New Treadstone FMIC Kit

[Mike@Stratified]

Yeah, fuck that piping kit. I spent several hours, taking my time, trying to make it fit in a way I considered satisfactory and failed. Removed it and will be contacting @RPM; for a refund or exchange. I'll also be calling Treadstone to ask them WTF they were thinking releasing this POS. The core is top notch; they should stick to that.

In the words of the late Johnny Cochran: "If the kit does not fit, don't release that shit."

[jeopardy98]

Yea I'm super disappointed. I work way too damn hard for my money and really regret spending that much cash on this shitty kit. I didn't even bother with trying to return it because the damn return shipping charges or "stocking" fees I'm sure they would hit me with would end up making me have to keep it. Also after my dealings with the company and the owner they certainly won't care. Sucks all around.

[ImGryssLOL]

I'm not glad everyone is having as bad of a time as me but I'm glad I'm not the only one with issues

[RACER_X]

Originally Posted by Tokay444 Fuck it. Not waiting for the own kit. Picked up a TurboXS kit. Love their shit.

All the links I can find show it for a genjuan.

[jeopardy98]

Because that is what it is for.

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by RACER_X All the links I can find show it for a genjuan.

Why would I be waiting for a kit that's already released?

[kidlifecrisis]

Im in the process of stocking out to hopefully have an issue resolved under warranty, so my kit may not go on until spring.

But I really do want to see pictures, everything I've heard so far sounds like it can be resolved with some elbow grease and creativity.

If the pipes themselves have issues however, that could be more of a problem.

Post pics, guys!

[Mike@Stratified]

My phone ate the pictures I took of the hot pipe to IC pipe connection and I'm old so my memory is horrible, but does anyone else who has done this install think that that connection issue could be resolved or at least made better with a 30 degree elbow coupler?

[neganox]

Originally Posted by Mike@Stratified My phone ate the pictures I took of the hot pipe to IC pipe connection and I'm old so my memory is horrible, but does anyone else who has done this install think that that connection issue could be resolved or at least made better with a 30 degree elbow coupler?

I'd say a couple of bump style couplers would make a good bit of difference.

[dockinstation]

I have a strong feeling this kit will be nothing but future headaches and leaks. If I got a new pipe with the meth bung I may be semi happy but at this point I have no faith in this set up. I feel like I wasted $699.

[Gr8Speed]

Guys that bought this instead of holding out for the JBR kit...

[keychain12]

Is the customer service everyone has been receiving not going well? I feel like these fitment/meth bung issues are easily corrected through small adjustments from treadstone. Do they not accept your feedback?

[Gr8Speed]

Originally Posted by keychain12 Is the customer service everyone has been receiving not going well? I feel like these fitment/meth bung issues are easily corrected through small adjustments from treadstone. Do they not accept your feedback?

From what I've gathered about TRE in the past... if your money is already in their pockets nce.

[chaser27]

Originally Posted by Gr8Speed Guys that bought this instead of holding out for the JBR kit...

For something where the internal air is ALWAYS going to be higher than ambient (excluding pre-IC meth which I think is dumb anyway) I'd rather not have 85% silicon tubing, aka insulation.

[Gr8Speed]

Originally Posted by chaser27 For something where the internal air is ALWAYS going to be higher than ambient (excluding pre-IC meth which I think is dumb anyway) I'd rather not have 85% silicon tubing, aka insulation.

Lol

[Tokay444]

LOL@JBR kit.

[RPM]

Sorry for not responding to this thread sooner. I was at SEMA and stayed busy processing orders in between, etc.

Anyhow, I just talked to Tony regarding the meth bung issue. He said that no one had called about it so far, but he was able to replicate the issue while I was on the phone. It's the end of the day, so he's going to figure out what happened tomorrow and get back with me with (a) what happened and (b) how they are going to resolve the issue for those who have it.

I'm also sending him some pictures of the crash bar fitment that a couple of you have sent. It looks like all of the holes line up except for the top ones on the side, so that's what I'm sending him pictures of.

Our goal was to get everyone a good kit at a reasonable price. The price was right and we thought that all of the issues had been resolved. That obviously wasn't the case, so we're going to work with Treadstone to make it right. I'll follow up once I hear back.

[Mx52star]

I spoke to the owner this evening, he said and I quote "The meth bungs were taped poorly, people will have to get a 1/8" npt tap and chase the threads before they put the bung in."
He urged any one that has questions or concerns to please call them. He said they are working diligently and swiftly to correct this issue.
They are going over all their kits and resolving this issue now, so there will be no further issues related to the meth bung.

[jeopardy98]

Lip service. He told me some stuff too and then passed it off on another employee that took 2 days to contact me and ask me for my address that I had already provided to them twice.

Treadstone, not RPM just to clarify.

[RusianKid]

Originally Posted by jeopardy98 Lip service. He told me some stuff too ava then owned it odd on another employee that took 2 days to contact me and ask me for my address that I had already provided to them twice. Treadstone, not RPM just to clarify.

I have no idea what you are saying...

[BlackFlag]

Originally Posted by RusianKid I have no idea what you are saying...

How do you not understand? They are bullshitting him every time he calls.
Also, you give him shit but you can't even spell "Russian". It's in your username.

Fuck you noob.

[Mx52star]

I am just trying help everyone out that is having issues.

[jeopardy98]

Edited to make sense

[RusianKid]

Originally Posted by BlackFlag How do you not understand? They are bullshitting him every time he calls. Also, you give him shit but you can't even spell "Russian". It's in your username. Fuck you noob.

Never though my user name would come to haunt me...LOL

The double 'R" was taken on MR2oc, so I did the proper ESL thing.

[ImGryssLOL]

No one has called him on it? BULL FUCKING SHIT.

The first email I sent them I told them about several issues aside from fitment. INCLUDING THE SHIT METH BUNG that had metal shavings in it just waiting for my engine to eat. I also told them about that issue the first two times I called them.

mxstar has been supr helpful by being in contact with people over there and I don't know if you recall this being on the long list of issues I had with the kit.

BAD FITMENT OF CRAPBAR
BAD FIRMENT OF HOT PIPES PRE IC (not meeting 100% and using the coupler to make up the difference and hitting the a/c compressor)
BAD FITMENT OF TURBO/HOTPIPE COUPLER
BAD FITMENT OF BPV HOSE
METAL SHAVINGS IN METH BUNG AND NEEDING TO SEAL IT WITH LIQUID PLUMBERS TAPE
TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE (I'll call you back, in two weeks)
SELLING ME A FUCKING PROTOTYPE CRASH BAR THEY KNEW WOULD NOT FIT BUT NEGLECTED TO TELL ME, had no issues telling RPM that while not returning my calls or E-mail.

I got one of the first kits and was one of the first to get it installed, I was hesistant about making a huge fuss and hoped I was a isolated case but it keeps getting worse...

And on top of that they are now saying no one told them of this issue?! Fuck that, I spoke in detail to Tony, Victor and Jason over there about all of this, none of them wanted to be the least bit helpful about anything.


I figure I'll post this now.

After I got my proto bar and called them about it and other fitment issues. I was asked to send pictures etc etc etc, I spoke with Tony, he would talk to the owner and get right back to me... no call back

Four days later I call again, I talk to Victor, he has no idea what I'm talking about, send pictures again, go over everything again. He will talk to the owner and get right back to me... no call back

Two days later I call again, talk to Jason, he tells me he heard about it but wants me to send pictures etc etc etc... So I do... again, he says he will talk to the fabricator and get back to me... no call back

I got on vacation, I call them a week later. By this time it has come out that I have a proto bar that they told RPM they know would not fit and the issue was corrected for production models, now I'm kinda upset. I talk to Tony again, he says he will talk to the owner and call me back. I say no, I'll hold and talk to him myself. I am left on hold for 20 minutes to talk to Jason, the owner.

Jason says he looked at the pictures and will offer me a 40$ refund because that is what he would charge to bore out the holes to make the crash bar fir to the upper radiator support (still doesn't fit the hood support issue. I say fuck that, I paid full pop for a high quality kit, I didn't get that. He says he understands but he has a busisness to run and can't take a loss, then offers to sell me a alum bar at his cost. NO THANKS. So we go around and round, he then offers to send me a new alum bar if I send him the steel one and pay shipping both ways, but doing that would leave my car down until they have stock of the alum bar (should be two weeks). I finally get him to send me the alum bar (that he took from someones kit by the way) and I ship him back the steel one, I still pay shipping both ways.

Now being on the phone for a good hour I agree to that, I just want something that fits so I can move on.

But for them to say they have not heard of the issue is a bold faced lie

[jeopardy98]

I'm tempted to pull this kit and ask for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking. No bullshit. I don't care that it has been installed. I want my money back. Damn I'm tempted. I'll keep the core though. That's a nice piece.

[Mike@Stratified]

I'm going to try to work something out with RPM. I'm not adverse to trying some different couplers to make it fit more satisfactorily.

I'm going to take 30 minutes and hang my TR6 core on the front of the car again this weekend (I hope) to see where the inlet/outlet line up on the car compared to the TR8 with the Treadstone crashbar. My guess is that they are identical or very, very close, which would negate the claim that the pipes were never meant to work with the TR6 and stock crashbar.

[neganox]

So.... The real question is when are we getting Treadstone Eats Penises stickers made?

[jeopardy98]

They make nice cores though. To give then credit where it is due.

[Mauro_Penguin]

Sorry it took me so long to post up pics of everything, but here it is....

Issues with my kit (not sure if it's the same for everyone else).....

COLD PIPE - the threads on the bung are not 1/8npt. At least not on mine. I don't know what they attempted to tap it to, or if they just got sloppy during the threading process, but the two closest threads that I found to sort of thread even half way were SAE 3/8-24 and M10-1.00. With some patience, lube, and careful handwork I'm sure I can get one of these to thread all the way through and seal. Not sure what that will do for meth later or if anyone else chooses to chase them through, the bung was nice to have but I may do something different when I get a meth kit so not a huge issue for me.

The piping couplers on my kit were actually nice. I didn't get any of the "cut by a 9 year old with a butter knife" ones. Either way I need to get different couplers for mine since I got a tr10. So if anyone needs some I can spare the 4 from my kit, I still need the turbo elbow though, for now anyway....

From holding the piping together I can definitely tell that a hump coupler, or 30* coupler as stated before, will remedy the odd curve on the hot pipe union.

CRASH BAR - after a minute or two of staring at this thing, and a couple of minutes of measuring, the mounting bracket ends are not parallel and are welded on croaked. The sides are straight edges and the bottom end measures 30" or so, meanwhile the top measures about 30 1/4". The holes are not drilled in the same mirrored locations as I'm sure they are supposed to be; however I am not sure if this was poor drill work, or if they had a jig made and since the bracket ends were not parallel, then the drill holes will not be in the intended locations.

Whatever the case is I got a 1/4" drill saw bit to widen or oblong the holes on this thing when I go to put it in. I can definitely see the issue for anyone trying to install this thing straight on. I don't even know how some of you guys say you muscled it in. The brackets that hold the core seem to be in their intended location though.

HARDWARE - anyone else get a goofy sack of washers? They sent me an extra lock washer instead of a flat washer. Not a big deal. I'll hit up the hardware store again later and fix that, and also pick up some stainless steel hardware since the enclosed bolts look like they will rust fairly quickly.

I can see why some of you guys are mad, especially since this is sold as a direct bolt on kit. Overall though the crash bar is pretty solid, and I love the piping kit. 3 pipe's as opposed to a billion unions is a big win, even with that fucked up meth bung.

I enclosed a few pictures of the crash bar, piping threading, bolts, and drill bit I got.

LESSON FOR THE DAY: IF YOU HAVEN'T INSTALLED THE KIT YET, TAKE SOME TIME TO INVENTORY YOUR PARTS AND JUDGE ACCORDINGLY.

[neganox]

I didn't even think of using a saw bit. Good call man.

[Mauro_Penguin]

Originally Posted by neganox I didn't even think of using a saw bit. Good call man.

I had it in mind before to shift the crash bar up slightly and help make room for my core. After holding it in person it seems like with the right bit and oil, the aluminum can be bored out fairly easily.

[Mauro_Penguin]

Here are some pics to better show what I was talking about with regard to the crash bar. The top and bottom are about 1/4" off (my previous numbers were off, I was tired.) Again, not sure if they have a goofy jig or not and drilled offset due to the ends of the crashbar being off. However given the variance of the holes I doubt it. Sloppy drilling is all it boils down to.

[RPM]

Okay, I just got off the phone with Tony at Treadstone.

Regarding the meth bung:
The meth bung was tapped incorrectly. Any future kits shipped will be tapped correctly. For those that already have the piping, you have 3 options depending upon which one works best for you.

1. Ship the pipe back to Treadstone and they will properly tap it and send it back. Treadstone pays for shipping both ways.
2. Treadstone will send you a 1/8-NPT tap so that you can fix it yourself without having to send in the pipe.
3. If you can't wait for the shipping time for either of the above options, you can use your own 1/8-NPT tap to solve the problem.

Regarding the crash bar:
Treadstone test fit the crash bar before anything shipped out, but due to the reports, they had a car come back for another fitment and were still able to get the holes to line up. In the couple pictures I have seen, and in the ones I sent to Tony,the holes appeared to be drilled a little too far to the right. Tony said that if you loosen all of the bolts and slide the bar to the left, the holes at the top will line up. So basically, the solution is to put in all of the lower bolts without tightening them down, then slide the bar to the left, put in the top bolts, then tighten everything down. This should work for all crash bars that have shipped. Going forward, they are going to oval out the top holes so that this won't be necessary going forward.

[trekkie1031]

Originally Posted by RPM Okay, I just got off the phone with Tony at Treadstone. Regarding the meth bung: The meth bung was tapped incorrectly. Any future kits shipped will be tapped correctly. For those that already have the piping, you have 3 options depending upon which one works best for you. Ship the pipe back to Treadstone and they will properly tap it and send it back. Treadstone pays for shipping both ways. Treadstone will send you a 1/8-NPT tap so that you can fix it yourself without having to send in the pipe. If you can't wait for the shipping time for either of the above options, you can use your own 1/8-NPT tap to solve the problem. Regarding the crash bar: Treadstone test fit the crash bar before anything shipped out, but due to the reports, they had a car come back for another fitment and were still able to get the holes to line up. In the couple pictures I have seen, and in the ones I sent to Tony,the holes appeared to be drilled a little too far to the right. Tony said that if you loosen all of the bolts and slide the bar to the left, the holes at the top will line up. So basically, the solution is to put in all of the lower bolts without tightening them down, then slide the bar to the left, put in the top bolts, then tighten everything down. This should work for all crash bars that have shipped. Going forward, they are going to oval out the top holes so that this won't be necessary going forward.

Aaaaand this is why I buy from rpm.

[jeopardy98]

What about the pipes that don't line up at all? That is my main concern. Hot side connection specifically.

[ImGryssLOL]

Originally Posted by jeopardy98 What about the pipes that don't line up at all? That is my main concern. Hot side connection specifically.

They will call you back

[jeopardy98]

And the brackets that are drilled so they don't sit under the crash bar? If you install them as intended the IC hits the radiator. Thank you @RPM; for contacting them! I'll take a tap and do it myself if they will send me a tap.

[RPM]

Originally Posted by jeopardy98 What about the pipes that don't line up at all? That is my main concern. Hot side connection specifically.

I've looked at all of the pictures and I haven't seen anything that's crazy out of alignment. Multiple people have installed without this issue, so I'm not certain that it is one. Maybe I just missed some pictures? Not sure. But, all of the pipes are the same, so if there are issues with one car and not with another, it's got to be some kind of alignment thing.

Originally Posted by jeopardy98 And the brackets that are drilled so they don't sit under the crash bar? If you install them as intended the IC hits the radiator. Thank you @RPM; for contacting them! I'll take a tap and do it myself if they will send me a tap.

If this is an issue, flipping these brackets solves the problem. They can go on two different ways. The correct way is such that the holes that the TR8 mounts to are further from the radiator. They shouldn't "line up" with the crash bar. They need to overhang in order to pull the TR8 away from the radiator.

If anyone who purchased the kit through RPM wants a tap or wants to send the pipe in, send me a PM with your order number and address and I'll get things going.

[neganox]

Originally Posted by RPM If this is an issue, flipping these brackets solves the problem. They can go on two different ways. The correct way is such that the holes that the TR8 mounts to are further from the radiator. They shouldn't "line up" with the crash bar. They need to overhang in order to pull the TR8 away from the radiator.

Awwww snap. Totally have a project tomorrow then.