Exhaust Guards - Group Buy/Next Production Run

Epicuser said:

Bother. I could do with one fitted by 24th, as have a off-road weekend planned.

Click to expand...

Could be doable if more people come forward

Hi SES88,
Are there any more developements on the group buy for the exhaust guard?

Cheers,
Gordon

GSM said:

Hi SES88,
Are there any more developements on the group buy for the exhaust guard?

Cheers,
Gordon

Click to expand...

Going to see my local friendly exhaust specialist guy tomorrow or maybe friday if I don't get time tomorrow as I need to pop to my local LR dealer, and they're half a mile apart.

Going to price minimum of 5, but will see what the difference will be for 10, as there'll be a point where the savings are minimal for bigger quantities.

Ignore that last post, I got this confused between the exhaust guard and actual slimline exhaust post!!

Been getting a few enquiries now on exhaust guard, so, I'm proposing to make 6...

To do that, I need a minimum of 3 people to commit in advance, as what always happens, is that everyone wants one, I make stuff, and then when it comes to pay, everybody becomes a missing person and I'm left with loads of slow moving stock

Either reply on here or PM me, soon as I get 3, would be around 2 weeks til delivery.

if I read this right, the guard is for a standard exhaust.
I was thinking of getting the slim exhaust,
would the extra ground clearance then be lost with the guard?

myotherworld said:

if I read this right, the guard is for a standard exhaust.
I was thinking of getting the slim exhaust,
would the extra ground clearance then be lost with the guard?

Click to expand...

In short yes, I'd thought a while ago about just making a flat skid plate to suit a small exhaust, but wasn't sure

SES88 I'd but a flat skid plate exhaust card from you, and I'm sure others would who want the slimline exhaust!

Maybe what you need is a system where people can pay you a deposit for jobs so you know that the order for parts is definate. E.g, if people don't pay up, they lose their deposit. An easy step would be to put this in your signature here on the forum.

E.g. a certain percentage deposit is required for all jobs (considering these are small volume orders). Rather than scare people off, it would give you more confidence how many orders you actually have, in my opinion.

Here's an idea: Try and implement the following on your website or Ebay account: Have a note that says something like '5 available' of product X, deposit required. People could then 'buy' the item on Ebay, when they're actually 'buying' a deposit. If that makes sense?

Ben,
I'd like to think that by now I've built up a decent enough reputation to be trusted on this forum. I've done it since I set up in business, on this forum and the Freelander one, taking a couple of paid orders up front to cover my initial costs, or most of them anyway, on a batch run.
If it was going to be a few hundred quid then the half down half later thing would work, but on a £160 or whatever it was exhaust guard it'll not make much difference!

What would people prefer, the normal exhaust guard or a slimline back box with a skid plate? Obviously you'd end up with more ground clearance on the latter, the guard alone would be cheaper but overall would cost more but at least people would have the option to buy just the back box or add the guard to it for a combined price...

Thoughts and comments below as ever...

Hi. My ideas were for you to be able to count up definate buyers, not because we won't trust you!

'cos you said:

I need a minimum of 3 people to commit in advance, as what always happens, is that everyone wants one, I make stuff, and then when it comes to pay, everybody becomes a missing person and I'm left with loads of slow moving stock

Click to expand...

Naturally even if people are well intentioned (which I'm sure 99% of people are on here), people can simply forget threads they posted in, and if they're like me with a bad memory, forget entirely they were interested in a product and then naturally, leave a custom fabricator in the lurch, unintentionally. So it was just an idea how a customer can be a more certain customer, if that makes sense. You could make an Ebay ad to sell parts at like £50 or something deposit if you wanted, or not. Your choice of course. I was just trying to help you find a way to get more security when taking orders due to the problem you said can happen.

I'd like max ground clearance please, so as high as possible skid plate (using a low profile exhaust) would be ace for me, naturally others may not agree!

Either way combining the two products into a 'deal', sounds a good idea, thank you.

My preference would be a smaller rear box rather than the guard.

I to would be interested in a skid plate with a low profile exhaust

I have a smaller back box on my td4 as supplied by my local tire place which i can pull up well clear of the rear cross member but if i do it fouls the drive shaft on the first bend thus loosing articulation. surely is not the size of the box but the angle of the dangle.

Its the size of the box itself, can keep the rest of the tubular shape largely the same but have a different sized box, which then solves the problem...

Seems people would prefer the smaller back box..

Been to see the guy this afternoon, the minimum number he would make in a batch would be 5 for which he'd jig them, he's basically said the following:

Fully stainless steel (so you'll never need another back box)
Same bend shape off the existing exhaust
4.5" (115mm for the younger ones) dia. back box, straight through, nothing inside it
Tail pipe off the other side, bent down and slash cut (cheaper than putting a tip on it, and looks better)

They work out the same price as the exhaust guards including delivery, £160, bear in mind though, that the LR part is mild steel, is about £80 +VAT, and needs replacing every few years...and these ones are shiny stainless, for those who like shiny things!

I believe all variants have the same exhaust layout from the mid section onwards over the driveshafts (correct me if I'm wrong), so as it'll be modelled on my TD4 box, if it fits mine it'll fit yours.

Names below....

Thanks for working this all out.

Add me please for slim exhaust and skidplate for max ride height to fit if available, thank you.

+1 order TD4_4X4

So the rear 'box' is barely larger than the pipes that go into them?

Will it really not make the exhaust noisier? I find that hard to get my head round.

Think the standard pipework is about 60mm ish so box would be about double the size.
Its a turbo diesel with a lot of other gubbins still further up the exhaust chain, so the difference will be minimal...Might hear a little more turbo whistle but that'll be it, everything else will be stopped around the cat and the mid silencer

This all sounds interesting. Do you happen to have a photo of the slimline box?

Thanks

GSM said:

This all sounds interesting. Do you happen to have a photo of the slimline box?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Nope as nothing will be made unless we get a group of people on board to meet the minimum order.

I can knock up a quick 2D CAD drawing at some point tomorrow if that'll help give an idea. But it really is as simple as a 4.5" tube with 2 smaller pipes off either end...

Photo of JC600 rear box?