So why are parts so expensive these days?

[James Sorochan]

Had to press out the top articulation joint pin on my Cat D25C rock truck yesterday because it wouldn’t take grease. The bushing is cracked so I cleaned up the pin and drilled the packed dirt out of it so it would take grease again. Put it back together. I got on the Cat site and priced out the pins and bushings to do both joints. Over $1300 each for pins and $360 each for bushings. These are small pins and bushings. Are prices like this across the board? On my Komatsu D57S-1 track loader I priced out the 4 injector cups ( sleeves ) and the Komatsu guys quoted $1450 per unit. Again I’m at a loss. I’ll be looking at after market parts on these items. Anyone got any supplier suggestions? I’m going to see if the Komatsu guys can recommend a puller/installer so I can re use the cups. Thanks Guys

 

[ahart]

Might try American crane and tractor parts, we source things from them from time to time.

 

[Vetech63]

My opinion would get me a vacation.

 

[James Sorochan]

Thanks ahart.

 

[cuttin edge]

I don't think the aftermarket pool is as large for machinery as in the auto industry, I could be wrong, but I guess they figure you bought it to make money, so you can afford to pay for it.

 

[Nige]

I could be wrong, but I guess they figure you bought it to make money, so you can afford to pay for it.

Too right. Parts aren't expensive. People are cheap..........
Parts are simply one factor in the O&O cost of Big Yellow iron.

 

[cuttin edge]

The backhoe from work I have been thinking on buying. I don't have a farm. I could probably find odd jobs for it. I could run it steady in winter plowing, but then I look at the cost of parts and it makes me shudder. I might get it, and never have an issue... besides the wiring repair I have to do right off the hop. But what if it does break, then I'm stuck paying any bit of money I might be able to make with it, or even worse, and have to put my own funds into it. I see one of the requirements of people asking about company start ups as having enough capital set aside for repairs, and regular maintainance.

 

[James Sorochan]

I hear you Nige on the cheap deal. But the prices are getting out of hand. I was is the water and sewer business for 30 years buying, servicing and fixing our equipment and watched the costs over that time period. I have been farming since 2014 and just started buying equipment again. I remember what parts cost then but now it’s crazy expensive. I do understand there are shortages, inflation pressures on materials and fuel. I get it. Doesn’t make it right.

 

[cuttin edge]

I hear you Nige on the cheap deal. But the prices are getting out of hand. I was is the water and sewer business for 30 years buying, servicing and fixing our equipment and watched the costs over that time period. I have been farming since 2014 and just started buying equipment again. I remember what parts cost then but now it’s crazy expensive. I do understand there are shortages, inflation pressures on materials and fuel. I get it. Doesn’t make it right.

WE just have to remember that the person in the office where they make and sell this stuff is more concerned about making more money than saving us any

 

[KSSS]

I remember an article in Popular Mechanics (I think) a long time ago. They took a Honda dirt bike that cost like $3000 brand new. They then bought each part of the bike individually. The cost as I recall was like 12K. At the end of the day, you already own the equipment, you will pay a premium to keep it moving. The cost of not fixing it is typically way more expensive than not, so you get the checkbook out.

 

[AzIron]

Or fire up the lathe and get after it

Parts are what they are I bet you will find the dealer has a very health margin on them but I figure if i cant stand being whittled down cause I am making money the parts department is probably in the same boat

 

[JD955SC]

If you want parts availability especially for long out of production machines you are going to pay for that convenience. You are also going to pay the price for a good quality part instead of a cheap piece of crap.

 

[Truck Shop]

Plus Manufactures are only going to support old machinery so long. They are in the business of designing
and selling new. Otherwise Cat would still be building 14A D8's.

 

[fastline]

I am in manufacturing/engineering. I see a lot of this as a moving target. Right now, I am seeing price gouge to the max. People are seeing what they can get away with. I have seen parts at $300, then $500 a week later, then back to $300. They are gouging. They are all making excuses about it too. Fuel is no exception!! There is ZERO reason for the price to be high other than oil guys take advantage of any change in the world as an excuse to raise price. They act like they can't hit demand when I know full well they have 80% of the wells on a trickle.

I'd love to build quality components for this industry, but to be honest, no one cares about quality anymore. Not even one! Even in the first post, it is about price. If only I could get my hands on some of that bubblegum alloy crap they call steel in China. I am just not that dishonest. I have learned that several industries have zero understanding of quality so they shop on prices. $5 is all it takes! But if demand is not there, guys are also waiting to gouge that market good.

Actually we innovated several parts in the auto racing markets. I personally designed and programmed them. Use to get people whining about price, but we are talking $60 for one part. They act like it should cost what the OEM does, which was friggin casted plastic and mine is a machined and hobbed part!!!! Then some asshat sent my part to China to be made cheaper. They of course did a complete **** job and everyone stopped buying ours. Then China did what they do, which is just sell it directly to consumers.

This is the pattern guys! People will whine paying a little more, even while getting REAL phone support, warranty, and knowing they got the good stuff. I still have guys online wanting to know where we went, why we don't answer the phone, etc. YUP!!!!!! Call China and tell them about your problem!!!! Me sow sowey!!! Not really. There is no one to call. I engineered many parts and they were all stolen by morons that don't even know the different between tension and compression, but they try to act like they do. Then wonder why I made an exit from that industry!!!!

Love to design/build parts for this industry but not convinced it will be much different.

 

[suladas]

There is a difference between making a profit and gouging. Western Star dealer wants $250 for window handle crank, why even carry a part at such a obscene price? Why is a cab filter that is 6"x6" for my mini hoe $100, but for my 210 hoe filter is 3x the size for $40? One part can be a reasonable price, another can be highway robbery there is no rhyme or reason, and those filters were that insane difference before covid. For things like pins and bushings, machine shop can be much cheaper. Manufacturers are partly to blame, they change a part a tiny bit every few years so they need to carry a million different ones instead of leaving it the same.

 

[ecnorton2001]

Too right. Parts aren't expensive. People are cheap..........
Parts are simply one factor in the O&O cost of Big Yellow iron.

Love that phrase, "Parts aren't expensive. People are cheap..." I am sure I'll use something similar down the road

 

[Birken Vogt]

Big companies are run by thousands of people smart out of college, each one thinks he knows how to squeeze a little more profit out of the end customer but knows nothing about the parts he is selling. That is my theory about why prices are all over the map.

 

[fastline]

Big companies are run by thousands of people smart out of college, each one thinks he knows how to squeeze a little more profit out of the end customer but knows nothing about the parts he is selling. That is my theory about why prices are all over the map.

I have entirely too many stories and I guess that is a sign of age.....and I don't even feel old. I was approached in person by a guy working for a company I made parts for. He mentioned that they needed to get parts cheaper and I either had to cut my costs or lose the contract when it renewed. I was not even that old when he came in, and I asked him, "so how long have you worked for the company?" About 2months!!!! His degree was in marketing, he knew nothing of how to make a damn thing, and I straight told him he was brought in at 60K yr and told to justify his wages. Just go F yourself and tell your boss I will expect the contracting to end. I got a call from upper management that "you are all good, we love your work".... This still just burns my azz. F you! Trying to screw me over to pay your worthless wage. I am sure Johnny boy was terminated not to long after because his arrogance got him nowhere.

I know what parts should and could cost. Then I know when there is stupid gouging going on. I don't know all processes like casting and stamping, but machinging/turning/grinding/etc, I gotchew. But I will say, there are plenty of parts I can say, "HTF you offer this so cheap!!!".... I have known some smart guys working USA castings that do parts pretty damn right! Sad that we don't reward them!

 

[treemuncher]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm tight with my money. Few things aggravate me more than overpriced parts from OEM dealers, no matter the brand. I'm always looking for backdoor solutions. Aliexpress, Ebay and other solutions offer parts for popular older equipment at much cheaper prices. That's where I shop for a lot of my PC200-6 parts. American Sleeve Bearing in CT is my go-to for bushings and bushing stock for generic bushings. Allegheny-York is another bushing supplier. Sometimes I have to machine it to size and other times it's a perfect fit replacement.

Komatsu wanted $2,500+ for a new monitor that had a recall but I was never notified and the recall passed. I got a brand new Komatsu LCD display, the part that was bad, for $55 shipped from China. Yes, I had to de-solder and solder in 88 pins but I now have a perfectly working and readable display. Other Komatsu sensors here were $125 each but I purchased identical original Komatsu equipment from a China supplier for $26 each = $130, shipped, for a 5 pack. At these price differentials, I have no problem dealing with Chinese suppliers.

Menzi Muck is maybe the king of pricing on parts. $154 bushing via OEM - ordered for $20 at ASB but I did have to machine off 5 mm OD on the lathe. There are at least 24 of these bushings on the legs so at least $3,200 savings and these prices are at early 2020 levels. Other $125 OEM bushings were purchased for under $7 each and did not require any machining.

Bottom line is, if you can't fix it yourself, you are going to pay through the nose and then some. It might take some research time to find the right replacement part but the savings are usually worth it.

 

[mekanik]

I used to work for an electrical utility. I looked after a fleet of internationals all with DT466 engines.
I had the valve cover off of one of the DT466s. The connector from the engine harness to the internal
injector harness was worn out. I replaced both harnesses. The injector harness was under $200 and
the engine harness was $250. This was around 2006. Four years ago those same harnesses were
$800 and $2300. A little more that the rate of inflation.