Dez Toy Fab LT Kit

Wasn't aware that DTF had a SUA. Hmph.

 

He's hi Jed his truck more than most guys with links!

 

Yea man, I contemplated it for a good minute...pulling that amount of travel would be redic and DTF sends his shit pretty hard. For an SUA kit, I don't know if you could really go any harder.

 

@DTFtacoma you see the trophyyota is for sale on RDC???

 

@DTFtacoma do you have a thread like this showcasing your sua kit?

 

pretty sure its posted in his build thread some where.. its a lot of pages though lol.. this link kinda starts you off some where close to the install i believe
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dtf-06-brick-hecka-house-build.223283/page-62

 

Nobodys been here for a while and he doesnt make parts anymore i dont think

 

Is this true? I can't find anything dtf anymore. No social, website, etc.

 

Closed shop end of 2018 I believe.

 

Yeah if I remember correctly he just ran out of time and capital to keep this as a side job. It needs either 24/7 or nothing which is understandable.
Luckily I got one of his kits before then!

 

Are you sure? I still see the site up and IG unless it’s a different company... https://deztoyfab.com/

 

He only is finishing projects he's been working on already - no new parts or builds unless you know him, he said he had too many hours put into the work for the profit.

 

someone should purchase those Solidworks files and continue the dream

 

I have seen small fab shops fail if there is only one person doing the Designing/ fabwork/ getting new customers. There are a couple startups here in Salt Lake. They have cool products, but customer service is shit since its one or two guys trying to run the company. Word eventually gets around on social media that company "X" is a crap company. This may not be the case, but just a result that they are trying to bite off more than they can chew.

You can't expect to run a fab company by yourself, but also be doing the R&D/ fab work. This may work if you initially start out of your garage with small projects that you can manage. When you try to scale up to a larger shop and have to worry about customer service, full filling orders, managing refunds, or even getting new business.

 

Idk he told me he was working too much and not making what he could in a government 9-5 gig. Said he was more interested in keeping fab a hobby - he didn’t even link his truck he was always working on parts. Customer builds didn’t make nearly as much per hour so they sat.

 

Oh yea, not much money to be made in the offroad Fab business. I think, most fab companies will tell you that profit margins are slim at best. I think if you start making vehicle specific bumpers and skids, you may be able to regain some profits after the design phase is complete.

 

Exactly - it looks like he may have chose the wrong platform to be able to build high dollar custom prerunners too. Nearly every shop I see being able to charge what they’re worth for customs build full size American trucks and American car & truck restomods. It seems import owners often will pay for high end bolt ons like TC, Pelfreybilt, etc., but as Pelferybilt exemplified, even the most popular brand can lose out over time.

I spoke with a lead fabricator at Armada racing that couldn’t even afford building a prerunner Chevy and was at a swap meet slinging spare shocks just to make a cut of the sales to put into his own truck. If building trophy trucks won’t make you a decent living what hope is there for guys burning parts for the average joe? Putting together a business model like TC or LSK will most likely be necessary - TC enters interesting events and races and has great designs and service. LSK has a great Instagram presence and has a manufacturing component of their company that brings in 75% of their business as I was told by one of the owners. Not an easy thing to do by yourself!

 

Yeah I'm not really offering it as a kit right now

Thanks man

I blew the end off one of my resi's jumping down into a dirt circle track a few years ago lol

Cleared about 60-70 feet of distance it was about 10-12' of drop. Hit that jump about 6 times before I popped my resi

Last I heard it sold for 50k

No but I am starting to considering re-designing it to make it more user friendly

That's a very old version

Newer version:

Still making parts just ZERO custom work

My social and website are still up.

I quit full time and made it my side job again.

Finishing my current projects and never taking another build.

Sorry don't think I'd ever sell them.

It's a hard balancing act. I was a one man show from day one. I had a couple snotty customers that really put me over the top and reassured me I'd rather do it as a hobby then take payment from somebody who was using their mom's credit card.

That was also an issue.

That and my LT kits are the only profits I made.

 

Any plan to continue offering the DTF Build it yourself components?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dtf-build-it-yourself-components.314073/