N-Fab Nerf Bars Nice at First but Watch OUT!

To me the N-Fab are the best available in the looks department.
However.....Quality? Watch out.

I purchased a set of cab length N-Fab bars, new, for my 2013 Tacoma DC TRD O/R in Mar 2013 when I purchased the truck & had installed in April when my lift kit was installed.
About a year later, I noticed some flaking and rust in the finish, not all over but in spots, mostly where any factory welding was involved.
Now upon approaching 3 years, the product is rusting worse, and I contacted N-Fab, as they have a 5year warranty.
Guess what? they want me to pay freight back to the factory in Texas, and then back to me (in Colorado). So I pay for removal, shipping back to factory and shipping back to my house, and reinstall labor.With the length & weight, I would pay more in shipping than it is worth

All for a set of Nerf bars that are of supposedly fine design, quality and finish? .

also mentioned in the email from customer service, "We have changed our finish process" ok, they darn well know they had an issue. They do not stand behind their product. I also will mention, my truck is black like the N-fab bars. I like a clean truck, so I wash it OFTEN, the issue is not from me allowing road rash/tar/chemicals to remain on the bars for long period of time. I take care of the truck and the attached Nerf bars.

the final stab in the back, at bottom of customer service email under the N-Fab logo is a quote:


"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a cheap

price is forgotten."

-John Ruskin, Author

 

Let's go N-Fab! Make this right!

 

Reposted from the other thread you copied and pasted this post into..


You can take some bolts out on your own without paying someone.

You can fix that for $40 in your driveway and have it done in a weekend afternoon.

Sure it sucks to have to, but I'm just saying. Freighting those isn't cheap which is why NFAB doesn't cover it on top of shipping back to you after a warranty service/replacement of product. They'd break even or lose money. Very few companies offer warranty on paint - they warranty the product for manufacturing defect. Someone else may have your problems, and the next guy will have his for 7 years and not have those problems, so paint protection being attached to a warranty on manufacturing is kind of rare and generally unheard of.

 

3 yrs of CO winters have anything to do with it? Stuff under the truck look similar?

 

I'm going to guess his answer will be that the CO winters have nothing to do with it. I'll second the why can't you take them off yourself and maybe even have them refinished locally. It would probably be less expensive than shipping.

 

Yikes. Hope you can get that sorted out without having to shell out so much.

I don't know who makes the OEM predator step bars for Toyota, but you may want to look into that if this will cost you too much. I know people sell them pretty often and I love mine. I'll get sliders some day, but for now these are holding up perfectly, even against rocks and gravel after removing my front mud flaps.

 

Good to know. I've been thinking of replacing my Avid slider/steps with Nfab bars. Partly because I'm constantly fighting chips and rust on these Avid's. But, to be fair, I painted them myself. Can you order these Nfabs bare metal? Because I think if I replace anything down there I'm going to get it LineX'd first.

 

No need to even take them off, wire wheel them, hand sand the areas, Buy a spray rust product that makes it turn black, can of primer, and a can of black high quality rest oleum. I live in the Northeast and I do that every other year to my nfabs. They are metal, The underside gets blasted with road debris, it's normal.

 

I about to pick up a set of used ones myself. Theres a little rust here and there but im just going to sand them down and rhino line them.

 

the rust doesnt look that bad...i wouldnt even try to remove them. its nothing a little sander and some paint wouldnt fix.

 

Answer:, no the rest of the under body is fine and no rust.

guess the consensus is that these need maintenance above and beyond washing every single week like I do and just paint them myself. I had thought of removing and having powder coated or coated with LineX. As I am not a gearhead, but insist on any of my trucks/SUV's to have mod's, lifts, etc. I did not install the lift or nerf bars myself, and did not realize they are an item I need to remove and recoat every few years, but if I have to I could do that. Still, the 5 year warranty is a scam.

 

No it isn't.

Paint has nothing to do with the warranty. Take them off and sell them or fix them and put them back on - you are butthurt because of your own misunderstanding, and that has nothing to do with anybody but you. That blame is yours.

 

I guess at this point, I'd take them off and have them powdercoated. Probably looking at about $300-500 just as a guess???

Either that, or remove them, sand them, and use your favorite flavor of bedliner spray.

Arguments aside about warranty this or that, it's kind've a moot point. You'll save money and time taking care of them on your own vs. spending money just to ship them.

 

You're not kidding about being a straight talker.

Having them line-feces or powder coated sounds like a good way to go. A good question would be why are these not powder coated to behind with?

 

He won't be happy with powder coat. It's stronger than paint but it'll inevitably wear away with shoe soles full of grit being stepped onto them and then it'll rust also - and he apparently isn't into DIY or into things that don't last forever while being improperly treated.

LineX or similar would be far better, IMO - and maybe not spraying chipped metal down with water every week would likely help keep rust down. Water finds it's way into pinholes and under edges of chipped paint, as you can see.

 

Rattle can that sheeeeeet

 

i just sold my 2in nfab and replaced them with 3in nfab. I actually cant wait for it to rust, so that I have a legitimate reason to sand them and paint them with some bedliner spray

 

that was one of the reasons i went with the textured bars instead of the painted ones. they seem to be alot better than the painted ones. ive only had mine for 2 winters now but there is absolutely no signs that rust is coming through...not even the bolts which im happy with.
i also have the 3" ones.

 

SMH at those who would chastise someone for expecting a quality product for good money. Yes, this includes the quality of the finish. If they skimp on the coating & your product is rusting after a year or two it's worthy of ridicule for voicing your displeasur?? Stop being a fanboi & defending your product crush by making a paying consumer feel bad for having reasonable expectations of the durability of a product. They skimped on the cost of the coating & should be held accountable for their actions... not the buyer. That's what warranties are for by definition.

 

They do actually say their website that the finish is covered...no where does it say the consumer is responsible for shipping.