Decrease in TJ Products

JMT

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It's happening more and more. I was talking to Jeff at Rokmen today. They are currently not offering the Mercenary Rock Sliders due to a severe drop-off in demand. They had not expected this, but because it's not profitable, they are investing their time and skills in other products. They may be back. I'm just highlighting this example because it seems to be happening more and more, and if there are some mods out there you are wanting to do, you might want to consider getting those done, or checking the status of the companies offering the product(s) you are interested in before you call and they notify you they are no longer carrying that product, even though its on the website...listed in stock...
 
Mopar has also discontinued probably 50% of the factory replacement parts (mostly interior and exterior trim pieces) for the TJs. This is just what happens when a vehicle is now 20 years old. You've got to look harder for parts and it becomes more like a hunt. I almost enjoy it personally.

I very much support companies like Crown Automotive and Rugged Ridge / OMIX-ADA, because they've picked up where Mopar left off and started reproducing some of the more commonly sold factory parts (I suggest others support them as well).

Hey, maybe one day the TJ will be like the Camaro, where those companies like Rick's Camaro and Eckler's make tons and tons of factory reproduction parts (and aftermarket stuff) due to how popular the restorations are.

Every time I look at the new JL (yes, I've seen them in person), it reminds me how much I love my TJ. I'm sorry, you guys can love those all you want, but I think the Wrangler is no longer a simple, fun vehicle, nor do I like the new look.

Most people don't keep a vehicle longer than 10 years at most, so car companies have no need to continue to manufacture parts for them, nor does the aftermarket community.
 
@Chris, you better check with Rokmen to see if your TT is still available.

I'll have to do that! Truth be told, if you had welding skills (which I know people who do), making your own transfer case skid really wouldn't be very difficult.
 
I'll have to do that! Truth be told, if you had welding skills (which I know people who do), making your own transfer case skid really wouldn't be very difficult.

True. You could even go with a Barnes skid and just drill you own holes for the trany mount.
 
True. You could even go with a Barnes skid and just drill you own holes for the trany mount.

Yep. Those skid plates are pretty simple for the most part. The Savvy one is much more advanced (and prettier looking), but making your own basic skid plate wouldn't be that difficult if you had the skills.
 
The key is "if you have the skills". I started a bit of welding a couple weeks ago. Going to work on that some more in the future. I used an ARC welder and got the arc down enough to at least see what I was doing. Going to get some lessons on gas welding soon. I'm really doing it just to do small things like lower CA armor brackets, et. al. But I bet I can get most of my TJ done before the aftermarket dies off too significantly.
 
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In a way, it kind of makes sense. In my area, I hardly see any TJ’s anymore. The majority of the vehicles I see are JKU’s, Silverados and F150’s. Plus cars.

Nobody drives TJ’s anymore!
 
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Which is why I'm still rolling around with a cracked driver side door panel. Too much monies!
I have that crack too. I have a plastic welding kit, but I'm afraid to make it worse! I know I can get it stuck back together, but making it look decent on the top scares me. I bet though, If I figured it out, I could make a couple bucks doing the repair. Seems that 75% of the TJ's I look at have that crack.
 
Decrease in TJ Products

Any car that is in the old and/or "classic" category does not have manufacturers interest (the bottom line) i.e., tool & die, etc. left (if there is) in the factory is too high to maintain and there is less demand to offset the cost.. and so I think this is normal.
 
Money talks at the end of the day and if their selling more JK stuff that's where companies will focus there attention....we are lucky in a way that the TJ is so simple there are some things that are easy fixes without getting a 2nd mortgage on the house haha
 
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Too bad Chrysler won't sell me the molds and everything for the TJ parts, then I could find a company in China to start manufacturing them for us again. Haha... I'm sure I could pull this off, but I don't have the money required to do so!
 
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Too bad Chrysler won't sell me the molds and everything for the TJ parts, then I could find a company in China to start manufacturing them for us again. Haha... I'm sure I could pull this off, but I don't have the money required to do so!


Probably not. The molds and Dies will be spread around to MANY different Suppliers. They are owned by Chrysler, but are mothballed away somewhere, in case the need arises to run service parts (for many components, like the ones required to make a vehicle operational, there is a 20 year service parts government mandate). Then, there is the condition of the tools themselves. They've made hundreds of thousands of parts, if not over a million. They wear out, plain and simple. As a program nears the end of its life, the suppliers (who are responsible to maintain the Customer Owned Tooling) keep them going on bubble Gum, Duct Tape and Prayer. The margins are SO thin on making automotive parts, that as soon as they can quit maintaining "correctly" they do.

Not to mention, most of the Tier 1 suppliers are pretty smart, as are the OEM's. If they thought there was money to be made, you can be sure they would be trying to make it. The demand here is artificially high, as we are a bunch of enthusiast. But when you start imagining what it cost to maintain a mold for, say a door panel, to sell it to the 20 people who will actually pony up for it, it just doesn't make financial sense. A common tool repair on an injection molding tool, like repairing parting line to fix a flash condition, can easily run into the thousands of dollars. It takes a LOT of specialty machines to even attempt the repair, then you have to be super precise on top of it.

Fun to think about though!
 
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So Chris is the muscle and Bob is the brains! Now we just gotta find an insider at Chrysler to let us “borrow” the molds!

I figured there would be total dash replacement kits for the TJ, but I haven’t seen anything other than covers.


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Probably not. The molds and Dies will be spread around to MANY different Suppliers. They are owned by Chrysler, but are mothballed away somewhere, in case the need arises to run service parts (for many components, like the ones required to make a vehicle operational, there is a 20 year service parts government mandate). Then, there is the condition of the tools themselves. They've made hundreds of thousands of parts, if not over a million. They wear out, plain and simple. As a program nears the end of its life, the suppliers (who are responsible to maintain the Customer Owned Tooling) keep them going on bubble Gum, Duct Tape and Prayer. The margins are SO thin on making automotive parts, that as soon as they can quit maintaining "correctly" they do.

Not to mention, most of the Tier 1 suppliers are pretty smart, as are the OEM's. If they thought there was money to be made, you can be sure they would be trying to make it. The demand here is artificially high, as we are a bunch of enthusiast. But when you start imagining what it cost to maintain a mold for, say a door panel, to sell it to the 20 people who will actually pony up for it, it just doesn't make financial sense. A common tool repair on an injection molding tool, like repairing parting line to fix a flash condition, can easily run into the thousands of dollars. It takes a LOT of specialty machines to even attempt the repair, then you have to be super precise on top of it.

Fun to think about though!

Hey man... they brought back the DeLorean (you can buy a brand new one these days), so you never know, haha. I won't hold my breath though.

How do you think Cown and OMIX-ADA are doing it with the TJ replacement parts? Are they using factory molds / dyes, or making their own?