Aircraft hydraulics- The ugly story

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I started to ride and play around 1976-82, then left and came back around 2002, When I really got back into it around 2002, I was shocked to find aircraft parts had jumped 10 times in price. Seemed a little odd. Wanting to see what I missed I began to ask around and also found it odd people were hostile/secretive about the parts.

This is one of the main reasons why after creating squaredump.com this data-base site was added. To share what I know and to become more educated with aircraft hydraulics.  One thing I found out is that the newcomers will easily share information, yet the information newcomers have is somewhat limited. The juicy or indept information is hard to come by. The ones that are most knowledgeable just do not share.   I write this article and created this forum in the hopes of further educating all fellow newcomers and in the hopes that they will return the favor in the future.

Part of what happens is that the ones that are knowledgeable tend to sell aircraft hydraulic parts to Lowriders, and these sellers may in fact, be fellow Lowriders. They acquire the popular parts and then mark them up for a profit, sometimes, from what I hear, huge profits.  They guard the part numbers for hydraulic pumps and valves very closely. You could not even pay them to share the part numbers. They find their sources of parts and don't want you taking any business away from them. Nor do they want you to ruin business for everyone once the aircraft part sellers find out what the parts are worth to Lowriders.  Seems the price could go up.

IMO, this is one of the saddest areas in Lowriding known. I am guessing the profits to be made are indeed huge and these sellers will protect their interests.  Truth is, the aircraft parts market to Lowriders is artificial, especially to newbies that don't really know what is an average price per item.  When viewing some parts on this site you will note prices paid. I try to list the prices of the parts I have acquired or of what others have told me what they paid.

(update)

It is coming to my attention that there may be a new breed of "sellers in the know"  I have noticed a few fellow riders out there that seem happy to educate and share parts for the love of the sport and not for just the love of making cash.  I hope in time to share with you what I learn about these sellers.





      
MORE TO COME:  
later info on hyped-up or so-called "rare" parts...