Service from qt (or lack of)

[dirtydiesel]

I bought some of the original QT rods - before QT was really QT, just Dave flogging them at Sodbury.

I did manage to bend the track rod, but it was hitting a tree-stump doing about 30mph - so not surprising.

I mentioned it to him at billing - and he said "you know they have a lifetime warranty?" - which I didn't.

He replaced it on the spot - which impressed me hugely - even though I didn't have the bent one with me.

I have run the replacement one for many years now and it has never given me any problem. I'd buy another QT one, not just for te strength, but the exceptional customer service!

Si

So as not to hijack the track rods thread I've started another one.

I've had some really bad dealings with qt over a pair of radius arms I bought from them.

When they turned up, i was very disappointed with the quality of them, they looked as though they had been made by a blind man,

The welds were undercut, the stop/starts were awful, there was slag inclusion, in places the welds were "sat on top", the curved plates around the axle bushes were covered in "hammer marks" were they had been beaten to shape and the electroplating was of a very poor quality.

I complained,

They sent a courier to pick up the arms and drop off some "good" ones,

These were marginally better than the first set, but still poor.

More complaining got me almost nowhere, i couldn't speak to Dave as he was holiday, so their bloke got the "welder" to search through their stock for a really good pair.

When these arrived they were actually pretty good, but still not as good as i expected.

Throughout they gave no excuse or explanation as to why they were so poor, even though they recognised that there was a problem, and at no point did they apologise either.

Every since then i've bought my castor corrected arms from scorpion, and for all the flack they (deservedly) get, their arms are very nice.

(must be something to do with them being grey not orange)

PS. i have to add that in my opinion Scorpions (front) radius arms are there ONLY good product.

[white90]

I too have the QT arms and looked at both suppliers when I got mine

at Billing

QT I had to search all they had for some semi decent ones

Scorpion ones made by WV in Bradford IIRC as is all there body protection ones were better fabricated but

they weighed a cosiderable amount more.

So I purchased the QT ones.

[Guest weeble]

So as not to hijack the track rods thread I've started another one.

I've had some really bad dealings with qt over a pair of radius arms I bought from them.

When they turned up, i was very disappointed with the quality of them, they looked as though they had been made by a blind man,

The welds were undercut, the stop/starts were awful, there was slag inclusion, in places the welds were "sat on top", the curved plates around the axle bushes were covered in "hammer marks" were they had been beaten to shape and the electroplating was of a very poor quality.

I complained,

They sent a courier to pick up the arms and drop off some "good" ones,

These were marginally better than the first set, but still poor.

More complaining got me almost nowhere, i couldn't speak to Dave as he was holiday, so their bloke got the "welder" to search through their stock for a really good pair.

When these arrived they were actually pretty good, but still not as good as i expected.

Throughout they gave no excuse or explanation as to why they were so poor, even though they recognised that there was a problem, and at no point did they apologise either.

Every since then i've bought my castor corrected arms from scorpion, and for all the flack they (deservedly) get, their arms are very nice.

(must be something to do with them being grey not orange)

PS. i have to add that in my opinion Scorpions (front) radius arms are there ONLY good product.

Do you spend that much time upside down that the finishing on the weld really matters?.

Surely as long as the weld is strong is it really an issue?.

[dollythelw]

Do you spend that much time upside down that the finishing on the weld really matters?.

Surely as long as the weld is strong is it really an issue?.

in short - yes

structural welding always matters, dirtydiesel and I may haggle about axles (mainly because he's wrong and Im right ) but engineering is engineering and its should be done correctly and with pride,

A weld with inclusion, undercut or lack of penetration is worthless, better to kick it back before the lack of weld strength becomes an issue of safety as opposed to being nice to a supplier

[northernchris]

in short - yes

structural welding always matters, dirtydiesel and I may haggle about axles (mainly because he's wrong and Im right ) but engineering is engineering and its should be done correctly and with pride,

A weld with inclusion, undercut or lack of penetration is worthless, better to kick it back before the lack of weld strength becomes an issue of safety as opposed to being nice to a supplier

Bang on Gez

[TJ101]

Just out of intrest

SimonR's quote above is now not correct !!

I mentioned it to him at billing - and he said "you know they have a lifetime warranty?" - which I didn't.

they do NOT have a lifetime warranty, they may have done,but i ask this when i bent one, QT sent another at retail, but post free,

never had a problem with QT mind,

[ROGUE TROOPER]

May be this is all to do with the companies getting bigger?

QT (silly name!!) when a small company gave guarantees out as it assures that there product, in the open market, will stand out from all the rest. Also the amount of bits produced may have been limited.

Now they are much bigger they may have more to produce so Quality suffers...........very bad move!!

Lets hope they get there act together soon!

Better gold than orange

[freeagent]

its funny, i've looked at QT's stuff before and thought the welding looked carp...

i'm a bit picky about welding (not that im any good at it myself) and tend to think that a messy weld is probably a bad weld.

once you start looking into the science, and failure analysis of welding its scary.... welding changes the composition of the metal at that point and there are MANY things that can cause failure..

when i was working for the MOD they had some incinerator bins made for disposing of stuff in, they were huge, maybe 20T in weight and the welding was awfull, the first time they were used one of them split....

i know its not the same as landrover bits but its not a million miles away..

there is often some truly shocking welding knocking about at landrover shows... some of it looks like bird sh*t!

personally i'd run away from any welded product if the welding was anything less that a neat, perfect weld...

[simonr]

Ooops! Sorry for the bum steer then chaps!

I've not really looked at anything other than the steering rods - and I would still say they are pretty good.

When I bought the first set, the kind of off-roading we were all doing was pretty tame compared to now - so I guess that plays a part too?

I guess that a lifetime warranty on what is effectively a consumable part was a bad idea.

Si

[dirtydiesel]

Do you spend that much time upside down that the finishing on the weld really matters?.

Surely as long as the weld is strong is it really an issue?.

That's the entire point, a poor looking weld is almost never a strong weld,

If the welder hasn't taken the time to ensure a good finish, what’s to say he's not cut corners elsewhere.

Looked to me like they were a product of piece work with no quality control.

[widget]

QT (silly name!!)

I asked at Sodbury what it meant - Quad Track apparantly.

I thought it was something clever like Quality and Toughness.

Can't knock the firm for slapping the QT logo over all their kit though.

[Daan]

whenever I look at the QT stuff, it makes me feel better: Finally someone out there who can weld just as good as I can!

[Guest weeble]

That's the entire point, a poor looking weld is almost never a strong weld,

If the welder hasn't taken the time to ensure a good finish, what’s to say he's not cut corners elsewhere.

Looked to me like they were a product of piece work with no quality control.

As a matter of intrest, are you a trained welder ?.

[dirtydiesel]

As a matter of intrest, are you a trained welder ?.

Yes, why?

[dirtydiesel]

Yes, why?

The silence is deafening!

[Jon White]

All I'll say is look at the quality of the bends on their rollcages.........all deformed and wrinkled on the insides of the tubes - horrible.

I bought a hoop off of them and sent it back again.......

I've also got one of their dif guards - again required bending to get it to fit!

Not very impressed with their stuff really........

Jon

[Bull Bar Cowboy]

………….. well, there was nothing wrong with the bending that I had done apart from a couple of roller marks on the outer edges……….. certainly no kinks or wall failure. But then again I am local and known to be a fussy bas**d.

As for their welding ………… yes, I have heard it said that Will Warne could do better on a bad day.

I’m not sure but I think the radius arms are ‘bought in’ so there may be a supplier issue.

Generally speaking Dave Marsh is a thoroughly nice / very knowledgeable bloke who listens to what people want ……….. . He started off like SimonR ………..in a small way and grew to the point where he is full time (used to be a trumpton) with a few staff. I suppose it comes down to the fact that you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

Ian

[Guest weeble]

As a matter of intrest, has anybody had any of their products fail due to welding quality?.

[freeagent]

not on my Landrover, but i saw some horrific weld failures during my time working as a contractor for the MOD, and as i've been studying material science, and failure analysis throughout my engineering degree i know enough to avoid shody welding like the plague....

[honitonhobbit]

1). Have to echo what BBC said, known Dave on a professional basis since he started out and apart from the bl**dy pain in the ar*e fitting on the rear diff protectors, the only complaints I have ever heard about his work are on this forum...

2). Scorpion do a fair few good products. Just because Colin has a habit of copying other products and occasionally making a bit of a dogs dinner in the copying shouldn't tar all Scorpion kit with the same brush. The 2 reasons he copies are because (a). he has found that he can usually get away with it and (2). too few suppliers give decent trade discounts (NOT SIMON OKAY!!!) and he has high overheads. His RRC rear bumpers are a good example - superbly made, nice design, sh*te powder coating and OTT packaging all for a bl**dy good price and at the moment the best VFM on the 4x4 market.

[simonr]

1). Have to echo what BBC said, known Dave on a professional basis since he started out and apart from the bl**dy pain in the ar*e fitting on the rear diff protectors, the only complaints I have ever heard about his work are on this forum...

2). Scorpion do a fair few good products. Just because Colin has a habit of copying other products and occasionally making a bit of a dogs dinner in the copying shouldn't tar all Scorpion kit with the same brush. The 2 reasons he copies are because (a). he has found that he can usually get away with it and (2). too few suppliers give decent trade discounts (NOT SIMON OKAY!!!) and he has high overheads. His RRC rear bumpers are a good example - superbly made, nice design, sh*te powder coating and OTT packaging all for a bl**dy good price and at the moment the best VFM on the 4x4 market.

It is difficult to give the kind of discounts traders want (Need?) without making a loss yourself once you factor in your overheads.

I actually rather like some of the Scorpion kit - bumpers in particular. I'd sooner stick needles in my eyes than buy them - but they do look nice!

Si

[white90]

QT the welding on the Arms is bad looking but so far they've been ok strength wise.

the diff gaurds are a git to fit( pretty sure they aren't made by QT but for QT )

Stefan Pratcht<sp> had a QT cage that D44 rewelded as the welding was so bad.

not hearsay but from the horses mouth.

Dave gave me a reasonable discount when I purchased a few bits at the LRW show.

[dirtydiesel]

the only complaints I have ever heard about his work are on this forum...

What exactly do you mean by this, is it;

a)because no one has ever complained before there isn't a problem.

b)were making it up.

c)in your opinion the welding is fabulous.

d)Or is it that there has never been an open forum that would let threads like this run, so you've never heard the true opinions of others on the subject.

[honitonhobbit]

What exactly do you mean by this, is it;

a)because no one has ever complained before there isn't a problem.

b)were making it up.

c)in your opinion the welding is fabulous.

d)Or is it that there has never been an open forum that would let threads like this run, so you've never heard the true opinions of others on the subject.

Ooh tetchy!

I meant that the only complaints about QT stuff I have heard are here on this forum, no I don't believe you or you are full of pooh and your welding is as good as a chocolate fireguard. Get with the programme! I have not questioned your judgement, ability or penis size.

You have experienced issues with QT quality, you are experienced and knowledgeable about products enough said - you know what you are talking about. Therefore I believe you and your findings.

Funnily enough, most of the complaints I have heard about Scorpion, Frogs Island, Footloose, D4x4, Southdown et al have been on here. Now I know this place has it's share of techy/practical types and I also know there are a few hard core off roaders on here - as well as the odd numpty with as much driving ability as a snail and as much techy/practical nonce as a ripe banana. But that is no different from most fo the off road biased forums... And as for open forae, this place is pretty good but there are places even more open who would jump at the chance to have a good bitch about poor workmanship

I see a fair bit of QT stuff in my day to day work (and yes all the Guards are ba*t*rds to fit) and some of the welding looks worse than mine (sort of like a pidgeon with chronic bowel problems) but I have yet to see a failed product. Same can be said for most of the products on the market - apart from anything by X-Eng, a company that do not allow anything but the best quality!

[Les Henson]

If the welding is poor, then the whole thing is rubbish. A safety device can then become a death trap. Not insulting Dirtydiesels qualifications as a welder, but spotting poor welds isn't rocket science, if the weld looks like it's sitting on the metal, rather than a part of it, then it's not going to be strong enough for it's intended purpose. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that don't realise that their safety device could so easily be a killing projectile because some idiot can't weld properly.

carp welding is my pet hate.

(assuming you aren't going into x-rays/crack testing)

but I have yet to see a failed product

But it's obvious that with poor welding it's more likely.

Les.