theorie

iTrader: (31)

David,

You PM'd me but didn't even wait 1 day for a response. Now you're posting in the thread, throwing out accusation and demands. It's obvious that you're just trying to rattle our cage, as all of our customers, except you, have been pretty happy with the results, understanding the lights were built as best they can within the target price.

You already returned your lights to me once, when you ripped the wiring out the back, and then start cutting wires that were just fine to begin with. The wiring was soldered and then attached to the board, so you must have yanked on them pretty hard to disconnect them, and why you would start cutting wires is beyond my understanding. Your problem was due to installer error, and I have photos showing how the lights were returned to me with cut wires and ripped-out solder points. I should have voided your warranty for doing this, since I never instructed you to cut anything, but I repaired your lights for free eating the cost out of my pocket.

If your iPhone breaks and you start taking screws out or removing the screen, that voids your warranty. Same thing goes for the tail lights or any other product.

If you or anyone else wants to discuss warranty, returns or upgrades specific to your set of lights, they should do that via PM or email. You're clearly trying to make a big stink by contacting me directly saying one thing, while posting other gripes in the thread.

I'm confused as to why "several" of our customers would specifically contact you, instead of me, about concerns with brightness. You are just another customer. I have had only one or two people (besides yourself) contact me regarding the brightness, however they have been very understanding and reasonable, knowing that they bought a product that we made as best as possible for the price they paid. I have also extended the offer of discounted upgrades to these people, should we run a second GB.

And no David, you're not understanding my previous statement about the LEDs we used in this conversion. The LEDs that you suggested were far more expensive than the ones we used in this production. We had a budget price and we built within that price. If we had used the LEDs you suggested, it would have greatly raised the price due to the increased LED cost, plus getting them to our factory, plus the extra cost of having them install 3rd party components. Using the ones you suggested would have put the purchase price well over $1000.

You are the only one flipping out and causing a stink David. At this point you can wait to purchase a discounted upgrade, if/when we do a 2nd GB and are actually able to obtain the new materials, or figure out how to make them brighter yourself. If you want to continue communications you can PM or email me.

whiteweazel21

iTrader: (2)

I think $400 is a great value for all the developement & tedious work put in. There is a big difference between $400 and $2100.

That is an absolutely terrible argument. Take the iPhone 4, it was made available to the public with one of the most epic flaws possible, a product marketed as a phone that is good at everything except being a phone. The reception issues with the iPhone 4 recieved huge flaming by virtually every tech review site, and many users, due to its absolutely horrible antenna designs. IMO, and in the eyes of many, this phone should have been recalled -- but how realistic is that?

Really, I don't think you would have any issues selling your taillights for most of the amount you paid. If you don't like them, just sell them. I agree that this item is marketed as a off-road item, install at your own risk. These taillights are homebrew, while you hope for perfection, there are limitations. He is offering an option to upgrade, which should not be a big deal for a multi-millionaire. If the light output is iffy during the daytime, I admit I would be a bit disappointed and would look to upgrade them. Have some patience and wait for those details to be ironed out.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Tom per our phone conversation, sending you a pm now. Whiteweazel21, you completely miss the point here but this is now between Tom and I and hopefully we'll find an acceptable solution.

theorie

iTrader: (31)

I am stating this from my own personal perspective. The following message is not necessarily the opinion of anyone other than myself. Also, I am not an employee of SakeBomb Garage - I have been working with them on this GB, as they helped to organized and finance its production, but my personal opinions should not be assumed to be that SakeBomb Garage or anyone else that is involved with the company. That being said...

David,

As per my PM reply, I want to remind you that you were never part of this GB. You purchased a conversion from me directly (not from SakeBomb Garage), and you paid me directly as well. The description, terms and conditions listed in this GB thread do not apply to you, as you were not part of the GB. Additionally, you damaged your lights due to install/uninstall error, and also intentionally cut wires in attempt to repair them yourself. I have already repaired your lights (for free) once, which only needed repair due to your fault alone. I will not be offering you any more repairs or any form of a refund, and I will not sell you an future products that I have planned for the future. Finally I will ask the moderators to ban you from my thread should you continue to harass me with demands of free upgrades or refunds.

To everyone else,

It's people like David Hayes that make people like me not want to develop or produce products. I'm not a mechanical or electrical engineer. I am just someone who came up with a design and figured out how to fabricate it. Even though I've tried very hard to come up with a good product that is affordable to my fellow Rx-7 enthusiasts, people like David Hayes can never be satisfied and would rather act like self-entitled ****** than admit to this.

As a full-time college student and someone who works multiple jobs in order to pay the bills, I appreciate the forum members that have purchased a set of tail lights though this GB. I think I came up with a great product that works very well, and I think almost everyone has been satisfied with what they've received for the price. I did not make these lights to make a lot of money - I made them out of love for these cars and to support development and innovation within our small community. Hell, I didn't even have enough money to drive my own car to DGRR this year, so I rode down with people and bummed rides. Obviously I'm not in this to scam people, and I have been trying my best to provide the best product of my abilities.

Thanks again to everyone for all their support and good feedback. I plan to have the remaining sets from the GB completed as soon as possible, and I again thank everyone for their patience.

cabaynes

iTrader: (4)

Well said, Tom

theorie

iTrader: (31)

Here are some '99spec vs. LED Ring comparison shots that I took while driving to DGRR. These were taken in the daytime.

Parking lights only, heads up comparison.

clear skies:


rain:


finally, '99 spec tails in direct sunlight. can you tell the parking lights are on? yup, they're turned on, but hard to see due to direct sunlight.



Cheers.

roootary

I have never been more patient.... would love to have it before summers end..

theorie

iTrader: (31)

With so much talk of Moosejaw's FD...I just wanted to share some photos I found of Moosejaw's FD on the Dragon...straight off of KillBoy's website, unedited.









Cheers.

roootary

^^well i can see some issues from the second to last picture (right tailight).. but it doesnt seem any different from stockies in direct light!

MattGold

iTrader: (109)

Yeah... those shots are in the shade (note the shadows).

In the 2nd to last, you can see the light output starting to 'fade' in the direct sunlight.

THAT'S the main concern. As I mentioned before, Moosjaw's lights at dusk/night looked AWESOME. But Laz's in the sun looked non-existent.

-M

Rxmfn7

iTrader: (4)

Any updates on what number were on? I believe Im 26.. waiting patiently

roootary

^^^

BLACK MAMBA

iTrader: (58)

update please.

PDViper77

iTrader: (9)

Moosejaw: Was that your 7 last night at the Towers Group in Davie?

moosejaw

iTrader: (6)

Yes i was there with Rick, Whips, and Matt Gold. Was your car the white FD with the wide body kit?

theorie

iTrader: (31)

Rxmfn7 went out recently and the next two sets are almost done.

If anyone hasn't shipped yet, email or PM me and I'll tell you what day to ship. Schedule is wide open now and tail light conversions are getting first priority.

PDViper77

iTrader: (9)

No, I was in my Viper.

roootary

pmed for shipping notice!

racerrex90

I'm one of the next in line to get my tails converted. I haven't spoke out "for or against" brightness issues with the current mod but I do wish to make an observation. I love the light mod and the modern yet subtle look it gives our FD's. However, I also like knowing that someone won't run up my backside because they didn't see me brake in time.

I still want my lights but I don't necessarily agree with the definition of "off road". "Off road" conditions to me mean that the light assemblies may not hold up to the rigors of daily use or are susceptible to damage under lesser accident conditions. I can't consider the mod like a race part meant for track use only. Most of our cars are driven primarily on public streets where we need lights.

Seriously, if I buy headlights labled "off road" for my RX7... I won't guess for one second that they might not be bright enough under certain conditions. Our tail lights are USDM or JDM housings/lenses so the ONLY concern is the lights themselves. Who buys lights that can't be used 100% of the time? I wouldn't buy a flashlight if it only worked during certain conditions.

The lights should put out the intensity that any rational human would expect. Keep folks safe and stand by your product rather than addressing it with better version. This is like a recall not an advance in new tech. What am I asking for? Give folks like me who will faithfully buy the lights another option…

Convert and ship the lights for folks who are tired of waiting and give them 1 year to choose either upgrade priority when a new brighter conversion is ready or allow them to buy the upgrade in a kit form... and give a discounted price for kit/upgrade.

At least this way, people feel they have a choice. They may or may not want to upgrade once the lights are installed anyway. Regardless, you'll wind up with a satisfied customer!

Respectfully,

Evan

roootary

ive waited for a year and honestly could care less anymore about the brightness or wait for another year for the new design, i just want to see a return on my intended investment soon.

if im unsatisfied with the lights, im sure there are more than eager Fd owners out there who wouldnt mind trading with me for their 99spec/ stock + cash of course.


Although I wouldn't mind the 1 yr priority option if a brighter design is ever finalised and in production! that makes sense.

Epik

Is this conversion still available? Will there be another GB soon?

Epik

Oh and if they're still available, how soon can I get them?

RotorMotor

iTrader: (5)

with all the hoopla and bickering over brightness and claims that they are going to make your car burst into flames we've put the next GB on hold.

theorie

iTrader: (31)

Just wanted to make a quick post to answer a question about the materials used in construction of these lights.

I've had a couple of people ask me about the aluminum used in making these tails. Some people have looked inside their lights and seen...soda cans!?

Well, it's actually true, but it's not really a secret. I've actually talked to a few people in person about this, and so I thought I would share the background on this instead of having to repeat myself to anyone else.

When I designed these tail lights I built them using hand-cut sheet aluminum "reflectors" and "shields". I used a program to design the size and shape of the pieces, then I hand-traced their shape onto thin aluminum flashing, and finally cut each piece out by hand. Mind you, there are 10 pieces of different sizes/shapes per set. Obviously this takes a lot of time to hand-cut.

For the group buy, I outsourced the production of these aluminum pieces to a company that does custom CNC-cutting. I paid quite a lot of money to have enough pieces cut out of the thinnest sheet aluminum that their machines were able to cut without tearing. The pieces need to be as thin as possible because they are not structural support, and are only used to shield the light of the outer LEDs from the center ones.

When the parts came, I used them to build a test set, an found that the aluminum just was not thin enough and proved difficult to work with. I asked if it was possible to cut thinner aluminum and everyone I talked to said, "No" because the machines would tear the aluminum if it was any thinner.

On a whim, I decided to use the aluminum from a "tallboy" can. First I had to cut both ends, cut the seam, then flatten the aluminum into a sheet. Mind you, this is not a quick or simple job. I made test set of LED units using the aluminum from the cans and they worked perfectly. The hand-cut aluminum shapes from the can aluminum worked better than the expensive, CNC-cut shapes.

It is for this reason that I decided to continue production using hand-cut recycled sheet aluminum instead of using the expensive CNC-cut pieces.

Now, if anyone is concerned with using recycled materials, I point to the fact that it happens all the time in production. For example, if you remove the interior from your car you'll find some soft insulation material - this material is made from recycled T-shirts and other clothing. Its made by shredding thrown-out clothing into fibers, which are flattened into a sort of fabric, and sold to auto manufacturers (and others) to use for insulation.

I don't want anyone to feel deceived in the production or materials used in making these lights. It has never been a secret that I use recycled sheet aluminum to produce these units, but I wanted to let you guys know for those that might be curious. haha

Cheers everyone.

Darkreign

iTrader: (4)

Just waiting on the next GB. Unless someone wants to sell their spot.......