delubozparts reliable parts?

[sfg20t]

hey everyone. i don't know if any of you have had any experience with this person/company.


delubozparts


they're on ebay, and he sells a variety of suspension parts for s13 and s14. i just want to know if he's selling reliable parts. i searched for "delubozparts" on the forums, but nothing really substantial came up. he's not on the reviews forum either.

please don't reply with "you get what you pay for" that's not helpful to me. i just want to know the integrity of the products he's selling.

thanks guys!

[VROOOM]

i have purchased about 20 hood scoops from him. the company i work for has a huge fleet of mack trucks that like to overheat, we bought some basic hood scoops to put on the trucks to cool them down. He is very quick with shipping and even gave us a discount for buying so many. The quality of the parts was average i guess, id say it would be comparable to the stuff you find at car quest, napa, autozone but from japan. all the packaging was in japanese.

[Phlip]

I have not heard anything bad about them yet, I bought my shifter through them as well

[sfg20t]

cool. he was pretty quick to respond, i was buying a few items from him, and he cut me a pretty good deal. he gave me free shipping and 20 bucks off the total list price. i guess i'll go ahead and order and let you guys know how it all turns out.

[bing]

Che at DeluboZparts is likely the best in the business.

case in point.

i placed an order with them, not through ebay, and requested that the invoices be faxed to me rather than packaged.

items were shipped to my business address in the US.

i went over with my fiance to pick up the items and realised that i forgot my invoices for clearing the packages through customs.

now, at this point i would have been fukked if i was dealing with anyone else on earth.

i simply e-mailed Che from the post office and he sent the fax before i even had time to leave the building.

that is the best example of customer service i have ever had in my entire life.

[bing]

someone deleted Kuah's post?

Kuah, Che himself doesnt do any manufacturing, not that i know of anyways and my post in support of him is really just his service.

also, and i am sure you will agree with me, the onus really is on the consumer to determine what they buy. Caveat Emptor i guess you could say.

no one is wrong for putting a product to market, at least one that is not a necessity, one for which substitutes are readily available, and one that is not grossly misrepresented.

the majority of his parts are sourced from the same places that are selling to an enumerable amount of other companies who are rebadging the parts and selling under their own name. this is specifically true for his multi-link, which i do have experience with and which i would not buy nor would i recommend it to others. (i wont name those other companies because people keep chewing me out for calling them out)

on the other hand, a slotted aluminum collar is a slotted aluminum collar no matter who makes it and i would be very surprised to here that some people were actually trying to make them domestically. i tried to do it and was even prepared to accept a price premium but in the end is just wasnt feasible, the cost difference was too great.

for that reason, there are select items that i would buy from Che without hesitation.

there are a variety of products whose unbranded counter parts are equal in every way shape and form. it doesnt make sense to pay a premium for a branded version of those parts, especially when the service that someone like Che offers is as good as anyones. often the problem with buying unbranded parts is that the service is really really poor.

case in point for that is a bunch of catchcans i tried to order from some other folks in CA. its been several weeks and they still cant figure out a way to put them in a box and ship them to me.

regardless, to address your points specifically, yes i hate the imported multi-link and yes Che (deluboZparts) sells it, but i dont buy it. What i would and do buy are parts that i beleive are equivalent to branded versions.

i did not know that he copied your stuff, that would be ghey, but i would be a hypocrit if i said i hadnt done the same. not with your stuff though, in fact i have specifically not copied SPL gear simply out of respect.

that said,

if someone is looking to buy something from Che i have no doubt that you will get it as intended. whether or not his ethics are in line with certain other's in the industry i cannot say.

Originally Posted by kuah@splparts

Odd that you would commend them, given your previous posts/comments about cheap China-made copies of suspension parts, and deluboz is one of the major players doing the copying.

And yes I do have a grudge against them since he purchased a bunch of Do Luck bars, our subframe bushings, from us a few years back, before I was very aware of these things, and promptly started selling copies 3 months later. He also copied my suspension diagrams (before I had the sense to watermark it), my descriptions, etc.

[[email protected]]

Originally Posted by bing

someone deleted Kuah's post?

Sorry Bing, I should not have dragged you into this, I had deleted my own post shortly after posting it. It never looks good when one vendor bad-mouths another...

I don't know much about deluboz's customer service, but FWIW the original poster was interested in the integrity/quality of his products...

[bing]

ah,

well hey, all's fair here as far as i'm concerned.

i'd be a little pissed if the same happened to me but at the same time there is nothing that can be done about it. it isnt cost effective to obtain any patent protection or to try and legally defend intellectual or hard property considering the products we work with and then especially with international boundaries.

i've had this discussion with some of the facilities that build alot of my gear, guys who have had the same thing happen to them many times over and all they can offer is that you get in early, make your margin and when all the copy cats roll in you move on to the next big thing.

i dont know whether that is good advice or not

but yeah, no hard feelings on the post, its good information if people want to boycott a particular supplier for hurting a reknown supporter of the community.

[S14DB]

I have bought several parts from delubozparts.

The good:
Nylon Subframe spacers.
Urethane Exhaust Hangars
Short shifter (BM Knockoff)
Rear Differential Cover

The Bad:
RUCA's, One of the end caps blew out of the ends after a year.

The good stuff has performed excellently with no problems. RUCA's were dirt cheap at the time and I needed them badly. I didn't expect them to last. I would have no problems buying parts from him again. But as far as suspension parts. anything with an end link I would only by Kazama now. Strut tower bars and other braces should be fine but save your money for links.

[bing]

OMG... where did you get the info in your sig?

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by bing

i'd be a little pissed if the same happened to me but at the same time there is nothing that can be done about it. it isnt cost effective to obtain any patent protection or to try and legally defend intellectual or hard property considering the products we work with and then especially with international boundaries.

Just a small tip for you guys who design your own stuff:

You may file a Provisional Patent Application (PPA). It costs you $100 for a small entity. The PPA is not reviewed for legal purposes, but it does establish a filing date for you. Disclose as much as you can in the PPA. You don't need lawyers to write it because it is not reviewed, but do put as much info and as many drawings as you can in there. This will clearly estabish that you had invented something on that date. At the very least, it will serve as a paper trail if you have problems later.

Anyone can afford the filing fee. It's low to help people exactly in this situation. Additional information is available at: http://www.uspto.gov

You have 12 months to file a provisional application. Otherwise the invention becomes abandoned and public domain. Anyone can use it at that time. But at least it will prevent others from copying you, patenting the product, and then coming back and suing you for it

International applications do get expensive quickly though.

[g6civcx]

duh..............

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by kuah@splparts

Odd that you would commend them, given your previous posts/comments about cheap China-made copies of suspension parts, and deluboz is one of the major players doing the copying.

And yes I do have a grudge against them since he purchased a bunch of Do Luck bars, our subframe bushings, from us a few years back, before I was very aware of these things, and promptly started selling copies 3 months later. He also copied my suspension diagrams (before I had the sense to watermark it), my descriptions, etc.

Apply for copyrights to your publications. Apply for design and/or utility patents for your products.

If you put your stuff out there without claiming any ownership to it, it's fair game for anybody to copy it. Laws are really archaic, but they are there to protect the original person who originally invented the stuff.

The protection for your product is like the title for your car. The only difference is there is only one car, whereas they can make as many copies of your product as they want. If no one has the title to the car, it is public property and anybody can come joyride the car as much as they want.

Selling your product that you designed with your sweat and tear without at least trying to get some sort of protection for it is like leaving your car unlocked in a bad neighborhood, with the keys in the ignition, and with the titled signed to whomever wants it.

[bing]

Wal-Mart deliberately disobeys patent and copywrite protections because they earn more profits of the selling of the merchandise than it costs both to fight the cases in court and then pay the fines associated with losing the cases, if they do lose.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't try, what i am saying is that it is a very real and very common part of business.

a close frind of mine's father in law developed a wireless, networked smoke detector and holds the patent for it, my friend is vested in the project. he found out that another large company, the name escapes me but everyone would know it (someone like Philips i beleive), is now producing them under his patent and the legal fees to fight it are hundreds of thousands of dollars.

in the end you really have to just take your money and run.

look at what has happened to are market, it follows basic economoic theory.

when the market is experiencing growth and there are low barriers to entry you will see all kinds of guys enter the market with varying product offerings. When the market mature some of the new poeple will leave and some will stay and earn average profits.

we are fortunate that this market is very segmented, firstly by geography and secondly because of the different generations of tuners who get into this market...albeit the earlier ones are the ones who demand higher quality and are less price sensitive.

...getting off topic...

basically, make a product, get your money out of it fast, when people hit the market with similar $hit you are going to take a hit no matter what even if only due to proliferation of offerings.

when the market matures, if you are still around you will enjoy a long standing reputation and continue to make a bit of money for as long as you can hang around.

trying to fight a patent in this industry for the parts we buy / design / build is rediculous.

if it were cost feasible and effective to fight then you wouldnt see any knock offs on ebay. especially when companies are so blatantly knock-off the biggest names in the industry.

imo i think one reason why we are not seeing huge political action is because the copywrte being infringed are owned by foreign companies anyways and the GOV would not put their concerns in priority over other US patent cases concerning US born companies.

[usdm180sx]

Originally Posted by bing

on the other hand, a slotted aluminum collar is a slotted aluminum collar no matter who makes it and i would be very surprised to here that some people were actually trying to make them domestically.

Well, the freddy oil pan is cast aluminum and the casting quality sucks. I've heard several instances where it was actually seeping oil because it's porus. IMHO a weak casting on a subframe spacer can't be good.

[g6civcx]

bing, I agree with everything you said. In the end it looks like it will come down to the person with the most money. This is true to some extent. Even if they lose, they will appeal and appeal forever. You will never get your money.

But there is also consideration given to the merits of the patent itself. It really really pay to have your application drafted by a good attorney, one who fully comprehends the law and can get you the broadest protection.

There are many many laws your application has to comply with, and an attorney who doesn't fully comprehend technology and/or law will get you a patent that isn't bullet-proof, and is easily litigated in court.

Most of the court cases come down to interpretation of law. There is a lot of grey area and it can go either way. I don't think this is because the law is ambiguous; it's because the interpretation of the law is ambiguous. The biggest problem with our legal system is lawmakers don't fully define the terms they use. It's up to the courts to write the dictionary.


But going back to my original point, you should always always publish your work via a PPA, or just publish it on Zilvia and put a timestamp on it, even if you don't have the means to pursue a full patent. This prevents others from stealing your work and then suing you for it. Put in it that you intend to file an application, and most smart people will back off because they know you will get the patent at some point.

When someone tries to copy your idea and patent it, your work can be used to reject their application. If they have no patent because their application was rejected, they cannot sue you. Even if you win in court, you lose a lot of money and time. It's best to pre-empt them by publishing your work.

[projectRDM]

To get back on track I've got some input.

I've ordered a few things and have always had good service, speedy delivery, and quick email responses. All in all A+. The parts aren't the best out there of course, but you're paying a quarter the price, anyone with a brain knows that.
However today I installed a pair of the 'hard tie rods' on a customer's car and found a surprise. He also bought the pillowball rod ends and with both installed and fully threaded in, the car had massive toe-in. The new units were physically too long, much longer than the OE units. The rods were bottomed out into the ends and there was no way the car was remotely driveable. In a pinch, I took one off and cut off about an inch of the threaded end with a PorterCable. That was enough to get it back to OE spec, but with still very limited adjustment. Just a headsup to buyers.

[Kouki]

These guys have very good customer service. I just ordered their short shifter, the b&m knockoff, not the adjustable height one. Only took like 3 days to get it. Nicely detailed instructions were included, though not required as it's a very straight-forward and easy install. Shifter feels great, nice crisp clean shifts, very solid, and a considerably shorter throw than stock. Very nice product for a great price. I reccomend it to anyone looking for a short shifter. This is one of the best "knock-off" parts that I've seen. Feels very similar to the real B&M shifter.