Why are Prices Up?

[MrSeth]

Hey dudes and dudettes, I was looking into some new upper control arms from SPC (the same that I currently own-I recently discovered I can just replace the ball joints themselves) and from their website [model 25465]- they run $629.95 on Summit, a staggering $910.28 from the company itself, and about the same 600ish dollar price range from everyone else.

I bought my set from Bilsteinlifts.com in 2016 for $525 shipped- why the price raise?

Are there substantial changes or upgrades that they made to the product?

Are these worth rebuilding for a few 100 bucks or do you guys have uniball recommendations?

 

[volkinator]

Just like anything else right now, supplies are hard to find, labor is difficult to find, Commerce was darn near shut down for a long time.

Have you tried finding building materials lately!??? They're up like 300% for a lot of components.

 

[JONBOY345]

Just like anything else right now, supplies are hard to find, labor is difficult to find, Commerce was darn near shut down for a long time.

Have you tried finding building materials lately!??? They're up like 300% for a lot of components.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

It's the supply-demand principle in action.

 

[y=mx+b]

Also, if you bought in 2016, you may have the tubular SPC arms. Not exactly sure when they changed designs, but I feel like it was only semi recently that the tube design was changed, because you can no longer get them as Mevotech arms from RockAuto. Now they're forged I believe and the price went up a bit with the design change.

Also COVID is probably not helping the situation, but I thought the newer arms were around $600 before the pandemic too. I dunno, I could be wrong on the pre-rona price.

edit: also see we're looking at different PNs, the ones I've been looking at are the 25480 that I found searching by 2005 4runner

Old SPC

Newer SPC

 

[importman]

Just like anything else right now, supplies are hard to find, labor is difficult to find, Commerce was darn near shut down for a long time.

Have you tried finding building materials lately!??? They're up like 300% for a lot of components.

You are so right. I just spent over $8 each for 8 ft treated 2x4's. Talk about sticker shock.

 

[volkinator]

You are so right. I just spent over $8 each for 8 ft treated 2x4's. Talk about sticker shock.

and a 4x8 sheet of osb that used to be $7 is now like $21 at Menards...:wtf:

 

[Boort]

[MENTION=429038]y=mx+b[/MENTION]
I believe that you are correct. The change out happened in Spring of 2018. I remember having the option between the tubular or forged SPC UCA's when I did my lift. The forged were more expensive at the time but not extremely so. I looked up the cost from Spring 2018 and as part of my lift kit they were SPC-25480 @ $485. I don't know what the standalone cost was at the time.
[MENTION=121129]MrSeth[/MENTION]:
Looks like Slee Offroad must have some stock on hand and is selling a pair for $630 which is better than the SPC $855.91 MSRP. (SPC Adjustable Upper Control Arms - 07+ FJC, 03+ 4Runner and 03+ GX470 - Pair.. - Slee Off Road) Since you are local, you might want to call and talk to Ben Swain have him grab a set if you still need them.

Boort

 

[PC1978]

Just like anything else right now, supplies are hard to find, labor is difficult to find, Commerce was darn near shut down for a long time.

Have you tried finding building materials lately!??? They're up like 300% for a lot of components.

Used car market is out of control also.
Although it looks like we may have reached the peak, wholesale price have declined the last few weeks, so hopefully in the next couple of months retail prices will start dropping.
Kinda looking for an E90 335i with the N54 engine, but refuse to pay current prices, so will wait for January and see what happens.

We bought a 2014 Avalon XLE Touring last winter with 50k miles for $13k from a dealer. Was a good price at the time but not a crazy steal.
Did a Carvana offer to buy a few weeks ago for fun, just over $15k offer, and similar cars/miles were being listed for $17-20k dealer retail.
Just stupid prices right now, because people are still buying, but months without manufacturers producing new cars has limited the supplies and put pressure on the entire market.

If they do drop, people who bought this summer may take a big hit in value vs what they paid.

 

[MrSeth]

Also, if you bought in 2016, you may have the tubular SPC arms. Not exactly sure when they changed designs, but I feel like it was only semi recently that the tube design was changed, because you can no longer get them as Mevotech arms from RockAuto. Now they're forged I believe and the price went up a bit with the design change.

Also COVID is probably not helping the situation, but I thought the newer arms were around $600 before the pandemic too. I dunno, I could be wrong on the pre-rona price.

edit: also see we're looking at different PNs, the ones I've been looking at are the 25480 that I found searching by 2005 4runner

Old SPC

Newer SPC

hmm interesting! I have the older one, they are definitely tube style. I ended up replacing the ball joint boot, cleaning the ball joint, and re-greasing it all. They work like new! Pretty darned good quality.

 

[y=mx+b]

hmm interesting! I have the older one, they are definitely tube style. I ended up replacing the ball joint boot, cleaning the ball joint, and re-greasing it all. They work like new! Pretty darned good quality.

Thats great! Certainly less expensive than the whole arm, and who doesn't love saving money!

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Stimulus money being printed, means inflation on the back end of the monetary loop. Supply and demand issues because of the shut down, and material costs more to produce exact same goods. My groceries have gone up 25% at least. If certain areas stay shut down and we keep printing stimulus, it will get worse.