Are you a billet junkie?

[Tray Burge]

Given up on my own thread? No way, I'm just on here over the weekends.
As far as knowing what billet is? I don't think 6160 Aerospace quality aluminum is "cheap quality." I believe somebody else here needs to learn a little more about billet?
As far as why would you buy something out of billet versus steele? Besides the obvious (looks) it's a hell of a lot stronger in a lot of cases, lighter, non-corrosive like steele, better made quality items and just plain damn cool to boot!
I get that some don't see the need, want or can afford to pay the extra expense for billet and that's okay, I don't really care what people think.
If you jumped on here to complain about it, why don't you head on over to the Chevy forum next and tell them how much better Fords are?
Some people just can't think out of the box, not my problem.
As for me, I have more billet on the way and will post it as soon as it goes on. lol

 

[crackedcornish]

the only billet I have on my TJ are the black anodized savvy tail lights...

mass produced? yes, poor quality of materials? I think not

 

[Tray Burge]

the only billet I have on my TJ are the black anodized savvy tail lights...

mass produced? yes, poor quality of materials? I think not

Typically, if it's billet, it's usually better made quality.
How do you like them, I'm considering those myself? I've seen the "raw" billet tail lights on the market, are those the same ones?

 

[crackedcornish]

Typically, if it's billet, it's usually better made quality.
How do you like them, I'm considering those myself? I've seen the "raw" billet tail lights on the market, are those the same ones?

here's a link to them
https://savvyoffroad.com/product/sav-tl/
the only thing I didn't care for with them is for the money they should be plug and play, you either have to cut the plugs off of your old light housings or find them some other way...I bought a couple trailer harnesses for $20 and cannibalized them for the plugs I needed...other than that small thing I love 'em

 

[Fouledplugs]

The word 'billet' does not mean better performance. It does not mean improved quality. A billet shift knob in no way makes the transmission or transfer perform any better. Nor does something non-billet mean lesser quality or performance. It does mean higher price. A grab bar made of steel is not inferior to one made of aluminum. It is just more affordable. There are plenty of 'billet' items that are less functional than the same item made differently. I doubt a 'billet' seatbelts latch would be stronger or better in any way that the steel latch your Jeep came with.

To put simply, billet is superior to cast

 

[Tray Burge]

here's a link to them
https://savvyoffroad.com/product/sav-tl/
the only thing I didn't care for with them is for the money they should be plug and play, you either have to cut the plugs off of your old light housings or find them some other way...I bought a couple trailer harnesses for $20 and cannibalized them for the plugs I needed...other than that small thing I love 'em

Okay, those are different. the ones I read about stated they are plug-n-play? Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
Edit: Those certainly look like the ones I saw.

 

[steelhd]

To put simply, billet is superior to cast

What? Billets are often cast. Billet is just a solid piece of any poured, forged, or extruded metal that can be machined.

 

[Tray Burge]

What? Billets are often cast. Billet is just a solid piece of any poured, forged, or extruded metal that can be machined.

Then why is there different grades of billet aluminum required for the aerospace industry then?
All billet is not just poured or extruded aluminum, they're different alloys that make up the composition of the billet itself giving its grade of aluminum for end use.
It's obvious you don't know what billet is, maybe you need to sit this out? lol

 

[steelhd]

Then why is there different grades of billet aluminum required for the aerospace industry then?
All billet is not just poured or extruded aluminum, they're different alloys that make up the composition of the billet itself giving its grade of aluminum for end use.
It's obvious you don't know what billet is, maybe you need to sit this out? lol

You are like child going on about Spiderman to adults.

Billet = bar stock. It's metal and it has a round or square cross section of less than 36 square inches. It's cast, extruded, or rolled (sorry, I said forged before.) Thats it. All stop. It has NOTHING to do with the type, alloy, or grade of metal. Steels, aluminums, others, you name it can be made into billets. And pieces of those whatever kind of metal billets can be machined to make your Jeep jewelry or into something useful.

BTW, aerospace grade is marketing bullshit when it comes to Jeep parts. The aerospace industry uses everything from mild steel and lowly 3003 aluminum to super exotic alloys.

 

[Fouledplugs]

What? Billets are often cast. Billet is just a solid piece of any poured, forged, or extruded metal that can be machined.

While most material does leave a foundry in some big cast shape, parts cut from billet are often of tighter tolerances and are likely from higher quality material. (I agree, not always the case, but more often than not it is) Not to mention billet parts usually have a more uniform grain structure compared to cast parts.

A cast part will have looser tolerances and less likely to have the uniform grain structure like solid billet does; resulting from the nature of cooling with cast parts.

My last .02, A billet part may be cast, but the shape is very even and symetrical, that is not always the case with cast parts. Although not everything can be made from billet material. Both have their advantages.

 

[Mike_H]

Then why is there different grades of billet aluminum required for the aerospace industry then?
All billet is not just poured or extruded aluminum, they're different alloys that make up the composition of the billet itself giving its grade of aluminum for end use.
It's obvious you don't know what billet is, maybe you need to sit this out? lol

So...I'm gonna leave this here. This is the Definition of "billet" from Merriam-Webster...

billet
noun (2)
Definition of billet (Entry 3 of 3)
1a: a chunky piece of wood (as for firewood)
1b: obsolete : CUDGEL
2a: a bar of metal
b: a piece of semifinished iron or steel nearly square in section made by rolling an ingot or bloom
c: a section of nonferrous metal ingot hot-worked by forging, rolling, or extrusion
d: a nonferrous casting suitable for rolling or extrusion

Notice how it never specifies anything about a type of metal (or wood, for that matter) or, chemical composition, or alloying percentages, etc about a metal. It simply refers to a chunk of material.

"Aerospace grade" is marketing hype, just like Ford saying they use "military strength" steel or aluminum or whatever.

If you want to talk materials, give us the full callout, including the heat treatment. Otherwise, just be happy with your shiny stuff. Its all good, if that is what you like. Just realize that your paying for machine time to make those parts vs something that is cast near net shape and machined to a finished product. You're not paying for "extra quality"

 

[Tray Burge]

You are like child going on about Spiderman to adults.

Billet = bar stock. It's metal and it has a round or square cross section of less than 36 square inches. It's cast, extruded, or rolled (sorry, I said forged before.) Thats it. All stop. It has NOTHING to do with the type, alloy, or grade of metal. Steels, aluminums, others, you name it can be made into billets. And pieces of those whatever kind of metal billets can be machined to make your Jeep jewelry or into something useful.

BTW, aerospace grade is marketing bullshit when it comes to Jeep parts. The aerospace industry uses everything from mild steel and lowly 3003 aluminum to super exotic alloys.

This is not a debate, your thoughts are meaningless to me. Go elsewhere if you feel like arguing.

 

[Tray Burge]

"Its all good, if that is what you like."
EXACTLY, that was the point of the thread to begin if you read my heading, and that's all that matters.
I'm not going to turn this into a debate on the advantages of billet over cast, that's not the point of the thread.
You either like it or you don't.
If you don't, I don't care and neither do the others.
If you do, tells us about it, how you've used it and post images.
As for me, I put my billet antenna on last night that just came in and really think it's way cool, a lot better than that factory piece of crap. Of course it functions just like all stubby's do, but who cares, I never listen to the radio anyways.
Hopefully, my Footman group will be here soon.
Real men love billet.

 

[Mr. Bills]

. . . Real men love billet.

No, we don't.






(YMMV)

 

[Fouledplugs]

No, we don't.






(YMMV)

Yea we do. A billet trailing arm for a rig on Spidertrax axles. What a piece of junk that looks like trash, right?

 

[Ericict]

When I hear the word “bling” I think of wasted money on something not needed. I do see some irony in its use concerning Jeep parts.

 

[Ericict]

Yea we do. A billet trailing arm for a rig on Spidertrax axles. What a piece of junk that looks like trash, right?View attachment 154575

What’s the weight comparison?

 

[Fouledplugs]

When I hear the word “bling” I think of wasted money on something not needed. I do see some irony in its use concerning Jeep parts.

It may be bling but its also strong. So in a Jeep application, specially one that gets used off road a billet yoke, a billet locker, billet third members, etc can easily build confidence in the strenth in parts that you are using to tackle difficult trails/obstacles.

 

[Ericict]

It may be bling but its also strong. So in a Jeep application, specially one that gets used off road a billet yoke, a billet locker, billet third members, etc can easily build confidence in the strenth in parts that you are using to tackle difficult trails/obstacles.

I get it, billets have been around in my field for a few decades. They come at a cost in both financial and sometimes weight.

 

[Tray Burge]

Yea we do. A billet trailing arm for a rig on Spidertrax axles. What a piece of junk that looks like trash, right?View attachment 154575

Now that's the biggest piece of sweetness I've seen through this whole thread! Nice, is that yours?