Doug Kopf

$7,800. 89. Eight months. My family’s safety put at risk. That is the outcome of my experience with Boardwalk’s service department on my commercially register 89. Eight months. My family’s safety put at risk. That is the outcome of my experience with Boardwalk’s service department on my commercially registered California 2018 Ram 3500. This was not a one-time problem. Over the 2018–2025 period, Boardwalk repeatedly failed to properly diagnose, document, or competently repair serious issues affecting steering, suspension, alignment, ride height, engine-related work, and directional stability under torque load. The most serious failure involved the rear axle mounting hardware. Service management directed reuse of single-use rear axle U-bolts, and the result was catastrophic: an independent BAR-licensed facility later found that the rear axle had been shifting in its mounts under torque load, and that one of the reused U-bolts had broken. On a heavy-duty truck, that is not a minor workmanship issue. It creates an obvious and unacceptable risk of loss of control, serious crash, severe injury, or death. When I reported severe instability, management’s response was to defer inspection because they needed to “get everything we have out the door before the end of the month.” The truck was then taken to an independent BAR-licensed facility, which identified additional major defects and deficiencies that should never have been missed or left unresolved on a truck of this type. These included the previously mentioned reused single-use U-bolts, loose, bent, and sheared rear axle hardware, tie rods and drag link not torqued to specification, leaf spring frame bolts not torqued to OEM specification, and alignments that were undocumented, ineffective, or both. Independent alignment later confirmed the truck was far outside specification. By that point, the truck had already been repeatedly returned to me without a competent, durable, and well-documented repair. This was also part of a broader pattern. Earlier engine-related work following a Cummins rear gear cover seal repair was followed by a new engine tick associated with improper reinstallation of the fuel injector pump, requiring multiple return visits to convince them something was wrong with their reassembling of the Cummins 6.7 diesel engine. The same repair also resulted in new oil leaks that later required third-party degreasing at my expense. On another occasion, management represented that the oil had been changed, but the oil was black, significantly overfilled, and a new CCV filter was damaged; only after I obtained Blackstone Labs oil analysis and confronted management was the oil service properly performed. I also experienced chronic suspension and steering instability across multiple visits, along with evidence of improper or skipped calibration and torque procedures, and cab-to-chassis misalignment after major repair work that later contributed to tire rubbing during turns. I escalated concerns to management, including Eric Allen and Rick Arslanian, yet the broader pattern was never competently resolved. I also intentionally did not name individual employees in my own public Google review, yet Boardwalk chose to identify me by name in their public response. That only reinforced my concern about their judgment and professionalism. Prior to writing this review, I have given Boardwalk ample opportunity to make me whole for the consequences of its own errors, as Rick had promised me, but it has refused to accept full responsibility and failed to make right financially. After years of chances, I cannot recommend Boardwalk’s service department. My advice to Ram HD owners is simple: STAY AWAY. Based on my experience, without significant oversight, intervention, and remedial training, this service department does not have the expertise, tooling, fixturing, or professional judgment necessary to properly repair RAM HD trucks. More

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