possible taillight game changer?

[Pete M]

so I just heard a rumor has it that Key Parts is planning on making replacement MJ taillights.  The company sells all sorts of restoration car parts so does that mean our trucks are finally classic enough to garner the attention of the classic aftermarket?  The rumor comes from someone that claims to have sold them several taillights and a truck.  No timeline was given, so this could be soon, or not soon, or never.  Plus who knows what the quality or the price will be. 

 

I hesitate to get too excited, but here's hoping.    

[derf]

That would be awesome

[500 MJ]

Game changer!

[Minuit]

I would be really suspicious of this, unless Key Parts has decided to step into the injection molding game. They sell rust repair panels and other metal items almost exclusively. They're at least one of the vendors for the good black XJ floor pans that are also a pretty good fit for the MJ. I don't know if they make anything, but their site leans toward "no" and the aforementioned XJ floor pan I bought from them had a different manufacturer label than "Key Parts" on the box.

 

As a side note, one of the "new parts" that scrolled by as I was looking around on their site was a full floor pan for a YJ - exactly the same idea as the Mopar replacement pans and just like that full NOS floor stamping Adam posted a while ago.

[fiatslug87]

We can always hope!

[WahooSteeler]

1 hour ago, Minuit said:

I would be really suspicious of this, unless Key Parts has decided to step into the injection molding game. They sell rust repair panels and other metal items almost exclusively. They're at least one of the vendors for the good black XJ floor pans that are also a pretty good fit for the MJ. I don't know if they make anything, but their site leans toward "no" and the aforementioned XJ floor pan I bought from them had a different manufacturer label than "Key Parts" on the box.

 

As a side note, one of the "new parts" that scrolled by as I was looking around on their site was a full floor pan for a YJ - exactly the same idea as the Mopar replacement pans and just like that full NOS floor stamping Adam posted a while ago.

 

Based on this info, maybe it's more along the lines of what Rusty's attempted, i.e. a metal housing with LED lights. A true OEM repop is what everybody would want, but even a viable "plug and play" replacement such as this might be is a welcome option to most MJ owners I would bet. 

[OptimusPreem]

I'm in for a group buy if this becomes reality.

[Torq_Shep]

Same... Although I will have a set of so so ones for sale at some point. Given the price I paid for them I better sell them off before the repops come out =P

[Car Enthusiast]

I still think a good adapter to install a 97+ tail light would be nice

[ghetdjc320]

Have my doubts but would be nice if it did happen. The market just isn’t there for a big supplier. I don’t know how many MJs are still on the road but let’s assume half of the 160K +/-. So 80K. Out of those, how many are restorable or even projects? The MJ was a beater truck for so many just like the XJ. By the time people come to the realization that these trucks are rare, classics and are gaining in value, there will be very few left. 

[ghetdjc320]

We’ve seen the same thing happen with our vendors here of repop parts. Tailgate handles, seat brackets, frame stiffeners, mud flap brackets, emblems and roll cage brackets have all come and gone in small batches. Lots of hype for us in the club but it quickly fizzles.  

[WahooSteeler]

4 hours ago, ghetdjc320 said:

Have my doubts but would be nice if it did happen. The market just isn’t there for a big supplier. I don’t know how many MJs are still on the road but let’s assume half of the 160K +/-. So 80K. Out of those, how many are restorable or even projects? The MJ was a beater truck for so many just like the XJ. By the time people come to the realization that these trucks are rare, classics and are gaining in value, there will be very few left. 

 

I believe total production was in the 220k+/-, Pete and some others could verify, and I agree the 1/2 approach is generously appropriate. That said, an extra 20k of potential prospects, times 1/2 again, 10k, is not a bad number to work with. All the more reason I believe if they bring something to market it won't be a true repop but a metal housing that has a pretty solid fit. Also, if Key Parts is mostly in to body panels and other replacement parts, they may be willing to take the chance on offering a replacement to a limited quantity and hard to find part that will be a lead in to other sales, i.e. it's the $19.99 oil change that gets you in the door for the up-sale.  Not everything a vendor sells is a moneymaker, and every retailer is always looking for that competitive advantage. As I said before, even an aftermarket alternative would be a welcome option to MJ owners, IMO.  

[Minuit]

Half is extraordinarily optimistic. Half is probably about right for ten years ago or more. 10% is probably still high at this point.

 

I would be surprised if there were more than a few thousand MJs still in roadworthy condition.

 

There was a study done in 2006 that found 12% of 25-year old trucks in the US are still left on the road. The newest MJ is 28, and the vast majority are over 30.

[WahooSteeler]

1 minute ago, Minuit said:

Half is extraordinarily optimistic. Half is probably about right for ten years ago or more. 10% is probably still high at this point.

 

I would be surprised if there were more than a few thousand MJs still in roadworthy condition.

 

A few thousand? Half may be optimistic, but "a few thousand" is extraordinarily unrealistic. I have found over the years on most things like this in guesstimating a number, 1/2 of 1/2 or 1/2 of original estimates is usually a fair assessment. A "few thousand" I compute as less than 10,000. NO WAY..........NO WAY, there is only 10k roadworthy MJs on the road. 1/2 of 1/2 would be @50k vehicles. We can agree to disagree, but that is a more realistic number to me than <10k. 

[Minuit]

2 minutes ago, WahooSteeler said:

 

A few thousand? Half may be optimistic, but "a few thousand" is extraordinarily unrealistic. I have found over the years on most things like this in guesstimating a number, 1/2 of 1/2 or 1/2 of original estimates is usually a fair assessment. A "few thousand" I compute as less than 10,000. NO WAY..........NO WAY, there is only 10k roadworthy MJs on the road. 1/2 of 1/2 would be @50k vehicles. We can agree to disagree, but that is a more realistic number to me than <10k. 

Ultimately it's all academic. There's no way to know which one of us is right. But between rust, crash damage, mechanical failure, abandonment, and any other factor that can take a vehicle off the road, I think the number is much closer to the four digits than not.

[WahooSteeler]

4 minutes ago, Minuit said:

Ultimately it's all academic. There's no way to know which one of us is right. But between rust, crash damage, mechanical failure, abandonment, and any other factor that can take a vehicle off the road, I think the number is much closer to the four digits than not.

 

A viable debate no doubt. But in the 12yrs I've owned my MJ, I have routinely monitored the market for MJs being sold over Ebay, Craigslist and FB, and I mean a minimum of 3-4 times PER WEEK! If it was a 4 digit number of road-worthy trucks, I would argue that we would see a large number of them being sold over and over. I would also argue that more and more are being pulled from the weeds that were parked years ago and are being made road-worthy. If your estimate is <10k and mine is >50k, using the "rule of half" again, that would put us as @30k MJs on the road. I still think it's higher than that, but maybe number is our compromise LOL!

 

[Minuit]

9 minutes ago, WahooSteeler said:

 

A viable debate no doubt. But in the 12yrs I've owned my MJ, I have routinely monitored the market for MJs being sold over Ebay, Craigslist and FB, and I mean a minimum of 3-4 times PER WEEK! If it was a 4 digit number of road-worthy trucks, I would argue that we would see a large number of them being sold over and over. I would also argue that more and more are being pulled from the weeds that were parked years ago and are being made road-worthy. If your estimate is <10k and mine is >50k, using the "rule of half" again, that would put us as @30k MJs on the road. I still think it's higher than that, but maybe number is our compromise LOL!

 

You want to settle this? We can settle this.

 

I'll start. There's 2 in my driveway. One drove on the road just fine yesterday, and one hasn't moved in months.

 

[WahooSteeler]

5 minutes ago, Minuit said:

You want to settle this? We can settle this.

 

I'll start. There's 2 in my driveway. One drove on the road just fine yesterday, and one hasn't moved in months.

 

 

LOL......ok, I'm game. I've got 1 in my driveway, and it's licensed, registered and driveable. So that's 2 out of 3, @67%, so we're now at 147k MJ's on the road. Next question? 

[watchamakalit]

4 hours ago, WahooSteeler said:

 

LOL......ok, I'm game. I've got 1 in my driveway, and it's licensed, registered and driveable. So that's 2 out of 3, @67%, so we're now at 147k MJ's on the road. Next question? 

well count mine out of this.  I am waiting on new shocks so currently not on the road....lol

[Pete M]

I have 3 and a half.  only 1.5 are street legal.    plus I have parts from another, let's say, 50 that are looooooong gone. 

 

math is fun!    what were we doing again?

[Chad R]

   For my two cents on parts repops there are companies that make parts for the vj2 jeepsters there were about 25,000 total built in the 3 year run 48 to 50. Yes it shares a lot of parts with Willys wagons and trucks but there are a few differences. You can buy floor pans, rocker panels and convertible tops that are jeepster only.
    There is a lot of debate in the willys overland jeepster club on how many are left and on the road. It’s got to be way less then there are Comanches. 
    If key parts were to make any Comanche only parts that would be great. It might make some one save a truck that might get scraped or parted out.

[Eagle]

11 hours ago, Minuit said:

You want to settle this? We can settle this.

 

I'll start. There's 2 in my driveway. One drove on the road just fine yesterday, and one hasn't moved in months.

 

 

Three here.

[89 MJ]

20 hours ago, Minuit said:

You want to settle this? We can settle this.

 

I'll start. There's 2 in my driveway. One drove on the road just fine yesterday, and one hasn't moved in months.

 

I’ve got one. It runs and drives. Barely. 

[ghetdjc320]

Whatever the number is, ultimately it’s not many and there are fewer each year. I doubt a company would build new molds for it but maybe if they have the original molds?? 

[Blue XJ]

I always hoped someone came out with a metal panel that held LED bulbs and bolted in when I had mine.   I picked up a spare set of factory ones, just in case a tree ran in my way.   Now that I think of it, I still have that set sitting in my garage if anyone needs a set.  I think one had the lens separate from the housing, so it's rtv'd back together.