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Ksport Pillowball Mounts. Any experiance....
- Thread starterNabeel
- Start date
Whoodoo
Well-known member
I'll let you know how they look in a week or so. If you want them, you'll have to call ksport and order them. I tried getting em from jdmhub, but no one really caries them in stock. Their 'in stock' means they order directly from ksport. At least thats what I've gathered. I ended up spending 194 and change but I think they'll resist corrosion better than the teins because they are made of 6061 instead of duralumin.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to tell you how well they fit right away because my car resides in Seattle. I am also mounting them on some evo X front struts. I may be able to test fit them on Tyler's car at some point. I'll let you know
Unfortunately, I won't be able to tell you how well they fit right away because my car resides in Seattle. I am also mounting them on some evo X front struts. I may be able to test fit them on Tyler's car at some point. I'll let you know
Whoodoo
Well-known member
I ordered mine late last week and was told a week to a week and a half lead time.
punisher
Well-known member
I'm in the same boat. I have a set sitting in a box in my oldmans garage. Hopefully I'll get them installed soon.
broxma
Well-known member
Lowest price I can find for them is 108.75 with free shipping. Looks like a drop ship bussiness so I imagine ETA is still several weeks out.
/brox
/brox
belize1334
Well-known member
^^ Per side?
Whoodoo
Well-known member
the $108 is a no-go. I ordered some initially from jdmhub.com but they cancelled my order because they weren't in stock. I have no idea how they get off selling them at that price because directly from ksport they were $194 with shipping. Shipping can't be more than $20, so to sell them at $108 has gotta be wrong. I dunno. I called to a bunch of places that were offering them that cheap and they said lead times were anywhere from a month to three. I assume that's because they have to send in a purchase order to their supplier which has to relay that to Ksport which has to make em and blah blah blah.
Just think about the manufacturing process. Someone has to hop onto a CNC machine and run the code twice, which I would imagine cuts them from one sheet. That would take about an hour for setup, machining, and finish prep. Then they have it anodized, which wouldn't be too expensive if it was done with a bunch of other parts, but that takes time (all of which requires paying someone, and machinists make bank). Then there's the machining of the spherical bearing housing, which is a much more complex part, and made from stainless steel I would add. Then there's the cost of materials (hardware, bearing, steel, aluminum). The fact that they can make them for less than $100 bucks a piece is amazing.
In summary: I think you are paying for them in lead time if you get them for $108. Also, I bet I could have made my own, but it definitely would have taken me a few weeks and wouldn't have been much cheaper because I would have to have paid market price for materials.
Just think about the manufacturing process. Someone has to hop onto a CNC machine and run the code twice, which I would imagine cuts them from one sheet. That would take about an hour for setup, machining, and finish prep. Then they have it anodized, which wouldn't be too expensive if it was done with a bunch of other parts, but that takes time (all of which requires paying someone, and machinists make bank). Then there's the machining of the spherical bearing housing, which is a much more complex part, and made from stainless steel I would add. Then there's the cost of materials (hardware, bearing, steel, aluminum). The fact that they can make them for less than $100 bucks a piece is amazing.
In summary: I think you are paying for them in lead time if you get them for $108. Also, I bet I could have made my own, but it definitely would have taken me a few weeks and wouldn't have been much cheaper because I would have to have paid market price for materials.
broxma
Well-known member
I have found 3 places with them at the 108 price. Concerning the 108 price though, I'd like to throw in some input. Bear with me.
My wife drove my Evo for a single day, had someone snake a tire in front her and wreck the front bumper. I wanted to get an APR bumper to replace it. I called APR to order one and the cost directly from them was north of 700.00 but I could get it for just under 500 from a retailer in Cali. I asked them about this duality and this is what I got. A manufacturer will never price a product lower then a distributor and almost always at MSRP. This is so as not to undercut the retailer. The difference in prices of the distributors has to do with several things. A large factor is overhead and purchase power with the manufacturer. Some retailers have higher prices simply because they have to make more profit per item due to the size of the business or other economic factors. The manufacturer is obliged then to only sell their products at MSRP, extenuating circumstances aside.
What this tells me, is that K-Sport probably manufactures these for around 50 dollars. Think about it. Cutting an aluminum plate is not rocket science. I worked at a very large machine shop and on a laser cutter, you could bust out hundreds of those plates for material plus pennies. The anodizing is all the same color, K-Sport Orange. They do that in house and in mass, not a huge cost. The hardware on almost all the plates is the same, so alot of cross platform part sharing, i.e. the bolts, the slider, the strut tube.
I've gotten way off course here with the initial post but the 108 seems reasonable to me given modern manufacturing technology. To see if these guys selling them at that price are absolutely bonkers however, I'll just go ahead and order some from them. I'll not use JDMHub as you mentioned an issue already so I'll try one of the other retailers and report back.
Cross fingers...
/brox
Edit: Order Placed. If there is a problem I should hear about it tomorrow or by the latest Monday. Will update for interested parties as time progresses.
My wife drove my Evo for a single day, had someone snake a tire in front her and wreck the front bumper. I wanted to get an APR bumper to replace it. I called APR to order one and the cost directly from them was north of 700.00 but I could get it for just under 500 from a retailer in Cali. I asked them about this duality and this is what I got. A manufacturer will never price a product lower then a distributor and almost always at MSRP. This is so as not to undercut the retailer. The difference in prices of the distributors has to do with several things. A large factor is overhead and purchase power with the manufacturer. Some retailers have higher prices simply because they have to make more profit per item due to the size of the business or other economic factors. The manufacturer is obliged then to only sell their products at MSRP, extenuating circumstances aside.
What this tells me, is that K-Sport probably manufactures these for around 50 dollars. Think about it. Cutting an aluminum plate is not rocket science. I worked at a very large machine shop and on a laser cutter, you could bust out hundreds of those plates for material plus pennies. The anodizing is all the same color, K-Sport Orange. They do that in house and in mass, not a huge cost. The hardware on almost all the plates is the same, so alot of cross platform part sharing, i.e. the bolts, the slider, the strut tube.
I've gotten way off course here with the initial post but the 108 seems reasonable to me given modern manufacturing technology. To see if these guys selling them at that price are absolutely bonkers however, I'll just go ahead and order some from them. I'll not use JDMHub as you mentioned an issue already so I'll try one of the other retailers and report back.
Cross fingers...
/brox
Edit: Order Placed. If there is a problem I should hear about it tomorrow or by the latest Monday. Will update for interested parties as time progresses.
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belize1334
Well-known member
^^ So with whom did you place the order and what was the bill for both pieces + shipping?
broxma
Well-known member
THMotorsports and it was 108.75 shipped for the pair.
click
They have the Manufacturer MSRP listed correctly, assuming that Ksport themselves sell these in pairs which I have seen nothing suggesting otherwise.
As I said, I will wait and see what the results of this experiment are. I am about 50% confident in them being able to deliver and about 50% that I will run into the same problem as the last guy. I still don't think the price is that outrageously low given the points I made earlier however the ability of this specific company to deliver at this price in a timely manner might be.
I love these little adventures.
/brox
click
They have the Manufacturer MSRP listed correctly, assuming that Ksport themselves sell these in pairs which I have seen nothing suggesting otherwise.
As I said, I will wait and see what the results of this experiment are. I am about 50% confident in them being able to deliver and about 50% that I will run into the same problem as the last guy. I still don't think the price is that outrageously low given the points I made earlier however the ability of this specific company to deliver at this price in a timely manner might be.
I love these little adventures.
/brox
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belize1334
Well-known member
Well be sure to update when/if they show up. At that price I'll get on board if it's legitimate.
Whoodoo
Well-known member
At that price I'll be mad if its legitimate /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
broxma
Well-known member
I'm on the phone with the retailer right now. Trying to determine if it is in fact the price for a single or both mounts. This very well may be the critical flaw in the pricing design.
Will update this post as I learn more.
And the final word. As with any successful experiment we have a definite conclusion so let's all give a shout out to the scientific method here.
The 108 price and the 145 price on the Ksport website proper both refer to the price per side. Nowhere is this mentioned on any of the websites, for example, notification that you will have to order two when placing the order to complete the set. The earlier post made about the final cost being in the 200.00 range is dead on. This is about the lowest they can be gotten for. I am getting these around that same price after talking with the customer service people at the retailer I posted earlier. Normal for a new order would in fact be 216.00 shipped, 108.00 x2 with free shipping.
TL;DR - They are still around 2 bills if you want them regardless of the source.
/brox
Will update this post as I learn more.
And the final word. As with any successful experiment we have a definite conclusion so let's all give a shout out to the scientific method here.
The 108 price and the 145 price on the Ksport website proper both refer to the price per side. Nowhere is this mentioned on any of the websites, for example, notification that you will have to order two when placing the order to complete the set. The earlier post made about the final cost being in the 200.00 range is dead on. This is about the lowest they can be gotten for. I am getting these around that same price after talking with the customer service people at the retailer I posted earlier. Normal for a new order would in fact be 216.00 shipped, 108.00 x2 with free shipping.
TL;DR - They are still around 2 bills if you want them regardless of the source.
/brox
Last edited:
Whoodoo
Well-known member
hmmmm... I was under the impression that they were advertising $108 for both... I'm gonna be really pissed if I spent $194.14 on just one.
broxma
Well-known member
This was a point of contention with me and the retailer. I assume that generally there is some notification as to the quantity or items being sold in sets on most retail websites. Clearly this is not the case with this item which is frustrating. Let's hope for your sake the 194.00 you have dished out is in fact for the pair as it is relatively close to the price I got my pair for. Please update us with your situation as it progresses.
/brox
/brox
broxma
Well-known member
Will do. I figure at the worst the center bore of the mount might have to have to be cut or either a sleeve pushed in or bored out to get a tight fit, all of which I am capable of doing. My concern now is how long will they take to get here.
/brox
/brox
belize1334
Well-known member
Food for thought...
If they aren't distinguishing between left and right (which is implied if they sell individually without specifying) then the piston is going to be centered between the front and back of the shock tower opening (or else you'd get different settings from left to right). If the piston is centered then it'll be about an inch forward of the stock location which means you'll loose about 2* of caster. That's bad.
Somebody should find out whether they are actually using the same piece for both sides, or if they just list the price for one side and then automatically ship and bill the pair.
If they aren't distinguishing between left and right (which is implied if they sell individually without specifying) then the piston is going to be centered between the front and back of the shock tower opening (or else you'd get different settings from left to right). If the piston is centered then it'll be about an inch forward of the stock location which means you'll loose about 2* of caster. That's bad.
Somebody should find out whether they are actually using the same piece for both sides, or if they just list the price for one side and then automatically ship and bill the pair.
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broxma
Well-known member
There is only a single part listed so I imagine it is the same part per side. Bear in mind these very well may be setup specifically for the Coilovers in which case what do you do? I'll run downstairs and take a took at my stock struts which are off the car and have a look. In reality, if they are offset from center and not sold in pairs then you could flip one of the plates to match the other side. The bolts would have to be flipped as well however for obviously reasons.
I am going to let this experiment ride out and see what happens. My car won't be on the road for a while as it is, so I'll have plenty of time to mess about with these.
/brox
I am going to let this experiment ride out and see what happens. My car won't be on the road for a while as it is, so I'll have plenty of time to mess about with these.
/brox
