ExplorerForum visits Ruffstuff Specialties

...I have known Dan the owner of Ruffstuff for a number of years now from his Ford Ranger products he has made over the years (as well as all other vehicles) and all he does for the offroad community..I happened to be in the neighborhood for an Ultra4 race and he invited me over to his new shop and allowed me to take some pictures to share..:biggthump



..Although he looks all official and hard at his job in this photo, Dan will gladly take time out of his day to talk to you in person about what your needs are from having to do with over the counter parts or one off fabrication on your project, no matter what it is..Seriously..They thrive on designing and fabricating your idea into a reality no matter what your project is..

About Ruffstuff Specialties

..Their website..
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/

..and a cool little story of this somewhat newcomber to the industry and how Ruffstuff Specialties came to be..
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/about.html

..Now mind you that he has grown so rapidly over the past few years (and has moved 5 times in 7 years), he has kept and moved with him his '73 Landcruiser mentioned in that story and also his old single cab Ranger which was not mentioned..( a sign of a true Enthusiast.. )






..Also mentioned in that story is that he has 8 fulltime and 4 part time employees..Well I believe he had mentioned he now has 23 full time Employees and let me tell you they are a happy and fun bunch of characters but are all business..This also includes his son who has the same interest as we all do which he also owns a Ranger, although I think it is the only stock employee vehicle on the property..:

..I had fun working on my laptop at the front desk for an afternoon with the sales dept. while they cracked each other up in between taking their phone orders..I was very impressed watching this same team with their phone customers as they went from just taking an order to "How to install" their parts descriptions on numerous vehicles and off the top of their head over the phone...

..They are not reading this information from a sheet or looking it up on the computer..They live and breath this stuff daily in their own daily lives which I guess what makes their job so fun and Ruffstuff such a success..

The Sales Team

..Louis, Emily, and Stephan..


..Now for anyone who is ordering from Ruffstuff and happens to get a girl on the line and you have thoughts about asking for a guy to help you..Think again..

..As mentioned above, all of these folks live and breath this..Emily and her Husband owned Bent Up bumper fabricating from 1997-2009 and be assured she is a welder also..When ordering parts from Ruffstuff such as diff covers, you won't be able to tell if she or one of the other welders welded up your diff cover..

..a sampling of their diff cover welding..





..If you happen to ask Dan what his preferred brand of welder is he will not hesitate to tell you it's the Lincoln welders as well as their welding gear...

..I mention this as not only is it the only brand of welders Ruffstuff will use, I happened to get a chance to visit Lincoln Electric and Torchmate's Facility in Reno not long after visiting Ruffstuff while doing another future story..



(continued)

..Before I forget to mention it, Ruffstuff not only helps sponsor races, they also currently sponsor about 93 various race teams and they do something nobody else does that I know of...

..They show up to the races as a paid vendor and donate all their time and services to ALL of the race teams...Anybody and everybody racing can use their services for free...I can not tell you how many teams I have personally seen repaired by them at the various events..

..I've even seen events where another welding manuf. was the official vendor in which Ruffstuff could not get entry into the pits, the race competitors would actually drive out to where a Ruffstuff truck was to just get their repairs...Not because it was free of cost, but because they are the best at what they do and there is always a line for their quick but unbreakable repairs..

.A few of their current fleet of welding trucks at home base all rigged with the Lincoln welders.





Now on to The Ruffstuff Tour

..This is a view of one of the three shops that is currently Ruffstuff Specialties..



..Although I had to coax Dan into getting his picture taken, there is no hesitation when it comes to showing off his products or new projects they are currently working on..



..Some random pictures of the big shop and shipping area..













(continued)

..And where the Magic happens

..This is the fun part of the trip..Getting to see their current product line being fabricated as well as peeking in on some of their customers visions being created..











..even welded on the inside..



..Even with my short attention span kicking into gear like a kid in a candy store on a sugar rush, Dan continued to show me around the shop..











...More pics from this visit can be found here...
http://www.explorerforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=4021

..including spy pics of one of the employee's Rangers with spy pics of his suspension fabrication...



..Oh yea...He also kept his motor shock cause it is cool..:biggthump

..When ordering..

..I often see members here posting up their newly acquired Ruffstuff bling but when asking Ruffstuff if they know members from ExplorerForum often order parts from them, they are not aware of this...

..Even though we have currently 249,848 members worldwide with a little over 5000 active viewers at any given time, nobody mentions ExplorerForum to Ruffstuff when ordering..

Please mention ExplorerForum to Ruffstuff even if you are calling looking for info or even ordering parts..

..If they hear from us I bet we could talk them into becoming a Vendor here and that equals EF discounts and we will get info to their latest and greatest offers posted here on the Forum by Ruffstuff themselves..

What more could you ask for if you are working on modifying your vehicle if it is lifting, lowering, for street or you need something custom fabricated...

..:shifty_ey....Oh yea, did I mention..?

..They have a "blem" pile..I know other companies will just go ahead and send you their seconds or blem parts but not Ruffstuff..They even consider a real light hint of rust a blem and that is what consist of most of their blem pile..



..I don't remember if that is a walk-in only deal to purchase the blems but it is well worth asking about...After you tell them you heard about it on ExplorerForum.com...

International Shipping

...And for those of you down under, across the pond, or where ever you may be in the world, Ruffstuff already ships worldwide so no worries for even our most remote members..

I consider my 8.8 cover to be the strongest part of the entire vehicle. Using the POR15 system, I chem cleaned & treated it, then 2 top coats. I had to use longer bolts, as the ring plate is crazy thick!



I have also purchased the Y link 1 ton steering, & panhard kits, 8.8 SOA kit, Brake parts, Knuckle inserts, and a D44 cover from them. ALL Superior quality!

...Posting up your Ruffstuff purchases here works too..:biggthump

Dan should remember me, because he's sent me quite a few orders. I got most of the parts for the 93 from them, talked to him personally.

I did not mention the forum though.

Turdle said:

Dan should remember me, because he's sent me quite a few orders. I got most of the parts for the 93 from them, talked to him personally.

I did not mention the forum though.

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..I know how it goes..You are on the phone working out the task at hand and completely forget to mention the Forum...

..I think it would be great if we could get Ruffstuff to join us here on the Forum as a vendor and score some discounts too...

..If they hear from enough members and if we could get them as an EF Vendor, we would get a specific discount code which would show them it is ExplorerForum who has been buying a lot of their products..

..I forgot to mention that this diff cover pictured below with the Ruffstuff logo was done on a request and the logo does not come with the diff covers..




Idea..:scratch:

..If we could get them as a Vendor, perhaps we could do a special group buy of 8.8 diff covers with maybe a custom EF logo and have them custom powder coated by Turdle?..

...Just a thought but they need to know we are here first..

I'm in

Tbars4 said:

..If we could get them as a Vendor, perhaps we could do a special group buy of 8.8 diff covers with maybe a custom EF logo and have them custom powder coated by Turdle?..

...Just a thought but they need to know we are here first..

Click to expand...

I like that idea.. All I have now is that thin-ish Rockcrusher diff cover..

Also, I got my 8.8 install (soa) perches/kit from them, plus some shock tabs.. I ordered mine all online and I don't think I remember a spot for how did you hear about us, or what forum do you being to type thing..

~Mark

..You know..:scratch:

..If we could get everyone reading this to give them a call between now and 6 p.m PST..

..Tell them you are from Explorer Forum and see if you can get a sticker from them..

..I don't think they just mail out stickers but at least they would know Explorer Forum is out there...

..:shifty_ey ..and they will never know I had anything to do with their phone ringing off the hook..

(916)-600-1945 ask for Ingrid

<subliminal message> call that number now...</ subliminal message>

I know they have my address and have mailed me stickers, got one on my oven

I bought a 8.8 flip kit about two years ago. It is very heavy duty. I really like the spring perches. Fast shipping also. I'm guessing I should try and put the 8.8 back together and find someone to weld the flip kit on.
I did not mention this forum, guess because it was a internet order.

Great story man.

I've been ordering from RuffStuff for a couple years now stockpiling the parts for my SAS, SOA for my Sport Trac. I'll have to start making my orders by phone and mention the forum again.

The last time I ordered I called to ask a question about a product, I mentioned what kind of truck I was building and that I'm on the Explorerforum (this was about a month ago when I ordered frame outriggers for the front leafsprings).

They have great customer service and fast shipping along with discounts for almost every holiday between 12-20% off. I'll have to ask about the blems next time I order (I'll be sanding everything down and painting it anyway).

...Keep the purchasing stories coming..

...The manufacturers and suppliers that support our vehicles are few and they need to know ExplorerForum members appreciate what they do and they need to hear we are already their customers...

...It's sometimes hard to convince Companies like Ruffstuff who are already on a number of other Forums how big and how many actual active members ExplorerForum has, while also how thankful we are that they support Ranger based vehicles and are there for us in our needs to customize our vehicles also..

...Hopefully they will see all of our post and want to join us here as a Vendor..

...Did i mention we would get discounts to their products?

While I don't always end up going with Ruffstuff I ALWAYS toss their product line into the mix when looking for the parts I need. I know for instance I've used their threaded bungs and rod ends for the steering on my exploder.




I've got their 9" axle truss on our race truck...



I just recently picked up more of their threaded bungs to rebuild a tie rod on my current project and will likely be using their rod ends when the time comes to replace them on my expo, the race truck or the new truck I'm building for myself as well. I think my last truck actually had their battery box on it if I remember right. They actually are in the mix right now for a full axle housing upgrade on our race truck. We're going to a 40 spline floater and they're name has been in discussion... Thinking more, we've got their spring perches on the race truck. Lastly... Once my new truck is up and running, "if" I feel I need a sway bar setup for it, I'll likely be going with theirs.


It's a jumble of parts and vehicles I've used their stuff on and like I said, I sometimes choose a different part or a different route but I definitely make sure to toss them in the mix of potential suppliers virtually every time.

..I sent Ruffstuff a message and I'm hoping to hear back from them to see if their motor mounts they have for the Rangers will also work for our 4.0L Explorers..

..and how much they are of course..

..It doesn't look like we are going to get any lovin' with the 4.0L motor mounts..

..I mentioned that their web site talked about the 4.0L motor mounts for a Ranger on their motor mount page but there was no further info or a price related..(reference has since been removed from their site)

I apologize I wasn't aware we still mentioned anything on the website about the motor mounts for the Ford 4.0L. We had to stop the production on these a couple years ago, because the motor we had designed them for was not a common design. We will eventually have a new design. At this time I do not have a idea of when.

Best Regards,
Louis

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..After I suggested I would offer up my time and vehicle to help make this happen..

We did not sell a whole bunch of them. The main problem is we do not have the time at the moment. We would love to, but we have so many things in line right now. Sorry, I wish we could be more help.

Best regards,
Louis

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..But I am still very interested and still will offer up my truck and my time, (even camp out in the parking lot to make this happen ) if they would make the motor mounts for our Ranger and Explorers and at a decent price..

..Again, this is another reason why it is so important for these suppliers to know Rangers and Explorers are still needing these parts and to tell them you are from ExplorerForum.com and let them know if it's Ranger or Explorer you are working on even if the parts you are ordering are not vehicle specific..

Just ordered more parts for my SAS and mentioned the site, they gave me a discount. It's on the receipt as "EXPLORER DISCOUNT".

MidnightRebel07 said:

Just ordered more parts for my SAS and mentioned the site, they gave me a discount. It's on the receipt as "EXPLORER DISCOUNT".

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..Another reason to mention asap that you are from ExplorerForum.com

..If they know there is enough interest here they should become a Vendor with better group buy's and discounted items just for RBV's....