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cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:14 pm
by jimbo jones
has anybody got one or seen one want to know if there worth getting

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4x4-TOYOTA-DIFF- ... dZViewItem

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:17 pm
by bogged
no name or ARB? Me thinks ARB.

if no name, would you risk it?? Diff not cheap to rebuild or worse replace

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:18 pm
by jimbo jones
they look like a arb nock off they don't call it a arb in there listing

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:24 pm
by bogged
jimbo jones wrote:they look like a arb nock off they don't call it a arb in there listing
are they ARB part #'s??

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:31 pm
by Slunnie
Not sure if the part numbers match, but they are the same RD## format.

I wonder if they are runout of the old style ARB's.

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:32 pm
by jimbo jones
bogged wrote:
jimbo jones wrote:they look like a arb nock off they don't call it a arb in there listing
are they ARB part #'s??
yes but I think thats just a reference so people know what they fit

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:36 pm
by jimbo jones
I sent a Q asking if they were genuine ARB or not

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:37 pm
by bogged
Slunnie wrote:Not sure if the part numbers match, but they are the same RD## format.

I wonder if they are runout of the old style ARB's.
those were my thoughts.

ALso email ARB and ask them.. Im sure they have a paitent on em`

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:42 pm
by jimbo jones
bogged wrote:
Slunnie wrote:Not sure if the part numbers match, but they are the same RD## format.

I wonder if they are runout of the old style ARB's.
those were my thoughts.

ALso email ARB and ask them.. Im sure they have a paitent on em`
he was fast to responed this is what he emailed me

Not ARB Imported from Soong International Trade Co China www.chinasoong.com.

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:50 pm
by just cruizin'
so in other words they sent an ARB to china and make this but slightly different and this is what you've got, all the benifits just a crap load more problems, quality being one of them, 50% will be OK the others you will have no end of issues.

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:50 pm
by jimbo jones
this link might be better

http://www.chinasoong.com/index.asp

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:56 pm
by bogged
just cruizin' wrote:so in other words they sent an ARB to china and make this but slightly different and this is what you've got, all the benifits just a crap load more problems, quality being one of them, 50% will be OK the others you will have no end of issues.
100% correct.


then everyone will howl how bad ARB shit is or hit ARB for repairs ..

look familiar?
Image[/img]

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:05 pm
by bogged

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:12 pm
by cooter
was talking to a bloke at wallaroo a few months back and he had them front and back in his 80 series with 35's and had them for 3 months he said they are slow to activate but couldn't fault them ( he was giving it a thrashing )
id like to see a few more get tested first

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:22 pm
by T_Diesel
bogged wrote:how about his 12,000 winches $30 :shock: :shock: :shock:
IMHO I would not be using Chinese recovery gear of any kind purely because they don't have the same design and safety standards that western countries do.

The Chinese are very good at replicating items and physical attributes such as 12,000LBS sticker printed on the side of the winch they are copying but in my opinion thats about as far as it goes. I wouldn't want to have to trust a cheap chinese winch or shackle with my 2.5 tonne of truck on the end of it when I was in desperate need of it.

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:23 pm
by bogged
T_Diesel wrote:IMHO I would not be using Chinese recovery gear of any kind purely because they don't have the same design and safety standards that western countries do. .
couldnt agree more. but its gettin to the point where more people are going to go to ARB, ask for price on Warn etc $1800, then see that at $30..
which will they go for?

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:41 pm
by T_Diesel
bogged wrote:
T_Diesel wrote:IMHO I would not be using Chinese recovery gear of any kind purely because they don't have the same design and safety standards that western countries do. .
couldnt agree more. but its gettin to the point where more people are going to go to ARB, ask for price on Warn etc $1800, then see that at $30..
which will they go for?
Do you really think people could honestly trust a winch that is one third of the cost of a good quality snatch strap or about the price of a couple of good quality decent shackles? I personally couldn't do it.

Recovery equipment is only as good as the weakest link in your recovery operation. IMHO you can't put a price on safety and buying good quality recovery equipment is buying another layer of insurance for yourself and your vehicle.

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:39 am
by ferrit
there are a lot of chinese made cranes (like 50T mobile jobs) running around adelaide at the moment, but i'll bet they didnt come from ebay for $30!

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:03 am
by bogged
T_Diesel wrote:Do you really think people could honestly trust a winch that is one third of the cost of a good quality snatch strap or about the price of a couple of good quality decent shackles? I personally couldn't do it.
without doubt yes. people are on here daily and every other forum asking about Kmart/BigW/Black and Gold/Aldi winches..

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:59 am
by lump_a_charcoal
One problem with buying shackles from China is that they have to be kept at a certain temp for a certain amount of time to meet certain standards... The amount of power outages that they get means that they often produce substandard items, but who knows...

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:36 am
by jessie928
T_Diesel wrote:
bogged wrote:
T_Diesel wrote:IMHO I would not be using Chinese recovery gear of any kind purely because they don't have the same design and safety standards that western countries do. .
couldnt agree more. but its gettin to the point where more people are going to go to ARB, ask for price on Warn etc $1800, then see that at $30..
which will they go for?
Do you really think people could honestly trust a winch that is one third of the cost of a good quality snatch strap or about the price of a couple of good quality decent shackles? I personally couldn't do it.

Recovery equipment is only as good as the weakest link in your recovery operation. IMHO you can't put a price on safety and buying good quality recovery equipment is buying another layer of insurance for yourself and your vehicle.
yep,

because the chinese " crap" is actually getting better, while the aussie stuff is going in the opposite direction.
t-max, tigrez11, etc, these type of winches have come along way.
its unfortunate but if the pricing structure of australian retailers does not change they are going to be sept under the carpet

FOR instance, HOW the hell can you import an ARB **locker** in from the USA and pay considerably LESS for the product shipped to your door, than for the same product bought from an arb shop over the counter?

but, this predicament we are in is a double edged sword. while everyone gets used to cheap china goods, which in turn puts teh squeeze on australian manufacturing and retailing, at the same time china's domestic market is growing, while its growing less and less of its products are being earmarked for export, and manufacturing costs are rising also,

so it will get to a point where it will be more expensive to import from china but there will be no " local " comparable product......

so buy up my fellow Australians :D, make teh best of it while it lasts...

Jes

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:40 am
by jessie928
jimbo jones wrote:has anybody got one or seen one want to know if there worth getting

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4x4-TOYOTA-DIFF- ... dZViewItem
Its going to be interesting watching vehilcles being sold with " front and rear AIR LOCKERS" from this point on.... can you really be SURE its an ARB???

also i would be very interested to see if the O_rings are interchangeable with the ARB ones. if so, they would be a must hav addition to this chinese locker to make it more " robust" because teh arb o-rins are indeed infallable as we all know...:)




Jes

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:14 am
by ... rick
We have actually visited this guys place in China. He gave us some samples of various products to look at there, and they looked fantastic. When the owner of BBM came back home he decided to order a snorkel and "double check" to see if it was the same quality. It was not. Doesnt even look like it would fit, let alone pass as presentable! Poorly finished, poorly made. I would definately be saying NO.

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:25 am
by bogged
jessie928 wrote:Its going to be interesting watching vehilcles being sold with " front and rear AIR LOCKERS" from this point on.... can you really be SURE its an ARB?
Very good point!!!

BBM Rick wrote:We have actually visited this guys place in China. He gave us some samples of various products to look at there, and they looked fantastic. When the owner of BBM came back home he decided to order a snorkel and "double check" to see if it was the same quality. It was not. Doesnt even look like it would fit, let alone pass as presentable! Poorly finished, poorly made. I would definately be saying NO.
a mate of mine did the same thing when lookin to get his own gear made in China.. the one they gave him there was GOLD. the one he got here, he opened, and walked outside and chucked.

Re: cheap no name air lockers on ebay

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:42 am
by grimbo
jessie928 wrote:FOR instance, HOW the hell can you import an ARB winch in from the USA and pay considerably LESS for the product shipped to your door, than for the same product bought from an arb shop over the counter?
because ARB don't make winches they resell other manufacturers winches and have to add their own costs ontop of the purchase price

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:06 am
by thehanko
Even still look at it this way:

winch made in china for ARB:

Then 1 container goes to USA, 1 container goes to Australia. aussie is closer, but the us would do more volume so it would probably be the same cost on freight.

then the usa market can still absorbe air freight of individual items to australia and still be significantly cheaper.

With any pricing its about finding the price which sells the greatest total profit. so im guessing plenty of peps are still buying the good stuff.

its just tight arses like me that dont :lol:

500 odd bucks for a air locker AND compressor! so both for under a grand!

how about everyone chips in $10 and I offer to be the guinea pig?!?

he he :cool:

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:19 am
by Gwagensteve
It's most likely ARB have already bought one or more and have had a very good look at it.

ARB will now exactly what their products do on their own destructive rig. It woudn't surprise me if they've already ripped one apart on their rig.

I'm also sure lawyers will be getting briefed.

Steve.

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:26 am
by thehanko
Gwagensteve wrote:It's most likely ARB have already bought one or more and have had a very good look at it.

ARB will now exactly what their products do on their own destructive rig. It woudn't surprise me if they've already ripped one apart on their rig.

I'm also sure lawyers will be getting briefed.

Steve.
Ah and there is where china comes into its own.

China does not have patent laws like we do, so you cant stop them making it.
so unless the product claims to be arb or use the arb name in anyway, it can be damn hard to stop it.

We see it happen all the time in our industry. its a pain in the back side.

Its at the point where my fellow competitors and I discuss which chinese companies have come and offered us their products. This way we can learn which companies we can trust with our designs etc, and which we cant.

I tell you what though - there are not many who play straight over there.

They all seem to think australia is huge rather than 5 - 10% the size of the american market.

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:35 am
by Jeeps
Yeah the volume thing is a good one. Take most small shops/servos/takeaways etc. They buy Coke/Fanta/Sprite or whatever directly from Coca Cola Amatil Aust. But they can always buy it cheaper at woolies than they can get it directly from the manufaturer (Coke).

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:37 am
by Gwagensteve
Oh I agree, but this seller appears to be Aus based, and advertising the product as an Air Locker (A registered trade mark AFAIK?)

I'm more than aware ARB probably can't stop the production of these, but I bet they can stop the sale of them in aus.

Steve.