How I spent $920 on leaky radiator

[MotoWells]

After exhaustively researching radiator options for my LS swap I decided to purchase a radiator from a trusted forum “Gold Vendor” - R&D Fabrication. I was sold on US built with US materials! What I received was a leaky radiator after 4k miles and a frustrating / ludicrous customer experience with no resolution. All told, I’m out $920 on a chunk of leaky aluminum.

Timeline of events with more detail (have emails for each event):

10/24/2016 - Purchased R&D radiator from Sparky for $730.00

...Building truck

8/15/2017 - Installed radiator in truck

...Put 4K miles on truck

2/14/2018 - Noticed radiator dripping and leaking from bottom

3/23/2018 - Me - Emailed R&D explaining leaking issue with pictures

3/27/2018 - Thanked me for pictures and replied that the pictures were too hard to tell what was happening, needed the radiator to pressure test and fix.

4/4/2018 - Me - Shipped radiator to R&D at my expense of $125 to his shop

4/13/2018 - Me - Emailed, checking on status

4/16/2018 - R&D -Replied, should be testing soon, will reply with results as soon as possible.

4/20/2018 - Me - Emailed asking for status of test

4/24/2018 - Me - Emailed asking for status of test

4/24/2018 - R&D - Emaiedl, All radiators have 1 year warranty, no refunds after that, no status provided!!

4/25/2018 - R&D - email, shop guys tested didn't find any leaks

4/25/2018 - Me - please pressure test overnight, I am positive it has a leak.

4/26/2018 - R&D - Found tube to header leak, fixing and will recheck for leaks

4/30/2018 - Me - Checking on status, how is it going?

5/1/2018 - R&D - Able to fix, will ship tomorrow. Need you to cover shipping, Invoice sent

5/1/2018 - Me - Paid invoice of $70.00 to get radiator returned

5/4/2018 - Me - Need status, please send tracking number

5/8/2018 - R&D - Found two more leaks after shop manager asked workers to test. Assured it would be fixed and shipped out this evening.

5/9/2018 - R&D - Tracking code sent

5/16/2018 - Me - Radiator arrives, I flush per instructions, when I add coolant I notice aluminum shavings that appear to be Stop Leak. Email R&D with concerns.

5/17/2018 - R&D we never use “Stop Leak”, most likely weld or resin residue, we use resin to “cover weld bleed through”

5/18/2018 - Me - Looks like leak is back, no joke.

5/20/2018 - Me - emailed R&D confirming leaks are back and worse than ever.

5/21/2018 - R&D sorry, pressure tested it multiple times before sending back, what cap and water pump are you using.

5/21/2018 - Me, 16psi cap with stock LS3 pump

5/22/2018 - Oh, we recommend 12-15 psi cap, I don't feel confident with further repairs. We will need to build a new one.

5/22/2018 - Me - how much?

No further emails received from R&D

Lessons learned:

I need to do my homework on a small shop before pulling the trigger. Next time I will request any terms and conditions as well as the warranty info upfront, before I purchase. I will also ask what they will do / what I need to do in the event of issue (i.e. shipping) Lastly, check to see if they are a legit company, just because they are a “Gold Vendor” doesn't mean they are a valid company. A quick search on that net revealed R&D does not have a valid business license since December 2016.

Ending:

I waited a long time before posting and really worked at only including details and not emotion here.

In the end, I called Entropy, they seem to be the real deal. I received my radiator in a couple weeks, exactly as promised. It fit perfect and it keeps the truck running quite a bit cooler. The materials and build quality are much more impressive, too. I only have a few hundred miles on at the time of this post so we will see if it holds but I have a lot more confidence in this unit already.

Lastly:

Anyone have ideas on what I should do with this leaky radiator? I can't seem to bring myself to recycle it.

[NC_John]

Sorry to hear it, that completely sucks.

I took forever trying to decide which way to go with my radiator and also went with entropy. Had to wait a few weeks which they told me up front but it is art. They are to radiators what boyds is to fuel tanks. Not cheap but well worth the money.

Got their fan controller afterwards as well. Just as happy with it.

[flashed]

I now know where not to shop for a Radiator .

[Grumpy old man]

What do you want for that piece of leaky aluminum ?

[toolboxchev]

Come on now Grumpy lets not feed off ones misery. I sympathize with the guy some suppliers out there are really just in it for the money trying to compete with the Top Dogs.

Ends up being a shamble, not fun. I got a pair of drums on my truck supposedly Wagners that are out of round no fun chinese crap.

[MotoWells]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

What do you want for that piece of leaky aluminum ?

Grumpy - You can have it for shipping, no warranty DM me for details if you are serious. Hopefully you can get some value out of it.

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by MotoWells

Grumpy - You can have it for shipping, no warranty DM me for details if you are serious. Hopefully you can get some value out of it.

Really ? I'll gladly pay shipping and see If I can fix it ? PM sent

[Steve Cole]

Originally Posted by flashed

I now know where not to shop for a Radiator .

The fact that they only offer a 1 year warranty tells me they aren't very confident in their product. They should have replaced it for free.

[weq92f]

Pretty generous to allow Grumpy to take this chunk of aluminum off your hands there!

You could sell those fans and shroud to recoup at leas a couple hundred of your loss.

-klb

[Husker]

Sorry some Co's bad customer service. They always have ways to push the blame
Ron

[dirish]

I bought one from sparky, it leaked, they fixed. No problem
Since, however I wonder why I spent so much, when the lower neck hose isn't even angled correctly for our trucks?
I will shop better next time.

[tmontg01]

I'm glad you posted this, I was thinking of buying from them for my LS swap...based off being a "gold vender" and all on this forum.

[BCOWANWHEELS]

16 lb cap, way too much. 5lb is plenty. rock auto rads are less than 200 delivered

[Grumpy old man]

Shipping is too high for me ,Maybe someone closer can take advantage of this good deal .

[stsalvage]

do they make a brass and copper radiator of the LS swap

[bigbadchev72]

I am sure the state would love to hear about a business operating without a license in the state, IRS may be interested too. I have had great luck dealing with the State attorney general the couple of times I was wronged as a customer.

It is unfortunate that a company wont stand behind their product and it stings even more when you were sold on "quality" and spent big money for what ended up junk.

Do the next guy a favor and send karma their way by sending a couple emails to the state offices explaining what happened and the lack of a license.

[oldgold70c10]

Originally Posted by bigbadchev72

I am sure the state would love to hear about a business operating without a license in the state, IRS may be interested too. I have had great luck dealing with the State attorney general the couple of times I was wronged as a customer.

It is unfortunate that a company wont stand behind their product and it stings even more when you were sold on "quality" and spent big money for what ended up junk.

Do the next guy a favor and send karma their way by sending a couple emails to the state offices explaining what happened and the lack of a license.

I am sure the forum staff would want to know these things too.

[projectking]

Originally Posted by bigbadchev72

I am sure the state would love to hear about a business operating without a license in the state, IRS may be interested too. I have had great luck dealing with the State attorney general the couple of times I was wronged as a customer.

It is unfortunate that a company wont stand behind their product and it stings even more when you were sold on "quality" and spent big money for what ended up junk.

Do the next guy a favor and send karma their way by sending a couple emails to the state offices explaining what happened and the lack of a license.

....but this is the responsible thing to do!

[BRL]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Shipping is too high for me ,Maybe someone closer can take advantage of this good deal .

I live about 22 miles away from you in Tahuya.

I don't need a radiator, but I would like to take this opportunity to express my amazement at how generous some of you forum members really are!

Maybe a lower pressure cap?

Would a can of sealant help with aluminum?

I like raggedjim's idea of taking it to a local old school shop to see if they could help.

Best of luck to you Bud.

[raggedjim]

I'd take it to a local old-school radiator shop. They could probably fix it.

Good luck, Rg

[projectking]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

I'd take it to a local old-school radiator shop. They could probably fix it.

Good luck, Rg

I’d want to “hand deliver” it to the shop it came from....

[HO455]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

I'd take it to a local old-school radiator shop. They could probably fix it.

Good luck, Rg

In my experience the problem with aluminum radiators is repairs are mostly limited to epoxying the leak. One of the reasons I went copper in my Burban. Copper leaks can be soldered.

[CheyenneSuper72]

This is not surprising to see coming from them....I had issues with the cheap transmission cooler fittings that they use in their radiators. I ended up sending it back with the fittings that I wanted installed in them, got the radiator back with the fittings welded into the tank at a cost of $70 shipping to return it, $50 for the repair, and another $70 return shipping. $190 for 2 3/8” diameter welds. I could have done this repair myself. I wanted the radiator repaired not patched. This is after buying 4 of the radiators from them. The slow shipping and lack of communication alone will keep me from being a return customer again.

[leddzepp]

Thread moved to vendor review board as appropriate.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by leddzepp

Thread moved to vendor review board as appropriate.

You're a team leader so maybe you can help... I PM'd Josh after getting the runaround from RnD but never recieved a reply. Why is RnD still allowed to post as a gold vendor here?