EarthRoamer XV-JP "Northwest Edition"

[veilside180sx]

That sucks Mike...looks like amateur hour.

 

[adam88]

That sucks Mike...looks like amateur hour.

Definitely not "tesla" work...

 

[Jason911]

Pretty phenomenal fail, huh?

It is a fail of beyond Epic Proportions!!

 

[18seeds]

On positive note it is still a jeep

 

[PaulJensen]

I can only see potential... Looks like an amazing starting point... Oh, what would I do...????...

 

[patoz]

I can only see potential... Looks like an amazing starting point... Oh, what would I do...????...

My thoughts exactly! After all, it worked for the 6 Million Dollar man...

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology. Better than it was before. Better... stronger... faster."

 

[mtnbike28]

In light of condition and your complete insurance - I would contact your agent and see if you can make a claim.... they might total it and you could see what buy back would be for a Expo member, you are out from your nightmare and someone else can re-start the project. Just an idea.

 

[thethePete]

Actually, I almost wonder if it would be worth speaking to your InsCo. They may be able to write this off under some type of special circumstances. Given the situation, it's pretty much the equivelent of a theft recovery write-off. I don't know enough about the workings of auto insurance in the USA, but it seems like one of those "it doesn't hurt to ask" things... They may laugh you off the phone, or they may have some avenue you can take to sort this out.

 

[mhiscox]

Thanks for the suggestions about the insurance claim. With the money I've given State Farm for several decades to cover a sometimes vast, sometimews half-vast (I'm still clinging to my sense of humor) fleet of vehicles, I figure they should at least pretend to give the question momentary thought before saying "no."

I suspect, though, that they'll say that the garagekeeper's insurance policy Red Cannon had in effect (so they said) while the truck was in Iowa would take precedence and, of course, Dion is not about to file a claim against himself.

I'll look into it and report back. I appreciate the idea.

 

[Jeep or Tacoma]

insurance

I think that is a good idea if you file a claim on your policy then the your co will file on his policy. The things that were done to that jeep are literally criminal and this may fall under a vandalism type claim. I am not sure that vandalism has to have intent ( i.e. internet to do harm) just that harm is done. I want to thank you for posting those pictures as odd as it may seem you may saved others on this site from a similar fate, be it with him or others of his ilk.

 

[mk216v]

Gazooks. Gaaazooooks. GAZOOKS!!! WOW WOW WOW. 😧😳
This is the "quality" of work one can expect from Dion Kranz of Red Cannon Expedition in Fairfield, Iowa??? Excuse me, I mean "Mr. Tesla?"<rolleyes> I'm aghast. It looks like a kindergartener's project gone upside down. &#128534;

Didn't I see a link earlier where Dion Kranz and Red Cannon Expedition won some sort of award from the city of Fairfield IA for something business related? Was it as a super fraud award winner or something? As that's what it appears I'm seeing here.

Mike, can you help us explain what's going on in these pictures?
Why is there a ratchet strap around the cabin?
What is on top of the cabin and why is it sitting forward of/hanging off the cabin shell? Can you post a few pictures of what this is?
Why is everything just tossed in the back of the cabin like a construction debris hauler?
Why are wires cut vs being disconnected? Per Red Cannon Expedition's Facebook page link in earlier post(https://m.facebook.com/Red-Cannon-Expedition-280905525446810/), they do stereo installs??? So they must quote a new chassis wiring harness with every set of speakers?? <facepalm> Goodness gracious this is an abomination above all others.

And this guy Dion Kranz used to work for Earthroamer building the 14 of these XV-JP's? But that was before the head injury(talked about in earlier link)?; https://m.facebook.com/redcannonexp...3/?type=3&size=1534,2048&fbid=393200617550633

I am still speechless. Beyond belief.
I am SO sorry to see this happen to your amazing Jeep Mike, yet I know words do nothing in a situation like this.

 

[mhiscox]

Mike, can you help us explain what's going on in these pictures? Etc.

Yes and no.

No, I do not know why Dion the parts were not handled more elegantly. No, I do not know what possessed him to cut all the wires, cables, hoses, etc. when he did his demolition. I do know that it'll take dozens of extra hours of work to repair the damage he did by being in a hurry (or clueless; take your pick.)

Unfortunately, I do know what's up with the roof.

This is not the roof:



This is a partly-finished mold Dion made so he could make more roofs. It is not a structural part.

THIS is the roof:



This is what was used to make the mold. It is structural. It could hold up the roof rack. It could hold up the spare tire. It could raise up and allow standing roof. It can keep the rain out. A roof is a really valuable thing to have on one's camper.

Sadly, I don't have this roof. I sure expected to have this roof. If you had had this e-mail exchange (click on it) with Dion shortly before delivery, you, too, would have expected a roof:



What happened to the roof? I initially thought Dion had kept it as sort of an "I'll teach Mike to say anything bad about Red Cannon Expeditions and my thousand of hours of hard work" lesson for me. However, I made return of the roof something critical for the attorney to work with Dion on, and unbelievably, the attorney last week reported this bad-as-it-gets news:

"He indicated that the gel coat he was using did not set because it was 18 degrees outside when he was trying to create the new roof. He said that he sent you the mold so whomever you took the Jeep to next, could use the mold to build you a new roof. Not sure if any of this is true; just passing along what he told me."

​

So, I have no roof, and instead have an unfinished mold ratchet-strapped to the cabin. Not owning a bunch of balsa and a chopper gun, this isn't real convenient. In fact, it totally sucks. I'll have to pay to have a roof made by some fiberglass company, and it'll take me a fair amount of work to finish the mold before doing so. And the vehicle is undriveable in its current condition, nor can I reasonably put it up for sale.

Does Dion still have the roof? Did he destroy it on purpose to cause me a big problem? Or is he really so inept that he ruined the roof while working to gel coat it? None of the three possibilities reflects well on him, but I will tell you this . . . with no roof, the flimsy mold up in the airstream, the curbside door filler panel falling out, the caulk holding the front half of the cabin having failed, and only a couple of bolts in place holding on the back half of the cabin, I could not have made two miles down a highway at speed, let alone the two thousand required to get back to Portland. It was good that I decided in the end to have it transported, better that they assigned an enclosed transporter, and excellent that my wingman and I did not show up as scheduled in Fairfield to pick up the Jeep, thus providing for seven days and half-a-continent to be between me and Dion when I learned I had no roof.

I know it's just a truck, it's only money, no one's dead or dying, and so on. But it was nevertheless a seriously bad time for me a week ago when the driver backed my XV-JP out of the trailer, what with pretty much everything turning out worse than the very bad situation I had already expected.

 

[adam88]

And this guy Dion Kranz used to work for Earthroamer building the 14 of these XV-JP's? But that was before the head injury(talked about in earlier link)?; https://m.facebook.com/redcannonexp...3/?type=3&size=1534,2048&fbid=393200617550633

I am still speechless. Beyond belief.
I am SO sorry to see this happen to your amazing Jeep Mike, yet I know words do nothing in a situation like this.

That newspaper clipping helps make some sense of this. It reads like a drama movie. He hit his head on a car trunk? Had post-concussion syndrome and couldn't stay awake for an hour at a time? Then his friend screwed him out of the business? Then he bought a cheap RV and drove across the US for 8 months? Then while driving and getting this $1500 pile of trash stuck in mud holes, grass, snow, etc. he had an epiphany and realized he wanted to build his own high quality RV?

This whole story and the end result just seems really unbelievable and tragic. Mike I think you could make back all the money you've lost by turning this into a movie script and selling it to Hollywood

 

[mog]

...... Had post-concussion syndrome and couldn't stay awake for an hour at a time?...Then he bought a cheap RV and drove across the US for 8 months?

Beside being a major d****** and screwing Mike, if he was 'Tesla' we all be running our computers on candles :sombrero:. The about shows his great decision making and self center attitude, ahh screw it, I pass out every hour, but let me drive this RV across the US for 8 month, everyone else watch out.

 

[veilside180sx]

Unset gelcoat could've been kicked with a heater & sanded down to re-coat. That sounds like hogwash to me.

If you don't have a heated environment or know how to work around it...you have no business working with glass/gelcoat in the winter.

Mold looks to be all CSM. Definitely will need some woven roving & other reinforcement to be usable.