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Wow...some people are just bitter and do their very best to spread the bitterness...even when other people are happy with the outcome.
I will give the whole story so that no one continues to make assumptions.
A long time back on this here forum, I saw that everyone seemed to be happy with the Helwig sway bar. So much so that I wanted to make it standard. We reached out to Mercedes to get their take. <crickets> we got no response...the first time, second time or third time. Months later, I finally convinced my boss that it couldn't hurt...so we decided to ask for forgiveness, not permission. There was also a line in the up-fitters guide that seemed to indicate that Mercedes did not want us to tie into the battery system. Flash forward a bit, I transferred over to Dynamax. I brought the Helwig with me and made it standard from the start. I also asked my electrical engineer to look into the battery boost. As much as Mercedes wants to tell you what to do...there is some fine print that says we're pretty much liable for everything since we are the up fitter. SO they tell you what to do and then wipe their hands of you doing it. So I decided that if we had enough protections in the battery boost that we could again, ask for forgiveness. So we added that in...on our own, as an independent division.
Around that same time, Jayco was starting to build on the Mercedes (over a year after we started using the Helwig). I am told, and this is pure rumor, that they asked about the Helwig. They were told no, and then they said "Sunseeker was using it". Shortly thereafter there was a Mercedes audit at Sunseeker and the one thing they noted was the Helwig and told them to not install it until they could investigate its impact. So they stopped. It was not an audit of my plant, so I continued to install it. I was hanging my hat on the fine print of the up fitter guide that we were ultimately responsible for the liability of anything we put on. I did some research regarding what NHTSA would think and they love anything that helps stability and might prevent roll-over, so we felt comfortable with the install. With no response from Mercedes, I believe that Sunseeker started putting them on again after a few months.
Sooo, to make a long story longer, I agree with Loefflerh. That was a very good outcome in the situation. The brochure states that they can make changes to the specs at anytime...which is especially critical for times like this, when they were asked to stop installing something. They were under no obligation to install the sway bar after the fact yet the two parties compromised with a solution that seemed to work for them.
So...there is no great nefarious plan to cheat customers. No salespeople making up stories (at least in this situation), it is just an unfortunate series of events that seems to have a happy ending. Other than someone trying to rain on the parade.
Last but not least, Loefflerh, if you have not gotten the Helwig sticker, I'd be happy to send you a set. Just PM me your contact info. I designed that sticker when I was there and so felt the right to use them over at Dynamax.
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