Weird question.

Mister Sticky said:

I'm a machinist and cad designer at a small shop. I daily drive a '13 ST and I've always been interested in making and selling performance parts that are high quality and more thought through than most of what you can buy. I have 24/7 access to the shop I work at and have access to manual mills, lathes, iron workers, and mig and tig welding machines. Right now I'm making a pair of front sway bar end links and I'm going to test them on my car in a few days when the tooling I need comes in the mail so I can finish them. I've attached a render of what they'll look like. They're adjustable from the center of the link instead of at the ends (like most end links i've seen) and should be much easier to adjust on car. All machined 304 stainless except for the heim joints (I'm not sure what type/supplier im going to get them from). Is there any interest in something like this? Is the aftermarket for STs still big? (I assume it is, I see lots of modified STs at car meets all the time) And are there any performance parts for the ST that aren't out there that people want? Are there any parts out there that are **** that people want superior versions of? View attachment 205857

Click to expand...

meanpat1 said:

Are u i the u.s if so would u ship overseas .....im in sydney

Sent from my SM-A500Y using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

FourD said:

It's great to have options which is probably the biggest issue, there is really only a handful of options for many parts. The biggest issue is international availability though, shipping heavy metal parts is so expensive and most of the aftermarket parts are in the US. Which sucks as I'm in S.Africa.

So I would like to counter your weird question with a weirder question! I want to know if I could buy the CAD file so that I get local materials and use local CNC shop. NOTE: For personal use, not to make for resale. Making for resale isn't worth my while and I don't have the time in any case.
Parts like Shifter parts, Engine/Transmission mounts, struts/bars, Spacers.

Then there is 3D printing designs too, many parts are printed and I don't see why I can't just do that myself instead of paying shipping costs.

Click to expand...

Mister Sticky said:

I don't mind giving you the CAD model. There isn't anything proprietary about the design, it's just more difficult to manufacture than other end links. I would guess that it would cost you more to get a local machine shop to produce these for you and to source some decent heim joints than it would be for me to sell them to you and ship them. PM me your email and I can send you the cad file.

Click to expand...

FourD said:

Thanks, that's kind of you. I'm not looking for end links, but referring more to the other parts I mentioned, that's if you were looking to design some of those.
Shipping to South Africa is super expensive, not to mention the 14% additional tax that our customs will ask.
Someone with your CAD skills and perhaps the motivation to use the parts on your own car is rare.

Click to expand...

Mister Sticky said:

You're right about shipping cost. I looked briefly into using usps to ship internationally this morning and it was nearly 100 usd for a flat rate box to Sydney, Australia. I'd assume it's similar pricing to get the same size box to South Africa. That's pretty steep considering most. I'm considering just putting the CAD files for the parts I make up on my website for free. Might help out international FoST bros if they want to get something made locally.

Click to expand...

Johnbian said:

@FourD I checked JBR's website and they ship internationally for $65.70 usd. IMHO they make the best quality parts for the best price for our platform. I don't know how enticing that is for you as I'm not familiar with the exchange rate, but it might end up being cheaper than having custom parts made.

Click to expand...

Mister Sticky said:

I wouldn't say JBR is the best for the money all around. They make they make the largest diameter sway bar I've seen for FoSTs and their sway bar brackets a really nice. But some of their stuff (like shifter bushings) are made cheaply imo. They just include a few washers instead of making a normal two piece bushing from aluminum like every one else (boomba, steeda etc.)

Click to expand...

Johnbian said:

Mister Sticky said:

I wouldn't say JBR is the best for the money all around. They make they make the largest diameter sway bar I've seen for FoSTs and their sway bar brackets a really nice. But some of their stuff (like shifter bushings) are made cheaply imo. They just include a few washers instead of making a normal two piece bushing from aluminum like every one else (boomba, steeda etc.)

Click to expand...

I may be mistaken, but I'm fairly certain the shifter bushings I got from them were 2 piece. Maybe @[email protected] can chime in on the subject

Click to expand...