ZachsXJ

I'm seriously considering starting my own Fab business on the side and was curious what/how much demand there would be for the small list of products I'd start out with. They are as such:

XJ A-pillar light mounts $40 shipped

3/4" D-ring tabs w/ 7/8" hole. 2.25" length $30 shipped 4.5" length $38 shipped

1/2" D-ring tabs w/ 3/4" diameter hole 2.25" length $25 shipped 4.5" length $33 shipped

XJ front or rear bumper frame mounts $35 shipped

High Clearance XJ winch bumper $400 + freight

Commanche Rear bumper $450 + freight

Starting out everything would be cut with a circular saw and a 7.5" cutoff wheel, but it won't affect quality. Down the road once I build enough capital everything will be cut with a plasma cutter.

All holes will be machined with slugger bits, if you don't know what they are, look them up. They're awesome!

Welding would be done with a Lincoln Powermig 255 .035 solid wire and 75/25 Argon/CO2

These prices are preliminary based on the designs I've come up with so far and expected production costs.

Please feel free to leave feedback or ask questions. I have an open mind to suggestions and believe an informed customer is a happy customer, even if they weren't to purchase my products.

If there is serious interest in any of the products I can make a few prototypes for stuff other than the Commanche bumper this weekend.

PS: I realize this thread is outside of the "For Sale" area rules, I couldn't think of anywhere better to post it. If it needs to be moved to a different part of the forum mods please do so.

1plunk

I don't have the money for the A pillar mounts right now but they are for sure on my list. Best of luck to ya if you do start it up!

Adam

allsierra123

Do you have any pics of the stuff?

Ladies

It seems most of the small fab businesses on here start out by making something people love. If it were me I would mock up one of everything I plan to sell with installed pics and see what people think. Remember for cherokee forum members like there stuff cheap

ZachsXJ

I feel the same way. Personally knowing what goes into making a lot of the products companies like quadratec/ballistic/etc sell and the stupid prices they charge, I feel that I can make a better product at a lower price point. Smaller profit margin for me, but I'm okay with that, I'm not trying to make millions.

I also have a few ideas(not listed) for some products that I haven't seen on the market for XJs.

I don't have pictures yet but based on the interest I'm seeing right now I'll make prototypes of the Light mounts and front bumper mounts this weekend.

I have a prototype of the XJ front bumper that'd I'd also try to get finished this weekend.

I'll be starting out small, but putting out high quality products at reasonable prices.

If I start this, a few of the first buyers would get killer deals(think 40%+ off) to kick things off.

JakeWI

Its hard to say what interest there would be for everything you offer. I think the biggest concern and everything would be design and quality.

By all means I think that people really making fab companys work is awesome. Especially a more small scale business. Its just hard to give more feedback then that without seeing pictures to show your designs and quality of your work. And when it comes to some stuff, I guess it would depend on your price over another guy that makes the same great product for cheaper. I also think that a cool place to come up with something different design wise would be your bumpers.

ZachsXJ

Understandably.

I guess I'll be working this weekend.

I agree about the quality concerns, I've seen a bunch of people try to sell crap quality products both here and other places. That won't be an issue with any of my stuff.

The bumpers will definitely be different than anything else on the market.

Personally I've yet to find bumpers that I think flow well and look good with the lines of an XJ/Comanche while still being functional. I plan to make bumpers that meet both criteria, at reasonable prices.

The one exception to that is the stuff FrankZ puts out, talk about top notch work!

xjchris

if you could make cheap but strong front tow hooks/brackets. you would sell a **** ton

xjchris

sliders

99redclassic

Second this.

If you put out a good quality product for a fair price, you'll find someone to buy it (at least that's what marketing class taught me ) Starting up may be a bit slow, but once people see what you can do, you'll have buyers lined up, depending on how much custom work you are willing to do for people. I saw make a few prototypes and see how it goes!

ZachsXJ

Ill see what I can do about tow hooks, they'll probably end up being d-ring brackets that bolt to the unibody rails. I'm not a fan of hooks when winching or pulling someone out, I've seen scary things happen one too many times.

Would people rather have tow hooks that mount through the stock bumper or under it? I personally think through-mounted would look better, the one catch is they'd require cutting a rectangle sized hole in the bumper...easy enough to do with a jigsaw and a drill.

I can make both if that's what the people want.

Update on the light mounts and all other products

Mounting hardware will be included(free of charge) as can any drill bits needed for a nominal fee to offset the cost.

The light mounts will include a drill bit with every set because of the odd size. Ive always hated buying something and then having to take the better part an hour to get bolts and other odds and ends needed to install the right way.

All products will included detailed step-by-step step installation instructions with pictures.

HighRoller

D ring mounts mounted through the factory bumper would be awesome!! Id buy a set for sure!

Jmb94

detoursoffroad.com

look around, it's a neat business model

Joedirt12

Some sliders that don't look like 2x4 would be cool. Maybe even one that can double as a step too. I've seen some cool ones on tj's and yj's but never seem to be able to find nice cool ones for are xj's.

ZachsXJ

Update on the light brackets & d-ring mounts

I ended up having to work tomorrow so I wasn't able to make time this weekend to pick up the press brake I need to make the light mounts, so I have to push things back a weekend. However I have been able to work out some kinks and the brackets will be able to mount to any XJ or Comanche model from 1984-2001 with very little work(less than an hour for someone inexperienced, or about 20 minutes for someone who knows what they're doing. It will require drilling a few holes & modifying the bottom of the piece of weather-stripping on the inside of the A-pillar


As for the d-ring mounts, they're probably not going to be as cheap as I'd like to sell them, but there is a valid reason behind that.

There is really only one good way to attach & one good place to put 2" x 3/4" thick d-ring mounts on an XJ that still has the stock bumper. As a result of those requirements its going to have to be a multi-piece design with more fab work than I'd hoped for. The driver's side D-ring mount would also double as a one of these: http://www.c-rok.com/sb.html Allowing you to kill two birds with one stone and get more value from your dollars.

Pricing on them will probably be somewhere around $65-80 shipped. Really depends how much time its going to take me to fab up each set. It may be a few weeks before I can make the first prototypes, as I have to get my hands on an XJ with a stock front bumper that I can use to make the prototypes along with finding a fab shop that can laser or plasma cut the 3/4" steel for me.

If there's anyone who has an XJ with a stock front bumper in the Richmond area who would be interested in getting the first/prototype set for free, shoot me a PM.

Once I start making the light brackets(hopefully next weekend) The first three customers will each get a pair at a huge discount for the cost of shipping + a little extra to help offset my materials cost. First person to claim a set will get them for under $10 and the other two for under $20.

Shoot me a PM

Do you have any pictures of stuff you're talking about?

It may be a while before I can come up with those, but I'll put them on the list after the light brackets and front recovery points.