Why is replacement plastic so freakin' expensive?

[Dogmeat]

I don't understand how a side panel costs $171, which is the exact same price as the entire fender assembly.

Or, the nose pan ... that little jewel is $140 ..

A new stock boost box is like $140 too. There is maybe $10 worth of plastic there.

What gives? This is rediculous

 

[PLUMR]

Because it's Polaris. Try Harley-Davidson, or Corvette!!

 

[jafraune]

Because its very breakable and they know that you will have to replace it.

 

[guidoxpress]

Dog
i hear you brother...its a joke..but nothing you can about it..UNLESS.....

if your looking for side panels..get the replacemnet ones from Bill at mountain fit hoods..

OR..

wait till OCT and Curt at Fastrax will have his carbon fiber side panles with a built in VENT ready for sale..im excited for these personally..

but as far as the front end or fender prices...just try not to ramp your truck like i did and you wont have to worry about replacing them, lol...

 

[donbrown]

Paying for the molds and creation of the molds plus overhead

 

[BB454]

Paying for the molds and creation of the molds plus overhead

X2
We are having a mold made for a 12 inch square plastic box. Bids came it at $30k for a single cavity mold and as high as $60k. Only up side is the parts will only cost $8.00 each after the mold is made so our return should be pretty quick. I can't imagine what the mold cost would be on those larger parts. But still you would think quantites would drive the cost down some.

 

[jhurkot]

true but don't they need that stuff to build the sleds in the first place? on a side note i got 2000 very hard miles out of my clutch side panel so that really isn't so bad.

 

[benamen]

Dog
i hear you brother...its a joke..but nothing you can about it..UNLESS.....

if your looking for side panels..get the replacemnet ones from Bill at mountain fit hoods..

Hey Guido,

I looked on the website for moutain fit and could not find any side panels for the IQ there. Am I looking in the wrong spot?

Ben

 

[guidoxpress]

Ben..

sent you a PM..with more info..

but for others.. asked bill about the panels NOT being on the website and he didnt say anything specific about them, besides them being ready for sale..

either call him (509) 218-1397

send him an email... mountainfithoods@yahoo.com (but he is HARD to get ahold of via email fyi)

 

[BB454]

true but don't they need that stuff to build the sleds in the first place? on a side note i got 2000 very hard miles out of my clutch side panel so that really isn't so bad.

I am sure they do but the accountants are probably rolling tooling costs into the full life of the part including those sold for repair so they can show a lower production cost on the sled. Creative accounting. That or Polaris is trying to make up the profit loss on the sled by jacking up the cost on parts. They need to make those revenue numbers to show the stock holders and investors.

 

[rab]

X2
We are having a mold made for a 12 inch square plastic box. Bids came it at $30k for a single cavity mold and as high as $60k. Only up side is the parts will only cost $8.00 each after the mold is made so our return should be pretty quick. I can't imagine what the mold cost would be on those larger parts. But still you would think quantites would drive the cost down some.

Well then the next question is

Why is the mould so freaking expensive is it a supply demand issue or is there just a ton of work involved to produce a mould

 

[BB454]

Not sure how expensive the raw material is for a mold but most are made out of a solid block of either aluminum or steel. It needs to be bigger than the part so a hood would need maybe a 4x4x2 chunk of steel. I would guess a hood would be made in a 500-750 ton press, takes a lot to withstand those pressures. Aluminum doesn't make as many parts without being refurbished. Although we are talking 30k cycles compared to 100k.

My experience is with fairly small parts, not sure what a hood mold would entail. Anyway you have tons of machine time to hog out the cavities. Cooling passages have to be machined so the molds don't get too hot. After machining, surfaces need polished and that's a hand operation in a lot of areas.
All of that adds up to a lot of man hours and who knows what a good mold maker gets paid per hour. $30.00? $50.00?

The thing that amazes me is how far in advance the design decisions have to be made in order to get the molds made and the parts in stock in time for the new year's production. If they make a redesign of a sled, they would have to be working 3 years in advance of release.

What about car makers? Kind of mind blowing.

 

[MNIQR]

I am a mold maker. Yes we do make good money per hour. And yes most large mold cost 250k plus. Many of the tools were working on currently are 1 million dollar molds. 1 in particular makes 32 lids for lotion bottles per cycle. Very complex tool because its a 2 shot rotary spin stack. Very cool **** but theres 60,000 hours plus into that job at completion.