I am pretty sure this is the patent for the "Golden Nugget". If the ebay one referenced by CousinCarl and SRBF150 is the same as the one I looked at before I do not see how it gets around the patent. I would not be surprised if the "ebay guy" was told to stop.

Look at the pictures and start reading on the second to last page near the bottom at
PDF
https://patentimages.storage.googlea.../US9671272.pdf


GOOGLE
https://patents.google.com/patent/US...=9%2c671%2c272

 

 

The Dorman one I have seen is a copy of the OEM. You need to remove the oil pan to install it and the seals are on the inside.

Edit for the Patent One of the claims is the seals are on the outside and it is done without removing the pan.

 

The underside-spraying gusher was resolved, but I still have drips trying to assault our brand new asphalt. Growing weary of parking in the rocks, I just ordered the Golden Nugget. Now I have to hope that rattle-can bed liner will let me pull the old hardware off the pan.

The link you gave me sends me to the vendor about 2 1/2-hour drive from home.

 

I seriously admire the simplicity and effectiveness of the Golden Nugget design. But.... the thing which galls me about the Golden Nugget is what I would call an EXCESSIVE opportunistic perspective behind the pricing. I'm all for capitalism, but in my mind, THAT pricing is "gouging" just because the other options are minimal.

 

I designed and built one in a day with a friend of mine over a few beers and his mill.

There was less than $4 of 3" diameter bar stock, $2 of hex head screws, and $1 for two o-rings. If a guy wanted to buy 2" round stock for the inside piece, that would add another buck or so since it's only 3/16" thick.

The design/measuring process and transferring to a CAM program took the most time but once the piece was chucked up in the mill it was a 30-minute deal for the outside piece and another 10 for the inside piece.

I put it on a problem-child pickup and charged the guy $75 for it including labor.

Once the program is written, the material cost and paying someone to hit the "cycle start" button are the only thing that cost money. Yes it's grossly opportunistic of that company.....but the product (at least the design anyway) works!

 

Yep... until another vendor mass-produces one to compete, the people who manufacture this make stupid money for little effort. Saying that - one has to ask how many of these things do you think they sell in a year. In order to stay in business, you have to be in business in the first place.

 

 

But you have to scratch your head and wonder, if they charged half as much, (which would still be expensive yet profitable, just not on extortion level) how many more people would jump on buying it vs the rtv goop and other risky fixes route that we attempt to do instead of sacrificing our firstborn for their nugget

 

More of less is often more than less of more...

 

Confusing, But profound........

 

It reminds me of a commercial that this pizza place in town used to run. They had these goofy commercials that were just ridiculous but at the end of every one there was always a customer asking how the owner could sell the pizzas so cheap.

The response was, "We do lose money on every sale but we make up for it in volume."

​​​​​​​

 

​​​​​​​Exactly!

 

You are extremely fortunate to have the skills and resources to do this, but most of us just are not in that position at all. If I had access and the ability to use a CNC machine, I'd do the exact same thing myself, and I know a lot of others in here would do the same.

 

I wasn't trying to pat myself on the back (I'm getting old and I'm not that flexible anymore) but was only conveying how LITTLE IT ACTUALLY COST to build one of these things as an example of the grossly inflated price of the part in question.