I got my MRT Louvers last Friday. By saturday they were installed. I noticed today that all of the louvers except the very top and the very bottom are all loose inside the louvers steps. Looks like the welds have already busted. I also noticed that some of the powder coating over the weld spots have already started flaking off. So as the louvers shake inside these steps they are being scratched so the powder coating is coming off the top of them as well.

I am disappointed with this. These things cost $399.00 I really did expect a more superior product.

Any other Louver owners experiening this problem? I'm not sure a new set will be any better. I hope they are ready to stand behind thier product. I will be calling them tomorrow to ask for a replacement set.

 

Let me know what they say. This is another reason I have stopped being a guinea pig by buying first gen equipment. I am in a hurry to get my car done so I can say "I was the first here to get that" but no I'd rather be the last.

 

Any pics?

 

Okay,

So I just got off the phone with MRT. I sent them a small video clip that clealry shows the problem with the louvers.

First I am told that I was sent a quality inspected product. And if anything was wrong with them then it happened from the time it left thier shop to the time it arrived at my location. :scratch: I don't think so, the box was perfectly fine when it arrived. They are trying to blame UPS so then they could get a full re-imbursement. I think that is concidered INSURANCE FRAUD.

Then they tell me they talked to thier manufacturer and he claims that when they were baking the powder coating or whatever they do in that process, well the temperature was set too high so the RTV has failed. :scratch:

So after having to ARGUE with these people about an inferior product which I paid $400.00 for I am told they will need to get them back so they can determine if it is truly a defect BEFORE they send me a new set.

So I was thinking fine, send me a new set that are good until they tell me I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FRIEGHT CHARGES FOR THE NEW SET! :scratch:

So everyone out there thinking about getting the MRT Louvers, THINK AGIAN

 

Are you serious? They say you are responsible for shipping it back? Good to know. I will raise that issue with them when they tell me mine are being shipped out. They would be the first company I have heard of that is giving the customer the shaft in this forum.

 

so if MRT is crap whats the best one out there?

 

Man $400 for those??? I thought they were about $189 like those other ones. I don't like a company that after it gets your money forgets about you. I was going to get them til I heard this. What alternative louvre would you suggest? I like the feature that they are removable so remove them and send them back and get your money back (unlikely) Good Luck

 

you are talking rear window louvers right?

it's too bad that any company would do that to a costomer.

 

Yes, he's talking about the rear louvers. That is very disappointing to hear their customer service is so poor!

 

Please keep us informed on whats going on about your louvers. Please just state the facts. How about some photos. Who manufactured them? This thing looks like one big fiasco from start to finish. Like you I would be one very unhappy camper. Maybe I should take a few steps to the rear because I was going to order this week. You would think MRT would not want and negative publicity about the products they sell. A bad rep here spreads like wild fire to all the forums.

 

As of right now, the MRT (Visus) are the only metal ones that I know of on the market. However Astra Hammond is set to release theirs within a few weeks. I found a site that has them for a good price with no shipping. the way its working, at least here in D/FW, is that there is a local point of contact that they ship them to (ya can get the number of the local distributor by dialing the number on the site) . So if there is a probelm it can be addressed face to face. I dont know how it will all work out. But heres the link and I will, of course, let ya know how it goes with my experience.

Astra Hammond Louvers

 

Just trying to put two and two together here for future refference. Where is MRT located?

Thanks.

 

I'd like to add to this as well... But my experience with MRT has been good thus far..

Short story, they are sending me replacement parts... details of my mounting experience and issues below...

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I'm going to be really detailed here in my story...

I got mine last Friday (a week ago today). Following the instructions, cleaning the entire rear window with alcohol (I did it twice), cutting out the template, which happen to be the instruction sheet too (that was kind'a lame, had to keep referring to it of course and it was an inconvenience to have to go to the left of the rear top window to re-read the install instructions... the template and install instructions should have been two separate sheets, and for the money we paid, the template should have been pre-cut! )

Anyway, there are 6 mounting pads, 4 of which go on the top, one on each corner and 2 mid-way for mounting the hinges on the top. You use the template for placing these 4 mounting pads in the correct location. First thing I noticed was my rear window was not entirely square. The 2 top corner mounting pads have what I call apposing hooks, one side hooked under the edge of the glass and the other is use to slide the top right and left edge of the louver under when placed/locked down on to the rear window.

At the rear of the stang, looking forward, the left right corner mount would not slide under the edge of the rear window, there wasn't enough room between the glass edge and the grove the window sits in. Right side was okay. So, I had to place the left mounting pad on to the top glass edge on the right side, and slide it all the way across the top of the glass to the left... Not a real big deal you might think, but I had my template already taped down and in position!! and placing that template in the right spot, making sure it was centered was a real PITA as I was doing the install at this point by myself. So while sliding the left top mounting pad from the right to it's final position on the left, I had to un-tape my template at each spot I taped it on the top. Okay, got the top 4 mounting pads in the correct position, lifted each one at a time, cleaning the area to mount under each pad with the special sponge and chemical in the small packet and then pulling the protected tape off of the bottom of each mount and then pressing it on to the glass was okay, but difficult with only 2 hands.. used my teeth as an extra third to hold the sponge and packet. BTW, the paper instructions didn't say it, but on the outside of the special packed that the sponge was in, said to NOT to remove the sponge entirely from the packet.. woops, didn't see that

Okay, got all 4 top mounting pads installed, now you can remove the temple with the instructions printed on them.... next was to place the entire 1 piece louver on to the mounting pads for connecting the hinges. Still by myself at this point.. Oh, and if it's 85' degrees out, those black power aluminum lovers get really HOT in the sun, and you'll need something to protect your hands I found out stinker got real warm sitting there on top of the box it came in in the front yard... anyway, again I could of used a 3rd hand to lift and place the louvers onto the top 4 mounting pads and to line up the hinges. BTW the instructions do tell you this is a 2 person job!! This time I use my head for the center and held the left and right with my hands to line things up.

At this time, my much better half of almost 30 years drives up getting home from work, boy and I glad to see her.. So I got my extra pair of hands I hand tight the mounting nuts for the hinges, and then start marking where I need to place the last 2 mounting pads at the bottom of each corner. There are slots where the hinges slide over the top 2 mounting pads so you can slide the louvers and adjust how they look and will mount to the 2 bottom mounting pads which are the ones you use to lock down the whole ball of wax... So we play around lifting and adjusting the louvers placement and where I should put the last 2 bottom pads. Wife notices the louvers are still real HOT.. doh, forgot to warn her about that So I use a card small cardboard box to temporally hold up the rear of the louvers.. BTW before I ordered these, I spoke with MRT sales on the phone and asked about a "prop" that would hold up the louvers when you need to wash the rear window, as my previous experience with louvers in the 70's had a prop to hold up the window for this exact purpose. They assured me there would be one...wrong, no prop, so got'a have an extra pair of hands or a cardboard box... during install and washing of the rear window...

So we lift and adjust, measure and remeasure for the final placement of the last 2 mounting pads and I mark their placement with a white crayon. Re-clean the area with alcohol, pull the protective tape off of the bottom of the bottom mounting pads and apply the special chemical to help adhesion.. but by now the sponge is dried out somewhat and there isn't much chemical left ... so anyway, I finally get the 2 final pads mounted and stuck in place.. tighten down the hinges, and start putting together the 3 piece locking mechanism, which is plastic and I don't think will last very long in this Florida sun in the years to come?? Get everything set, locked her down to check the final adjustments, and stick the 2 long black rubber weather strips on each side of the louvers where it'll sit on the glass, then park my baby in the shade, take pics, and unloosen and unlock everything to let her sit until the next day. Instructions say to let it sit for 24 hours before locking and bolting everything down.

The next day, I check everything quickly and lock everything down, I take my Sally out for a ride on the range... when I get back I notice that the 2 top mount pads have shifted?? I try and push'em back into place, but no go.. must'a moved on me after I parked it in the shade for the day?? Not noticeable, but if ya know about it or are really looking, you can't see it, as I didn't when I got up the next morning and locked everything down...

So Sunday morning, I'm finally going to take the $75 bestbuy gift card my Daughter and Son-inlaw gave me for Christmas and spend it . My son meets up with me at BestBuy, but as I'm driving into the BestBuy parking lot, I roll over a few speed bumps and notice the louvers rattling a little bit for the first time?? Hummm, don't think too much of that at first... spend my gift card, my son and I take the long way home.. he's got a nice 04 Neon we fixed up and we're cursing along getting lots of looks and head turning... we get on to a 6 line road and we start screwing around and open things up... my little V6 will run... I eat him alive, and actually hit 100mph, stupid, shouldn't have done it, but hey, hard to hold back a champion steed when she wants to run!! Sorry off topic...

Anyway, we get home, and in the afternoon I start washing my Sally.. and I notice that, again, looking from the rear forward, that about 8" of the left weather strip come undone.. try pushing it back up and it's not sticking... then I notice on the same side, the bottom mounting locking pad has lifted up halfway and explains why I heard the rattle when I rolled over those speed bumps ... It's 2 days after I installed them and MRT is closed, so no phone calling... so I email them the problems I have run into and over the next few days we exchange emails.. I tell'em I can live with the minor shift of the top 2 mounting pads, as they aren't going anywhere and ya really have to look to see the shift. But I got'a do something about the weather strip and mounting pad coming loose. As this is also my daily driver, I get some all weather clear caulk and re-stick the weather strip and the loose bottom mounting pad as a temporary fix until I hear back from MRT. My fix works and has all week, except this morning I notice the same mounting pad has loosen up again a little.

Also... when I unpacked my louvers I noticed that there were some scratches on the trailing edge of some of the louvers, not real noticeable. The weld points on the vertical struts are welded underneath, but not on top ...a good tig welder could do a good job on both sides IMHO.. Including shipping, we paid almost $500 for these and they could have done a better job... but they didn't do the tops of the struts and there is some space between the louver tops and the vertical struts that show bare metal. I just took a black sharpy and covered the small bear metal spots I found on the trailing edges and under the top where the struts sit on the louvers. The bottoms where the tig welds are still look good..

Two days ago, MRT emails me and will be sending a new weather strip and mounting pad.. well see and I'll update if your interested and not dead from reading all this

 

Here's a few pics of the louvers...

 

Those look nice on yellow. I wonder how the 1/4 louvers will be quality wise? Hmm..........

 

Sorry Man, I thought you were talking "side louvres" not rear window louvres. Did you get the side louvres from MRT?? Or are you not running them?(side jobs that is) :scratch:

 

Rick - yeah Florida sun must have made that install REAL fun. Sorry to hear the difficutlies you've been having.

Hey - this is the first time I have gotten a good look at your ride - bro that is the best V6 I have seen yet - LOVE the white lettered Goodyears!!!! That's hot!

Man your car matches that old yellow Stang pic perfectly!

 

Yea, it was real hot last Friday when I installed those, around 85+'.. kept the louvers in the plastic bag until I got ready to install them, but didn't make a difference , hopefully MRT will come through as they said with the replacement hardware.. regardless of the problems I have encountered... I still love the look!!

Hey, thanks for the kind words on my ride.. going for the retro look of my high school days .. that 69 Mach 1 on my web site is the model I'm going by for the look.. next will be a black chin spoiler when ever they come out with one for the V6..

 

Hey guys... just wanted to say MRT came through and this morning via USPS I got my replacement parts that came unglued this week..

 

They look great on your car. I want these bad but now I am going to step back and see what they do about the quality control situation. That is a lot of $$ for something that has problems with welds and paint. Not too cool with templet and instructions on the same sheet. I can see your frustrations with the install.