Everyone who has used Advanced Racing Dynamics Please post!!
08-21-2012, 12:20 PM
#41
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G force had to completely change everything on my old 98 ss ard managed to totally screw up and charge me for. It was so bad on my car, I had them put everything back stock including cam, then had to restart my build all over (they kept my custom grind cam I paid for btw) and then I had to keep bringing back my "stage 3" transmission that kept blowing every 1000 miles after they rebuilt it and installed a 2800 stall I paid for, come to find out it was a spray painted stock converter. They charged me for an ultimate starter because they broke the starter bolt on my perfectly good starter. All and all the only thing they did do correct was the magnaflow exhaust and new steering rack. Owen got me for well over 7k,and I got a magnaflow exhaust and steering rack out of it. Please stay clear of that place, they are very bad news!!!!
08-21-2012, 12:43 PM
#43
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I posted in the LSXnation thread with pictures of my botched build from ARD. I took a 3rd gen to them for a LS swap with a rebuilt cammed 6.0. I ended up getting a car back that made less HP than my TPI (220rwhp), and ended up fragging itself.
Problems:
-Shorted O2
-MAP sensor hold down broken and leaking
-3 vacuum leaks on the TB
-150k+ mile STOCK 6.0 LQ4 (spun a bearing), instead of a rebuilt LQ9 I paid for.
-Manifolds were welded to the exhaust with a 1/2" leak
-FP wire rubbed the trans and shorted stranding me
-Alternator blew 4 times, stranding me each time
-They cut my trunk into 5 pieces to replace a fuel pump and glued the pieces back in
-4L60E used with a 4L80E flexplate, killed the converter and chewed the splines off the input shaft.
-Driver's door edge was crumpled
-Rocker panel was crushed in 4"
-"Painless" wiring harness that cost me $800 was in pieces and hacked back together
-Owen/Jay claimed none of the stock gauges would work, I had to connect them all as they didn't even attempt to.
-Tune was garbage, looked like a toddler punched numbers in at random.
Now the car is bound for the scrap yard.
From my experience, they prey on those that couldn't afford recourse and like to keep their customers with much fatter wallets happy.
Problems:
-Shorted O2
-MAP sensor hold down broken and leaking
-3 vacuum leaks on the TB
-150k+ mile STOCK 6.0 LQ4 (spun a bearing), instead of a rebuilt LQ9 I paid for.
-Manifolds were welded to the exhaust with a 1/2" leak
-FP wire rubbed the trans and shorted stranding me
-Alternator blew 4 times, stranding me each time
-They cut my trunk into 5 pieces to replace a fuel pump and glued the pieces back in
-4L60E used with a 4L80E flexplate, killed the converter and chewed the splines off the input shaft.
-Driver's door edge was crumpled
-Rocker panel was crushed in 4"
-"Painless" wiring harness that cost me $800 was in pieces and hacked back together
-Owen/Jay claimed none of the stock gauges would work, I had to connect them all as they didn't even attempt to.
-Tune was garbage, looked like a toddler punched numbers in at random.
Now the car is bound for the scrap yard.
From my experience, they prey on those that couldn't afford recourse and like to keep their customers with much fatter wallets happy.
08-21-2012, 01:14 PM
#44
Originally Posted by ARDLS1
Originally Posted by jdoyle
The thread has been locked by the moderator Brains, i cannot do anything to the thread.
Originally Posted by ARDLS1
Jason you made a big mistake mentioning my personal name. Defamation? Defamation, sometimes called "defamation of character" , is spoken or written words that falsely and negatively reflect on a living person's reputation. If a person or the news media says or writes something about you that is understood to lower your reputation, or keeps people from associating with you, defamation has occurred. Slander and libel are two forms of defamation. I have put a lawyer on retainer yesterday and plan on sueing your for Defamation. My lawyer says I have a open and shut case of this. I want no more trouble with you. We are about to spend a lot of money with legal fees, and settlements. I will be sueing for more than $10,000 in damages for the post on LS1 tech. I spent a $1,000.00 on retainer yesterday. I hope you dad is ready to spend some real money. I will give you one day to have the post removed and I will not proceed. If not i will be filling the case by Fri.
Owen Priest
Owen Priest
I don't know why my father was mentioned, he just gave me rides up there when my car "ready."
Last edited by jdoyle; 08-21-2012 at 01:22 PM.
08-21-2012, 05:33 PM
#47
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Here is a pm Owen sent to me back in 2006 after I started that thread about my experiences with the clown show he calls a shop. Everyone stop posting about your bad experiences with ard! He is going to take you to court for slander/libel/defamation of character! LOL!
I don't know why my father was mentioned, he just gave me rides up there when my car "ready."
I don't know why my father was mentioned, he just gave me rides up there when my car "ready."
Here are a few pics, I think I moved them and had them bumped off the old LSX thread:
Painless harness, butchered and wrapped around itself:
"rebuilt LQ9" With less than 10k on it after the swap:
4L80E plate with the 4L80E crank spacer still on it, elongated holes to force the 4L60E converter to fit:
Chewed up pump shaft:
"2800 stall" something inside tore apart, appears to be a stock rebuilt 'verter:
08-21-2012, 06:49 PM
#48
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The OP is from your site LSX Nation... It's old **** that you are obviously profiting from, not me... I don't give a rats *** either way. In fact, I asked on your site to talk with this guy personally to substantiate this claim and it was met with immediate BS. Guess I'll just butt out and let you guys have at it with the one post wonder. No sweat off my back.
The guy that Steve (EvilredSS) was referring toand the OP in this thread are 2 different people.
Do these sound like the same experience to you? He just signed up today BTW, you can look for yourself if you like, and as it turns out, he's a ******* buddy of yours anyway
Hey fellas, I'm Nate... EvilRedSS's unfortunate apache buddy with the ARD issues...
Anyways i'm not going to say much, except for how I wish I had done more research before going to ARD.
Nonetheless, it was my fault, and nobody elses. I went for the cheaper cam and head package and ended up being sold a transmission upgrade.
Long story short, after getting no response from emails and phone calls to ARD, I gave up on going back to have them fix the many issues I was having. Still kinda disappointed that they would do a servicemember like they did, but oh well. I guess a paying customer is just another paying customer.
I can't say enough good things about Gforce. Mike tuned it and was able to fix most of the issues. it idles better, gas mileage went from 8 to 11.5 and it doesn't take 6-8 keyturns to turn on everytime. Unfortunately, they found out my transmission is all kinds of jacked up. Apparently the ARD tune was soo bad too that alot of the issues with the tranny weren't so noticeable. I also found out that when you put your AT in Neutral, the car is NOT supposed to move backwards...
Anyways now i'm having Circle D rebuild it and upgrade it for alot of money. But I believe it will finally be done right.
I'm not trying to jump on the hate ARD bandwagon, as Mlee is a buddy of mine, but since I came across the post, i figured I would tell the story of what happened with my personal experience.
Anyways i'm not going to say much, except for how I wish I had done more research before going to ARD.
Nonetheless, it was my fault, and nobody elses. I went for the cheaper cam and head package and ended up being sold a transmission upgrade.
Long story short, after getting no response from emails and phone calls to ARD, I gave up on going back to have them fix the many issues I was having. Still kinda disappointed that they would do a servicemember like they did, but oh well. I guess a paying customer is just another paying customer.
I can't say enough good things about Gforce. Mike tuned it and was able to fix most of the issues. it idles better, gas mileage went from 8 to 11.5 and it doesn't take 6-8 keyturns to turn on everytime. Unfortunately, they found out my transmission is all kinds of jacked up. Apparently the ARD tune was soo bad too that alot of the issues with the tranny weren't so noticeable. I also found out that when you put your AT in Neutral, the car is NOT supposed to move backwards...
Anyways now i'm having Circle D rebuild it and upgrade it for alot of money. But I believe it will finally be done right.
I'm not trying to jump on the hate ARD bandwagon, as Mlee is a buddy of mine, but since I came across the post, i figured I would tell the story of what happened with my personal experience.
Ok, so I don't know how many of you have ever brought your car someplace that did a very bad job, but I’m sure you would have wished someone had told you before you brought your car there right?
First let me just say that this is not a plug for another shop or a personal issue, this is exactly what happened to me.
Here is just a short summary of what happend to me, and I have all the supporting documentation.
I brought my car to Advanced Racing Dynamics to have the driveline upgraded and replaced. Originally it was only supposed to cost 3000 dollars, in the end I spend 13,000+++ dollars. How is this possible you ask? Good question
I was supposed to take a couple of months, they needed to pull the driveline and replace it with a unit I supplied from another car. It was in perfect condition, ARD just needed to install components which I supplied brand new. Injectors, turbo, fuel rail, clutch etc.. Nothing cheap or used, brand new.
Ok so 2 months turns into 6 months, then 8 months. At this point I’m want my car back finished or not. Always it's "hey this part needs to be replaced", again and again all brand new!! I keep getting replacement parts and the dealers are asking whets going on? They have never had this part fail ever!! We are talking about injectors, clutches, fuel regulators. I will spare you the details let's just say ARD and I spoke often each time one item such as the fuel regulator install would be completed.
So finally I get the call "The car is done". So I drive the car and it goes right back to the shop. Died right there on the test drive had to be towed, did not run right to begin with!! Then a succession of problems everything from missing bolts to it wouldn't idle. Day after day it comes home then goes back.
Finally the engine goes and the culprit? The clutch was disk installed backwards and burned up the thrust bearings. How do I know? People who used to work there apologized to me and told me not to let Owen charge me for the damage.
So then what? I buy a new brand new bottom end, finally start to drive it and it blows a rod. Less than 500 break in miles never raced or driven hard.
Now a well known and reputable shop gets the car and goes through everything. I don’t even have the time or patience to list all of the items here they found. Everything that was done was done half assed. Three months later the car is picked up and I have pictures of everything they did.
Three really great ones I would like to share, fuel pump wires were pinched and shorted IN THE FUEL TANK I’m sure that was completely safe!! The turbo return line was stainless braided line- BUT HEY JUST CAUSE IT'S RUBBER ON THE INSIDE DOESN'T MEAN IT CAN'T BE USED AGAINST THE HEADER!!! So what if it LEAKS OIL ON THE HEADER I’m sure that's fine no fire hazard there. Or maybe the rubber intercooler connectors that burned through since they were on the headers as well should have been "Built better”. I could continue but I think everyone gets the picture--- Now it's up to you would you want your friends to take your car there? I wouldn’t---
First let me just say that this is not a plug for another shop or a personal issue, this is exactly what happened to me.
Here is just a short summary of what happend to me, and I have all the supporting documentation.
I brought my car to Advanced Racing Dynamics to have the driveline upgraded and replaced. Originally it was only supposed to cost 3000 dollars, in the end I spend 13,000+++ dollars. How is this possible you ask? Good question
I was supposed to take a couple of months, they needed to pull the driveline and replace it with a unit I supplied from another car. It was in perfect condition, ARD just needed to install components which I supplied brand new. Injectors, turbo, fuel rail, clutch etc.. Nothing cheap or used, brand new.
Ok so 2 months turns into 6 months, then 8 months. At this point I’m want my car back finished or not. Always it's "hey this part needs to be replaced", again and again all brand new!! I keep getting replacement parts and the dealers are asking whets going on? They have never had this part fail ever!! We are talking about injectors, clutches, fuel regulators. I will spare you the details let's just say ARD and I spoke often each time one item such as the fuel regulator install would be completed.
So finally I get the call "The car is done". So I drive the car and it goes right back to the shop. Died right there on the test drive had to be towed, did not run right to begin with!! Then a succession of problems everything from missing bolts to it wouldn't idle. Day after day it comes home then goes back.
Finally the engine goes and the culprit? The clutch was disk installed backwards and burned up the thrust bearings. How do I know? People who used to work there apologized to me and told me not to let Owen charge me for the damage.
So then what? I buy a new brand new bottom end, finally start to drive it and it blows a rod. Less than 500 break in miles never raced or driven hard.
Now a well known and reputable shop gets the car and goes through everything. I don’t even have the time or patience to list all of the items here they found. Everything that was done was done half assed. Three months later the car is picked up and I have pictures of everything they did.
Three really great ones I would like to share, fuel pump wires were pinched and shorted IN THE FUEL TANK I’m sure that was completely safe!! The turbo return line was stainless braided line- BUT HEY JUST CAUSE IT'S RUBBER ON THE INSIDE DOESN'T MEAN IT CAN'T BE USED AGAINST THE HEADER!!! So what if it LEAKS OIL ON THE HEADER I’m sure that's fine no fire hazard there. Or maybe the rubber intercooler connectors that burned through since they were on the headers as well should have been "Built better”. I could continue but I think everyone gets the picture--- Now it's up to you would you want your friends to take your car there? I wouldn’t---
And here we go, you want to attack someone's credibility? Let's talk about yours for a second....
You just said this in that same post yesterday:
I'm not here to defend them in anyway, but I just saw 5 ARD cars in the top 16 5th Gen shootout at Lucas Oil Speedway last week and see them all over town with happy customers. Hennessey/Fastlane and others have their skeletons too, so if you want to bring something recent to the table I'm all ears, until then your old grudge doesn't hold much weight.
Originally Posted by MLee
Randy,
OK... here goes, then I'll take a leave of absense for a while. I can't come off the way I really want to on this thread, but my head is far from in the sand. I also can't list any of the good things, as I'll get bashed hard and rightfully so on this site.
Their work is definitely sloppy and I've never discounted anything anyone has said. Problem is I need current stuff, not the same old 2006 stories over and over. I also didn't mean for someone else to give me the guys number. I figured he would be on here himself and could PM me. Now I find out it was just another old incident which does me no good at this point.
We have turned down 4 good shops as sponsors just because ARD is on board. Our club pres only wants one sponsor for each discipline which I don't like, especially when there are better shops out there. I will say we do get a lot out of them. Large cash donations to our charities each year (over 1G) and a ton of support for the members, which is why they, in turn, support ARD so much. Feedback is not all 100% positive, but it's always taken car of when things aren't right. Still too sloppy for my liking.
It's been 3 years with them and a ton of good builds. I know it pisses you guys off that we have basically kept them in business and I can't blame you for that. I think it was 2 or 3 weeks after we hooked up w/ them that you gave me a hard warning.
I'm still going to try and move some other shops in... in fact we are visiting one next week and I hope to bend the pres' ear some more. Also, contrary to belief, our members are not exclusive to ARD... mainly because they are informed about stuff from here. You guys have definitley taken a toll on their business. Heck I've even been called out for not referring folks to our sponsor.
Anyway I'll end my rant... I was just hoping this guy had something that I was unaware of and could use to help the cause... apparently not. Do hope to see you around sometime soon.
Cheers,
Mike
OK... here goes, then I'll take a leave of absense for a while. I can't come off the way I really want to on this thread, but my head is far from in the sand. I also can't list any of the good things, as I'll get bashed hard and rightfully so on this site.
Their work is definitely sloppy and I've never discounted anything anyone has said. Problem is I need current stuff, not the same old 2006 stories over and over. I also didn't mean for someone else to give me the guys number. I figured he would be on here himself and could PM me. Now I find out it was just another old incident which does me no good at this point.
We have turned down 4 good shops as sponsors just because ARD is on board. Our club pres only wants one sponsor for each discipline which I don't like, especially when there are better shops out there. I will say we do get a lot out of them. Large cash donations to our charities each year (over 1G) and a ton of support for the members, which is why they, in turn, support ARD so much. Feedback is not all 100% positive, but it's always taken car of when things aren't right. Still too sloppy for my liking.
It's been 3 years with them and a ton of good builds. I know it pisses you guys off that we have basically kept them in business and I can't blame you for that. I think it was 2 or 3 weeks after we hooked up w/ them that you gave me a hard warning.
I'm still going to try and move some other shops in... in fact we are visiting one next week and I hope to bend the pres' ear some more. Also, contrary to belief, our members are not exclusive to ARD... mainly because they are informed about stuff from here. You guys have definitley taken a toll on their business. Heck I've even been called out for not referring folks to our sponsor.
Anyway I'll end my rant... I was just hoping this guy had something that I was unaware of and could use to help the cause... apparently not. Do hope to see you around sometime soon.
Cheers,
Mike
Don't pretend to be my friend and then come over here and talk **** like this
08-21-2012, 06:59 PM
#49
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Does anyone know who Jay is that worked at ARD? First and last name I can do more good being honest, truthful and anonymous. If anyone needs my help in a lawsuit or anything else happens in regards to this post send me a message.
Just an idea but why does anyone have to limit their posts to this website?
I am so sick of hearing people being ripped off by this guy. I am very lucky that the fuel tank did not ignite, I'm guessing the only reason was there was no oxygen in the fuel tank?
"Mike, I hate to bust your bubble, but like I said before I don't think he is lol. I have absolutely no idea who he is. If he was from my site I can assure you I would certainly know..."
Just an idea but why does anyone have to limit their posts to this website?
I am so sick of hearing people being ripped off by this guy. I am very lucky that the fuel tank did not ignite, I'm guessing the only reason was there was no oxygen in the fuel tank?
"Mike, I hate to bust your bubble, but like I said before I don't think he is lol. I have absolutely no idea who he is. If he was from my site I can assure you I would certainly know..."
08-21-2012, 07:30 PM
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And another thing Mr. Lee this is not the same old news. You have no idea when this happened to me and who I am. I assure you I have photographs and statements from witnesses. I heard that there were some recent changes at ARD maybe somone who used to work there might want to talk now about what was going on? just an Idea Jay would be nice if you would step up and talk about it. "Confess your sins brother and yea shall be forgiven" LOL If karma steps in, sounds like you will step off the curb and be killed by a 3rd gen-
08-21-2012, 08:17 PM
#51
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Amazing!!!! This happened to my ard built trans less than 300 miles after I picked up. They repaired (more like botched) it together and it blew apart two more times, thankfully the car got totaled before I could bring it back for try # 4 on trans.
08-21-2012, 09:58 PM
#53
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Let's refresh everyone's mind of my car's infamy, shall we?
Mike, I hate to bust your bubble, but like I said before I don't think he is lol. I have absolutely no idea who he is. If he was from my site I can assure you I would certainly know...
Yep. I keep telling Mike that I stood right there in his shoes a few years ago. I used to be the guy here on LS1Tech defending Owen's bullshit to all of the people that wanted to run him down. I finally woke up, the 5th gen guys need to do the same
Mike, I hate to bust your bubble, but like I said before I don't think he is lol. I have absolutely no idea who he is. If he was from my site I can assure you I would certainly know...
Yep. I keep telling Mike that I stood right there in his shoes a few years ago. I used to be the guy here on LS1Tech defending Owen's bullshit to all of the people that wanted to run him down. I finally woke up, the 5th gen guys need to do the same
08-21-2012, 10:38 PM
#55
On The Tree
Then I get here and find that one mention of this guy being from your site (which I was about to correct) and you go over the top. WoW...just WoW. I've got phone # if you're that pissed. My tune has always been the same... absolutely nothing has changed. You can call me your friend (I can dig up PM's too), then flip flop all you want and and try and crap all over me, but you are wrong and you know it. I think Chad took care of himself just fine without your rant, but you left that part out.
And another thing Mr. Lee this is not the same old news. You have no idea when this happened to me and who I am. I assure you I have photographs and statements from witnesses. I heard that there were some recent changes at ARD maybe somone who used to work there might want to talk now about what was going on? just an Idea Jay would be nice if you would step up and talk about it. "Confess your sins brother and yea shall be forgiven" LOL If karma steps in, sounds like you will step off the curb and be killed by a 3rd gen-
Later guys, I tried... and Randy just blew it.
Last edited by mlee; 09-16-2012 at 10:19 AM. Reason: remove the appology... turns out I was dead on.
08-22-2012, 11:36 AM
#56
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Back in 09' Owen tuned my 99' Camaro after the mod work was done by someone else. The car never ran right. It would die slowing down to turn a corner. I nearly hit the median or curb many times because of this. It would die at a stop light if I turned my AC on. Even with the AC off it would die just sitting at a stop for more than 60 seconds. If I started the car in the garage it would smell up the inside of my house. Your eyes would water if you stood behind the car (trying to make an idle video). I had some work done to the car in 11' by G-force and a new tune by them and the car is normal now.
That's a shame. The stock market did that to me. LOL. No more stock trades for me!
That's a shame. The stock market did that to me. LOL. No more stock trades for me!
08-23-2012, 04:17 PM
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So what happend to my post on Camaro5? CARE TO COMMENT MLEE? So I posted on Camaro5.com gave them the link to this post. Guess what? They deleted my post and banned the IP. I'm not surprised, and for the record I hope I get the opportunity to bring forward all my documents and witnesses it will give me the chance to get this into court. He actually posted a picture of himself as a Boy Scout and a Super hero. I couldn't even make it up if I wanted too---
MLEE all I have to say is censorship is a coward’s way out. Everyone should know that they are once again trying to cover this up and there’s a guy who just got screwed out of a tranny. Active military I hope that makes you feel good, those guys don’t make squat, yep keep defending him-
MLEE all I have to say is censorship is a coward’s way out. Everyone should know that they are once again trying to cover this up and there’s a guy who just got screwed out of a tranny. Active military I hope that makes you feel good, those guys don’t make squat, yep keep defending him-
08-23-2012, 06:30 PM
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They think he is a god over there at camaro5. All you can do is warn people and if they get screwed after they have been warned; so be it - let them learn the hard way. But, he must do some good work or else he would not have the following he does?
08-23-2012, 10:15 PM
#60
On The Tree
MLEE all I have to say is censorship is a coward’s way out. Everyone should know that they are once again trying to cover this up and there’s a guy who just got screwed out of a tranny. Active military I hope that makes you feel good, those guys don’t make squat, yep keep defending him-
You sir are the Coward hiding behind fake usernames, won't answer PM's and making posts that get deleted by the C5... Like I'm the sensorship guy.. LMAO
In contrast the other guy went about it in the right way and is getting a lot of support from other car guys like myself. I'm done reponding to someone I probably know, but obviously hiding for whatever reason.
