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CLOSED: M-2004-MR Brake Ducts

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cholmes1

400lb Gorilla
350
216
Denver, CO
FOUND: PLEASE CLOSE THREAD

Hello,

Unfortunately, Ford Performance has moved forward with a deal that will no longer allow dealerships (White Bear, Levittown, etc.) to have access to their performance catalog as of April 1st. They will be working with 'select' vendors for those parts but those vendors have not yet been announced. To that end, I was/am looking to buy a pair of Boss 302S bumper ducts (part# M-2004-MR) for my 2013 Laguna Seca. Watson Racing no longer has them and I have not yet heard from Kohr but it seems unlikely.

If anyone has a pair or knows of a vendor with a set please let me know. They were selling for ~$130 when they were at traditional shops, I would be willing to pay $150, through PayPal Friends, shipped if they are new.

Best,
Charles
 
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cholmes1

400lb Gorilla
350
216
Denver, CO
I would almost guarantee all Ford Performance parts will increase in price. Far less competition and the larger warehouse vendors won’t be around to undercut on ePay due to bulk purchasing.

The easiest visual for me is the 5.2XS crate engine. Prices used to vary by several thousand depending upon the relationship with Ford. The closer they are to FP the more they were charging.
 
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Yep. Mike at White Bear told me about this several months ago. Even if they were to work out an ability to sell the Ford Performance Parts again, he does not think they will be competitively priced. I meant to get a slew of orders in for consumable such as hub kits, but forgot about the policy change.

Bottom line, I think we all will be paying more for our Ford Performance Parts in the future. I think in some cases this decision will push people to non-Ford parts. In many cases, there are non-Ford alternatives that are actually better, but they were priced higher when you considered the steep discounts you could get through White Bear, Tasca, Levittown, etcetera.

For example, I just bought another set of M-5650-A relocation brackets for $135.00. Retail is $178.00. If I am going to pay retail, I would just spend the extra $20 and buy the Maximum Motorsports which I think are a better overall design. Or, maybe a set of BMRs for $129.95.

Another example is rear lower control arms. The M-5649-S lower control arms with spherical bearings (i.e. Boss 302S) are $449.95 at retail. For that price, I would buy the Maximum Motorsports Extreme Duty LCAs for $399.97. Plus the MM arms are adjustable. Or, if you don't need the extreme duty arms, the light weight road race arms for $299. I have been running the aluminum road race arms for five years without issue.

I could go on, but I think this makes the point. I am extremely disappointed in this decision.
 

cholmes1

400lb Gorilla
350
216
Denver, CO
@2012-Boss : If you know of a non-OEM 302S brake duct please shoot me a PM.

I have no idea what prompted this change, I cannot think of any other manufacturers that have this policy. Even Porsche, Ferrari, and McClaren let you work through the dealers for performance bits. They always VIN check ownership but that’s not really a hassle and you still have the option of outside competition to keep pricing fair/level.

I am extremely disappointed in Ford at the moment. There better be a silver lining that we all are missing. This parts nonsense is a kin to them going after GT owners for selling their cars without permission. Ford/Ford Performance are way too concerned about controlling owners.
 
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I can speak from experience having sold Ford Perf parts while I was at Watson and other companies... it was a real hard business to be in. Super slim margins- most of the pricing you have become acquainted with was literally break even or worse- sold at a loss because of free shipping. Every dealer I knew that sold the stuff hated selling it, but did so for the brand recognition. I’m not sure where it went off the rails, by guessing it has something to do with the large number of dealers and not being able to manage MAP (min advertised pricing) pricing well enough. Then giant companies like Am Muscle would swallow all of their inventory in one purchase, destroying the smaller guys.

I’m not privy to all of the new arrangements you guys mention, but hopefully it will mean higher margins for the guys that DO sell it. I’m all for deals for buying these parts (trust me, I’ma cheap S.O.B.), but staying alive as a retailer in this era of being undercut (or copied) by American Muscle and every other dude on Amazon or eBay is difficult to do. Supporting our vendors keeps them in business, so they can support you.
 

cholmes1

400lb Gorilla
350
216
Denver, CO
Thank you @2012-Boss. I was aware of those options, unfortunately neither completely fill the dual openings. The Voshlag kit certainly looks like the best alternative if nothing OEM comes up.

@PLee : Great points, we due need retailers to continue supporting the S197 platform and if this change helps with that then it is certainly easier to accept.
 
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From a functional standpoint, filling both the top and bottom of the fog light housing is not an big deal. You still quickly neck down to a 3" hose. Both the Blowfish and Vorshlag kits use 3" hose and are positioned in areas that should get sufficient airflow. I really do not think you will see any difference in performance using the Blowfish or Vorshlag options compared to the Ford m-2004-mr kit / scoops. But, I understand your preference for the Ford parts.
 
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Thank you @2012-Boss. I was aware of those options, unfortunately neither completely fill the dual openings. The Voshlag kit certainly looks like the best alternative if nothing OEM comes up.

@PLee : Great points, we due need retailers to continue supporting the S197 platform and if this change helps with that then it is certainly easier to accept.
By the way, Multimatic blocked off the lower part of the opening On both of the blue 302R race cars....
 

cholmes1

400lb Gorilla
350
216
Denver, CO
By the way, Multimatic blocked off the lower part of the opening On both of the blue 302R race cars....

@BigTaco The 302Rs across all years from Multimatic had the ability to modify the intakes to suit aerodynamic need, but I have never seen where they were completely blocked. Since they use the same brake cooling ducts as the Laguna Seca and the 302S, it would not make sense to completely close them. Please see the attached images. If you do have images that show the front completely closed that would be very interesting and I would love to see them. I have a photo collection of the all of the Boss models and it would be great to add to it.

Best,
Charles

001-multimatic-boss-302r.jpg002-multimatic-boss-302r.jpg003-multimatic-boss-302r.jpg003-multimatic-boss-302r_2.jpg004-multimatic-boss-302r.jpg005-multimatic-boss-302r.jpg006-multimatic-boss-302r.jpg
 
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