Dynamite Design - AC / 2xRT

TBItoy · Dec 17, 2014

damn.

krackem · Dec 17, 2014

Dude that sucks bro hate to hear that for us

paradisepwoffrd · Dec 17, 2014

Re: Re: Dynamite Design - AC / 2xRT

saf-t scissors said:
I took David a stockish TJ (D30/D35), a Currie gas tank, a pair of used Dynatrac JK44 axles, and a small pile of misc stuff. I asked him to build a simple, no-frills cage ("race car chic") that allowed use of the stock seat belts, stock soft top, and had as much head room as possible, given those constraints. When the axles were new, they would have been bolt-in for a TJ, but the previous owner modified them over the years, setting them up for coil-overs front and back and reworking the front track bar. I asked him to put them back stock-ish, so they'd bolt in with coils and shocks. This meant adding coil buckets and shock mounts on both ends. The front track bar mount was in the way and needed to be modified (or some other resolution found). The link mounts were unmodified. The front had a JK track bar on it, which I wouldn't have minded keeping (they're reasonably strong so long as the tires don't get big, they're readily available, and I already owned it), but I wasn't married to the idea if it didn't work out. The gas tank was mostly a bolt-in affair, but the exhaust was in the way. I sent along an old J-bend that I had so the exhaust could get moved out of the way.

Once David had the Jeep, I also asked him to build a proper transmission crossmember and a new skid plate. I figured that with the amount of suspension work that was going on, it was probably a good idea to get the driveline angles right the first time.

When I went to pick up the Jeep, it was already a few weeks overdue. The plan was to pick it up at noon on Saturday, go spend the weekend shaking it down and camping with the kids, then the next weekend we were gone to a wheeling event. The following weekend was free, then we were leaving on Weds to go to Dixie Run. David knew that it needed to be "right", and that we wheel with our two kids (3 and 18mos at the time).

When I arrived on Saturday, there wasn't much that was finished. The soft top had never been installed, they were in the middle of bleeding brakes, the gas tank had never had fuel in it, etc. David, Josh (with the Tacoma), and myself spent the next six hours bashing on it to get it to the point where it would roll out of the shop.

The following is a brief list of the deficiencies:

Fixed before we left the shop:
Front seat belt height adjusters (at front seat shoulders) installed upside down
Torqued lug nuts to spec, put red lock-***e on spacer lugs
One lug nut was actually an acorn nut installed upside down
Left front shock bolt missing at bar pin (the bolt they found and installed was mismatched, undersized)
Brake fluid low
Seat bolts missing, others not tight
Transfer case linkage not attached at transmission
Transfer case linkage bolts at body missing

Found later that night or over the next several weeks:

Front track bar jam nuts loose (one backed off completely)
Front track bar bolts/nuts loose (both ends finger tight)
Rear track bar bolt at frame finger tight
Left front lower jam nut loose
Left rear lower jam nut loose
All sixteen link bolts finger tight
Transmission rubs on the skid plate (had to loosen the skid plate bolts 1/2" before it let go)
Exhaust pinched tight between new skid plate and new crossmember
Exhaust modifications at gas tank were never done, exhaust was cut off at axle.
Skid plate bolts need to be replaced with standard 1/2x13 bolts and washers, not conical seat bolts.
Left front banjo bolt leaks (this was "fixed" before we left, I found it still leaking the next day)
Left front dust shield rubs rotor
Rear shock tabs on axle installed too high, only have 1" of up travel.
Right rear shock hits right rear coil bucket (tabs on axle installed too close to coil)
Numerous lug nuts rounded off, socket appears to be damaged or wrong size
Two of the nuts holding the front driveshaft to the front yoke backed off, others are not tight.
One of the nuts holding the rear driveshaft to the rear yoke backed off, others are not tight.
Both front coils are bowed at ride height. Frame side coil buckets were cut off the frame and reinstalled not square.
Both front coil spring retainers are missing.
Both front bump stops are missing (cut off for no apparent reason)
Both front springs hit the frame on stuff
Only turns halfway to the right, drag link hits Dynamite-modified track bar bracket.
Rear axle sway bar bolts have been replaced with torx bolts from stock cage, bolts are too long, bottomed out on axle housing, not tight.
Rear axle pinion angle was too high and vibrated badly. When I adjusted the links to fix the angle, I found that the driveshaft bound at the yokes. Had to do a SYE the night before we left for Dixie Run.
Dynamite modified the stock shifter linkage to make it work with the raised transmission location. The welding melted the nylon bushings in the linkage. It fell off in three pieces during a shake-down ride.
Lower radiator hose leaked (while I can't be certain on this one, it didn't leak before I dropped it off, and the JK track bar was scrapped because it hit the lower rad hose.) The cause was a constant-tension clamp installed incorrectly at the motor end.

The front seats won't go far enough back. They hit the seat belt ratchets.
The left-right spreader bar at the B pillars bends forward over the front seats as it crosses the vehicle. I (5'-11) and my wife (5'-8") both hit our heads on it.
Both front seat seat belt ratchets were broken and the covers were missing. Turns out they were installed on the wrong sides, then Dynamite busted the clock spring housings while they were working on things.
The soft top pivots at the cage are 1" too close together. This causes the front portion of the soft top to not go together correctly above the doors.
The soft top pivots are in the wrong locations (possibly too far forward and/or too low), making the rear half of the top not fit correctly. Basically, the top doesn't fit at all. You hook it at the windshield and let the rest of it flap in the breeze.
Rear seat belt shoulder bolts have been replaced with standard gr8 bolts, no spacer or shoulder. Need to source proper seat belt bolts.

The grill, front fenders, hood, cowl, and windshield were all sprayed with grinder dust and weld spatter. I couldn't figure out why the hood looked like it was rusting. The hood was never "nice", but it took me the better part of a Saturday with a clay bar to get this kinda cleaned up.

Only David knows how many iterations the cage went through before it rolled out the door. Suffice it to say that the first few rounds of photos that he sent looked nothing like the Solidworks model.

I did a nut-and-bolt on the entire vehicle before Dixie Run. Had to rebuild the crossmember that David built, modify the skid plate, build a new exhaust (to clear the skid and crossmember), SYE, and cable shifter. At this point, I'm thinking most of the cage work will have to be redone before it's "right". At the very least, the roof spreaders all need to be cut out and redone to fix the headroom issues and the weird splice at the windshield. But if you're going that far, the A-pillar down tubes have weird splices at the bottom (missed the hole in the floor??) that might as well be fixed too.

Before it went in the shop, my wife was daily driving it with the kids. The first month or two that we had it back, something fell off most every time it rolled out of the driveway, so she hasn't driven it since. Didn't feel comfortable taking the kids out in it.

Dang man, hate to hear that. I knew he missed the deadline but When I saw it at Dixie I figured he finished it.

I'm guessing that snappy is the only one with a "completed" build? I imagine he stayed close to it throughout also.

muddinmetal · Dec 17, 2014

So what we have here is a ****** rigging son of a ***** who seems to have went to no extra effort to make anything right, but has no problem taking people's money? At what point is it robbery?

Stretch · Dec 18, 2014

Re: Re: Dynamite Design - AC / 2xRT

paradisepwoffrd said:
Dang man, hate to hear that. I knew he missed the deadline but When I saw it at Dixie I figured he finished it.

I'm guessing that snappy is the only one with a "completed" build? I imagine he stayed close to it throughout also.

http://www.nc4x4.com/forum/index.php?threads/dynamite-design-snappy-sxs.156035/page-2

Post 41. Even cracks a joke about deadlines. If snappy was satisfied with the work, that's on him. But that RZR cage looks like hammered **** as well.

Anyone can learn to draw in Rhino/Solid/BendTech. But executing it is a totally different story.

kushKrawlin · Dec 18, 2014

Jesus man. I can say you're a better man than me. If I was to get that much work done I wonder how much all that would cost me? Usually the dollar amount has a huge effect on my reaction to things. My god it seems like a lot of work and money, I'm dying to know how much this goober charges to do this to somebody's rig! Someone Needs to do a hair follicle on his ass. He's ****ed up (on da hard ****) I betcha anything!! No one in their right mind would ever try to attempt to do some stupid **** like all this without puffin on a glass pipe. Let's be real here. Everything about this points to one thing to me.. That one thing had my ass for several years.. Also I would recomend someone taking all sharp objects, and any rope out of his site... Oh and i'm assuming there are some that feel bad for the guy.. Guess who doesn't.. ME ... The whole time his Attitude sucked balls, had people rooting for him and trying to help him, not once did he take advise or say thank you.. Too bad my grandmother's not around, this beats the **** out of "days of our lives" ... :woot:

kushKrawlin · Dec 18, 2014

muddinmetal said:
So what we have here is a ****** rigging son of a ***** who seems to have went to no extra effort to make anything right, but has no problem taking people's money? At what point is it robbery?

I still lie awake sometimes thinking about those 44's that old douche bag lied to me about. I don't know about you but I cannot ****ing imagine this .. Actually I know where I would be by now I'm sure. With a assault charge. Fukin horse ****, and he lays his lil greasy head down just fine to sleep tonite (or whenever he crashes)

saf-t scissors · Dec 18, 2014

Re: Re: Dynamite Design - AC / 2xRT

paradisepwoffrd said:
Dang man, hate to hear that. I knew he missed the deadline but When I saw it at Dixie I figured he finished it.

I'm guessing that snappy is the only one with a "completed" build? I imagine he stayed close to it throughout also.

I know that the plastics on his were melted from weld spatter/grinder dust/etc. He's got to change the spring rate because of the weight of the tube. And what he got looks nothing like what was discussed up front. There were other issues, something with the tube work interfering with the seats and/or seat belts or something. I don't know the specifics on that.

ADAMCARTER315 · Dec 18, 2014

Somebody got the name of the guy that's his business partner ?
Need a phone number also.

Stuntman Autoworks · Dec 18, 2014

Re: Re: Dynamite Design - AC / 2xRT

paradisepwoffrd said:
Dang man, hate to hear that. I knew he missed the deadline but When I saw it at Dixie I figured he finished it.

I'm guessing that snappy is the only one with a "completed" build? I imagine he stayed close to it throughout also.

He wasn't thrilled and still has some thongs to fix on it but that's his story to tell if he wants.

rck0203 · Dec 18, 2014

ADAMCARTER315 said:
Somebody got the name of the guy that's his business partner ?
Need a phone number also.

Adam,

His partner is Josh and he posted up on page 11.

Rob

Stretch · Dec 18, 2014

rck0203 said:
Adam,

His partner is Josh and he posted up on page 11.

Rob

Joshua1086 on page 11 is NOT his business partner. He simply was the first one to buy into Disaster Dreamer and his grand plans and helped him get going.

"Business partner" Josh is the dude with the silver Tacoma.

tyldyl12 · Dec 18, 2014

Re:

That's what I was thinking. He was the guy that came in with the mad PR skills and was gonna handle all that while other dood threw down sick welds. Plan SOUNDED good.

jeepmedic · Dec 18, 2014

Someone needs to throw out full names of these crooks involved so that the wheeling world will know who to stay the **** away from. :****:

rck0203 · Dec 18, 2014

Stretch said:
Joshua1086 on page 11 is NOT his business partner. He simply was the first one to buy into Disaster Dreamer and his grand plans and helped him get going.

"Business partner" Josh is the dude with the silver Tacoma.

My bad. I got the Joshes mixed up

tyldyl12 · Dec 18, 2014

Re:

I8AJEEP is the one I'm referring to. Just looked back to the "Tacoma T Rex" thread.

Elliott · Dec 18, 2014

Funny how everyone is calling him a crook and still no one has stated what has happened on this particular deal, and to the guy telling what happened on other people's deals, You probably wasn't involved in them so you probably just worry about yours.And in the build thread on nc4x4 (at least I think that was yours, hard to tell who is who at this point) nothing was ever stated about being unhappy on there. And im not trying to start a bunch more drama by this but everyone is starting to sound like a bunch of teenage girls on here. He more than likely screwed up, not saying he didn't, BUT when you go to a builder and look for a steal of a deal and take a chance, that's exactly what it is a chance, sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it is a bad thing. :dunno:

redneckengineered · Dec 18, 2014

saf-t scissors said:
I took David a stockish TJ (D30/D35)........

Holy ****! You mentioned that you both felt screwed after you left? How could he possibly feel screwed turning out that level of work?

wont work · Dec 18, 2014

POPS58 said:
This is my first response to this build thread about the car. I understand your a very busy feller and hard to get a hold of.
Just from my point of view reading this build thread,This was a mistake from the beginning. So if anyone else has questions please
let it be known now.
This will determine the out come of this build.............What say you,David?

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

I have not and no should any other person that is building anything for anyone be hard to get a hold of. That is just bad business when you are building something for someone and not keeping them updated and they have to learn what it looks like on a public forum. Even if he was building you beadlocks he needs to keep the customer updated with changes and deadlines.

redneckengineered · Dec 18, 2014

It's unbelievable to me that every time someone points out how ****ty his work is, or his design is ****ed up, or he's late on a deadline, he never takes ownership. We're either idiots for not seeing his "vision" or it's some other excuse why it's not his fault. Sounds like someone who grew up where his Mommy always told him how his **** don't stink and he can't do nothing wrong. I also can't believe you guys that got screwed over didn't blow his ass up on every online forum imaginable. Usually that's standard protocol to help protect fellow wheelers from getting the anal rape treatment.

Time to shut down ole boys Facebook I'm guessing
https://www.facebook.com/DynamiteDesignFabrication
https://www.facebook.com/david.guest.39589

redneckengineered · Dec 18, 2014

And since we're telling David stories I got a good one. He's a self proclaimed "shock tuning savant". I know of one customer he tuned for, and I use that term lightly, and the customer ended up with that cushy log wagon ride which made the worst tuned bouncer look like a Shannon Campbell car. Apparently he had him running springs more cut out for a 2.5 ton fully outfitted army truck than a rockcrawler :****:

redneckengineered · Dec 18, 2014

Elliott said:
Funny how everyone is calling him a crook and still no one has stated what has happened on this particular deal, and to the guy telling what happened on other people's deals, You probably wasn't involved in them so you probably just worry about yours.And in the build thread on nc4x4 (at least I think that was yours, hard to tell who is who at this point) nothing was ever stated about being unhappy on there. And im not trying to start a bunch more drama by this but everyone is starting to sound like a bunch of teenage girls on here. He more than likely screwed up, not saying he didn't, BUT when you go to a builder and look for a steal of a deal and take a chance, that's exactly what it is a chance, sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it is a bad thing. :dunno:

It's all gonna come out in time. I know enough and it ain't good for David I'll let the folks involved tell the rest when they're ready. Don't hitch your wagon to this clown, you're gonna end up looking the fool.

POPS58 · Dec 18, 2014

More good points made. How this ends is all in Davids hands right now.I will bring it up to date once we all have a prayer meeting! Thanks Hardliners!

muddinmetal · Dec 18, 2014

I am with Kush & vote he's strung out.... Hell if he isn't he should lie & say he is, it'd be a better excuse than all the bull**** ones so far

saf-t scissors · Dec 18, 2014

Elliott said:
Funny how everyone is calling him a crook and still no one has stated what has happened on this particular deal, and to the guy telling what happened on other people's deals, You probably wasn't involved in them so you probably just worry about yours.And in the build thread on nc4x4 (at least I think that was yours, hard to tell who is who at this point) nothing was ever stated about being unhappy on there. And im not trying to start a bunch more drama by this but everyone is starting to sound like a bunch of teenage girls on here. He more than likely screwed up, not saying he didn't, BUT when you go to a builder and look for a steal of a deal and take a chance, that's exactly what it is a chance, sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it is a bad thing. :dunno:

Couple of things here. When I spoke to David after I had the car back for a week or so, I honestly think he was caught flat-footed. He thought he had done a good job, and he wanted (and offered several times) to keep working on it until he could make things right by me. The timeline simply didn't allow for it, and after the level of QC I saw after it was supposedly "complete", I definitely didn't have the time to nut-and-bolt it a second time and fix whatever new things arose. But I also didn't want to throw him under the bus. I thought his heart was in the right place. We talked about what he needed to work on, both from a business perspective and from a project management/design/execution perspective. I was under the impression that this was really a one-off thing, and that he'd just gotten in a bit over his head, preoccupied with personal stuff or whatever, and just dropped the ball.

The prices I was quoted were market rate. I didn't get a "deal", and never asked for or expected one. David started out wanting to do some horse trading ("Buy me a new bender and I'll do the labor for free"), but I offered instead to give him a deposit on time and materials. Whatever he did with the money after that was his decision. After all the **** went sideways, David sent me a final invoice (at my request) that basically covered materials. It was missing the value of a few hard parts, so we bumped it up a bit and called it good.

So, assured that this would never happen again, I didn't talk about it. I quietly started fixing my **** and moved on. I told a few friends the story, but that was pretty much it. But as time went on, a couple of things happened. I started to hear from other people (Josh with the green TJ) that had pretty much identical experiences as my own, and I started to hear back from the sewing circle about how I was deliberately out to put David out of business because David is a good guy and an upstanding citizen, and I'm an asshole that wants to see him fail. Or some equally stupid ****. It was like being accused of being a witch. I don't even know how you respond to that.

At that point, I completely ****ing quit talking about it.

I decided last night to lay the whole thing out here after seeing the **** he put together for Adam. The whole thing is just depressing and sad, but it's not my responsibility anymore to protect David from his own **** ups.

rck0203 · Dec 18, 2014

Elliott said:
Funny how everyone is calling him a crook and still no one has stated what has happened on this particular deal, and to the guy telling what happened on other people's deals, You probably wasn't involved in them so you probably just worry about yours.And in the build thread on nc4x4 (at least I think that was yours, hard to tell who is who at this point) nothing was ever stated about being unhappy on there. And im not trying to start a bunch more drama by this but everyone is starting to sound like a bunch of teenage girls on here. He more than likely screwed up, not saying he didn't, BUT when you go to a builder and look for a steal of a deal and take a chance, that's exactly what it is a chance, sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it is a bad thing. :dunno:

The "Smokey" rebuild thread on NC4x4 is mine. David is doing some tube work, sheet metal work, and seat mounting work for me. So far it has mostly been OK but because I am anal with my buggy and make frequent shop visits and keep the $ slowly trickling in as I see progress that I'm ok with. My process is, by chance, what has worked for David and I so far.

As for any other builds, I can't comment as I am not part of those but can only regurgitate what everyone else has said. I'll save the time with the regurgitated experiences that have already been mentioned as I can only truly comment on my own personal experiences. I have had lots of good advice from past customers (couple of them are friends) but am still taking the chance. I am concerned (as I have always been) but David hasn't burned me yet.

The Carter family is good people and I truly hope you all get the buggy you seek and work hard for. I'm sorry to hear about the wasted time and efforts.

Rob

STROKERYOTA · Dec 18, 2014

zukimaster said:
This is better than any soap opera!

YEP :popcorn:

WHIZARD · Dec 18, 2014

STROKERYOTA said:
YEP :popcorn:

No ****, this is very entertaining! I just hate the fact that our entertainment has cost these hard working people their time and money by trusting this guy! It seems like a bad situation all the way around.