Wholesale Suspension Product Questions etc

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi all.

If anyone has any Questions on any of our products or needs any help at all with anything, please feel free to ask us here.


Regards, Jason.

[mickmac_42 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mickmac_42]

Jason, you might have noticed the growing interest in importing components from the US. It appears to be cheaper (often significantly) to buy from a US retailer and have it shipped to Australia than it is to buy from an Australian retailer. i'm sure most of us would prefer to support Australian businesses but there's a limit.

Case in point. Firestone Coilrite airbag kit for a lifted Prado sells for $295 in Australia. I can buy these from a well known retailer in the US for $86 and shipped to my door for $55. It's a similar story with shock absorbers.

Perhaps you can shed some light on this disparity.

Mike

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi Mike, if you can forward me a url link of where you found those that cheap i will happily pass it on to our Coilrite supplier for him to answer the price question for us. I certainly only have very slim margins on them.

Just for Reference, so we are comparing apples with apples, the part No for a lifted 95 is CR5004 & a lifted 120 or 150 is CR5034
I was looking at offering similar to these, but with the high pressure sleeve option, for the cars running near G.V.M.
I would not be able to compete at the prices you have mentioned though.
Normal retail for the High Pressure Bag Kit is $445.00 in Aus.
I could probably do them for $418ish, but as i said the margins are slim on them.

The problem with buying from O.S comes when you need to make a warranty claim, as it often means freighting the item back there for exchange at your expense. I have personally been caught out with this with an air compressor i purchased for the car from the U.S. They were happy to do warranty, but i had to get the dead unit to them for warranty exchange first.

As for Shock absorbers etc coming in from O.S the same applies for warranty & also a lot of the time they won't be valved to suit Aus either. A cheap Bilstein from Overseas seems tempting, until a car is stuck waiting for a warranty exchange from Overseas to arrive.

We have done our best with the kits we have listed on here. We undercut everyone on eBay Australia when we advertised them on there & then i undercut that again for Pradopoint Members to be able to offer something for the forum members only.


Regards, Jason.

[mickmac_42 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mickmac_42]

Thanks for the quick reply Jason. I'm not familiar with the product number CR5034. I was using 4107 which was recommended on these threads as the suitable part number for a lifted Prado 150 with rear coils.

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...Spring-Install
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...tone-Coil-Rite

Here's the page from Truckspring for the 4107 part number

http://www.truckspring.com/products/...ear__4107.aspx

I understand the issues with warranties on products purchased from overseas and that's really what's holding me back from going on an international spending spree. I'm still left wondering how parts from a US retailer can be so much cheaper than parts from an Australian retailer. It's difficult to make comparisons with what you're offering to us because components for 150 Prado's aren't commonly sold in the US. As such, we look to similar parts from other vehicles such as the FJ Cruiser.

The price disparity is common across other parts such as tyres and wheels, but we'll leave that alone since you don't sell them.

You also mentioned shock absorbers being valved for Australian conditions. Can you elaborate on what is meant by this? It seems to me that conditions on Fraser Island will be different to conditions in the Gulf country, which will be different from conditions in the Victorian high country. All three will be different to the conditions in my local streets. Are Australian conditions really so vastly different from US conditions? They have snow, sand, rocks and mud. They also have a big range between hot, cold, dry and humid. Why are we so special that we need our own valving? I'm wondering if their wider hind quarters prefer a softer, more luxurious ride. Whereas we Aussies have a rugged rump that can take a pounding.

Thanks again for your interest and advice.

Mike

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi Mike.

Something that goes a little way to probably explaining the large disparity between us & the U.S is the size of the market.
What Australia's aftermarket $$$ turnover is, is only approx 10% of the size of the U.S market & that limits Australia's buying power.
Also, if importing things for a single purchase under $1000.00 for yourself, you avoid the customs taxes, duties & GST, all of these are unavoidable for businesses that are to import in volume for resale.

I know this doesn't cover all of the disparity in prices, but i hope it helps a little.

As for the Shock Valving, some suppliers list Aus market for stock & some are generic. Chunky butts it is :-)

Regards, Jason.

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi Mike.

Something that goes a little way to probably explaining the large disparity between us & the U.S is the size of the market.
What Australia's aftermarket $$$ turnover is, is only approx 10% of the size of the U.S market & that limits Australia's buying power.
Also, if importing things for a single purchase under $1000.00 for yourself, you avoid the customs taxes, duties & GST, all of these are unavoidable for businesses that are to import in volume for resale.

I know this doesn't cover all of the disparity in prices, but i hope it helps a little.

As for the Shock Valving, some suppliers list Aus market for stock & some are generic. Chunky butts it is

Regards, Jason.

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

I have spoken to Bilstein Australia & they have told me that for their products, they do all of the R&D for the Australian Market
in-house upon a new model release & do the Valving to suit each application.
This info is all then sent back to Germany & they then produce the shocks for Bilstein Australia's requirements.
Bilstein have said that some of the U.S stock is produced in Germany parts wise, but assembled in Mexico.
The U.S spec are also sometimes not rebuildable although they look the same externally.

Regards, Jason.

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi all.

For all of our suspension kits on the PradoPoint Store we are able to offer Free Delivery in the sydney Metro area within normal business hours.
For anyone outside the Metro area, we can offer freight services at cheap rates.


Regards, Jason.

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi all.
Just a quick note regarding our Christmas Break.
We will be closed from Friday 21st of December & will re open our doors on Monday 07th of January.

From all of us here at Wholesale Suspension, we would like to wish you all a great Christmas & look forward to seeing you all again in 2013

I have asked Santa for a 150 Series

Kind Regards, Jason.

[mickmac_42 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mickmac_42]

I have asked Santa for a 150 Series

I look forward to seeing it in the Build Up thread.

Mike

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

I look forward to seeing it in the Build Up thread.

Mike

Apparently i wasn't a good enough boy last year, as the 150 Series did not appear under the Tree :-(

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Hi Jason,

Are any of the 150 kits listed on the PradoPoint store suitable for a Kakadu? I'm really only looking to compensate for the weight of the TJM steel bar and a Tigerz11 12,000lb winch with Dyneema rope I have yet to install.

Thanks,
Corine

[QLD4505 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close QLD4505]

Hi Jason,

What would your recomendations be for a suspension upgrade to my 150 prado gxl diesel. I have a steel bar and winch with steel cable on the front of the car. The rear remains standard but we tow a jayco swan camper trailer. I was thinking airbags for this. I am looking for around a 50mm lift. Your advice is appreciated.

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

Hi Jason,

What would your recomendations be for a suspension upgrade to my 150 prado gxl diesel. I have a steel bar and winch with steel cable on the front of the car. The rear remains standard but we tow a jayco swan camper trailer. I was thinking airbags for this. I am looking for around a 50mm lift. Your advice is appreciated.

I would recommend to use the KTFR-101HD front spring in in with the weight you have over the front.
For the rear, the KTRR-102 rear springs with a set of airbags would do the job to give comfort every day and then the towing ability.

As for shocks, you have huge options available to you.
Bilstein, Koni , Tough Dog, KYB Scorched4, RAW4x4 & EFS are a few of the ones that we carry. It really will come down to budget & preference with the shocks. I run the Bilsteins in my 95 Series & l am really happy with them. They are a bit dearer though.

If you have some brands in mind, shoot me an email & i can get back to you with some prices.

Regards, Jason.

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Hi Jason,

You didn't answer my question yet. I'm assuming the kits won't suit my Kakadu though because replacing the Toyota shocks means losing the comfort/sport adjustment from the cabin switch.

Cheers,
Corine