Quote:
Originally Posted by tonythetiger
I think Im right there with you Piper. Do the math and the numbers for revenue with LN, RND, IMSolution (same people?) around this bearing and its staggering. R & D really isnt an issue. They are modifying a flange that has already been engineered. A buddy (career car engineer but still) in Detroit sourced 25 dollar bearings (yep, 25 dollars for the double row, or 70 for ceramic doublerow) and would make modified flanges on a lathe to fix a few race cars back in the day. None of them failed. His words: "Its a simple problem, mounting a bearing, please."
The power of volume makes the cost of manufacture for these kits against the retail price LN et. al. charges opportunistic. IMHO, they took advantage of the community and should be fabulously wealthy from it. Im not mad about it, but dont like to see folks taken advantage of either by fear that has in part been propagated by those with the most to gain. and gain they did. They could have insured the solution with underwriting for pennies.
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Yes, I've found quality Japanese bearings for under $20 (single row). They're not special, they are actually quite common in size. I haven't found the ceramic ones yet, but if Burner did, they're out there.
But to give LN some credit, they made (At least I don't think they source) a plain bearing which is far better than a ball or cylindrical bearing. And I have no doubt it's a quality product. But damn, at that price, stand behind it for more than 5 years.
Besides, everyone says that the real problem is lubrication, anyway. Even LN says that. So it really doesn't matter if it's a ball, cylindrical or plain bearing, because the loads on it are well below their ratings.
Either way, when I can source a replacement motor for around $4,000, I doubt I'd buy the "Solution" at that price even if they guaranteed it for life. Because chances are something else could blow up my engine. It's a crap shoot.
If you want us to believe it's the permanent solution, warranty it as such. It's just the principle of the thing, you know?