James Duff Site

[Ranger44]

http://www.jamesduff.com/

They changed the site and looks good.....but

Where'd all the ranger stuff go !!??

 

[AllanD]

They have been systematically dropping stuff from their catalog.

I know it's a family run buisness but someone there had their head crossthreaded on by someone teaching supply chain management techniques.

IOW, someone there has a Buisness administration degree folded so it's ALL-sharp-edges and crammed up their ass.

I had several talks with them and they said things like "if it doesn't sell well we aren't going to stock it"

They forget they are in a niche market and if you don't fill the niche you may as well slit your own throat as stop making things that are part of that niche.

you can't convince me that it would cost them all that much to make stuff like their "old style" traction bars and keep the components on the shelf....

Now there is no mention for "Ranger" parts, just Bronco2

Hey, a while ago they finally made an old style traction bar kit for the '98's but they made it so it would only fit the '98-up with either the FX4-L2 axle assembly OR had a swapped in Explorer axle... Hello??

All they REALLY needed to do is add two "optional" brackets
one for the front mount for '98-up and another for the "big"
axle tubes...

That with the original "old style bars" and you have something to please everyone...

Particularly if they make the rear bracket available SEPERATLY for those that have the bars already and wish to "upgrade" to an explorer axle without discarding their traction bars.

Now, does anyone want me to say how I REALLY FEEL?

AD

 

[Maverick]

They're going down hill IMO. They keep dropping products and their prices keep going up. When I bought my stage III kit (with rear springs) a couple years ago, it was the same price as their stage III kit now without rear springs.

 

[Gabe8810]

I checked out the site and found no ranger parts. What the hell. this sucks

 

[2manyfords]

Skyjacker dudes, Skyjacker.

 

[AllanD]

It's already gotten to the point where if they made the bars Especially for me, the combination of parts that I wanted them to make and sent them to me for FREE, hell even a gold plated set?

I'd probably toss them behind my toolbox and make my own.

AD

 

[Ranger44]

There goes the plans of a JD lift. Either hitting up used parts or going to skyjacker....Damn!!! Obviously somebody had their head up their A$$ when they decided to get rid of the Ranger line.

 

[AllanD]

someone at duff Needs to get a clue that the Bronco is their past
Theranger and Bronco2 is their future.

Their "issue" with selling the various ranger bits is that they weren't comming even close to keeping up with the newer Ranger vehicles and they were doing NOTHING to tell the world that they actually made parts for Rangers.

Hell it would be childs play for them to duplicate their Old style traction bars
(scaled up) for the various F-series trucks.

But making them would have been pointless with their demonstrated unwillingness
to TELL ANYONE that they were making those products...

People like that make me want to take them on a canoe trip...
Just to have the chance at smacking some sense into them with the canoe paddle.
The flat if they seem to realize the error of their was the edge if they don't

AD

 

[Will]

They have everything still listed for the B2. All that shit fits on the Ranger.

What morons.

You make something that fits on ABC, advertise it to fit on ABC, then suddenly decide you are going to specialize in A and remove the BC and probably 80% of your clientel...

I don't know. But after 5 years of running their stuff on my truck I threw out the coils because they were too stiff, the shocks because they were too short, modified the shock hoops for the same reason, broke a radius arm, broke both the short fat add-a-leafs and I still think it was a decent suspension kit. The pivot brackets haven't broken and the radius arm was easy to make a lot stronger when i fixed it.

But they had crap for customer service. They wouldn't sell you one part if you broke it--you had to by the kit again. I know a couple of people that had that problem. They didn't know the spring rate of their coils when I bought it but they assured me it would flex better than stock--which it didn't. Spend $1,100 or whatever and you have all this cool looking stuff with no flex.

I would go with Skyjacker if I did it right now.

 

[AllanD]

Actually Will the traction bars for the Bronco2 were not the same as
those for Rangers, the brackets on both ends were very different.

The axle end bracket was shorter (less leverage)
and the spring eye end needed tomate to the Bronco2 spring bracket
that is quite different from that on a Ranger.

As for other stuff... Yeah the brake hose will work
Yeah their dual shck mount (that required different offset rim?)
and other stuff will fit but so what?

THE single most useful item was the "old style" traction bars.
They were nearly the cheapest thing they sold.

It was also just about the first thing they discontinued.

One useful thing I suggest to them was a kit (welding required) to install
a Explorer axle in a Ranger.

How many of those do you think they'd sell?

AD

 

[blackbronc]

Duff probably wants to get into the big money Super Duty market with a megabuck 14" street truck lift kit like everybody else seems to think is the future of fourwheeling. Did they get bought out by Summit, Jegs, etc.? Seems to me they moved to the same area as CompCams and the conglomerate they belong to.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I didn't think they were owned by anyone but James Duff himself.

 

[Bent Bolt]

Duff probably wants to get into the big money Super Duty market with a megabuck 14" street truck lift kit like everybody else seems to think is the future of fourwheeling.

I tend to agree. I see more and more S-D's and big chev's with large diameter chrome rim's and cheap ass lifts. And I can see why other companies are getting out of or limiting their 83-97 Ranger parts. They are getting old, harder to find and less popular.

And is that a bad thing??? From my POV, maybe not. The guys who build their trucks for show or light off road means less people on the real trails. And with less aftermarket parts for the Ranger means people with fabrication skills and ingenuity can build these trucks while the other people will go towards other cheap ass trucks like the Toyota's and Colorado's with their stupid IFS and CV joints and buy a kit to lift them.

Then again, maybe I have my head up my ass.

 

[rickcdewitt]

i'm not really impressed with the flex of my stage 3 duff.it handles almost as good as stock(stiff) and does have more flex but for 1600 dollars it still falls short.i woulden't have bought it but i got hit by a drunk and stoned moron while parked on the side of the road and got a 1700$ settlement which i figured i'de put back into the truck as beefy bumpers and the upgrade from stage 1 to stage 3 so i'de be ready for him the next time i saw him on the road(my truck already won 1700$ damage ranger-3500$ damage tacoma!).its nice working at a body shop,insurance companies know they can't screw around with you.i had them wanting to pay my to tear down my truck and replace the radiator support,suspension parts,etc but i told them i wasen't greedy i'de take the money to just fix the sheetmetal and spray it(the radiator support and fenders were bent a little from the previous owner).the fancy coil buckets seem kind of weak(flex too much) and the rear springs are very soft(not much carrying capacity without the factory overload).i do like the way the long arms and double shocks are packaged though.i'll reinforce the arms and buckets when i get around to putting EB coils in.

 

[4x4RangerGuy]

I tend to agree. I see more and more S-D's and big chev's with large diameter chrome rim's and cheap ass lifts. And I can see why other companies are getting out of or limiting their 83-97 Ranger parts. They are getting old, harder to find and less popular.

And is that a bad thing??? From my POV, maybe not. The guys who build their trucks for show or light off road means less people on the real trails. And with less aftermarket parts for the Ranger means people with fabrication skills and ingenuity can build these trucks while the other people will go towards other cheap ass trucks like the Toyota's and Colorado's with their stupid IFS and CV joints and buy a kit to lift them.

Then again, maybe I have my head up my ass.

What about us 98+ Ranger owners? I assure you good sir that many of us have the best of intentions even though we are stuck with CV joints and SLA control arms

We make do pretty well I think.