Dissent Off-road 2022 LC100 Product News

[DC470]

I was happy to wait for my front and rear bumpers from Ben and the team. They build very well engineered and tough bumpers that I've seen perform well from friends that also have them. Its the most expensive lego set I have ever purchased! The packaging was great - I was nervous shipping them powder coated across the states, but both bumper shipped in the same box arrived perfect. Even though the build times are long, the team at Dissent always responded to my emails asking for updates. I will always recommend them since I think they are the best bumpers for the 100 series.

 

[th3l0cust]

Those look great but I’m looking for slider pics, not skids

how did i miss that?? ah well I guess, never actually seen the sliders myself either.

 

[RND1]

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I'm interested in these even having no idea what they look like (can't find a single pic online... can anyone help?). But knowing the attention to detail that Dissent has I can imagine that they are/were very well thought out. Aluminium would suit my needs well.

They look like those posted in OP's first post.

 

[benc]

I was happy to wait for my front and rear bumpers from Ben and the team. They build very well engineered and tough bumpers that I've seen perform well from friends that also have them. Its the most expensive lego set I have ever purchased! The packaging was great - I was nervous shipping them powder coated across the states, but both bumper shipped in the same box arrived perfect. Even though the build times are long, the team at Dissent always responded to my emails asking for updates. I will always recommend them since I think they are the best bumpers for the 100 series.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[GTV]

They look like those posted in OP's first post.

Right, I was hoping for some more detail, especially how they attach to the frame rails.

 

[Kabanstva]

It is certainly something that never really made sense to us until recently.
There really isn’t one answer unfortunately as there are many factors. One of them being the only way we can get on top of lead times is to eliminate some product for the time being, skids, racks and sliders are not only the least profitable but the most material hungry items, with materials at a record high and hit and miss availability those items are the first to go. It is certainly tough but unfortunately necessary for the time being. This is by no means us getting out of the landcruiser market! We love the landcruiser as well as the community and as long as you guys support us we will continue to support the you! This also isn’t due to the lack of orders for 100 series products but actually the opposite. The lc100 is still our best selling platform and we are certainly grateful for that! We have upped our batch sizes from 5-10 to 20-30 and typically running them back to back as we try and get caught up. We have gone from selling maybe 100 lc100 bumpers a year to now doing that much in a month which is great but does require some restructuring on the manufacturing side. As Filip said finding welders and fabricators that are up to our standards has proven extremely difficult! We have taken huge steps to automate the process where possible. These steps should allow us to get on top of lead times by the end of this year if all goes as planned.
These last couple years have been tough! while we have seen record sales the cost of manufacturing has our profits way down
we have raised prices but no where near where they need to be to offset our costs.
Typically these prices come down much sooner but the way things are looking i don’t believe that to be the case. Our only option is to restructure the process and make it as efficient as possible.
We are extremely grateful to the support we have received from this community and have no plans of going anywhere anytime soon. Hopefully this will help shed some light on some of the decisions we have had to make and our plans as we navigate the new normal for manufacturing!

Thanks for the detailed response Ben!

 

[Formerjeeper]

It is certainly something that never really made sense to us until recently.
There really isn’t one answer unfortunately as there are many factors. One of them being the only way we can get on top of lead times is to eliminate some product for the time being, skids, racks and sliders are not only the least profitable but the most material hungry items, with materials at a record high and hit and miss availability those items are the first to go. It is certainly tough but unfortunately necessary for the time being. This is by no means us getting out of the landcruiser market! We love the landcruiser as well as the community and as long as you guys support us we will continue to support the you! This also isn’t due to the lack of orders for 100 series products but actually the opposite. The lc100 is still our best selling platform and we are certainly grateful for that! We have upped our batch sizes from 5-10 to 20-30 and typically running them back to back as we try and get caught up. We have gone from selling maybe 100 lc100 bumpers a year to now doing that much in a month which is great but does require some restructuring on the manufacturing side. As Filip said finding welders and fabricators that are up to our standards has proven extremely difficult! We have taken huge steps to automate the process where possible. These steps should allow us to get on top of lead times by the end of this year if all goes as planned.
These last couple years have been tough! while we have seen record sales the cost of manufacturing has our profits way down
we have raised prices but no where near where they need to be to offset our costs.
Typically these prices come down much sooner but the way things are looking i don’t believe that to be the case. Our only option is to restructure the process and make it as efficient as possible.
We are extremely grateful to the support we have received from this community and have no plans of going anywhere anytime soon. Hopefully this will help shed some light on some of the decisions we have had to make and our plans as we navigate the new normal for manufacturing!

Appreciate the insight Ben. So - skids officially discontinued, or just delayed? Again happy to pay a premium.

 

[guardcompany]

I appreciate the support Dissent has shown for this community, and I would be willing to pay a premium if I had to do it all over again.

I do ask that y’all continue to make the skids available. My aluminum set has taken a beating, but I do worry that at some point they will be beyond useable and I’ll need to replace a piece or the whole set. My favorite part of the dissent armor is that the front bumper and skids integrate so nicely, it would be a shame to have to try and make any other brand of skid do the job.

Right? Mine are a bit banged up but so far I've been able to take them to the warehouse and bang then back into shape. Makes me want to get in line for another set just in case ha. I can't count have many times they have saved me. Also I'm shocked how I can take then off and on so many times and everything still lines up perfectly. Great product.

 

[benc]

Appreciate the insight Ben. So - skids officially discontinued, or just delayed? Again happy to pay a premium.

Nothings officially discontinued for good yet. But for the time being they do not make sense. If we get caught up on production or manufacturing costs go down we may do a run but not sure when/if that will be. The market definitely seams to be there and they were pretty good sellers just not profitable at the moment.

 

[Kabanstva]

Nothings officially discontinued for good yet. But for the time being they do not make sense. If we get caught up on production or manufacturing costs go down we may do a run but not sure when/if that will be. The market definitely seams to be there and they were pretty good sellers just not profitable at the moment.

Just double the price Ben. Market adjustment. Everything’s double now and people are still buying.

 

[benc]

Just double the price Ben. Market adjustment. Everything’s double now and people are still buying.

We may try a small run in the future and price them were they need to be and see if they sell. We have raised prices around 20% over the last year which still only covers maybe 1/2 of our actual increases in manufacturing and operating costs. I could actually sell a arb bumper and make more than selling our own which is unfortunate!
So what do we do? With costs not looking like they are coming down and we are certainly not going to compromise on quality made in America products we really have 2 options, raise prices accordingly or invest to get the process so efficient that the products are profitable. We have decided to invest in efficiency first. In the end I’m sure it’s still going to require some more price adjustments but we want that to be the last resort if possible. One of the other reasons for working towards building for stock vs taking pre orders is being able to control the costs and prices as material prices fluctuate. This way we can accurately price a batch of product based off the costs. We got hit pretty hard with the almost over night material price increase last year. We were 18 week out on orders that had paid deposits on low material cost, within one week we placed an order for materials at almost triple what we were counting on and they have only gone up from there.
Again I am not saying any of this to complain but more just to keep you guys in the loop of the reasoning behind some of the tough decisions we have been forced to make this last year.
In the end I think where we are headed is only going to better how we do things here and look forward to helping you guys build out your landcruisers for many years to come!

 

[Nightbrew]

@kem or @benc Has there been any thought or consideration to offering a fold down table as a swing out option? Probably be an add on accessory to vertical panel. I would envision it as bare bones version of the camp kitchen you guys have. I personally could see this as a highly used item for food prep and eating, work bench, or just a table for placing random items during different activities.

 

[jtb517]

Please do at least one more run of skids even if you have to increase the pricing. I’ve been patiently waiting for them to come back in stock.

 

[Roosevelt T]

Looks like i got one of the last sets in late november here is what they look like. @GTV
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I got a set last week.

I want to say I ordered them 16 weeks before I got them. Which is exactly what Ben quoted me. @benc is sticking exactly to his delivery times, even in this tough environment which I think says a lot about his business. I have a bunch of stuff from Dissent, zero buyers remorse on any of it.

@benc thanks for posting and totally understand the situation you're in, especially when you can now start to move towards higher production number platforms that also most likely bring with it higher margins. My one request is don't forget about old customers that might need support on older generation parts in the future! Not that you would, you've always been a stand up guy, but just putting it out there.

A good example are the 3x3 flush mount lights in your original bumper. The only place to get them without buying 20 dollar Chinese/Amazon lights is Rigid... everyone is moving away from that design. My personal preference of Baja Designs, Diode Dynamics and KC over Rigid aside, if Rigid moves away from that light as well there will be no options in the market. If that happens and you can sell some sort of drop in bracket for a different light design, that is the type of customer service in a small batch product like this that I truly value.

 

[Kabanstva]

I got a set last week.

I want to say I ordered them 16 weeks before I got them. Which is exactly what Ben quoted me. @benc is sticking exactly to his delivery times, even in this tough environment which I think says a lot about his business. I have a bunch of stuff from Dissent, zero buyers remorse on any of it.

@benc thanks for posting and totally understand the situation you're in, especially when you can now start to move towards higher production number platforms that also most likely bring with it higher margins. My one request is don't forget about old customers that might need support on older generation parts in the future! Not that you would, you've always been a stand up guy, but just putting it out there.

A good example are the 3x3 flush mount lights in your original bumper. The only place to get them without buying 20 dollar Chinese/Amazon lights is Rigid... everyone is moving away from that design. My personal preference of Baja Designs, Diode Dynamics and KC over Rigid aside, if Rigid moves away from that light as well there will be no options in the market. If that happens and you can sell some sort of drop in bracket for a different light design, that is the type of customer service in a small batch product like this that I truly value.

You can easily take the wings off the bumper, fill in the holes and mount whatever lights you want on there. It’s really not that hard.

 

[Roosevelt T]

Edit: Quoted post deleted.

 

[Kabanstva]

With all due respect over the years you've asked for tons of help on some of the simplest DIY things on the entire forum. Now you're telling me how to mod my front bumper? Expanding that opening would certainly be doable, but also a PITA and not something I want to have to do.

I mentioned my 2 cents to Dissent in their thread, a thread where they solicited such opinions. Thanks for your concern.

Anybody with a welder and scrap metal will make easy work of what I mentioned. Literally anyone. So there’s no need to be a smart ass to me or mention what unrelated threads I started over the years.

 

[Not So Yeung]

I'm interested in the accessories that are planned for the dissent roof rack.

 

[mcharfauros]

Staying tuned, great looking front bumper!

 

[m3roar]

I’m in pretty desperate need of a bumper. I emailed you guys with no response!