Opinion: is Go Rhino in the wrong here???

[danielspivey]

I recently put a pair of go rhino 5” 1000 series nerf bars on my gladiator come to find out they come with only 3 brackets vs. 4 (like to gladiator is made for). This leaves the support uneven and honestly kinda doesn’t look right.

I posted to the forum and we got the following response from go rhino:

“Hi Richard,

Unfortunately to get an extra bracket you will need to purchase a whole new bracket kit. We have these bracket on our Gladiator and we have no issues with them. I do not believe we will ever add another bracket to it.

The picture on the website is for representative purposes only. If you download the instructions you will see what the brackets look like.

Thank you,

Raul Penunuri

Customer Relations Director

Go Rhino and Big Country Truck Accessories”

My opinion is this is something that was overlooked and not planned. The support isn’t even and honestly doesn’t look right.

I truly believe this is like getting wheels and tires from a place and them putting on 5 out of 6 lugs and saying “we’ve had no issues with the wheels with 5 lugs, and if you want a 6th you will have to buy another full set”.

Am I out of line here? I honestly think go rhino should send the people who currently bought the steps an extra support. But to ask them to buy another whole set of supports is crazy. From a business stand point, if the issue is the cost and pricing, they need to increase the price to cover the 4th bracket. Their customers should not have to go out of their way to buy another set of brackets to make the product be what it was supposed to be in the first place!!

I will be returning them if it’s not resolved and I will not buy any more go rhino products in the future. I would hate to see what their warranty response is like on something....

I have attached picture so you can see what I’m talking about.

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[Rex3rd]

Looks like you bought one for a Wrangler and put it on a gladiator but somehow it didn't work and now they have a bracket setup for the gladiator so it will fit. If you bought a side step that says Wrangler ect then there not obligated to give you a bracket. But I can see the frustration because 99% of the parts that fit the Wrangler fit the gladiator from the front bumper to the back of the cab

Edit I see where you say you think you need a 4th bracket and they say there gladiator idls fine with three. Hmm maybe someone with this setup can chime in. If not does the bracket look simple to create? If so find a fab shop to make you a extra

 

[danielspivey]

Looks like you bought one for a Wrangler and put it on a gladiator but somehow it didn't work and now they have a bracket setup for the gladiator so it will fit. If you bought a side step that says Wrangler ect then there not obligated to give you a bracket. But I can see the frustration because 99% of the parts that fit the Wrangler fit the gladiator from the front bumper to the back of the cab

Edit I see where you say you think you need a 4th bracket and they say there gladiator idls fine with three. Hmm maybe someone with this setup can chime in. If not does the bracket look simple to create? If so find a fab shop to make you a extra

Nope these are supposed to be made to specially fit the gladiator, they aren’t wrangler steps. Issue is the weight isn’t distributed between the 4 brackets evenly... to do so you need to have 4 as the gladiator was designed.

Go rhino needs to charge a little more and add the 4th bracket.

 

[Rex3rd]

Nope these are supposed to be made to specially fit the gladiator, they aren’t wrangler steps. Issue is the weight isn’t distributed between the 4 brackets evenly... to do so you need to have 4 as the gladiator was designed.

Go rhino needs to charge a little more and add the 4th bracket.

I get you now and after staring at your jt my OCD is kicking in. It needs that fourth bracket to even look right!

 

[rvillano8188]

Looks like you bought one for a Wrangler and put it on a gladiator but somehow it didn't work and now they have a bracket setup for the gladiator so it will fit. If you bought a side step that says Wrangler ect then there not obligated to give you a bracket. But I can see the frustration because 99% of the parts that fit the Wrangler fit the gladiator from the front bumper to the back of the cab

Edit I see where you say you think you need a 4th bracket and they say there gladiator idls fine with three. Hmm maybe someone with this setup can chime in. If not does the bracket look simple to create? If so find a fab shop to make you a extra

It definitely looks like a gladiator set due to the length of the nerf bars. Honestly, that looks like trash and I would return them without the 4th bracket (for full $, not one of those returns minus shipping things). If they don't give you another bracket, and aren't willing to take the return and give you full money back, then dispute it with your CC as false advertising and move on to another company.

This is what happens when we get all excited that a company rushed something to market. I get it that there isn't much on the market yet and it's forcing some of our hands with some products. Unfortunately due to some experiences I'm finding that I'm better off waiting til the real players get some good quality products to market (I'm thinking after SEMA). Gonna have to get my wife a step stool in the meantime, but at least I know when the ROAM rails come out I'll be much happier, albeit I'll have a lighter wallet.

 

[Rex3rd]

It definitely looks like a gladiator set due to the length of the nerf bars. Honestly, that looks like trash and I would return them without the 4th bracket (for full $, not one of those returns minus shipping things). If they don't give you another bracket, and aren't willing to take the return and give you full money back, then dispute it with your CC as false advertising and move on to another company.

This is what happens when we get all excited that a company rushed something to market. I get it that there isn't much on the market yet and it's forcing some of our hands with some products. Unfortunately due to some experiences I'm finding that I'm better off waiting til the real players get some good quality products to market (I'm thinking after SEMA). Gonna have to get my wife a step stool in the meantime, but at least I know when the ROAM rails come out I'll be much happier, albeit I'll have a lighter wallet.

Exactly. How easy is it to throw in another 10 dollar bracket to where it is securely fastened right

 

[primethios]

If this is the part made for a gladiator then I would agree it is not manufactured correctly and I agree with the weight distribution idea but also from a symmetric look perspective. This is also a place for mud and grime to get stuck in. Being that you have a white model it stands out more than it would on my black model. Did they have pictures on the website actually installed on a gladiator and were there only 3 brackets? Regardless if they feel that is "enough" and not an oversight it is ultimately your choice as the consumer and if your not happy and they have not been damaged in any fashion I would suggest trying to arrange a return so that you could look for a product you feel better about, which would in turn leaving you feel much better about purchasing other products in the future from this company.

 

[danielspivey]

If this is the part made for a gladiator then I would agree it is not manufactured correctly and I agree with the weight distribution idea but also from a symmetric look perspective. This is also a place for mud and grime to get stuck in. Being that you have a white model it stands out more than it would on my black model. Did they have pictures on the website actually installed on a gladiator and were there only 3 brackets? Regardless if they feel that is "enough" and not an oversight it is ultimately your choice as the consumer and if your not happy and they have not been damaged in any fashion I would suggest trying to arrange a return so that you could look for a product you feel better about, which would in turn leaving you feel much better about purchasing other products in the future from this company.

When you change the vehicle specific fit (for 4 door gladiator) it increases the price by about $30. You would think this price difference would be enough for the extra bracket ...

 

[primethios]

In this situation I think there is a disconnect between "fit" and "made for". I personally would be trying to return them. You have done the right thing by not bashing them before options have been weighed but the jeep community watches and listens so I am sure everyone will be keeping an eye out to see the outcome of this and it will impact their sales based upon the outcome. We all want to deal with companies that make sure we get what we pay for. This is why companies quadratech has done so well over the years as they are pretty good at making sure the customer gets what they expected when things don't go right the first time.

 

[danielspivey]

So you got me thinking about quadratech, looked at their page and same bars, with a picture of a gladiator and FOUR brackets!!!!

On the real truck site it doesn’t have a vehicle specific picture and with go rhinos instructions doesn’t show a gladiator as well.

Same product, different vendor, different amount of brackets? Doesn’t sound right to me...

They are the same item number for both real truck and quadratech: 105451687T

I’ll keep everyone posted to how go rhino responds.

 

[primethios]

Something is up with this. The pic on the gladiator shows 4 brackets on the mounted solution but the stainless picture shows 6 brackets total so I am confused as I am sure you are. Until I noticed the stainless picture I would have said there was an inventory issue and they just sent you the wrong box. I think you said you purchased from realtruck.com so I would reach out to them and explain the issue and send your pictures as well. It's safe to say your unhappy and if the extra bracket kit has a stupid price on it then you need to return it and get what you want.

 

[ksh67]

I think the stainless image is a stock photo, the brackets don't look right for the gladiator at all. Should check with Quadratec and see how many brackets are in the Rhino kit they're selling.

 

[danielspivey]

Update: called quadratech and they said the picture listed above was sent from go rhino with 4 brackets per side. However, they said only 3 come with the bars per side, per the instructions.

I called real truck today and explained the situation. They were really helpful (and agreed) and are going to reach out to go rhino with the concerns and try to get a 4th bracket.... fingers crossed.

 

[Hootbro]

Hopefully Go Rhino makes it right. I have bought a few of their products for my JT and have been impressed with the quality. If they are going to waffle on this and make customer service secondary, I may reconsider any future purchases of their products.

 

[danielspivey]

Hopefully Go Rhino makes it right. I have bought a few of their products for my JT and have been impressed with the quality. If they are going to waffle on this and make customer service secondary, I may reconsider any future purchases of their products.

FINAL UPDATE: I just talked to go rhino and they are sending me a 4th bracket for free. The rep said they made the decision to have 3 vs 4 brackets to cut the cost. He said they may go back to the drawing board and let the consumer make the decision to upgrade to a 4th bracket as an option.

In my opinion, on a white Jeep like mine... 3 brackets looks really off. This may be the case with all other colors except black where you wouldn’t notice it as much.

In the end I would say I am definitely satisfied with their response and the product is a nice product!

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