James Duff Traction Bar Group Buy Feeler!
#1
02-06-2007
James Duff Traction Bar Group Buy Feeler!
Ok, i've been bouncing around alot of forums lately and JD Trac bars are always coming up. I desperately need a set myself but as we all know JD moved from Oregon to Tennessee and in between that they discontinued the trac bars that fit our truck.
I recently discovered this was because the design was expensive and they weren't making much money from them.
What are JD Trac Bars?
the JD trac bars are exactly that...they are traction enhancing devices.
they mount in 2 places:
1.) on top of the axle ( above springs )
2.) to the outside frame rail
they work by stiffening the entire rear axle assembly. every time you accelerate your rear axle assembly has force transferred to it and tries to either pitch forward or backward...traction bars help reduce this significantly by stiffening the entire axle. this is accomplished through bracing. The trac bar acts as a brace for the rear axle and transfers the force felt up to the frame rail at the other end of the trac bar, where the force is dissipated.
one great advantage to JD trac bars is the fact that are mounted on top of the axle tubes versus being mounted below which will cause you to lose effective ground clearance.
A comparable set of traction bars for an S-10 will easily run you 250...
What i'm trying to do is get a group buy feeler thread started so i can present it to the great people over at JD and get them to do a limited run on the trac bars. If you hung out at G-E or over at R-F you know about these group buys due to the WAAG Sportster bar group buy.
So, if you are TRULY interested in a set of bars for your truck please post your intent here. I need as many SERIOUS buyers as possible to make this happen.
I will also be posting this thread on several other forums, so if you post here there is no need to post on other forums.
If I remember correctly the part number is :
#5304 for all NON FX4 & Level II's
#5305 is for the 31 spline axle ( Large Housing )
the pricing on the site is $89.00 USD. due to them losing money though, i would possibly anticipate a price of roughly $100 though, just to be safe.
If you have any questions about this please PM me. Don't clutter the thread up. This thread is just for those who wish to take advantage of a group buy if i can make it happen!
Thanks
Rob
Here's the list of those who are committed/interested :
Sad_Savant - 5304
FX4Wannabe01 - 5304
lifted97ranger - 5304
white05xlt - 5304
gatorblue - 5304
ranger - 5304
SCMuddin - 5305
4LitreRR - 5304
veNom_bz - 5304
rubydist - 5304
Fechner - 5304
450rwhp - 5304
yyc_tbird_sc - 5304
Dave and Julie - 5305
Stevo - 5304
icb12 - 5304
d889 - 5304
ViperSpec - 5304
livinfastforward - 5304
soccerjohn - 5304
VTFX4 - 5305
Gay-Briel - 5305
fuze - 5305
D94R - 5305
stockranger - 5304
redranger04G - 5304
93'XLT - 5304
Redranger4.0 - 5305
RedRange 89 - 5304
*some member names were extracted from another forum*
I recently discovered this was because the design was expensive and they weren't making much money from them.
What are JD Trac Bars?
the JD trac bars are exactly that...they are traction enhancing devices.
they mount in 2 places:
1.) on top of the axle ( above springs )
2.) to the outside frame rail
they work by stiffening the entire rear axle assembly. every time you accelerate your rear axle assembly has force transferred to it and tries to either pitch forward or backward...traction bars help reduce this significantly by stiffening the entire axle. this is accomplished through bracing. The trac bar acts as a brace for the rear axle and transfers the force felt up to the frame rail at the other end of the trac bar, where the force is dissipated.
one great advantage to JD trac bars is the fact that are mounted on top of the axle tubes versus being mounted below which will cause you to lose effective ground clearance.
A comparable set of traction bars for an S-10 will easily run you 250...
What i'm trying to do is get a group buy feeler thread started so i can present it to the great people over at JD and get them to do a limited run on the trac bars. If you hung out at G-E or over at R-F you know about these group buys due to the WAAG Sportster bar group buy.
So, if you are TRULY interested in a set of bars for your truck please post your intent here. I need as many SERIOUS buyers as possible to make this happen.
I will also be posting this thread on several other forums, so if you post here there is no need to post on other forums.
If I remember correctly the part number is :
#5304 for all NON FX4 & Level II's
#5305 is for the 31 spline axle ( Large Housing )
the pricing on the site is $89.00 USD. due to them losing money though, i would possibly anticipate a price of roughly $100 though, just to be safe.
If you have any questions about this please PM me. Don't clutter the thread up. This thread is just for those who wish to take advantage of a group buy if i can make it happen!
Thanks
Rob
Here's the list of those who are committed/interested :
Sad_Savant - 5304
FX4Wannabe01 - 5304
lifted97ranger - 5304
white05xlt - 5304
gatorblue - 5304
ranger - 5304
SCMuddin - 5305
4LitreRR - 5304
veNom_bz - 5304
rubydist - 5304
Fechner - 5304
450rwhp - 5304
yyc_tbird_sc - 5304
Dave and Julie - 5305
Stevo - 5304
icb12 - 5304
d889 - 5304
ViperSpec - 5304
livinfastforward - 5304
soccerjohn - 5304
VTFX4 - 5305
Gay-Briel - 5305
fuze - 5305
D94R - 5305
stockranger - 5304
redranger04G - 5304
93'XLT - 5304
Redranger4.0 - 5305
RedRange 89 - 5304
*some member names were extracted from another forum*
Originally Posted by 4LitreRR
Sad_Savant,
Thanks for puttin this together for everyone here. I'd looked into purchasing these a while back, but they were already discontinued.
Anyway, would we be paying JD directly? They give you any idea of a time frame or anything? Would there be a choice in colors? Black would be good...
Well, thanks again. Good Luck,
Jimmy
Thanks for puttin this together for everyone here. I'd looked into purchasing these a while back, but they were already discontinued.
Anyway, would we be paying JD directly? They give you any idea of a time frame or anything? Would there be a choice in colors? Black would be good...
Well, thanks again. Good Luck,
Jimmy
Originally Posted by Sad_Savant
it's no problem at all...i've seen things like this happen before in other vehicle communities, so i thought it would be nice to make it happen in the Ranger community! Besides, what company is gonna turn down selling over 1,000 dollars in merchandise all at once!
I WILL NOT TAKE RECEIPT OF ANY MONEY FOR THESE ORDERS! I don't want that kind of responsibility. I'm gonna talk to Tom at JD this coming week and see if he would set up something that will make it easy to process so many payments at once.
I have no real timeframe as of yet. But like i said, I'm gonna be ringing his phone off of the hook about this all this week until they can give me something solid.
keep the questions coming and keep checking back on the thread!
As far as the color goes, i'm almost positive they only come in black.
I WILL NOT TAKE RECEIPT OF ANY MONEY FOR THESE ORDERS! I don't want that kind of responsibility. I'm gonna talk to Tom at JD this coming week and see if he would set up something that will make it easy to process so many payments at once.
I have no real timeframe as of yet. But like i said, I'm gonna be ringing his phone off of the hook about this all this week until they can give me something solid.
keep the questions coming and keep checking back on the thread!
As far as the color goes, i'm almost positive they only come in black.
Last edited by Sad_Savant; 02-14-2007 at 11:02 PM.
#2
02-06-2007
YES!!!!!! Count me in......I'm a serious buyer. Are you on G-E?? I could repost this up over there for ya.
From the James Duff website:
#5305 '98+ Ranger Large housing
I don't know what the p/n is for non-Fx4/L2 is. Whatever is not the large housing, is the one I need. I hear there's just some extra grinding to make them fit my truck. '01 4.0L 4x4.
From the James Duff website:
#5305 '98+ Ranger Large housing
I don't know what the p/n is for non-Fx4/L2 is. Whatever is not the large housing, is the one I need. I hear there's just some extra grinding to make them fit my truck. '01 4.0L 4x4.
#3
02-06-2007
#4
02-06-2007
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#5
02-06-2007
i think you should wait. Wayne might have a much better product and he will always have them in stock if people buy them.
was it just the other thread everyone was wanting traction bars from Wayne? now you are undercutting him? Seems pretty harsh.
I could care less about cluttering up a thread too.
was it just the other thread everyone was wanting traction bars from Wayne? now you are undercutting him? Seems pretty harsh.
I could care less about cluttering up a thread too.
#6
02-06-2007
Originally Posted by zabeard
i think you should wait. Wayne might have a much better product and he will always have them in stock if people buy them.
was it just the other thread everyone was wanting traction bars from Wayne? now you are undercutting him? Seems pretty harsh.
I could care less about cluttering up a thread too.
was it just the other thread everyone was wanting traction bars from Wayne? now you are undercutting him? Seems pretty harsh.
I could care less about cluttering up a thread too.
i'm not undercutting anyone. he made it clear that he was just going to look into making some...he never inferred into a production set...
if he does, i'll be one of the first in line to try them out
#7
02-06-2007
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Originally Posted by zabeard
i think you should wait. Wayne might have a much better product and he will always have them in stock if people buy them.
was it just the other thread everyone was wanting traction bars from Wayne? now you are undercutting him? Seems pretty harsh.
I could care less about cluttering up a thread too.
was it just the other thread everyone was wanting traction bars from Wayne? now you are undercutting him? Seems pretty harsh.
I could care less about cluttering up a thread too.
#11
02-06-2007
#12
02-06-2007
The bigger issue is if Duff WILL continue to make theirs. We need an answer on that. When I called them, they were unsure. Maybe you can pin them down Rob. I remember trying to purchase 10-20 of them last year so i could sell them. Even back then they said there wasn't enough profit in them to wholesale them, regardless of the qty. In hindsite they probably should have raised the price to $149 and started wholesaling them out to guys like me. Even at $149 it's cheaper than s-10's caltracs which are double the price and basically the same thing.
One thing I stated on the other thread is I didn't want to copy/steal their design. They have the simplest, least expensive design. It works well. If they are out of the business I don't have a problem doing them at all. I have enough brackets to make 5 sets. The rest of the kit is easy imo.
One thing I stated on the other thread is I didn't want to copy/steal their design. They have the simplest, least expensive design. It works well. If they are out of the business I don't have a problem doing them at all. I have enough brackets to make 5 sets. The rest of the kit is easy imo.
#13
02-06-2007
Originally Posted by graniteguy
The bigger issue is if Duff WILL continue to make theirs. We need an answer on that. When I called them, they were unsure. Maybe you can pin them down Rob. I remember trying to purchase 10-20 of them last year so i could sell them. Even back then they said there wasn't enough profit in them to wholesale them, regardless of the qty. In hindsite they probably should have raised the price to $149 and started wholesaling them out to guys like me. Even at $149 it's cheaper than s-10's caltracs which are double the price and basically the same thing.
One thing I stated on the other thread is I didn't want to copy/steal their design. They have the simplest, least expensive design. It works well. If they are out of the business I don't have a problem doing them at all. I have enough brackets to make 5 sets. The rest of the kit is easy imo.
One thing I stated on the other thread is I didn't want to copy/steal their design. They have the simplest, least expensive design. It works well. If they are out of the business I don't have a problem doing them at all. I have enough brackets to make 5 sets. The rest of the kit is easy imo.
i'm giving them another call in the morning, so far roughly 15-20 people have said they are interested...
I will also pass to them, that if they aren't willing to help us out that we have a very reliable Ranger based vendor (this is where you come in wayne, lol) who is willing and ready to pick up where they left off...
#15
02-09-2007
WOOOHOOOO!!!!
I talked to Tom from JD just a few minutes ago and he said that with the amount of people we've got interested so far that another production run shouldn't be a problem...
He's gonna sit down with the team at JD and see how soon they can make this happen!!!!
I'll keep you guys updated as i get info!
and remember, the more people we get committed to this the easier it's gonna be to get these bars back in production!
I talked to Tom from JD just a few minutes ago and he said that with the amount of people we've got interested so far that another production run shouldn't be a problem...
He's gonna sit down with the team at JD and see how soon they can make this happen!!!!
I'll keep you guys updated as i get info!
and remember, the more people we get committed to this the easier it's gonna be to get these bars back in production!
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#23
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