Gobi rack delays

Never been so exited to have someone take my money.

 

I ordered my Gobi Stealth Rack February 15th, got an email April 8th that it’s still in the production queue. I knew about the lead time in advance and so it’s all good. I have a trip to Moab on May 21st, and would love to have my rack, but alas, that is unlikely to happen at no fault of Gobi. As my old man used to say, wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up first.

 

Question: what does the April 8 production email mean in terms of time expectations? Does it mean “N number of weeks remaining”?

 

I think it means as of April 8, production for your order has not yet started.

 

Just here for the reply count

 

That is how I interpreted it.

 

But what does it mean “time” wise, when it’s “in production queue?”

I got an email that said my order was in the production queue, but I didn’t understand time-frame from my letter either.

 

I’m surprised you received any notification.

From talking to a few buddies who have purchased racks from Gobi they said one day it was “in production queue” and the next it was “order shipping”. All I can say it that per Gobi the lead time is “minimum” 16 weeks and from talking to others that really is the minimum. I just told myself not to expect it for 6 months and that way I shouldn’t be disappointed.


Edit: I re-read your question and think I better understand where your coming from. There is no step or phase before “in production queue”. The day they call you to confirm the order you are in the production queue, so to answer your question it is 16 weeks minimum. Any correspondence you receive (like I did) is just a courtesy saying,
hey, we still have not started. Maybe you’ll get an email when they do start, but don’t plan on it. Gobi doesn’t charge you until they ship, so you will for sure receive correspondence then.

 

Scheduled delivery of my rack for tomorrow pretty fast shipping

 

Still waiting for my awning mounts. Coming up on two months. Wish I knew everything had such a long delay as I would of ordered the mounts with my rack last year.

 

Is it too late to cancel them and order the gzilla mounts?

 

Well dang I didn't even know that was thing. Thanks!

 

Assigned a welder, looking at a ship out in June. Yeah!!!!

 

Just with this comment alone, it sounds like they are providing the customer with a bit more info than then they used to.

Something they should have done long ago, but nevertheless a step in the right direction.

 

For what it’s worth and as a guidepost for those who are queued up, and those who are potentially looking at ordering, in knowing where your at and what your in for time wise;

I ordered my stealth rack on 28 Aug 2020. At that time the estimated delivery was 15 weeks from ordering. Around late Jan I received an email, unsolicited, apologizing for extended lead times, but explaining the CCP virus was affecting production. Late March I contacted them regarding status, and was told mid April was tentative completion date. I scheduled for an install at that time, while on the phone with them and was scheduled for the install late May 2021, roughly a month and a half when the rack was tentatively completed.
I was sent a google email with the scheduled time and date.

That was my experience thus far, anticipating a smooth install. Optimistically but TBD

 

How did you receive this status update on your rack? I filled out the inquiry form on their site with no response (twice now). They really run a shitty customer service operation. Starting to wish I had just built the rack myself now, it would have been faster than 6 months.

 

I poke my head in this thread from time to time, and continue to be amazed that Gobi is still in business.

 

They just emailed me, I did click the link in early April though.

 

Ordered mine February 25th. Did the status inquiry last week and still yet to hear anything

 

Agreed

 

Is this rack worth waiting 9 months? It’s expensive, and steel? The rack weighs 70lbs of the 4Runner roof’s 120lb capacity, right?

It seems to me that there have been people here looking to nail down delivery times in order to determine if they should do other upgrades in the meantime. By that logic, why don’t you build yourself a roof rack for a lot cheaper, and from what I understand, they can be made of lightweight aluminum. All the while, you have a project that will almost certainly not take you nine months.

What am I missing?

 

Emailed Weston directly also. With no response. They replied with in the hour the couple times I was inquiring about the order before placing it. Funny how that works

 

If you haven't seen one, it's plain and simple about the quality. No disagreement that they get away with customer service radio silence, but only because of their quality. Guessing majority of buyers complain about wait, but it's rare to read of any complaints after delivery.

It's a known thing to order and then schedule installation to guaranty timeframe (I come here from the Jeep world). Ordered in March, scheduled installation in August. Are lead times nuts? They're long, no doubt. Is the quality worth it? Many never get past the lead time.......but to me, yes.

 

If you educate yourself beforehand, you also go into your purchase knowing it will take longer than quoted.

Doesn't bother me personally. I'm very used to made-to-order purchases. It seems to be the norm in that world.

But some people can't get past that, and I get that too.

 

It is not so much the delay but the lack of any information back from Gobi that is irritating. Is it a couple of weeks out or still a couple of months to go? It really can't be that hard to put some "system" in place to track orders and send updates. Since they have an order status inquiry feature on their site, at least have it actually work and give some type of response back. To have that feature and then not have it do anything is just...

At this point I will start wiring and just leave plugs to connect all the roof rack mounted lights, progress can't wait.

 

Weight limit doesn’t quite work like that for a roof rack.

 

That "status check" feature on their website is a placebo. I've never received anything back from it.

 

It’s not so much the lead that I disagree with on gobi. Sure anything worth making is worth making right and I get that. And also don’t get me wrong the gobi stealth is probably the most sexy rack out there. Aesthetically it is second to none imho. But communication is key especially if I’m paying for something. Trust me I go back and forth of selling my front runner and all my accessories just for a bare bones gobi. But I personally couldn’t handle the silent treatment. Especially on that time frame.

 

Nice. So I can put as much weight up there as I want as long as I consider it “apart” of my rack? Here I thought the roof supported the rack.

Could you kindly explain this, because most of the posted documentation seems to suggest otherwise. Thanks!!

Road mounter
Fatherly
Robert Pepper

 

The rack being 70lbs and roof limit being 120lbs don’t go hand in hand.

The rack weight distribution changes that, hence the reason you can put a roof top tent on and sleep 3 people up top.