Cheap Air Lockers,, Ex China

[minefield]

I have found a site in China that sells ARB copy of the Air Locker for $410 US
I have it posted all info on the tool-shed,

[flyingbrick]

I spoke with a fellow yesterday who imports some chinese made ARB copies. He basically told me that they were a lucky dip- sometimes you got a good one- sometimes you got a bad one.

[DaveM]

I spoke with a fellow yesterday who imports some chinese made ARB copies. He basically told me that they were a lucky dip- sometimes you got a good one- sometimes you got a bad one.

Or he is worried that people will buy them cheaper overseas, so says this to put them off? Guess time will tell with whoever decides to buy them

[Jafa]

Kev has two of them in his surf rockcrawler, he's had no issues with them at all. Of course if you want peace of mind, reliablity, and backup, you'd only consider ARB's

[minefield]

I know there has been a big shake up regarding quality in china, All mechanical items have to be government inspected for quality approval, I think they are trying to lift there game, So the quality of the lockers should be OK

[Jafa]

Heres why I'd put ARB's only in my vehicles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe6U8M1jI00

Kinda says it all, your chinese one may be fine for a while, but sooner or later its going to explode on you, and that's going to stop you in your tracks.

[wjw]

Good Video, although looking at that for moderate 4 wheeling it shows the chinese locker should be ok as the failure point is only 517 ft-lbs less than the ARB.

ARB - Axle Failure at 6929ft-lb
Chinese - Complete Locker Failure at 6412ft-lb

You just have to remember that if you do use two much force it will destroy itself and your diff. If that locker was in the front, I would expect your manual hubs or CV's would go first.

[badnuz]

what would you rather have: broken axle or complete blown diff????

[Jafa]

Good Video, although looking at that for moderate 4 wheeling it shows the chinese locker should be ok as the failure point is only 517 ft-lbs less than the ARB.

ARB - Axle Failure at 6929ft-lb
Chinese - Complete Locker Failure at 6412ft-lb

You just have to remember that if you do use two much force it will destroy itself and your diff. If that locker was in the front, I would expect your manual hubs or CV's would go first.

Your assuming that they all fail at the same place and in the same way, I've seen enough machined stuff from china to know that you never get the same thing machined to the same size twice, I see no reason why these would be any different. The test locker could have been a goodie, or by the same token it could have been a bad one. Are your prepared to risk it, as a post earlier said, the importer will tell you that you dont know whether your getting a goodie or a baddie
I reakon you'd be rolling the dice if ya truck had Longfield cv's and hub gears, the next to go would be your chineee loka!

[rokhound]

That was kinda interesting wasn't it?

[Andrew1706]

Interesting to see that the chinese gears are cast rather then machined.

Where on a track would you be applying almost 7000ft-lbs of torque?

The prices for the chinese lockers are readily available on trademe but I've never seen a price for ARBs, what is the difference?

[flyingbrick]

This video is better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrrrKmqa ... re=related

[Sadam_Husain]

The prices for the chinese lockers are readily available on trademe but I've never seen a price for ARBs, what is the difference?

From memory std retail is (or was) about $1540 plus gst and the compressors between $300 and $500 depending which one you want plus gst, badnuz would know the pricing coz he sells them

[rokhound]

The Chinese knock offs are listed at $1550 (on tardme). If you are only talking $100 - 200 difference, It isn't much of a decision really is it?

[Sadam_Husain]

The Chinese knock offs are listed at $1550 (on tardme). If you are only talking $100 - 200 difference, It isn't much of a decision really is it?

I think the chinese ones usually include a compressor in the price so the price difference is a bit more than a couple of hundred bucks but the price differential still isnt that great when you look at your overall cost, and shit theres no way I'd ever swap my ARBs for chinese copys

I got my ARBs from the states when the dollar was up around the 80-82 cents and I think they were around $900 NZ plus gst and freight each,

[4WD Fibreglass]

4WD Fibreglass are the import agent for the Soong4x4 air locking differentials. I have followed the threads and am pleased to engage in healthy discussion about their product.
My enthusiasim in 4WD's goes back to the mid 70's. I got into the business of 4WD Fibreglass in 1992. My background is Civil Engineering.
I understand ARB's reaction to the competition. I too have my custom products copied by others. That's life and I get on with it. At least I know others must appreciate the product.
We import Soong4x4 lockers to fit most front and rear Landcruiser and Safari vehicles, also rear units for Pajero, Terrano and Isuzu. Lockers for the rear of Suzuki 413's will be here early February. The Dana 44 locker will be available to the market towards the middle of the year.
The lockers are dismantled on arrival to our shop here in Hamilton (m.0274881101). Hopefully, in the future we will not need to do this (this and marketing cut severly into the margin). In the meantime, we will continue to do so knowing the product goes out the door with much minimised chances of failure. We have unfortunately found defects due to poor assembly supervision in some lockers. These have amounted to casting porosity, missing parts, CNC swarf, mis-aligned bolt holes and non radiused edges. While this may sound a lot, the manufacturer supports us well with good replacement stock. We relube and reassemble prior to sale.
The NZ 4WD fraternity is small and we cannot affort to compromise by selling inferior products. We supply a 1 year conditional warranty (the same as ARB).
Our testing of the Soong4x4 locker has not been to the same extent as that shown on the YouTube ARB video. Some time ago we had the Engineering Department at the Waikato University conduct Rockwell testing of side gear and pinion gear components.We considered most stress would be centred on these parts. To provide a base for comparision, we tested used (but not worn or damaged) side and pinion gears from a Toyota Landcruiser. The Chinese gears tested pretty much the same - 57.5 Rockwell versus 57.8 Rockwell for Toyota. Generally, the higher the number, the harder but more brittle the gear and the lower the number the softer but more ductile the gear. Outside the range 55 ~ 60 Rockwell would be cause for concern.
The question I must ask about the ARB test is that Simon states the test was done with a Dana axle. Soong4x4 do not manufacture a locker to fit a Dana axle yet. I guess, if a Dana splined axle was jammed into a Landcruiser splined Soong4x4 side gear, they could have damaged the (side gear or axle or) locker before the test was started.
The Soong4x4 locker has been around a while now and we haven't had any come back due to failure. Like ARB, the Soong4x4 locker is sold wordwide but has an exceptionally loyal following in Europe.
Our retail price ex Hamilton is $1500.00 including GST. And yes that includes a compresser, wiring, air line switches etc. I believe this is around 25% less than an ARB AirLocker sold in NZ.

[Chopper01]

Our retail price ex Hamilton is $1500.00 including GST. And yes that includes a compresser, wiring, air line switches etc. I believe this is around 25% less than an ARB AirLocker sold in NZ.

yea thats a good price for you cause your makeing 50 to 75% mark up on them


one of my mates put a set of the same lockers you sell in over christmas and he got them in from china by him self and they cost him $350 for both of them !

[flyingbrick]

Our retail price ex Hamilton is $1500.00 including GST. And yes that includes a compresser, wiring, air line switches etc. I believe this is around 25% less than an ARB AirLocker sold in NZ.

yea thats a good price for you cause your makeing 50 to 75% mark up on them


one of my mates put a set of the same lockers you sell in over christmas and he got them in from china by him self and they cost him $350 for both of them !

I dont know what im talking about TBH but sounds to me like that price is total BS.

I'd love to know his source though- you are free to PM it to me if you are not wanting to post it publicly.

-Nathan
BTW. 4wd Fibreglass has every right to make a markup that large. The lockers are worth what people will pay- and people obviously DO pay that amount or 4wd fibreglass would no longer be in business.

Why would you say here what you cannot say in person?

Would you walk into a large retail store like DSE and go YOU ARE MAKING A 200% PROFIT (madeup number.. but i know its huge) ON THIS CAMERA CABLE MY FRIEND BOUGHT ONE FROM EBAY AND IT COST HIM .50C LOOK AT ME WHILE I ROLL MY EYES

*falls over and has a seizure*

[Chopper01]

Our retail price ex Hamilton is $1500.00 including GST. And yes that includes a compresser, wiring, air line switches etc. I believe this is around 25% less than an ARB AirLocker sold in NZ.

yea thats a good price for you cause your makeing 50 to 75% mark up on them


one of my mates put a set of the same lockers you sell in over christmas and he got them in from china by him self and they cost him $350 for both of them !

I dont know what im talking about TBH but sounds to me like that price is total BS.

I'd love to know his source though- you are free to PM it to me if you are not wanting to post it publicly.

-Nathan
BTW. 4wd Fibreglass has every right to make a markup that large. The lockers are worth what people will pay- and people obviously DO pay that amount or 4wd fibreglass would no longer be in business.

Why would you say here what you cannot say in person?

Would you walk into a large retail store like DSE and go YOU ARE MAKING A 200% PROFIT (madeup number.. but i know its huge) ON THIS CAMERA CABLE MY FRIEND BOUGHT ONE FROM EBAY AND IT COST HIM .50C LOOK AT ME WHILE I ROLL MY EYES

*falls over and has a seizure*

Look here buddy im not afraid to say that in person , it's simple to get the air lockers all you need to do is know someone that is going on holiday to china and pick them up from the factory shop and pay cash thats how Trev did it and I know its not bullshit as the person who got them I know very well so its not bullshit .

[minefield]

since I started this post I may as well let a few things out of the bag

For a start off mid last year I contacted soong4WD in china and was offered air lockers for under $400 NZ at that time I was not ready to buy but contacted him again just before Xmas and was told they had given the NZ agency to Fibreglass4WD and I had to deal with the NZ agent.

As I had already bought Synthetic rope from China [Amsteel Blue] and I was in the Chinese system It did not take me long to find out that Soong was only a Chinese suppler so I found another suppler http://www.langemachinery.com You can buy the same locker from Langemachinary in china , Email Address auto-trans@langemachinery.com

There price was I think !!about $ 410 or $450 complete, And yes Soong has emailed me a couple of time's trying to find who my new suppler is, Soong compared to Langmachinery is only small fry

Check out there web site they said if they haven't got they will make it

[Jezza]

http://www.langemachinery.com/Product.a ... cker%20Kit
finally found them, fark they have alot of stuff

[gimmemud]

Our retail price ex Hamilton is $1500.00 including GST. And yes that includes a compresser, wiring, air line switches etc. I believe this is around 25% less than an ARB AirLocker sold in NZ.

yea thats a good price for you cause your makeing 50 to 75% mark up on them


one of my mates put a set of the same lockers you sell in over christmas and he got them in from china by him self and they cost him $350 for both of them !

Not trying to start a war here , but anyone would put a mark up on there products, it's just business. Also you would have to factor in the dismantling labour etc...
Might be expensive for the product from original price but a hell of a lot cheaper than arb and no risk when your not importing them yourself.
unless of course you know someone popping over who can get them back for you.

[Ralfie]

Our retail price ex Hamilton is $1500.00 including GST. And yes that includes a compresser, wiring, air line switches etc. I believe this is around 25% less than an ARB AirLocker sold in NZ.

yea thats a good price for you cause your makeing 50 to 75% mark up on them


one of my mates put a set of the same lockers you sell in over christmas and he got them in from china by him self and they cost him $350 for both of them !

Not trying to start a war here , but anyone would put a mark up on there products, it's just business. Also you would have to factor in the dismantling labour etc...
Might be expensive for the product from original price but a hell of a lot cheaper than arb and no risk when your not importing them yourself.
unless of course you know someone popping over who can get them back for you.

At a start price of $400 in China then I would consider the total package selling in NZ at $1500 including gst a good price.
You also get the backing of a local company for any advice or assistance sorting out problems and you get the benefit of the Consumer Guarantees Act to back up any problems if purchased locally.

As the the local agent has stated he has checked each unit on arrival and made corrections as necessary. This costs a company time and money and you get peace of mind.

When you import directly you also have to add in the full cost of the bank fees for the transaction (either C/Card or internation transfer), freight, handling charges this end, customs fees plus GST. Of course if you went overseas and picked them up yourself don't forget to add in the excess baggage costs along with the cost of the airfares. Not everyone has the opportunity to go to China to get cheap parts.

As for mark up percentages I think you will find most companies use a 100 to 200% mark up these days.

[vvega]

Good Video, although looking at that for moderate 4 wheeling it shows the chinese locker should be ok as the failure point is only 517 ft-lbs less than the ARB.

ARB - Axle Failure at 6929ft-lb
Chinese - Complete Locker Failure at 6412ft-lb

You just have to remember that if you do use two much force it will destroy itself and your diff. If that locker was in the front, I would expect your manual hubs or CV's would go first.

Your assuming that they all fail at the same place and in the same way, I've seen enough machined stuff from china to know that you never get the same thing machined to the same size twice, I see no reason why these would be any different. The test locker could have been a goodie, or by the same token it could have been a bad one. Are your prepared to risk it, as a post earlier said, the importer will tell you that you dont know whether your getting a goodie or a baddie
I reakon you'd be rolling the dice if ya truck had Longfield cv's and hub gears, the next to go would be your chineee loka!

i wonder if you can put the toyota sidegears and pinons into the locker casing .. in whichcase you solve all those issues
just a thought

[mudgripz]

There is not alot of difference between 6929 and 6412lbs breaking point - only about 7% - and that's not much. You might well get that much test variation between lockers even from same company, and in different temps/setup conditions in which the lockers were tested etc.

Another thought - if you blow an axle with the ARB you might not be driving home - unless you move the tail shaft, whereas if you blow the chinese locker you can still drive home, though unlocked??

[flyingbrick]

There is not alot of difference between 6929 and 6412lbs breaking point - only about 7% - and that's not much.

dont forget that the ARB unit did not actually fail.

the difference could be far far more than tested.

Or it could be less... who knows. They were obviously biased

[Steve_t647]

The markup is irrelevant if the product is not the same we need more information to compare, was there any packaging? Did it come with a compressor? Was there any wiring or instructions? Were you given the opportunity to dissasemble and inspect it? If there is poor casting or parts missing how much will it cost to send it back and have these parts replaced?

I bought TG stuff from Jaffa, the order was not correct (Mark forgot bits) and but they made me aware of the problem and have set it right. Some of the bits I ordered were not suitable and I could have returned them (but I chose to use some bits to save time) returning anything to the US and having the replacement freighted back at my cost for a warranty issue is too expencive.

The Industrial area in China is not in or near the Holiday area, but for the savings you could probibly get a flight to china (off peak economy one way), the return flight, accomodation etc would be at your own cost and if there was anything that was faulty then there would be additional cost there too, not to add the day's you have off and money you could be earning.

Edit: for corrections

[Andrew1706]

I think most people are confusing USD for NZD here, $400NZD for a landed locker? Don't think so.

[wjw]

I think most people are confusing USD for NZD here, $400NZD for a landed locker? Don't think so.

$350 NZD landed was what I paid when I bought my autolockers landed from the US.

[mike]

Yeah I got two for $700 and that was including getting ripped off $100 US difference in postage between the two suppliers!