Black Widow Customs

[Carl McFly]

BWC (Manchester NH) has a lot of good reviews and seem like a reputable 4WD shop. Anyone had work done there?

[Hoodoo Man]

are you still friends with Dave Waterman? he had an awful experience there a few years back. I don't see much of BWC anymore. Heard a lot of good things about Ratchets Offroad and have seen Barrett Fabrications work and its top notch. I would imagine if BWC is still running they have improved over the years but they wouldn't be my first choice.

[MDSRACING398]

I'll double down on what Jeff said and add Keith at Ratchets and Ricky at at Barrette fab both support the NEA.

[BlackNBlue-ISH]

I'll confirm both Jeff and Mark regarding BWC.

My experience at Ratchets left me very underwhelmed. They overlooked lots of items required for state inspection, and I'm guessing they did the bare minimum to put a sticker on it "just cause its a jeep thing". I use the yearly inspection to check things that I don't normally check or are not easy for a weekend mechacknic to check. They also did a terrible 4 wheel drive alignment, it now squeals the front tires taking side street turns at 5 mph, they corrected some caster, but mostly tried to correct pinion making the front springs rub on the shock towers. I asked them to check the rear to ensure all 5 arms (control/trackbar) were set properly, but they didn't even bother. I'll be taking it to Elias4x4 sometime between now and wheeling season to get it all sorted out properly.

[ImNotCassie]

I've used both places. Barrett Fab is a long haul for me but does good work and will always make sure customer is happy.

[zenfire1]

I'll confirm both Jeff and Mark regarding BWC.

My experience at Ratchets left me very underwhelmed. They overlooked lots of items required for state inspection, and I'm guessing they did the bare minimum to put a sticker on it "just cause its a jeep thing". I use the yearly inspection to check things that I don't normally check or are not easy for a weekend mechacknic to check. They also did a terrible 4 wheel drive alignment, it now squeals the front tires taking side street turns at 5 mph, they corrected some caster, but mostly tried to correct pinion making the front springs rub on the shock towers. I asked them to check the rear to ensure all 5 arms (control/trackbar) were set properly, but they didn't even bother. I'll be taking it to Elias4x4 sometime between now and wheeling season to get it all sorted out properly.

I agree on ratchets. Went back twice to fix a differential swap vibration. Had to pay a second time at Elias to fix it. Ratchets seems to only like to work on pavement princess.