I am just curious who uses their parts and how well they hold up.
I purchased some parts from them and have found a few things to be total POS and am wondering if I should just pull all the parts off my car or will some of them be fine.

I am also thinking of building a car for my wife, kinda of a budget beam car build, and want to keep the price low. Seems like going with all Kartek pars will make her car WAYYY to expensive.

Fugu

Ive bought a few things from them recently. Their stuff has gotten better as they arent importing from China anymore, most stuff is made by them now.

Really, where are they importing from then?
I have spoke with the Guys at Fiber-Tech in Santee, Ca and they don't sell certain LR products, but they do sell a lot of them.
I am trying to find out what to stay away from? Front Trailing Arms, Rear 3x3 trailing arms, seat belts, pedals etc.

Really, What parts are those and were do they make the parts??????

They make suspension components and seat belts? How much is your life worth?
Save yourself the hassle and buy quality products.

Unfortunatly they have copy'd everything and havn't really improved anything. They suck to work with and the owners are thiefs. They take domestic products to manufacturers in China and copy them piece by piece with almost no quality control on the materials that are used. Do yourself a favor and spend a little extra money and buy quality domestic parts. In the end you will be much happier. You may be able to get a certain part for less through Latest Rage, but your going to be replacing it twice as often.

They have two manufacturing facilities in east county. I dont know exactly what is made by them but i know master cylinders, pedal assemblies, etc they machine....

Agreed, somethings aren't worth skimping on.

one word: CRAP

last baja bug tacod their rear arms. i usually dont look at LR much

They do NOT manufacture anything local. They might sub out things to be assemblied that were made in CHINA. Nothing is manufactured in the USA. They import everything they sell and I can personally guarantee that the owner is more worried about profit than quality.

As long as you are comfortable knowing that quality or customer service is NOT their top priority then spend your money. If your looking for quality parts with good customer service then shop elsewhere.

Good luck

check into eagle performance ( http://www.eagleperformance.com ) and other local builders before you buy that stuff. LR May be cheap now but you'll pay for it in the long run

I met a guy this last weekend though a friend at the curt la duke swapmeet and they were both telling me that the guy makes a lot of parts and LR gets a hold of it and reverse engineers the part as cheap as possible. Kinda like harbor frieght, but worst. Some things dont matter how cheap they are, but a lot are unsafe.

Some of their stuff works fine and alot of stuff aint that great.I had their pedals on my old buggy the throttle sucked always seemed loose but worked.My current car i built i bought CNC brand pedals these are nice,tight and smooth.

I have LR tin on my motor it fits great no probs there.Their super shifter i am using havent had any probs with it,The rear trailing arms are ok i have those on my car but wouldnt trust the fronts(a machinist that does some stuff for me showed me a broken LR arm)and pointed out the part that is threaded in and then welded.He was in the process of fixing these for a customer and what he was doing they will never break again.

IMO cosmetic stuff no probs
Other stuff look closely!!

I think if you really need to save money on a build just choose where you save wisely. I have a LR 3 panel wink mirror, I works IT’S A MIRROR. I also have their reservoir tank, 3 years no leaks. I did have to have a pin hole welded up on the breather. I wouldn’t use any of the parts that could fail and cause a crash. But to be fair I have had problems with parts made here in the good old US only I paid a premium for them.

Ok My turn.We all know we get what you pay for.But people dont Hate on latest rage .We all buy from them(almost) one way or another .kustom 1/vw paradise/Larrys offroad/Pacfic customs/so cal imports/moores/appletree/Dans performance/ Fibertech/ V-parts Etc Etc.....They all sell there stuff.You cant go wrong with there billett stuff.There are also people that race with there products.Would I ,No.They are trying to keep it cheap.
Johnny

My sentiments exactly! Don't waste the money on anything safety related. Mirrors, billet accessories, bling, ok. I would stay away from anything suspension, steering, spindles, safety, etc. I personally try to support American made products as much as possible. Keep the money here.

Is it just a money thing? Personally I have a hard time buying products from companies that blatantly steal designs that other people worked hard on. I know it happens a lot in just about every industry. I try to avoid those companies when I can. *shrug*

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!

Glad to get all your input. I seem to agree with not buying stuff that is "Life Dependent" from these guys. But when I look at all the pictures of different rail I notice a lot of their products on the Cars.

Seems to me like who really cares about who made the clamp that holds my headset to the frame?

I do however care who made the seat belt that keeps my butt strapped into the car!!!

Thanks again for all your input.

Fugu

The only way to change this trend is for America to realize how much industry this type of thievery steals from American families.

People will have to turn the tide back to taking pride in what they buy rather than being concerned with making a fashion statement, or trying to show how cool the are (not) by what they own.


You have to be diligent in your shopping. Last summer it was hot in my shop so I sent my wife out to buy me a fan. I told her to get me a belt driven 42 inch preferably made in the USA. She went to all of the most common places, Home Desperate was $342, and Lowes was $329, both made in China.
Well I had to take one, she took the Lowes junk instead of the Home Desperate junk.
A few weeks later we were at the farm supply store and low and behold they had 42 inch fans there as well. From 40 feet away I could see the stars and stripes shining on the side of the box. I went over and checked it out and sure enough the fan was American made and I also checked and the electric motor was American made as well. The price? $279 !!!! I have made a vow (again) to my self and my country (which I love) to never do business with either one of the box stores again. When our little farm supply store can sell American made for $50 and $63 dollars less and still make a profit these box store guys can kiss my American born and raised a$$. I don't care if I have to save longer I will buy American made when I can.

I had a friend that was making a product a few years back. A buyer from Wal-Mart contacted him about buying and selling his stuff. In the meeting the guy told him you need to drop your price by 55%. He said that he could not do that. At this point the buyer handed him a list of contacts who he said could outsource their stuff at a substantial savings making it possible for him to sell 50,000 units to the Wal-Mart buyer. My friend declined.

A perfect example is Turtleracing (Dave). He bought my car. I wonder if he could afford to buy another car for his wife if the thieves weren't stealing his designs and making them in China?

By the way, the Government encourages this type of behavior rather than discourages it (thru needless tax, waste and regulation). It could easily stop the reverse engineering crap from entering the states.

Some of their stuff, is made here in USA people. The have 2 facilities in east county. The guy(FUGU) asked peoples experience dealing with them, not their opinion of work idealogy. I too am a firm believer about buying USA made only products when I can, I eat poo Im deployed for this country. Second, I wouldnt buy ANY safety equipment from just anyone, commonsence (hopefully to an extent), go with a pproven company that has been around for awhile. I ask why not buy misc stuff? Ive bought engine tins (VW), pulleys (VW), etc from them (nothing air-cooled has been made in US in years!). Since they are a American based company and Im supporting a local business establishment, I think Im doing a good thing. Besides, all of their stuff is sold at most off-road shops. So, MY PERSONAL experience with dealing with them has been good.

None of there stuff is made in the US. Some of there stuff is put together in Alpine but not made here.

Yeah, don't buy safety items from LR, stick to U.S. companies, like Crow, their stuff holds together real well. Guess thats why they had to retrofit a doogie load of belts. US or China, they both have crap and quality that is produced. Spend less, get less, spend more, you get quality no matter who made it.

Just a little cost saving tip. If you stop buy LR's shop and pay cash you get I believe a 10 to 15% discount.

Difference would be is that crow stood up and replaced alot of belts to prevent future accidents with their products.I am sure some belts looked old and worn but were still exchanged for a new set.

Yep u get what u pay for!

When I was in High school we used to drive up to LR in alpine. Knock on a door in the back, maybe wait 5 minutes, someone would poke there head out. We would tell them what we needed, they would come back with whatever they had. We would hand them cash, and the door would shut.

Thinking back it seem a lot worse now, but still seemed shady then.