Cracks on James Baroud Evasion

[concretejungle]

From what I was told by a fiberglass expert, it's more cosmetic.

 

[Adventure Ready]

Hi all, as the Western region James Baroud rep I'd like to see if I can help clear some things up here. Let me first say that I promise to rapidly take care of customers who experience any kind of defect - whether from manufacturing issue or functional failure. Do not hesitate to contact us directly or your local James Baroud dealer. We have a comprehensive warranty claim and repair/replacement process. I don't want anyone to ever feel like they've been ignored or blown off.

Now, about the gel coat cracking. This is a known issue and in most all cases is a cosmetic concern. We do have gel coat repair kits (similar to an epoxy substance) we can send out to fill in and prevent cracks from growing and in addition can offer other forms of remedy to make up for the problem if that is acceptable. In extreme cases we may even be able to replace the tent outright (but please do not take this to mean that it is an automatic replacement).

James Baroud has THE longewst warranty in the industry. Actually in almost any industry - 5 years. That is because along the entire James Baroud distribution line, from the factory in Portugal all the way to your local dealer, we stand behind our products 110%. Every one of these tents are hand made and assembled in a family-owned factory outside the city of Porto in northern Portugal. There are a dozen seamstresses working every day cutting and sewing the fabric by hand, the fiberglass shells are hand-molded, even the tent latches are made in that same factory. It's quite an operation and speaks volumes to the quality of the tents. However, just like with any product anywhere, there can be issues. Currently our "failure" rate (any warranty claim deaemed non-cosmetic and requiring replacement of parts or the tent as a whole) is less than 1% worldwide. I sincerely do not mean to discount the issues that people do have though, so please don't take this that way. I just want to reassure you that James Baroud is regarded as the highest-quality rooftop tent in the world for a reason.

Thank you all for your purchases and like I said, if you have any issues please don't hesitate to reach out!

 

[threplogle]

Wow this thread has grown since the last time I was on it. Thanks everyone for the comments and interest in this problem. The good news is that I was just informed that a replacement tent will be on its way in February. I’m relieved to see that JB does stand behind their workmanship. I’ll post pics when it arrives.


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[Wallygator]

Doesn't Maggiolina also have a 5 year warranty??? And a lot cheaper than JB. I know JB is a quality tent but the price is hard to justify. If they were cheaper I would probably already have one. Unfortunately it seems nothing gets cheaper, prices only go up.

 

[threplogle]

Well I finally had the warranty tent shipped to me. Unfortunately, the shipping company used a forklift to move the tent (even though it had “do not forklift” written all over the box). The forklift had punctured the fiberglass on the bottom of the tent so I did not accept it. Not very lucky. Now Adventure Ready advises me I have to wait on the insurance claim for the damaged tent before they will ship another tent out to me. Been waiting since October.....


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[vintageracer]

Betcha ya won't be buying much in the future from Adventure Outfitters in the future if that's their idea of customer service!!!

 

[Grump E-Vet]

The scrapes in the paint below the cracks sure looks like you ran into something that hit the RTT pretty hard.

I think that is dirt on the surface from where the cracks are running from it looks more like the screw securing that metal band was overtorqued or the band itself is out of square.

Also @vintageracer I impressed with your lists of Mopar expedition vehicles especillay the B Van sportsmibile.

 

[threplogle]

Betcha ya won't be buying much in the future from Adventure Outfitters in the future if that's their idea of customer service!!!

Yeah, perhaps...JB appears to have changed distributors here in the US and Adventure Ready (not Adventure Outfitters ) is probably just trying to figure everything out. The guys there at Adventure Ready have been pretty helpful so far. We’ll see....


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[Grump E-Vet]

Those parallel lines of "just dirt" definitely look to be a transfer from another object. The crack coming down from the rivet hole would also suggest forces exerted upon that area. ?

@Kevin108 if he says it is just dirt why try to play overland inspector? It would not really make sense for someone who had a collision involving their tent to put it out there like that and those are stress cracks you get the same thing in plasterwork in houses.

 

[Grump E-Vet]

There should be no cracks in the gel coat if done right

This hits it on the head the problem with coatings like this can boil down to things as simple as the climate control in the area it was applied or allowed to cure.

 

[threplogle]

This hits it on the head the problem with coatings like this can boil down to things as simple as the climate control in the area it was applied or allowed to cure.

I agree. I’ve done some fiberglass work on sailboats and airplanes and you definitely need ratios and climate under control.

I’ve got the tent cleaned up and ready to be returned so I took a pic of the cracks and as you can see the “impact zone” that some helpful posters pointed out ended up being road grime and bug juice from the Texas sized skeeters we have down here....

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[Grump E-Vet]

@threplogle Now that you got her cleaned up we can see that all that happened is your girl got some stretch marks on her! It also looks from this angle that the gap between the metal band and the shell to the right of that screw is a little bigger and less uniform than the left.

 

[Nathansharkey80]

The only thing that separates the James Baroud tent and the cheapest tents made in china are customer service. You are paying a huge premium for that customer service so I would make sure that you get what you paid for.

 

[threplogle]

The only thing that separates the James Baroud tent and the cheapest tents made in china are customer service. You are paying a huge premium for that customer service so I would make sure that you get what you paid for.

I actually think JB has a lot more going for it than just customer service. I’ve owned one other RTT and researched this purchase thoroughly. I really like the design of the tent. Every tent manufacturer will have batches that slip through that are flawed. It’s inevitable in the manufacturing process. I haven’t seen anything from a Chinese manufacturer that comes close.




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[Adventure Ready]

The only thing that separates the James Baroud tent and the cheapest tents made in china are customer service. You are paying a huge premium for that customer service so I would make sure that you get what you paid for.

Actually there is significantly more than just that. Aside from the fact that the tents are all completely hand-made in a family-owned factory in Portugal, the shells are all reinforced three-layer fiberglass (far more rigid and strong than any other product in the world), they each have an integrated solar-charged ventilation fan in the roof, the fabric is a polyester-aluminum synthetic with superior (and permanent) waterproofing, mold/mildew-resistance, and weight savings over the rip-stop coated poly-cotton all other manufacturers use. They also have the longest warranty and are uniquely innovative in both design and construction of every part of the tent.

For example, the lead seamstress at the factory has been sewing tent fabric for over 25 years and seamstresses must apprentice at the factory for 6 years before being allowed to sew on their own. The specialty sewing machines used are custom-designed specifically for James Baroud by a German company and take 6 months to produce. They have the only tent fabric that is not riveted onto the tent, making it more water-tight but also completely replaceable. The 360-degree/panoramic window design is unique to their line and cannot be replicated effectively by a Chinese knock-off company due to complexity and cost.

I could go on!