1troys, glad you're getting fixed up. I think everyone's anticipating the outcome of Outlaws work on your truck! Keep us posted! And don't mind our bickering! Also, whatever I write is just speaking in general, nothing against/pointed at you personally.
When I wrote my 2nd post (at 2am hah) I honestly wasn't sure in what depth/reasons members were upset with Hennessey. With remarks pointing to questionable R&D, I was getting the indication that Hennessey was guilty of anything and everything that went wrong. I get the feeling now people are mostly just upset with the lacking reply Hennessey gave the OP, NOT that Hennessey is responsible for the damage done due to lack of R&D?? I agree that Hennessey could have been more helpful by providing possible solutions to avoid further damage experienced during wheel hop. That is some poor customer service on their part, but..
Devils advocate..
What do you suppose Ford would tell you? If a stock Raptor owner called Ford customer service over a denied replacement D/S, that was admittedly damaged during wheel hop/burnout, Ford would more than likely give you the same "blow off" answer. Ford knows by replacing the D/S under warranty the customer may be given the idea its ok to continue breaking stuff during burnouts because whatever breaks will be replaced. Ford's not going to go down that road.
Perhaps Hennessey is trying to avoid the same situation with their dry response. Yes, they could have been more helpful, but denying any acknowledgement from the get go keeps them safe.. Sure, at 65k a pop there's room to buy the owner a new D/S, but where do you draw the line? Who's to say the owner wont break that one too? Do you buy him a second, third, fourth, fifth D/S? What if something else breaks during the burnout, do you replace that free of charge also? How do you explain to the customer that, yes we will replace a drive shaft or two, but not the transfer case that also broke? A business doesn't wanna marry a problem truck, how do you make sense of it or draw the line for the customer? Either way, once you stop providing the free services it's going to **** him/her off. It maybe chicken shit, but by denying acknowledgement from the get go, its the easiest and least escalating way of dealing with it.
Yes nearly doubling the power increased the potential for the problem to occur; and I'm sure Hennessey knows this. But no one is forcing or expecting the owner to use all 600 hp during the burnout. It come back down to throttle control. 99% of the time a high hp vehicle wont/can't use all the power during a burnout.
This kinda stuff always comes with hot rodding. Its uncommon to get any warranty with performance parts. Usually the more hard core, the less warranty. Performance parts are bought to run hard, that's the point. The chance of breakage is unavoidable and companies know this. I can't get on Mickey Thompsons ass because the drag radials I bought launched my car so good it ripped off the rear view mirror, or South Side Machine because their lower control arms hooked my car over and over so well it killed my torque boxes. I wouldn't even bother calling them, that's just part of hot rodding.You up the performance of one part, and chances are it breaks another part.
I don't agree Ford should foot the bill for a new D/S, but they are so whatever, its not my business. I think its bothering some people but keep in mind the dealer maybe actually paying for it. If its a really good customer the dealer may pay for the repair and write it up as warranty, or pull enough strings with Ford to replace it (the bigger the dealer, usually the more power they have to convince Ford to repair something that's questionable) just to keep the good customer returning and happy.
) including this from Peterson's 4Wheel & Off Road Mag. Scroll down to "The Bad" of the (stock) Raptor.
