

Is CBI the bumper that Andrew St. Pierre White trashed? If so, that explains why people suddenly don't like it

I think that was metal tech.

 

[jhguth]

ah, yeah that sounds right

 

[chmura]

The CBI is a well built bumper that's unfortunately let down by some weak design elements in some key places.

What did CBI tell you when you notified them with your failed bumper? Did they offer to help with your problems? Make a more robust bumper for you? If not provide any compensation?

Curious to hear how a vendor handles these kinds of failures and weak points in their bumpers.

 

[LawnDart]

What did CBI tell you when you notified them with your failed bumper? Did they offer to help with your problems? Make a more robust bumper for you? If not provide any compensation?

Curious to hear how a vendor handles these kinds of failures and weak points in their bumpers.

Since I no longer have a 4Runner at all, I'm now a little less encumbered to talk about it.

But CBI asked that I delete an IG post where I listed what had broken on my 4Runner once we arrived in Loretto Bay last year. Every vendor except for CBI was like, "oh damn, what broke, and how can we make it better?!" Whereas CBI wanted that post deleted.

I'll forever regret doing this, but I deleted that post. It was a bit of a low moment because it meant kowtowing to a company just to make them look good by omission. They swore they'd make the bumper stronger, redesign the latch...and 5 months went by before they basically said they weren't gonna do anything.

And I later heard they were telling people that "Isaac was just using his bumper too hard."

So there ya go.

 

[chmura]

Since I no longer have a 4Runner at all, I'm now a little less encumbered to talk about it.

But CBI asked that I delete an IG post where I listed what had broken on my 4Runner once we arrived in Loretto Bay last year. Every vendor except for CBI was like, "oh damn, what broke, and how can we make it better?!" Whereas CBI wanted that post deleted.

I'll forever regret doing this, but I deleted that post. It was a bit of a low moment because it meant kowtowing to a company just to make them look good by omission. They swore they'd make the bumper stronger, redesign the latch...and 5 months went by before they basically said they weren't gonna do anything.

And I later heard they were telling people that "Isaac was just using his bumper too hard."

So there ya go.

Bummer. Improving a product and working out the flaws overtime is extremely important to me. If CBI just ignores the weak points and does not improve their products is a disappointment to me.

Hope Pelfreybilt turns around and can start accepting orders. I don’t have a 4runner now either. I have a Tacoma now and was about to purchase front bumper and rear high clearance bumper for it. Now I can’t. Sucks.

 

[Doc.SS]

I wonder how much cash they need.


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[1984d]

I wonder how much cash they need.


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Someone start a gofundme on their behalf and those that are coming to their defense can put their money where their mouths are.

 

[Sanpete]

Someone start a gofundme on their behalf and those that are coming to their defense can put their money where their mouths are.

They’ll just pocket that cash too. There are no investors. They’re using the time to liquidate/strategize before bankruptcy.