Tri-County in LA - A 4WD Shop To Avoid

[GrimJeeper91]

I read another thread about the guy that was taken by a shop in
Reno, so I felt I also should pipe up. If you live in the Los Angeles
area do not take your rig to Tri-County. I, along with a couple
others I know have had nothing but problems.

A couple of months ago I took my '91 YJ in for a belly up install
and 1" body lift. Yes, I know, I should have done it myself.
The main reason didn't was because the existing spring
perches needed to be cut off and new ones welded. Next
time I will bug a buddy. They were also to do some steering
column work. My first surprise was when I picked it up. The
damages (cost) was ~$800 more than I was quoted. I *****ed
and got about $200 knocked off that, but in hinde sight I was
far too kind. He had some how forgot to quote for some labor,
things took longer than they expected and quoted the wrong
price for another item. A bunch of BS in my book. None of the
extra charges were confirmed with me in advance (which I think
is against the law).

Besides for having it for almost a week longer than they were
supposed to, I quickly realized that the work was screwed up.
The steering column didn't function properly and the rear DS
shook like crazy. Tri-County told me to bring it down and they
would take care of the streering column first and that it will only
take an hour or two. I showed up at 9 AM. Needless to say I
didn't leave the establishment until almost 5:30 PM. All this and
the streering column was still screwed up. I ended up fixing the
stupid thing at home. One of their mechanics also stripped the
bolts holding my new steering wheel on. He apparently did
realize that you shouldn't use an impact gun to tighten bolts
into an aluminum adapter (aftermarket steering wheel). Again,
with time and effort I corrected the issues with the steering
column.

I returned to Tri-County again to have the rear pinion angle
corrected. This only took about three hours so things seemed
ok. A couple of days after this worked was performed my rear
drive shaft started vibrating again. I checked the bolts on both
the CV end and pinion end of the drive shaft to make sure
things were still tight. Still vibrated. Since I was getting ready
for a long trip I dropped the CV end and hit the zerks with some
grease. Still vibrated. It was driving me crazy. I also noticed
a lot of squeaking all of a sudden from my springs. Come to
find out they hadn't torqued the u-bolts after welding the new
spring perches on. The bolts, which were probably tighter to
begin with, were now finger tight. I discovered this the day
before dragging it to Moab.

Tri-County is a joke. After all of the BS I went through they
didn't even bother to give me any $ back. When I was there
from 9 AM to 5:30 PM they didn't even offer me a drink or to
buy me lunch. Remember, I was only supposed to be there for
two hours. Dennis, whom is one of the two owners, obviously
wasn't real concerned about keeping the customer happy. I
will not go back and hopefully people reading this thread will
avoid them. I hope it costs them dearly. I will also be taking
the issue up with the Bureau of Automotive Repair.

Thanks for letting me vent. There are a lot of shops out there
that modify Jeeps. Pick carefully if you need something done.
I usually try to do things myself, but don't always have the time
or equipment.

Time to end this because I'm heading to Moab. Happy Easter
and happy wheeling.

[GMagana]

I don't have any positive or real negative experiences with these guys but I have been there and the place does seem kind of "Iffy". I called about some YJ brakelines for my TJ and nobody seemed to have any in stock but these guys. So off I go and when I get there some guy pulls out what looks like a box of OLD parts they'd collected over the years and digs thru it for the lines... Needless to say I wasn't impressed when he handed me one open bag which looked like it had been there forever and another brakeline not in a bag or any kind of package. I paid the price other places had quoted me for new lines and got something that looked like it was found at a yard sale. Sadly I was in a pinch and needed them...

Anyway, I'm not bashing them, but I haven't been back there since. Sorry to hear about your misfortune and I know there are 2 sides to every story, but I think I've seen and heard enough to just go elsewhere. Good luck with your rig man.

[GrimJeeper91]

Went wheeling with a buddy in Moab this past week. He also had
some work done at Tri-County which included new wheels and
tires. When he cut a sidewall he discovered that Tri-County had
cross threaded one of the lug nuts. Had to break it off to get the
damaged tire off. Not a trajedy obviously, but a real nuisance
when you are 800+ miles from home and doing some pretty
serious Jeeping. This was on top of extensive delays in getting
his Jeep back. It was just another reminder to find a better shop
the next time (or do it yourself).

[jeepin_6337]

i had them build me a D44 with a detroit and 4.10s. when i ordered i was sure to specify 5x4.5" bolt pattern. well they built it with 5x5.5" axles, so they had to install spacers to convert the lug pattern to fit my wheels until the new axles shafts came in (none in stock). so for the next month or so i drove around with rear wheels that stuck out too far and looked dumb. no big deal. however, the driveline vibes were awful, but because they're not open on weekends and it's hard for me to get weekdays off, i had to suck that up too until i went back for the new shafts. they also forgot to swap out the speedo gear in my transfer case so my speedo read 15mph off until i went back. luckily, i had a full month to come up with a list of everything they did wrong, so when i went back for the 5x4.5" axle shafts, i was able to get 3 degree shims put in, my speedo calibrated, and of course the proper axle shafts. all told, it cost me about 2600 for the new D44, and SYE&CV as well as installation, and putting 4.10s up front. not bad i guess. they gave me the new carrier for my D30 for free for wasting my time. so, after this long drawn out episode, i have a solid rear end that i'm happy with, and an accurate speedo. however, there were a lot of mistakes made along the way that would turn a less patient customer away. everytime i went up to pomona they were off the wall busy, they really need more people then dennis and jason to keep that place running smooth. i think they have good potential and a lot to offer, they just need to fine tune and rework their current setup.