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selling track/kick lifts

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Offline museboy07

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selling track/kick lifts
« on: January 29, 2007, 07:55:01 PM »
Ive been thinking bout this for a while now.  Ive always wanted to make money that had to deal with what i love...which would be wheelin in my tracker.  So i came up with an idea.  I could make a profit by selling lifts for tracks and kits using parts i found on the web and at the parts store.  It would be a 4in suspension/body lift combo.  This is how it would go...

Things I would need to buy...

2in jeep tj coil spacers (which i would bore the centers out to 2.5in) $80
2in front strut spacers $60
2in complete body lift $140
longer travel shocks monroe shocks $40

Thats $320 that i would spend on the kit that i could sell for like $450.  The only reason i think i could sell it for this much is because there asr some ppl that dont wanna go through the hassle of buying all thse parts seperately or spending more money on a kit that dont give as much lift.  Of course i would have to start with $320 to get the first kit ready but if i sold it i would profit $130!!!  Just think if i took a lil time out of my life to get these kits ready and say i sold 5 of them thats $650 that i just made in my pocket.  I might give this a try cause im planning on buying these parts for my track anyway so if it dont sell i aint got nothin to lose :)
1994 Tracker, 2in Ironman springs w/ 1in spacers on top, soon to have custom diff drop brackets, 31x10.5-15 All Tarrains, Pro Comp long travel shocks, KYB performance struts, strut mount flip w/2in extensions, 3in rear a-arm spacer, ...DD

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Offline beercheck

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Re: selling track/kick lifts
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2007, 08:59:33 PM »
Well, I appreciate your enthusiasm, and if you feel like giving it a shot I wouldn't be the guy to try to talk you out of it, but a few things to keep in mind.

a) Your time comes out of your profit, as do gas/shipping/storage/tools/band-aids/etc.
b) If I had all those things together right now and offered it to *you*, right now, as a kit for $450, would you buy it?  Probably not.  You'd more likely say "money's pretty tight, no thanks, I'll just do it myself and save the hundred bucks!   ;D ;D >:D  " ...or something to that effect.  The point being, anyone who's going the cheap lift route is doing exactly that: going the cheap route.  Convincing them to pad some other guy's pocket just to save a little effort will be a very, very tough sell.  Especially on the boards most of us frequent.  We're Suzuki guys, after all.  Make sure you give a lot of thought to who your prospective customers really are.

That said, who knows.  Maybe you can find some suckers on ebay or someplace who haven't done/don't want to do their homework.  Businesses have been built on less.

Whatever you do, don't do anything silly until you've actually done the lift once yourself...
'03 ZR2 2dr Tracker, '02 XL-7 drivetrain and electrcs
XL-7 front coils
1.5" rear coil spacers
Monroe 32316 shocks w/2" extenders
235/70-16 Bridgestone Destination A/Ts on stock XL-7 Alloys RRO Rock Rails (Presently removed, as they rusted to all hell; all the bolts were rusted to dust.  Real nice, RRO...) http://www.trivia-nights.com

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Offline Luc

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Re: selling track/kick lifts
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2007, 10:19:37 PM »
Why not invest in some tools, equipment and supplies and try to make your own?
mini lathe-$300 (going by the first few i saw on ebay)
polyurethane- $200 (huugggeee guess, i have no idea)

make some spring spacers, say... 50 pairs.
$45 a pair
50 pairs sold for $45= $2250
 so you more than quadruple you're start up cost.
im sure you can make body lifts and what not too.

but yeah...most people will look into it, and realize they are paying $130 more for yours, when its the same thing they can get for $320
 but, if you can offer them a equal, or better product for around the same price, then you've got their business. besides, 45-50% profit margins are better than 39%.

but i guess this all depends on your commitment level, time and willingness.
but hey, how cool would it be to see your company's name showing up in the zukiworld forums...
« Last Edit: January 29, 2007, 10:27:58 PM by Luc »

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Offline Digger

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Re: selling track/kick lifts
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2007, 11:08:32 PM »
And what would you tell people that come back to you with blown cv joints and destroyed front diff housings? Every vehicle's tolerances are different and every vehicle owner drives theirs differently from every other owner... I have told many people this, I speak from personal experience when I say that 2" is too tall of a spacer for the front without lowering the diff to compensate. The cv angles will be too steep, especially when locked in 4lo twisted up in a full droop, full lock situation. The cages will pull apart and the housing will be under a lot more stress than is good for it...

The only way you are going to make any profit on the coil spacer side of it will be to make them yourself from scratch. I would much rather cut spacers out from sheet stock than try to bore out existing, pre-made spacers... If you go the drill press/hole saw route, expect to pay upwards of $75 for quality hole saws the proper size, plus the cost of a drill press. The material cost varies depending on thickness, where you get it and how much they charge you for shipping. Do a search in this forum, I had made a topic about making your own coil spacers. It might help enlighten you some...

Personally I wouldn't think your propsed lift would sell that well. People would probably go with the rockyroad kit and get 1/2" more lift, or go with Calmini and get even more lift.

And no one on this message board would even think about paying that much for it, especially after reading this topic! Good luck. I admire your enthusiasm, I just think you need to reconsider your idea.
Had a cool sig pic till I changed the text... sigh...
90 Tracker: "Silver", 2" BL, 1-1/2" Coil Spacers, Strut mount flip, Calmini Header, Winch, 31" Swamper radials, Sold.
98 Suzuki X-90: Calmini 2" Sus, 1-1/4" whl spcrs, 2" Exhaust, Cobra Safari Bar, Neon, Sold.
96 Suzuki X-90: Mostly stock daily driver(for now)

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Offline karl214

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Re: selling track/kick lifts
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2007, 07:14:03 AM »
Museboy07.... I'm guessing that no matter which message board you post on about the making spacers that your NOT going to get the answer your really looking for... I too had thought about making spacers, BUT after seeing all the same questions that Digger has answered MANY times and looking into the total cost involved, There was no way I was going to do it... I know that Digger started his out as a hobby and it snowballed for awhile then BOOM NOTHING.. So in closing as stated in other posts you may want to rethink this idea.. Not trying to keep you from trying it, BUT you may be disapointed in the long run.... JUST MY .02 WORTH
Rust in Peace Black Bugger..1994 sidekick... Planing on a Digger"donuts" and 3 inch bodylift, topped off with 31x10.50's in the spring.New D.D 90 softtop lilblue with the heart of black bugger

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Offline museboy07

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Re: selling track/kick lifts
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2007, 12:29:37 PM »
thanks for all your opinions guys...i realize now that what i had thought of is a bad idea.  Oh well theres no hurt in just askin people on their opinions is there?  thanks everyone
1994 Tracker, 2in Ironman springs w/ 1in spacers on top, soon to have custom diff drop brackets, 31x10.5-15 All Tarrains, Pro Comp long travel shocks, KYB performance struts, strut mount flip w/2in extensions, 3in rear a-arm spacer, ...DD