There is no link to the bushings, They would need to be fabricated, howevery the remainder of the parts can be sourced. I'm sure there are similar bushings that can be modified to fit.
Chinese Antirock
- Thread starter 06lj
- Start date
I'm well aware of all the torsion bars and what not that have been around forever. That is not the same thing as a vehicle specific copy though and the availability of a frame width specific bar length in the right rate with upset ends is not very big.
I'm not sure there are bushings that can be modified since the vast majority of them are much smaller. And, that is a fairly unique arm design with the welded tab to make it 3/4" thick at the bar splines and then drop down to 3/8" to clear the bolt heads on the steering gear. Most arms are the same thickness from spline to end.
Looks like they ripped off the JK design to. 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R1933KN/?tag=wranglerorg-20https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9GC412/?tag=wranglerorg-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R1933KN/?tag=wranglerorg-20https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9GC412/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Blaine do you think folks like Smitty and Rubicon Express (I know RE was pretty much sunk when they did) ever regret selling out to TransA.? Smittys stuff was top notch before the sale of the company.
Smittybilt was only top notch until Smitty died years ago. Investors bought only the rights to the Smittybilt name and then started importing junk from China. THAT'S when they became junk, not when Transamerica bought them.
Smitty was done when Trans picked them up pretty much for the name only. The market for chrome grills and bed mount show roll bars died, that was the end of Smitty. RE would be in a warehouse somewhere being auctioned off for scrap, so I don't think they mind at all. I know Larry of Poison Spider didn't mind all the money they handed him so he could semi retire and open a Jeep rental business. I'd have to say that business is business and if you have an emotional attachment, don't sell because no one can say they don't know what Trans is going to do.
You can buy the original cheaper than the $499 the eBay seller wants for the hideous orange knock-off.
Jerry I remember Smittybuilt when Smitty was still alive, got out of Jeeps and 4x4s to race mustangs in the original NMRA (when we drove to the track and put the slicks on, then raced, swapped tires and drive home) when I got back into Jeeps Smitty was gone and I never knew what all transpired, just that a good product had turned to junk.
Mobusaki
TJ Enthusiast
Yup. The disposable culture is terrible, and the thinking has become baseline. It's employed for far more than just consumerism now. But that's another topic entirely. I don't know how we get away from it. The consumer loves it (cheaper products, new products, dopamine hits each time), and the companies love it because they sell more product. They realized they make more money selling you a new lawnmower every few years than they do selling you a family heirloom that just won't die. This is painting with a broad brush, I understand. Many companies are simply drug there kicking and screaming by the competition. Either make it cheaper (and shittier) in China, or go out of business.
Perhaps the most ironic part of it all is the prices aren't necessarily so cheap anymore. Look at those knock-off swaybars. $400? $500? For what is likely garbage? When the real deal is ~$600? What a racket.
Sadly you and I both know that several of the cheaper versions of the TJ item were in fact purchased by members on here and they just decline to mention it in polite company.
Those were the days when Smitty himself was active, his stuff was good quality and popular with lots of Jeep (CJ) owners. He died and Smittybilt ceased to be. Now it's just an completely different company unrelated to the original Smittybilt and nothing more than an importer of junk from China.
we can complain about it all we want, but does anybody have any solutions? and individually buying domestic may make you feel better but a handful of people can't keep a business afloat against the direction of society, which as already stated is perfectly fine with buying a cheap imported copy and throw it away and replace it periodically.
I'm a free market guy so I don't like the idea of tariffs, but it's not a free market when everybody isn't playing by the same rules, and the US has no leverage against China to make them implement or enforce IP law, which would never happen because as stated in this thread, it's a cultural thing for them. But we tried that in the 80s with Japanese motorcycles to protect Harley Davidson and it just let HD get lazy.
I'm a free market guy so I don't like the idea of tariffs, but it's not a free market when everybody isn't playing by the same rules, and the US has no leverage against China to make them implement or enforce IP law, which would never happen because as stated in this thread, it's a cultural thing for them. But we tried that in the 80s with Japanese motorcycles to protect Harley Davidson and it just let HD get lazy.
I always cross-shop Harbor Freight against the name brand stuff, and most people would probably be surprised how often the HF version isn't significantly cheaper than something quality.
An impact driver is a great example. I bought one at HF a few weeks ago for $65, and surprise surprise, the battery charger was DOA so it was useless. I returned it and Lowe's had a Craftsman that was definitely entry level but was only $10 more than the HF junk.
At this very moment, the real deal is exactly $471 at Rockjock, 4WP, Extreme Terrain, and at Savvy.
Our government's fiscal and tax policies incentivize our massive trade deficit, which gets us cheap imports at the expense of gutting our manufacturing base. But hey it makes for lots of money in finance and software! It also makes the richest 1% richer.
So on one hand it's our fault for electing these frauds. On the other hand both parties have governed this way for decades and it's a complicated issue that's hard to understand so I don't blame the average voter too much.
UKTJ
TJ Addict
If the cheap Chinese copy is poor quality it won't get that many sales. But if it turns out to be good value for money it will. Just because culturally the concept of IP means something in one place doesn't mean another place has to accept that cultural norm. If the US wants to stand full square behind IP then it should ban the sale of IP infringing imports and deal with those evil companies facilitating the sale of the copies... ah, um, that would be the American companies facilitating the sale of the copies...
I had a supplier that would not deal with me after my competitor complained that I was Including for free an additional item with their item (which was selling for $2)k , what my competitor were charging $800 for. So they cut me off from being able to buy their product.
No problem I just handed a sample to a China supplier that I was getting so products from.
They were more than happy to flood the market with that was now selling for $400.
The supplier was not happy with that but they should have just sold me the product and let me include what ever I want to for free, not listen to the whiner who could not compete with the freebie I was including ( I paid about $75 for the item that I was including.).
No problem I just handed a sample to a China supplier that I was getting so products from.
They were more than happy to flood the market with that was now selling for $400.
The supplier was not happy with that but they should have just sold me the product and let me include what ever I want to for free, not listen to the whiner who could not compete with the freebie I was including ( I paid about $75 for the item that I was including.).
That isn't how it works. Ownership of protected intellectual property via patent or other methods only buys you the right to use legal means to cause the infringer to cease and desist. .gov has implicitly banned the sale of protected goods via that process. To do otherwise means they now have to vet the claims of the infringed and find a way to stop the sales. That is not their job. The US does stand full square behind protected IP in that we have a process to protect via patent or other methods via legal recourse should infringement occur. If we didn't, it would be "fuck off, figure it out yourownself".
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