New Diffs-Importing from US ?

[beatle_bayly]

Is it worth importing new diffs for my '83 FJ60 from the US ? Anyone suggest a supplier. Would shipping costs kill ?

Looking at 3.7s to replace my 4.1s and I understand all US 60s had this ratio ?

[bulldogy]

If you are talking about just the ring and pinion then yes it is cheaper to get them from the US new compared to Aus even 2nd hand in aus are dear.
dave

[83 lux]

Almost all 60s here in OZ have 4.11
along with All 75 series and most 40 and all 80s
So Have a look in OZ like the wreckers or some where
Cheap as

[CRUSHU]

If I read it right, he already has 4.1's, but he wants 3.7's, which seem to be hard to find here.

[droopypete]

And if he gets second hand from the wreckers they will more than likely be over 20 years old.
peter.

[J Top]

I have a 3.7 head I just pulled from a 1970 40, the rear snapped the pinion. They are all coarse spline pinion. This one was so old it still had trakta joints instead of CVs.
I could find another 1 or 2 if you wanted them.
J Top

[Ruffy]

I guess it would be a similar scenario to what i just investigated. I was looking for 4.88s.
In aus from superior a pair of ring and pinions was under $900.
From US the ring and pinion sets varied from 150 to 280 US. the cheapest ones converted are 200 bucks a set cheap!.. but wait!
The guy that sells the 150 buck ones will only send via fedex. Now it's getting good!
Freight was gunna be 190 aus bones! all of sudden it's 600 bucks all up... Duty cos he labels them exactly what they are.. another 100 i was quoted
And last but not least little jJohnny's bit is gunna cost me 10% of the total of purchase, import, and duty. Whamo i'm up for 770 bones. This is providing that all goes well. And as for the product, well it was a engineering firm who makes there own. I had never heard of them so didn't know how good they were.
The Dearer ones could be sent USPS but the cheaper freight only offset the price of the purchase.
For mine i didn't think it viable to go to the trouble to get them from the states. For the extra 120 bucks i'd rather keep some of my money in aus.
Good luck.

[CRUSHU]

if it is under $900, it is duty free, as you don't have to declare it. Not even GST.

[Sixty's Guy]

I guess it would be a similar scenario to what i just investigated. I was looking for 4.88s.
In aus from superior a pair of ring and pinions was under $900.
From US the ring and pinion sets varied from 150 to 280 US. the cheapest ones converted are 200 bucks a set cheap!.. but wait!
The guy that sells the 150 buck ones will only send via fedex. Now it's getting good!
Freight was gunna be 190 aus bones! all of sudden it's 600 bucks all up... Duty cos he labels them exactly what they are.. another 100 i was quoted
And last but not least little jJohnny's bit is gunna cost me 10% of the total of purchase, import, and duty. Whamo i'm up for 770 bones. This is providing that all goes well. And as for the product, well it was a engineering firm who makes there own. I had never heard of them so didn't know how good they were.
The Dearer ones could be sent USPS but the cheaper freight only offset the price of the purchase.
For mine i didn't think it viable to go to the trouble to get them from the states. For the extra 120 bucks i'd rather keep some of my money in aus.
Good luck.

Was that from Tom's? He told me he would only use US post. You don't have to pay import duty and GST on goods under $1000 as already mentioned. I import parts for work and I postage is qute cheap, as long as the sender is willing to do a bit of leg work for you.

[Ruffy]

I can't remember which one was which. I really got sick of it in the end. A couple of the said " We are currently not set up to export".. WTF? Can't they get to a post office.
That was just my experience, i didn't have the time to waste either cos i had a stuffed diff and wanted to fix them before the paj.
Good luck if it works out well, i can see it being great, but for mine it wasn't worth the hassle.

[beanz2]

As I understand it, if you use US Postal Service the limits for import duties are much higher than if you use UPS, FedEx or the other private couriers. bigbrowndog here has a better understanding of the import duty limits, maybe he'll add more info.

Dave

[beatle_bayly]

Thanks for all the info fella's.

AFAIK there is no such thing as 'import' duty any longer. Not since GST. The only items subject to any duty are cigarettes and alcohol.

GST used to be waived for O/S travellers up to $400.00, but this limit has now been raised to a grand. I believe Customs have extended this to all privately imported goods (but I wouldn't gaurantee it !)

[CRUSHU]

I don't think it is $1000, as we were on the plane back from the US, and the limit was $900, in Nov 2005.