Sure.
In a nutshell, on the pre-2014 bumpers the plate that keeps the carrier from swinging all the way open was made out of thin metal (LoD apparently changed the design sometime after late 2013). Over time, the thin metal loses its strength and breaks. The result of the break is that the carrier swings all the way around the body and your spare tire crushes in the side of your Jeep. Apparently, this was a known issue because (1) the design has changed and (2) I found out after the fact that it was so common, the quiet recommendation was to drill a hole in the bumper so the swing arm pin would engage the actual bumper instead of just the POS plate.
Fast forward. My buddy's plate broke in his driveway, the carrier swung around and crushed in the rear, passenger side of his Jeep. I was able to do some body work and get about 80% of the damage out. Obviously though, without some fix to the carrier, it was going to just keep happening since there was no longer a way to lock the gate open. That's when we realized LoD had changed the plate design. My buddy called LoD...not to try to get the body damage fixed or to raise any hell, but just to see if he could get the new, updated plate so his gate would work properly and safely.
The interaction from there was unbelievable. In an expletive-filled tirade, Chris conceded that the break was pretty common and that the design was changed but he actually had the gall to say that the breaks occur from people putting too much weight on the carrier and then slamming the carrier open when parked on hills. Keep in mind, my buddy runs 35" tires, no trail rack, no gas cans, and no hi-lift jack. The ONLY thing that has ever been on his carrier is the 35" tire, and the break happened in his driveway which has only a slight incline. Seriously, Chris went after my buddy like he had intentionally done something stupid or otherwise tried to break the carrier. It was ridiculous to the point that my buddy called me up to say that he couldn't believe I recommended he buy LoD products (by the way, he is running front and rear LoD bumpers and LoD sliders...all on my recommendation and I did the install on everything so I know it was done correctly). My buddy finally just said he would call the vendor and address the issue with them. Apparently, Chris called back later and offered to send out the new plate, but his demeanor had not changed at all. This all transpired months ago. The plate finally showed up this week.
Maybe I have a skewed view of the world, but when someone spends thousands of dollars buying your products you probably should not blast the hell out of them when they call for a little reasonable help related to a known product deficiency. That is how TeraFlex does business and I expect more out of LoD.
