Who makes aftermarket pistons for B&S?

[XTwarrior1985]

My old man honed a 31hp B&S Vanguard motor and needs to get 20 over pistons. All I've found online is the B&S brand stuff which is $170 a pop without rings or anything else.

Does anyone know of brands that would sell cheaper pistons and rings than that? He can find standard size rebuilt kits for a good price, but they do not have 20 over sizes for the kits.

The motor is a 543477 0116-E1 04051412 and it looks like the OEM piston number for 20 over is 841931. I tried searching by that number on some sites but nothing but oem comes up, I can't find cross referenced cheaper stuff.

Thanks!

 

[sgkent]

new: https://www.briggsstrattonstore.com/841931-Briggs-and-Stratton-Piston-Assy-020-OEM/

 

[bertsmobile1]

The aftermarket supply line comes from 2 sources
Companies who supply the OEM part often also supply excess into the aftermarket stream and the same for companies that used to suply OEM
Others who make the same type of product for different assemblers and see an oppertunity in an undersupplied market ..
In both cases the part manufacturer will only market the product if there is sufficent demand for it .
The price of new engines is so low that most are considered throw away items in prosperous Western countries .
As such there is next to no market for original pistons let alone after market pistons .
A sad state of affairs and a prime example why the planet is rapidly heading towards the extinction of humans .
Up until B & S going bust they were making enough money from new engine sales to be able to retail replacements parts at cost .
This made them popular for the end users so the demand was high and the slim profit margins were fine .
Now that their new engin sales have plumeted to less than 1/2 of what they were in 2000 the new engine profit is not enough to subsidise the parts side of the business.
Thus for the past 5 years B & S parts have started to reflect the true price of a mssive parts inventory .
On top of that 2 bankruptcies hane cost their suppliers a lot of money so many of them no longer supply B & S or if they do it in on COD basis at a higher price in order to recoup the money they never got paid .
Thus the prices are soaring.
Since WWII we ( and I include Australians in this we ) have been brainwashed on a daily basis that the superior capatilist demand economy will produce every thing we want , when we want it at a price we can afford , and to a large extent we took the bait , hook line & sinker

So a long answer for your question but in short no demand = no supply
Short supply = high prices
And B&S is in a desperate fight for it's survival which it is loosing which is why they are expanding the logistics side and distributing more of other peoples products rather than making their own
You might find some OS pistons retailed by the companies who specialize in copetition engines but they are likely to be machined from forged blanks which are even more expensive

 

[7394]

I have Never bored or then honed a cylinder with OUT 1st, having the piston(s) in hand to hone to final size.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

There's really not a huge aftermarket for "oversize" items for rebuilds. It usually comes out close to, or more, as a new engine. $ wise.
looks like your stuck with OEM.

 

[StarTech]

And the Briggs pistons do come with rings per the IPL drawing. Now of pricing vary base where the OP is located due to exchange rates. But in the US the price is around $135 + shipping. Purchasing locally will cost more as Briggs dealers generally don't get much more 10% on parts and when shipping is added the parts cost more per item than online sources which get larger discounts from Briggs. The smaller shop get punished for being small but we provide normally more one on one service but we do need to make a profit to stay in business.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

And the Briggs pistons do come with rings per the IPL drawing. Now of pricing vary base where the OP is located due to exchange rates. But in the US the price is around $135 + shipping. Purchasing locally will cost more as Briggs dealers generally don't get much more 10% on parts and when shipping is added the parts cost more per item than online sources which get larger discounts from Briggs. The smaller shop get punished for being small but we provide normally more one on one service but we do need to make a profit to stay in business.

If you only make 10% gross on B & S parts sales, there is no point in selling them, way too low.

 

[StarTech]

If I go by the price files my vendors supply there worst profit margins like on MTD parts as low 2.5% GPM. One vendor charges 2.5% surcharge if I pay by credit card. This is why I have rework the files every to increase my retail prices as I do give my senior customers a 10% discount. (basically knocking off the 9.5% sales tax). I have keep in mind many these customers do check online prices too and try lever me into those prices.

The vendor that 2.5% I refuse to purchase from them until they switch me over to bank draft. It took 7 months but I finally got their attention when the $4000 a year purchases drop the under $400. Another vendor simply demand me to buy a certain amount of parts no matter if I needed them or not. They keep threatening to drop but I dropped them instead.

As you said there is no point is selling when there is no profit to be made.

 

[ILENGINE]

And the Briggs pistons do come with rings per the IPL drawing. Now of pricing vary base where the OP is located due to exchange rates. But in the US the price is around $135 + shipping. Purchasing locally will cost more as Briggs dealers generally don't get much more 10% on parts and when shipping is added the parts cost more per item than online sources which get larger discounts from Briggs. The smaller shop get punished for being small but we provide normally more one on one service but we do need to make a profit to stay in business.

Looks like list is $144.99 and my cost is $115.99, so 20% Trade account would get 10% and the Briggs store is selling for $133.77 so a trade account would make about $3.

 

[sgkent]

boring a cylinder, especially on an air cooled engine is not a DIY job. I did it for a living for many years. air cooled cylinders flex more than engines with a water jacket, and it takes a lot of practice and special tools to get the right dimension, and keep the bore straight. One needs the pistons to get the final bore size clearance right. Let's say the old piston wore the cylinder .004" over size - and someone decided to over size it. If the new piston is .001" too small, and the new bore is .002" too big because one couldn't control the quality of the boring, measuring gauges etc., and someone made an incorrect guess on clearance for that engine by .001" too much, then it is already a worn out engine with .004" oversize before assembling. My guess is that if one is going to ,020" oversize it is because broken rings gouged the heck out of the cylinder or a rod broke.