Tool Review: Drew Technologies Remote Assisted Programming (RAP) Kit
The Drew Technologies Remote Assisted Programming (RAP) Kit provides shop technicians the ability to complete J2534 ECU reprogramming updates and electronically-controlled parts replacements, with no start-up or equipment costs, and no specialized technician training required. Flash success is guaranteed, says the company. The RAP kit is available as a rental unit and is a pay-per-use service. As part of the agreement, shops must use the kit at least two times per month, or a small rental fee will be charged. The self-contained kit provides everything needed to program an ECU, including the remote expert.
The review
The value of being able to complete J2534 ECU reprogramming updates and electronically-controlled parts replacement in and around his facility without additional technician training made the Drew Technologies Remote Assisted Programming (RAP) Kit a must-have for shop owner Erick Bock.
The owner of Amagansett, N.Y.-based Bock Auto Corp. says he did not do reflashing in the past, but the acquisition of the RAP kit has turned it into a viable revenue opportunity for his three-bay independent repair shop moving forward.
“With this kit, we are confident as a shop that we can do reflashing and not have to outsource everything to the dealer,” says Bock.
“I hate having to send something out of my shop,” he continues. “I do anything I can to keep a job in-house.”
One feature Bock says he greatly appreciates is the cell card built into the RAP kit. Though his shop has Wi-Fi internet access, the inclusion of the cell card ensures that a vehicle does not have to be parked in one of his three bays for work to be conducted on it.
“We have three full-time techs, plus myself and a service writer,” says Bock. “We’re so limited for space. If we can be working on a car basically sitting outside, that’s just huge for us. We just park it right next to the bay and have the vehicle in flash, and we just run power to (the RAP kit), because (the kit) has its own power supply built right into it.”
Bock says all a technician needs to do is hook battery cables from the box unit right onto the vehicle battery. However, he states the battery cables are not included in the kit and users must have their own to be able to operate it.
Bock is also quite impressed by just how easy it is to use the RAP kit. He says anyone can conduct reflashing work because all that is really required is following step-by-step instructions and staying on the phone with Drew Technologies while being walked through the process.
“It can’t be any easier,” says Bock of using the RAP kit. “This is something I can give to anybody (working in the shop). You almost can’t mess it up, as long as everything is done correctly in terms of the installation of the part you’re reflashing.”
Ralph Buck, owner, Holland, Ohio-based Express Transmissions and Automotive Services says he greatly appreciates how using the kit is “pretty self-explanatory,” and that it saves him the time, hassle and cost of having to tow vehicles to dealerships and back for reflashing work to be done. The one downside to using the kit, he notes, is that it requires the user to be on the telephone with Drew Technologies for some time.
“And I’m not someone who always likes to be sitting on the phone,” says Buck.
Both Buck and Bock agree, though, that the convenience and performance provided by the Drew Technologies Remote Assisted Programming (RAP) Kit makes it a worthy investment for any shop that wants to do J2534 ECU reprogramming updates and electronically-controlled parts replacements work in-house.
“It’s nice to be able to believe in a product and that’s it’s just going to work,” adds Bock.
