What's Your Most Overpriced Part Or Accessory?

[DHW]

I couldn’t justify paying $2,000 for another Warn winch, so I did some research and ended up up buying a Quadratec Stealth-10 winch.

If my Smitty ever dies from underuse or dry rot, this is what I'm getting.

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[BDinTX]

While I agree AEV is definitely expensive I am really convinced of their quality. Not many manufacturers can claim to be OEM suppliers or be held to the same standards as the manufacturer. For example, I'm only aware of two bumpers that use crush cans and have done crash performance testing - ARB and AEV. Are there more? Maybe, but I think the vast majority of bumpers don't have that level of engineering performed. Another example: before the XR package came out I bet someone they would come with 4.56 gears based solely on the fact that the same gear ratio was already in the AEV upfitted Jeeps. Not looking for a debate - just throwing my opinion out there.

 

[Headbarcode]

I respectfully disagree. It’s clearly overkill for the sake of being overkill. Even if you make a living doing recovery it’s a nice to have but it’s function is to attach winch cable to recovery straps. A simple hook has been sufficient for decades.

Oh, I fully agree. After years of crane operating and dealing with all forms of slings and rigging equipment, I've never had such a fancy looking piece. There's no functional benefit of the Factor55 hooks over a quality (Crosby has always been my go-to) traditional hook with spring loaded clasp. It's just sexier looking on the front of our Jeeps.

 

[Jeepeto]

I agree with you about almost all of the f55 parts as being unnecessary. In fact, any hook is entirely unneeded and is a potential failure point. The only parts that I would consider are a thimble (not the tube garbage that deforms so easily) or just leave them off and splice a loop at the end like I did. As far as a thimble, I'd more likely choose the original safety thimble although the f55 version isn't too bad for an imitation.

As for overpriced adds, I made the mistake on my previous Jeep and that is why I am very choosy about what I plan to do with my Jeep. Nothing, including the Warn M8000, is going to be overpriced. I believe that quality trumps cheap and inexpensive and although I don't plan to throw money away, I will not cheap out with crap parts.

Agreed. I'm definitely building my current rig with a "buy once; cry once" attitude. I only want to upgrade each thing exactly once.

 

[sardog12]

The problem I'm having with my mods researching is telling the difference between "this costs more so it must be good" and "this is actually high-quality and justifies the price because of x, y, or z"

It'd be pretty easy to just buy the most expensive option and not necessarily have the best quality.

That's very true, too. Many "quality" brands ride the names of their previous success (Rubicon Express, long, long ago) or ride the names that they bought (Shittybilt). I prefer to do my research or learn from my previous mistakes (Rough Country). Eventually, you can get a sense for the cream rising to the top. In my case, I can base my upgrades and planned future upgrades mostly on experience (Warn winch, Savvy for front bumper, Metalcloak for suspension, among others) or direct observation. These days, it takes more research to balance the quality and price which is why I always recommend for someone to hook up with a local club and take their Jeep out first with minimal upgrades to see what they want to use it for and what works on other's rigs to get an idea of what mods they want to do. I also completely dismiss the crap argument that quality lifts are only for hard core off roading. That is a good way for someone to put something cheap on their Jeep and hate the result it becomes on road.

 

[JSFoster75]

My problem is not so much "overpaying" as it is "underpaying"... I will typically sacrifice getting what I really want if it saves a reasonable amount of money getting an alternative part... I see people on here buying LED pods for $350+ pair, I bought 8 LED Pods for under $50, and they came with a wiring harness that I don't need... I still get complimented on them and they function as expected, but I don't use them a lot, and who knows how long they'll hold up... I could not imagine spending over $1,000 on LED pods (I currently have 6 installed on the front of my Jeep).

The one accessory that I was willing to spend the money on was the Trigger Six-Shooter Plus wireless/bluetooth switches. It was north of $425 shipped, but it's one of only a select few wireless switches that I could find, the others got horrible reviews for connectivity.

 

[At Risk Ute]

Just sprung for Katzkin leather seats. My JLR was missing those and the tow package.

 

[DHW]

It's just sexier looking on the front of our Jeeps.

This is definitely true. Look at that beauty! Although the hook is so damn wide it rendered my hook anchor useless. Now I just treat the anchor posts as two tiny battering rams.

 

[omnitonic]

Without a doubt, my most over-priced accessory is my Borla S-type exhaust. Whether it's over-priced relative to the materials, labor, and engineering that went into its manufacture, I leave as an exercise to the reader. What I'm focused on is how much it changed my life relative to how expensive it was. It sounds pretty good, but it doesn't sound like the kind of money I sank into it. I don't even want to confess how much I actually did pay for that. It's embarrassing. As far as the look, sure, it does look good, but it kind of screams "mall crawler" too.

No, if I had that one to do over again, I would have lived with the rice-infused sound of the muffler delete, and just stuck a tip on there at state inspection time, to get the exit fully beyond the passenger compartment. Sure, the muffler delete sounded dreadful (unless you like the dulcet screaming of a stream of rice emanating from your tailpipe), but it was actually a functional improvement. I was never going to hit that on a rock. This Borla thing is only slightly less vulnerable than the factory trash can.

I guess as regrets go, this could be a lot worse. I do wear the Borla hat that came in the exhaust box. It's not like I don't like the exhaust. I just lie to people and say I spent a lot less than I actually did for that.

 

[DHW]

I guess as regrets go, this could be a lot worse. I do wear the Borla hat that came in the exhaust box.

This is fantastic.

 

[Thx1158]

Probably the $1500 Rockhard 4x4 aluminum bumper. But I wouldn't put a big heavy steel bumper on it. So this was the choice I made.

Man...I love my Rock Hard Aluminum bumper. I felt it was worth the cost for the materials and craftsmanship.

 

[Thx1158]

My over hyped AWE Tread Edition exhaust. Well made but not the sound I was looking for. At points in the rev band its "Tinny". Never again for me... This also screams Mall Crawler...but at least you can remove the tips for off roading.

 

[Krondor]

The Warn winch.



It is dead sexy though. So are the Factor 55 bits.

 

[JimLee]

My over hyped AWE Tread Edition exhaust. Well made but not the sound I was looking for. At points in the rev band its "Tinny". Never again for me... This also screams Mall Crawler...but at least you can remove the tips for off roading.

I had to cut that damn thing in half (Trail edition)! If you have a rear trackbar relocation bracket the clearance is so small that the exhaust pipe spends its entire life ping ponging in between the track bar and sway bar, and if you hit a bump...expensive stainless sammich. I now have half of a $700 chunk of stainless exhaust pipe laying on my garage floor.

 

[Willing&Able]

My Jeetop freedom panels. I love to have the sun shine through without having to worry about rain, snow, or bullets (live near Chicago)...

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