Counterman

PLUS, We Review: Brakes • Motor Oil • Ball Joints • Timing Belts and MORE

May 2013

Of Fuel Injectors

The

counterman.com/ASAP for reader service

COUNTERMAN (ISSN 0739-3695) (May 2013 Volume 31, Number 5): Copyright 2013 Babcox Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved:Published monthly by Babcox, 3550 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333 U.S.A. Phone (330) 670-1234, Fax (330) 670-0874.Periodical postage paid at Akron, OH 44333 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to COUNTER-MAN, 3550 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333-8318. A limited number of complimentary subscriptions are available to individualswho meet the qualification requirements. Call (330) 670-1234, Ext. 275, to speak to a subscription services representative or FAX us at(330) 670-5335. Paid Subscriptions are available for non-qualified subscribers at the following rates: U.S.: $69. Samples and backissues - Domestic - $10, International/via air mail - $15. Canada: $89 for one year, $149 for two years. Canadian rates include GST.Ohio residents add 5.75% sales tax. Other foreign rates/via air mail: $129 for one year. Payable in advance in U.S. funds. Mail pay-ment to COUNTERMAN, P.O. Box 75692, Cleveland, OH 44101-4755. Visa, MasterCard or American Express accepted.

features

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2 May 2013 | Counterman

MayVolume 31, No. 5

INSIDE

Tech Features By Larry CarleyDon’t overlook brake hardware. ........................................38Fuel filters fight contamination. ..........................................42

The inner workings of fuel injectors...............................44Motor oil is a changin’.....................................................46

Mechanic Connection By Gary GomsSelling ball joints and tie rods. ............................................48It’s all in the timing. ............................................................50


QUALITY YOU CAN TRUSTRestore “like new” performance with Duralast brake parts. They’re designed for performance and quality that match that of original equipment. Ask your Commercial Sales Manager about Duralast brakes today.

OFFICIAL BRAKES OFOFFICIAL BRAKES OF

Get Proven Tough Duralast brakes – the Official Brakes of NASCAR.

OFFICIALIALOFFICIALOFFICIALAL BRAKES OAL BRAKES OAL BRAKES OAL BRAKES O

QUALITY UOYQUALITY RTN A CU TSURRestore “lik

Duralast brakes todayand quality that match that of original equipment. Ask your Commercial Sales Manager about Restore lik

QUALITY ke new” performance with Du

.Duralast brakes todayand quality that match that of original equipment. Ask your Commercial Sales Manager about

ke new performance with Du

UOYQUALITY uralast brake parts They’re

and quality that match that of original equipment. Ask your Commercial Sales Manager about uralast brake parts. They re

RTN A CU TSURdesigned for performarcial Sales Manager adesigned for performa


NASCAR is a registered trademark of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. © 2013 AutoZone, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AutoZone, AutoZone & Design, Duralast and Duralast Gold are registered marks and Duralast Gold Cmax and Duralast Gold SD are marks of AutoZone Parts, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

AVAILABLE ONLY AT

Order from your Commercial Sales Manager, at www.autozonepro.com, through your shop management system or by phone.


Afew years ago, I saw a report on CNN that amajor retailer had calculated the cost of oneof their customers leaving them for good. It

amounted to more than $200,000 in lifetime purchases. $200,000! It sounded absurd to me atfirst, until I did some math, based on my own pur-chases. For almost a decade, I used the same cellphone carrier. That company also provided mycable TV. And my Internet service. A while back, Iwas having some issues with the company thatthey refused to fix. So I told the customer servicerep on the phone, in essence, “You know what?After we get off the phone, I’m breaking up withyou.”

The response? “Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure.” Manytimes, a customer cools down and puts up with it.Not this time. So I pulled the plug. I took my busi-ness elsewhere. I did the math. Over 10 years, Ispent nearly $32,000 with this firm. As a consumer,that’s a lot of cash. It would seem to me at somepoint, someone would wake up.

How do some people in “customer service” careseemingly not one iota about it? I think the answer

is, they don’t see how a customer leaving affectstheir job. If you tell customer service people

that if too many customers leave, you’lllose your job — not as a threat, but rather,a statement of fact — would that have animpact on their performance?

If the company I was doing businesswith got it right, not necessarily the

first time, but on the fifth try,even, perhaps I’d still be

doing business withthem. Maybe for thenext 10 years, they’dget my $40,000 or$50,000 or $60,000.

How can a customer leaving acompany add upto $200,000 over alifetime? It’s not

hard to see. CM

counterman.com 7

EDITOR’S INKBy Mark Phillips

As The Led Zeppelin SongWent, ‘I’m Gonna Leave You’

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How can acustomerleaving acompany add upto $200,000over a lifetime?

departmentsAftermarket News ....................................................................................10Aftermarket News presents news, views and analysis of currenttrends and events in aftermarket distribution.

MarketPlace......................................................................................32,33Every month, MarketPlace showcases the newest automotive product and service innovations your customers are asking about!

News extra: Taiwan’s AMPA parts show ..............................56Classifieds ........................................................................................................57NASCAR Performance ..........................................................................64This monthly special section takes you behind the scenes of thisfast-growing sport.

ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES

HOME OFFICE:3550 Embassy ParkwayAkron, OH 44333-8318330-670-1234FAX 330-670-0874

Bill Babcox [email protected], ext. 217

PUBLISHER:S. Scott [email protected], ext. 229

SALES REPRESENTA-TIVES:Dean Martin [email protected], ext. 225

Jim [email protected], ext. 280

Roberto [email protected], ext. 233

Glenn [email protected], ext. 212

Sean [email protected], ext. 206

John [email protected]

CLASSIFIED SALES:Tom [email protected], ext. 224


P U B L I S H E RS. Scott Shriber330-670-1234, ext. [email protected]

E D I T O R I A LMark Phillips, Editor330-670-1234, Ext. [email protected]

Amy Antenora, Editor, aftermarketNewsManaging Editor, Counterman330-670-1234, Ext. [email protected]

Larry Carley, Technical [email protected]

C O N T R I B U T I N G E D I T O R SMandy Aguilar, ColumnistGary Goms, Commercial AccountsGerald Wheelus, ColumnistAllen Markowitz, ColumnistAllan Gerber, ColumnistJerry King, Cartoonist

G R A P H I C D E S I G NLisa DiPaolo, Graphic Designer330-670-1234 , Ext. [email protected]

A D V E R T I S I N G S E R V I C E STina PurnellAdvertising Services Manager330-670-1234 , Ext. [email protected]

C I R C U L A T I O N S E R V I C E SBrad Mitchell, Director of eMedia & Audience Development330-670-1234 , Ext. [email protected]

Pat Robinson, Circulation Manager330-670-1234, Ext. [email protected]

Ellen Mays, Circulation Specialist330-670-1234, Ext. [email protected]

C O R P O R A T EBill Babcox, PresidentGreg Cira, Vice President, Chief FinancialOfficerJeff Stankard, Vice PresidentBeth Scheetz, Controller

Edward S. Babcox (1885-1970)Founder

Tom B. Babcox (1919-1995)Chairman

Founded 1983. Copyright 2013Babcox Media, Inc., All Rights Reserved

COUNTERMAN (ISSN-0739-3695) ispublished monthly by Babcox Media, 3550Embassy Pkwy., Akron, OH 44333. Periodicalpostage paid at Akron, OH and additionalmailing offices.

Member, BPA International

Editor’s Ink By Mark Phillips ................................................................................7How can one consumer add up to $200,000 in business?

Keeping It Simple By Gerald Wheelus ......................................................54Many of us have the talent to bring more to an organization.

From The Publisher By S. Scott Shriber....................................................58Are you ready for this?

Allen & Allan By Allen Markowitz and Allan Gerber ....................................60Excellent customer service: Easier than you think.

Counter-tech By Mandy Aguilar ....................................................................62Do you mind delivering this part for me?

columns



AFTERMARKET NEWS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – AutoZone rec-ognized Spectra Premium Industriesas its Vendor of the Year during thecompany’s annual AutoZone Ven-dor Summit held in Tunica, Miss.

“Spectra has been a strong Auto-Zone supplier for over five years.During that time they have collab-orated with us to grow sales andimprove productivity in the cate-gories they supply us,” said BillRhodes, chairman, president andCEO of AutoZone.

“On behalf of the entire SpectraPremium organization, we are ex-tremely honored to be recognizedby AutoZone in such a manner,amongst a wonderful group of af-termarket peers,” said Jason Best,vice president of aftermarket salesand marketing.

AutoZone also recognized aspecial group of suppliers with thecompany’s Extra Miler Award.The Extra Miler award recognizesthose suppliers that have demon-strated above and beyond efforts

for AutoZone and its customers.Extra Miler winners were Bosch,IDQ, Kraco, Lozier Corp., MadixInc., Pex German OE Parts LLC,Shell Lubricants and DormanProducts Inc.

“These Extra Miler suppliers setthe standard for their innovativethinking, category managementskills, quality merchandise andcommitment with AutoZone togrow the business together,” saidMark Finestone, senior vice presi-dent of merchandising.

Additionally, “WITTDTJR”(What It Takes To Do The JobRight) Awards were given to sup-pliers as recognition for taking theinitiative to make sure AutoZoneemployees and customers havewhat it takes to complete the job.WITTDTJR award winners includ-ed: Anchor Industries Inc., BP Cas-trol, CRC Industries, PilotAutomotive Inc., Retail InsightsLLC, Standard Motor Products Inc.and Titan.

AutoZone Recognizes Top SuppliersSpectra Premium named Vendor of the Year.

Epicor Now Providing Weekly eCatalog UpdatesDUBLIN, Calif. — Epicor Software Corp. announced that comprehensiveweekly electronic catalog updates featuring the latest automotive partsand applications information are now available to distributors, jobbersand service providers for virtually all of the company’s most popular af-termarket business management systems and Web-based solutions. Thenew feeds of Epicor PartExpert data are provided four times per monthvia the Epicor Active Updates service to help users increase sales and cus-tomer service levels.

This new capability is available immediately to users of Epicor Eagle, J-CON, Prism, A-DIS and Ultimate business management software as wellas the Web-based Epicor Internet AutoParts (www.iapshop.com) and Epi-cor Integrated Service Estimator solutions. Weekly updates also will beavailable soon for users of Epicor Vision software.

Active Updates eCatalog feeds are available to users of the followingsolutions: Epicor Eagle (R. 21.1 or later); J-CON (R. 65.05.20 or later inU.S.; 65.05.22 in Canada); Prism (R. 13.1 or later in U.S.; 13.2 or later inCanada); A-DIS (R. 67.06.07 or later); Ultimate (R. 9.0.9 or later).

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SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — TheMOOG line of steering and sus-pension components from Federal-Mogul now includes nearly threedozen additional parts engineeredfor popular late-model foreign-nameplate and domestic vehicles.The MOOG brand is the automo-tive service industry’s “ProblemSolver” and the preferred choice ofprofessional technicians andNASCAR crew chiefs.

The new MOOG parts includeright and left front tie rod ends for2010-2012 Toyota Prius and 2011-2012 Lexus CT 200H hybrid pas-senger cars; right and left stabilizerbar link kits for 2011-2012 NissanJuke all-wheel-drive and 2012Honda Civic models; and right andleft outer tie rod ends for 2010-2012Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ hy-brid models. Federal-Mogul alsohas introduced a rear, L-shapedsway bar link kit for 2010-2012Hyundai Tucson, 2011-2012 KiaOptima and Sportage, and 2011-2012 Hyundai Sonata models.

Other new parts now available

through MOOG distributors in-clude several control arms andcontrol arm assemblies for a vari-ety of popular Acura, Honda,Hyundai, Mazda, Pontiac andSuzuki models, as well as 12 addi-tional coil spring designs.

“The MOOG line continues togrow every month, so we encour-age service providers to contacttheir MOOG distributor for any ve-hicle that comes into their shop,and to rely on the ‘Find My Part’electronic catalog on the moog-problemsolver.com website,” saidMark Boyle, director of steeringand suspension products, NorthAmerica, Federal-Mogul.

For more information regardingMOOG steering and suspensionparts, visit the technician-focusedwww.moogproblemsolver.com web-site or contact your MOOG supplier.

In addition to the www.moog-problemsolver.com website, the lat-est MOOG product applicationlistings are available through Federal-Mogul’s www.FMe-cat.com catalog.


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Dozens Of New Parts AddedTo MOOGSteering And Suspension Line

Interstate All Battery Center Earns Place On

Franchise Business Review’s Top 50 List

DALLAS – What is happiness? Inthe business world of franchises, itmay be all about numbers. A newreport from Franchise Business Re-view says the more units a fran-chisee owns, the happier thatperson may be.

Franchise Business Review’s re-search shows franchise operatorswho own more than one unit with-in a brand tend to be more satisfiedoverall than single-unit owners. AllNorth America-based franchisecompanies were invited to partici-pate in the free franchise satisfac-tion study. Franchisees answeredquestions ranking their franchise in

the areas of financial opportunity,training and support, leadership,operations and product develop-ment, core values, general satisfac-tion and the franchisee community.

From this survey of more than6,600 multi-unit franchisees atmore than 300 franchise compa-nies, Interstate All Battery Centerwas ranked among the Top 50 fran-chise brands and adds that it wasthe only battery retailer to makethe list.

The Franchise Business Review re-port is designed to help prospec-tive franchisees research multi-unitfranchise opportunities.


ROANOKE, Va. – Advance Auto Parts has an-nounced the promotion of Rachel Geiersbach to vicepresident, legal. Geiersbach will be responsible forall corporate governance and securities law for Ad-vance and has assumed responsibility for employ-ment law and other claims oversight. Geiersbachwill report to Sarah Powell, senior vice president,general counsel, and will continue to be based inRoanoke, Va.

Geiersbach, who joined Advance in 2005 as a sen-ior attorney, was promoted to her current role as di-rector, securities law and corporate governance, inMarch 2010. Prior to joining Advance, she served asassistant general counsel and assistant corporate sec-retary of CSX Corp., after having worked in variouslegal and corporate governance roles during hertenure with CSX.

“Rachel has played an integral role in establish-ing corporate governance best practices and main-

taining Advance’s compliance with Securities and Ex-change Commission regulatory requirements,” saidPowell. “I am thrilled to promote Rachel into this newrole and look forward to her continued leadershipwith Advance.”


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AFTERMARKET NEWS

What vehicle does this picture represent? If you think youknow the answer, go to www.counterman.com and click“Guess the Car” on the nav bar. Submit your answer andcontact information. A winner will be randomly selected by theCounterman staff from all correct answers. The deadline toenter is June 2. The winner’s name will appear in the nextissue. Stay tuned!

Mazda Tribute

Congrats to Bruce Moravec, Marion, Iowa

Last Month’s Correct Answer:

This Month’s Puzzle

Guess the Car / Win $100!

#64

#63

I want to catch some rays.

Advance Auto Parts Promotes Rachel Geiersbach To Vice President


O’Reilly Reports First-Quarter 2013 ResultsSPRINGFIELD, Mo. – O’Reilly Automotive has an-nounced record revenues and earnings for its firstquarter ended March 31, 2013.

Sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013, in-creased $56 million, or 4 percent, to $1.59 billion from$1.53 billion for the same period one year ago. Grossprofit for the first quarter increased to $799 million(or 50.4 percent of sales) from $762 million (or 49.8percent of sales) for the same period one year ago,representing an increase of 5 percent.

Operating income for the first quarter increased to$251 million (or 15.8 percent of sales) from $248 mil-lion (or 16.2 percent of sales) for the same period oneyear ago, representing an increase of 1 percent.

Net income for the first quarter ended March 31,2013, increased $7 million, or 5 percent, to $154 mil-lion (or 9.7 percent of sales) from $147 million (or 9.6percent of sales) for the same period one year ago.Diluted earnings per common share for the first quar-ter increased 19 percent to $1.36 on 113 million shares


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versus $1.14 for the same periodone year ago on 129 million shares.

“We are pleased to report a solidstart to 2013, highlighted by a 19percent increase in diluted earn-ings per share to $1.36, represent-ing our 17th consecutive quarter of15 percent or greater adjusted di-luted earnings per share growth,”said Greg Henslee, president andCEO. “The solid sales trend we ex-perienced in the fourth quarter of2012 continued into the first quar-ter of 2013, where we faced ourmost difficult quarterly compara-ble store sales comparisons for theyear. As a reminder, the first quar-ter included headwinds from the2012 Leap Day, the pull forward ofbusiness into the first quarter of2012 due to the early spring weath-er we experienced across most ofour markets last year and the tim-ing of the Easter holiday this year.The Leap Day in 2012, combinedwith the timing of the Easter holi-day, which fell in the second quar-ter of 2012 and the first quarter of2013, resulted in a headwind of ap-proximately 150 bps for the firstquarter this year.”




Standard Motor Products Expands

Its Clone-able TPMS LineLONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. – Standard Motor Products (SMP) hasadded seven new clone-able sensors to its growing TPMS sensor line.

According to SMP, these new clone-able sensors match the originalfor fit, form and function, and due to their advanced engineering, caneasily be cloned with the existing sensor ID, eliminating the need for afactory relearn. These new Standard and Intermotor part numbers cov-er an additional 11 million VIO for Acura, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet,Cadillac, Ford trucks and Toyota trucks through the 2013 model year.

“We are excited to see our clone-able TPMS sensor line growing,”said Phil Hutchens, senior director of marketing, SMP. “We believe thisnew coverage to our clone-able TPMS line gives our customers whatthey need to be successful in this growing market. Our advanced sen-sors are cloned in less than a minute by simply entering the sensor IDinto the TechSmart T55000 Cloning tool, with no factory relearn need-ed.” Visit www.StandardBrand.com or www.youtube.com/StandardBrand-Parts to learn more.

partnered to work with Airtex FuelDelivery Systems and had enor-mous success with Airtex’s onlinerepositioning.

“The combination of whatShowMeTheParts.com and EXTEND GROUP have providedfor us has far exceeded any of thegoals we imagined,” said BrandonKight, director of marketing forAirtex. “Airtex Fuel Delivery Sys-tems already had industry-recog-nized catalog data thanks toShowMeTheParts.com, but it’snow been taken to the next level vi-sually and functionally with whatEXTEND GROUP has added. Ourbrand awareness and value haveincreased dramatically, as provenby the online traffic and stickinessnumbers alone over the past year.It just makes so much sense thatthese two would form a long-termstrategic alliance. I know we could-n’t be happier with what they’vedone for Airtex.”


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ShowMeTheParts.com AndEXTEND GROUP Partner To Form EXTEND PERFORMANCEEVANSVILLE, Ind. – EXTENDGROUP, a marketing technologyfirm based in Evansville, Ind., hasannounced an agreement withShowMeTheParts.com that aims tobring the two companies into theforefront of emerging marketingtechnology for the automotive af-termarket industry. EXTEND PER-FORMANCE offers the automotiveaftermarket industry full-service,web-based marketing solutionsthat incorporate the ShowMeTheParts.com catalog.

“This venture represents the beststrategic move for bothShowMeTheParts.com and EXTEND GROUP,” said JayWright, president of Vertical Devel-opment, parent company ofShowMeTheParts.com. “We areconfident that this partnership willincrease our competitive advan-tage while enhancing our customersatisfaction.”

The two businesses say they first


ATLANTA – Genuine Parts Co.has reported sales and earningsfor the first quarter ended March31, 2013.

Thomas Gallagher, chairman andCEO, announced that sales for thefirst quarter ended March 31, 2013,were $3.20 billion, up 0.6 percentcompared to $3.18 billion in thefirst quarter of 2012. Net incomefor the quarter was $144.4 million,down 1 percent from $146.3 millionrecorded in the same period of theprevious year. Earnings per shareon a diluted basis were 93 cents,unchanged from the first quarterlast year.

Gallagher stated, “Entering 2013,we felt that the first quarter of the

year would be our most challeng-ing. Our earnings for the quarterare a direct reflection of the 0.6 per-cent sales increase. Among our seg-ments, the Automotive Groupreported a 3 percent sales increase,driven by our commercial growthand the positive impact of the

Quaker City acquisition. MotionIndustries, our Industrial Group,was down 2 percent in the quarter;and EIS, our Electrical/ElectronicGroup, was down 5 percent. S.P.Richards, our Office ProductsGroup, reported a 1 percent de-crease in sales for the quarter.”


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Genuine Parts Co. Reports First-Quarter2013 Results

Uni-Select Announces Leadership Change In U.S. Automotive Operations; Also AnnouncesMeasures To Improve Performance

BOUCHERVILLE, Quebec – Uni-Select Inc. has announced thatWilliam Alexander has steppeddown from his position as presi-dent and chief operating officer

(COO), U.S. Automotive. As a re-sult, Uni-Select is launching a re-cruitment process for theappointment of a new chief operat-ing officer for its U.S. Automotiveactivities.

Meanwhile, and until the recruit-ment process is completed, DennisWelvaert will be acting presidentand COO, U.S. Automotive. Wel-vaert retired as president of DaycoNorth American Aftermarket Divi-sion in 2011. He is chairman of theGlobal Automotive AftermarketSymposium and is former chair-man of the Automotive Aftermar-ket Suppliers Association (AASA).While with Dayco, Welvaert heldsenior executive-level positions inthe OEM, industrial and aftermar-ket divisions. He has more than 40years of experience in the automo-tive industry.

In addition, Uni-Select an-nounced that given the decliningperformance of its United Statesautomotive parts distribution ac-tivities over the past few quarters,and the good results delivered byits Canadian operations as well asits U.S. paint and related products,the company’s management andboard of directors have agreed topursue a formal review of strategicalternatives centered on its U.S. au-tomotive operations.

MIRAMAR, Fla. – Auto 7, a suppli-er of OEM-quality automotiveparts for Hyundai, Kia and GM-Daewoo vehicles, recently honoredXL Parts as its 2012 Distributor ofthe Year at XL Parts’ annual Customer Open House in Houston,Texas. The open house took placeon Sunday, April 7.

Auto 7 President Steven Kruss,together with Senior Vice PresidentJim Murphey and Business Devel-opment Manager Joe Sotolongo,presented the award to Ali Attayi,president and CEO of XL Parts andMike Thompson, vice presidentsupply chain.

“XL Parts was Auto 7’s largestcustomer in 2012, both in terms oftotal sales volume and percentagegrowth year-over-year,” saidKruss. “They do an incredible jobproactively promoting the Auto 7brand at the customer level, and

ensuring that our products areavailable within the critical 45-minute window their customersexpect and require.”

Houston, Texas-based XL Parts isa member of the National ProntoAssociation and is the fastest-growing direct-to-the-technicianparts supplier in the Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Baton Rouge andOklahoma City areas. Auto 7 is apreferred vendor for the NationalPronto Association.

Auto 7, based in Miramar, Fla.,is part of an international compa-ny that has been in business for60 years. It supplies a wide arrayof Korean-made, OEM-qualityautomotive parts that are ISO-14000, QS-9000 or ISO/TS-16949certified, and many of which arenot typically available in the tra-ditional aftermarket supplychain.

counterman.com 23

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AFTERMARKET NEWS

Auto 7 president Steven Kruss presents the company’s 2012 Distributor of the YearAward to XL Parts president Ali Attayi and vice president supply chain MikeThompson at XL Parts’ annual Customer Open House held April 7, 2013, in Houston,TX. Kruss commended XL Parts for promoting awareness of Auto 7’s OEM qualityparts for Hyundai, Kia and GM-Daewoo, as well as providing excellent customerservice to technicians. Joining Kruss in presenting the award is Auto 7 senior vicepresident Jim Murphey, far left, and business development.

Auto 7 Honors XL Parts AsIts Distributor Of The Year

MIAMI, Fla. – National PerformanceWarehouse Companies, with opera-tions across California, announced ithas opened its new, larger facility inSan Jose a week earlier than expected.

Larry Pacey, company presidentand CEO, was on hand at the newfacility on opening day and hadthese comments, “The crewworked hard over the weekend to

have the new building ready forbusiness by 8 a.m. Monday. Wealso had assistance from manysuppliers and reps who pitched into help beat our deadline. We areappreciative to all who made thishappen. ”

Customers will continue to con-tact the company and process or-ders in the traditional manner. Themove only changes the locationwhere a customer would “willcall” parts, the company says.

An official grand opening isplanned for June to coincide withNPW’s AERA Tech & RegionalSkills Conference.


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AFTERMARKET NEWS

NPW’s Speed Warehouse Opens NewSan Jose Facility Ahead of Schedule

FDP Virginia OpensNew Facility Next ToExisting OperationTAPPAHANNOCK, Va. — FDP Vir-ginia has announced the opening ofa new facility adjacent to its existingoperation in Tappahannock, Va. Thetwo combined facilities are 600,000square feet on 275 acres.

The new facility was purchasedfrom Canon USA and will be calledMount Landing Road. It has 25,000square feet of “Class A” office space,15,000 square feet of technical re-search, 125,000 square feet of manu-facturing and 110,000 square feet ofwarehouse along with 36 loadingdocks and nine overhead cranes.

“Mount Landing Road will beused to handle our rapidly expand-ing brake friction business as well asprovide room for entry into newproduct lines,” said Jack Carney,president and CEO of FDP Virginia.“We are proud to be expanding ourresearch and manufacturing opera-tions, and creating more jobs withproducts made in the USA.”

The facility will include a newproprietary automated high-capaci-ty manufacturing system for discbrakes and allow changes for a 45-minute total time process for theproduction of drum brakes.



STAUNTON, Va. – FederatedAuto Parts is continuing its spon-sorship of the popular SPEED show“Two Guys Garage,” hosted byKevin Byrd and Willie B. The newseason features new “TechTalk byFederated Auto Parts” and “BreakRoom” segments highlightedprominently in each episode.

“Federated Auto Parts is proud to kick off the third year of associationwith ‘Two Guys Garage,’” said Phil Moore, senior vice president of Fed-erated Auto Parts. “The ‘TechTalk by Federated Auto Parts’ and ‘BreakRoom’ segments have been well received by our members, customersand manufacturing partners. Kevin Byrd and Willie B. have a great wayof taking product stories and getting the message across in a precise, pro-fessional manner with a little good humor and fun mixed in.”

Network Intelligence and the In-ventory Modeling Tool, the NISseminars have evolved as our in-dustry-leading IT solutions haveadvanced to include business intel-ligence, central billing services,eCommerce and electronic orderprocessing,” said Mike Lambert,president of the Network.

More than 97 participants from 51Network WDs and more than 70 par-ticipants from 54 supplier companieshave attended NIS training classes.

Visual SKUs Digital AssetManagement SoftwareIntegrates With OptiCat ToAutomate Sending ProductImages To Data Receivers

TORONTO — Visual SKUs, a leadingprovider of Digital Asset Manage-ment software and high-volume stilland 360-degree product photographyservices, announced that Visual SKUsDAM software integrates directly withOptiCat, a supplier-owned data coop-erative.

Aftermarket manufacturers sendproduct images to numerous cus-tomers, electronic catalog and dataproviders, and data receivers (tradingpartners) on a regular basis. Thisprocess involves formatting productimages according to trading partners’unique requirements, which could in-clude variations in file type, heightand width dimensions, dpi, and nam-ing convention. Once images are for-matted they are delivered to tradingpartners via FTP or physical media.

Many of these manufacturers sendproduct images to their trading part-ners using the OptiCat data reposito-ry. This may involve formatting anduploading a separate set of productimages for each trading partner to ac-commodate product assortments andimage specifications. Once the im-ages have been received by OptiCat,the manufacturer’s trading partnerscan access the image files for down-load. This process can be time-con-suming and resource-intensivedepending on the number of imagessets the manufacturer or distributorneeds to create and upload.

With Visual SKUs Digital AssetManagement software, aftermarketmanufacturers create detailed “digi-tal asset” profiles of each of theirtrading partners including those thatuse OptiCat. These profiles include aproduct list, image formatting specifi-cations, and image delivery methodand frequency. Visual SKUs DAM for-mats the images associated with thetrading partner’s profile and sendsthem to OptiCat.

AFTERMARKET NEWS

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Federated Continues SponsorshipOf ‘Two Guys Garage’TV Show

The Network Extends Hands-On IT TrainingTo Growing Membership Nationwide

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – The Au-tomotive Distribution Network iscontinuing its effort to providehands-on IT solutions training forits members and manufacturerpartners across the country, withthe Network Information Services(NIS) staff recently hosting a tech-nology session at the DENSO Prod-ucts and Services Americas facilityin Long Beach, Calif.

“Initially developed to help ourmembers maximize the benefits of


By Amy Antenora

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Centric Parts’Brian Griffin, president of theNational Catalog Managers As-sociation (NCMA), welcomed at-tendees to the 40th annualNCMA Knowledge Conferencetaking place April 21-23 at the St.Louis Hilton at the Ballpark inSt. Louis, Mo.

This year’s event set a new at-tendance record with 320 regis-tered attendees and exhibitors. Italso marked a new milestone forthe group, with a record numberof first-time participants in atten-dance. The event kicked off onSaturday, April 20, with a wel-come reception at Busch Stadi-um, which is situated just acrossthe street from the host hotel.

On Sunday, the day waspacked with informative yet en-tertaining presentations from dy-namic speakers. The day alsoincluded an end-user panel dis-cussion with parts store man-agers from O’Reilly,CARQUEST, Advance AutoParts and NAPA, and technicalbreakout training sessions.

Sunday evening concludedwith the festive President’s Din-ner celebration, which includedmusic, great food and panoramicviews of the city, as well as river-boat-style gambling, with allproceeds benefiting the After-market Foundation.

Attendees of this year’s con-ference qualify for ContinuingEducation Credits (CEUs) fromthe University of the Aftermar-ket to be applied toward theirAutomotive Catalog Profession-al (ACP) designation. The ACPdesignation is bestowed by theUniversity of the Aftermarketupon those catalog and contentprofessionals who demonstrate acommitment to life-long learn-

ing, career development and in-dustry participation.

Eight automotive catalog pro-fessionals received their Automo-tive Catalog Professional (ACP)graduation certificates on April23, during the conference. The2013 ACP recipients were:

● James Bond, Cloyes Gear andProducts Inc.

● Todd Campau, Gates Corp.● Paul Engl, Wells Vehicle Elec-

tronics● David Haun, Gates Corp.● Duane Meadows, Denso Prod-

ucts and Services Americas Inc.● Jason Riegel, Tenneco Inc.● Thomas Sibert Sr., Motorcar

Parts of America● Christa Walthal, Gates Corp.

Also during the conference ex-cellence in cataloging was recog-nized, with numerous awardspresented to the best examples ofprint, Web and mobile cataloging.

The winners for 2013 were:Catalog Award Type Level Company/Catalog

Paper Gold MPA/PureEnergy Starters and Alternators

Paper Silver Gates Corp./Fleet & Heavy Duty Applications

Paper Bronze WAI/Wiper Motors

Web Gold Airtex/FuelPumpU.comCatalog

Web Silver K&N Engineering/Catalog KNFilters.com

Web Bronze Gabriel/Heavy Duty Catalog e-catalog

Mobile Gold Dayco Products/Web App VIN-scanner

Mobile Silver Robert Bosch/Web App Bosch Finder App

Mobile Bronze K&N Engineering/Web App KNFilters.com/mobile

An added tradition at theNCMA conference is for leading

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AFTERMARKET NEWS

Forty Years Of Knowledge And FriendshipsGained At Annual NCMA Conference


Standard Motor ProductsNamed Federated Outstanding Vendor of the Year

STAUNTON, Va. — For the secondconsecutive year, the FederatedAuto Parts membership has select-ed Standard Motor Products (SMP)as its Outstanding Vendor of theYear. Bo Fisher, chairman of Feder-ated Auto Parts, presented Feder-ated’s most prestigious vendoraward to Standard Motor Productsduring the group’s national meet-ing and annual awards dinner heldApril 25 in Orlando, Fla. Acceptingthe award on behalf of SMP wereBill Collins, Robert Frick, Matt Gu-den, Bob Kimbro, Alex Simmonsand Ken Wendling. In addition tothe Outstanding Vendor of theYear award, Federated presentedits Outstanding Supplier Support

Awards to its supplier partnersthat excelled in five key categories:

•Education and Training Vendorof the Year – Denso

•Electronic Cataloging Vendorof the Year – Dorman

•Marketing Vendor of the Year –Federal-Mogul

•Order Fill Vendor of the Year –East Penn

•Sales Representation Vendor ofthe Year – Gates

automotive data receivers to recog-nize the best of their suppliers inproviding high-quality, timely andaccurate electronic catalog andproduct information. Wholesaleand retail chains, eTailers and elec-tronic catalog companies evaluatedelectronic content suppliers. The2013 Electronic Data Excellenceaward winners were:

Best in Class Presented by Award Winner

Advance Auto Parts Perfection Hy-Test

AutoZone Lund Industries

CARQUEST Gates Corp.

Epicor Software K&N Engineering

NAPA Auto Parts NAPA Belts & Hose by Gates Corp.

O’Reilly Auto Parts Gates Corp.

U.S. Auto Parts K&N Engineering

WHI Solutions WIX Filtration


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AFTERMARKET NEWS

Bo Fisher, chairman of Federated AutoParts (fourth from left) presents theFederated Outstanding Vendor of theYear Award to Standard Motor Products.


StopTech Introduces Big Brake Kits for 2013 Lexus GS350

StopTech, the high-performance and racing brandfrom Centric Parts, has introduced StopTech BigBrake Kits for the all-new 2013 Lexus GS350sedan. The new kits include one front StopTech BigBrake Kit and one rear StopTech Big Brake Kit. Thesebig brake kits represent the ultimate brake systemupgrade with stiffer calipers, larger rotors, higherfriction pads, stainless steel braided lines and all ofthe necessary mounting hardware. All kits, as well asthe complete line of StopTech braking systems andcomponents areavailable throughmotorsports distrib-utors and perform-ance automotiveaftermarket retailerstoday.

A1 CARDONE Electronic AutomaticTransmission Control Modules Now Available

2001-04 Dodge/Chrysler vehicles that have beentrudging through the ice, snow and salt this winterare especially susceptible to Electronic AutomaticTransmission Control (EATX) Module Problems.This is evident through poor shift quality, hesitation,decreased fuel mileage or even the vehicle switchinginto “Limp Mode.” Until now, your only option forreplacement EATX modules was the expensive OEdealer. CARDONE’s 11 exclusive part numbers ofA1 CARDONE Reman EATX Modules offer OE per-formance without the high price, and are in stock,ready to ship. Save money today with CARDONE!

Champion Announces New Full-Synthetic15W-50 Racing Motor Oil

Champion Oil recently released its “Purpose-Built”full synthetic 15w-50 Racing Oil in a new 5-galloncontainer. Champion’s 15W-50 Racing Oil utilizes apremium ZDDP anti-wear protection package, withhigh levels of zinc and phosphorus. Champion’s15W-50 Racing Oil seals out rust, neutralize acids,and resists foaming. In addition, Champion’s 15W-50 Racing Oil is formulated specifically for frictionreduction, to significantlyreduce operating tempera-tures and prevent theforming sludge, varnish,deposits or acids. Champi-on’s 15W-50 Racing Oilpart no. 4309 is available in12-quart/case lots, 5-galloncontainers, 55-gallon drumsand 275-gallon totes.

Pentosin Transmission Fluids For Automatic,Manual, Double Clutch Applications AvailableFrom CRP

CRP Automotive offers a wide range of Pentosin OE-quality transmission fluids to cover a wide range ofEuropean vehicles, including popular makes such as,Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche, Volkswa-gen, and Volvo. The line is formulated on a fully syn-thetic base oil technology and incorporates specialanti-wear chemistry and friction modifiers to deliversafe and stable friction performance in various typesof transmissions – manual, automatic and doubleclutch. The line includes: Pentosin ATF 1; PentosinFFL 2; Pentosin FFL 3; Pentosin FFL 4; and PentosinMTF 2 Manual Transmission Fluid.


MARKETPLACE › visit www.counterman.com/ASAP for reader service

counterman.com 33

Convenient ACDelco Fluids And ChemicalsCatalog Now Available For Order

ACDelco has released its 2013 Fluids and ChemicalsCatalog (part number VC-CA-0304-12A), combining16 categories of ACDelco fluids and chemicals intoone resource, from motor oils and brake cleaners toappearance products and sealants. For convenience,the catalog also in-cludes a ServiceEvent Quick Refer-ence Guide and a sec-tion onGM-RecommendedFluids at GM-Recom-mended Intervals.Order electroniccopies throughthe ACDelco e-Store(part number VC-CA-0304-12E) and OilSupplement (partnumber 10-SU-0305-12E).

MARKETPLACE › visit www.counterman.com/ASAP for reader service

ACDelco Professional ReadyStruts Take The Bumps Out Of Suspension Jobs

ACDelco pre-assembled Professional ReadyStruts pro-vide owners of GM’s most popular models (37 SKUs)with a smoother, safer ride and technicians with an easi-er strut installation job. They cut installation time by upto 30 percent by including the strut, spring, strut cush-ion and upper strut mount in a single unit. ACDelcoProfessional ReadyStruts are covered by a limited life-time warranty and require no special installation tools.

The Ultimate Import Wire

Intermotor Import Wire Sets are unrivaled for quality, coverage and original match. No one provides more extras like factory-installed separatorclips, anchors, protective loom and trays to keepwires sorted properly and safely. Intermotor wiresets install with ease for exceptional power, perform-ance and extra-long service life.


By Andrew Markel

Every technician knows it isimpossible to estimate howlong a set of brake pads willlast. But, due to changing

ownership cycles, your customersare developing new expectationsyou will have to deal with.

According to R.L. Polk, in 2012,the average consumer held onto avehicle for 57 months. This is upfrom 38 months in 2002. If a cus-tomer drives 15,000 miles a year,the customer will accumu-late 23,000 moremiles beforethey trade it in.

These extramiles couldmean an extrafront brake jobor the replace-ment of the rearpads during theirownership cycle. These repairincidents creates points of refer-ence that form certain expectationsthat were not there just a decadeago.

But, in some cases reality maynot meet customer expectations.Why? Each time the brakes areserviced, the pads could be com-promised by the previous brakejobs that did not restore the brakesto like-new condition.

The brake hardware might nothave been replaced during the firstbrake job. Halfway through, thecustomer-expected life of the pads,the abutment clips may have cor-roded and lost their spring. Now,

the pads are wearing unevenly andthere may be noise before the wearsensor hits the rotor.

The guide pins could have beenneglected on the next brake job.Now, the pads are wearing reallyunevenly and the customer willnotice that mileage between padchanges has significantly dropped.Performing a complete brake jobwill break the cycle, and hopefully

standard, it can result in noise andeventually failure of the pad beforeit is worn to the OEM specifications.

This is called edge lift or delami-nation. It is caused by failure of theattachment method and can behastened by corrosion. The firstsymptom of the failure is noise.The noise is a result of the separa-tion causing irregularities in thebraking surface and the pad nowhaving completely different NVHproperties.

Some manufacturers areusing mechanical at-tachment methodsthat can prevent de-lamination in abrake pad. The tech-nology allows brakepads to be run downto the last few mil-limeters of friction

material. The bond canbe resistant to shear loads, corro-sion and heat. This makes for a padthat can meet or exceed a cus-tomer’s expectations for pad life.

In a recent survey of techniciansand shops performed by Counterman magazine, noise wasthe primary reason why a cus-tomer brought their vehicle in tohave the brakes inspected. Theydid not bring it in for a low-pricedbrake job. They want safety, not alow price. They can see the valuein getting more miles out of a com-plete brake job rather than a cheapbrake job that has them returningto you 10,000 miles sooner. CM

TECH TIPS

How Long Should A Brake Job Last?

Delamination is caused by failure of theattachment method.

return the vehicle to a normal re-placement interval.

A normal customer-expectedwear interval cannot be achieved ifa low-quality brake pad set is used.One area that is consistently cut isthe quality of the backing plate andhow it retains the friction materialduring the life of the brake job.

Keeping a friction material at-tached to a piece of metal undermore than 1,400 psi and shearingforces is not something to take forgranted when selecting a replace-ment brake pad. If the attachmentmethod and implementation is sub-



VIEWPOINT

By DeWayne Demland

The other day, I was at a meeting with the localautomotive association that was meeting with thechairman of the commerce committee for the statelegislature. Everyone who was there represented

different aspects of the aftermarket: regional and nationalassociations, WDs, manufacturing representatives,

program distributors and even education. Prior to the start of this meeting, I was discussing educa-

tion with several people there. This is a passion that I have al-ways had, especially in this industry. The discussion centered

around the education of parts specialists, and this was somethingseveral of the people there voiced as a concern. The cost of one pro-

gram to train parts specialists was mentioned in this discussion.Someone thought the cost of this program was too much. This stirred

up something deep inside me, as Iwas thinking that this is definitelyan issue that needs to be tackled.

Most automotive technicianprograms cost about $5,000. Keepin mind that these technicians payfor their education on their own,most prior to ever being employedas a technician. This is just theirinitial training; they will be re-quired to continue their trainingin order to stay current with thechanges in the industry. Depend-ing on the path the techniciantakes, that education will comefrom an OEM or from us in the aftermarket.

Many of us have been involvedwith putting on clinics for ourcustomers so that they stay cur-rent in being able to repair thesevehicles. Along with that is thehope that they will “remember”who helped give them thatknowledge — those of us whosupply parts for them, and willcome to us for the parts to repairthese vehicles. The unmentionedadvantage for us as parts profes-

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What Is A Good Parts Specialist Worth?

Continued on page 55



By Larry Carley, technical editorTECH FEATURE

When a customer purchases new brake pads or shoes for theirvehicle, they often overlook the hardware in the brake sys-tem that supports the calipers and pads. Anti-rattle shimsand springs also help dampen noise-producing vibrations

when the brakes are applied. If the vehicle has drum brakes at the rear,the hardware inside the drums positions and retracts the shoes and helpsmaintain proper shoe adjustment.

recommended for high-mileage ve-hicles when the brakes are re-lined.

The shoes inside a rear drumbrake are held in place by “hold-down springs,” which are smallcoil springs secured by a pin that

New brake hardware is recommended for

high-mileage vehicleswhen the brakes

are re-lined.

Don’t Overlook Brake Hardware

Brake hardware should alwaysbe inspected and replaced as need-ed because worn, loose, badly cor-roded or missing hardware canprevent the brakes from operatingproperly. New brake hardware is



extends through the backing plateand locks into a cover piece thatfits over the top of each spring. Ifthe hold-down springs and pinsare badly corroded, they maybreak or fall apart. The loose pieceswill then rattle around inside thedrum, creating noise, possibly scor-ing the drum and/or wedging be-tween the shoes and drum causingthe brake to seize.

Also attached to each shoe aretwo or more relatively stiff “returnsprings.” The return springs pull theshoes back away from the drumwhen the brakes are released. Overtime, these springs may weaken andallow the brakes to drag.

A “self-adjuster” inside the drumbrake maintains proper clearancesbetween the shoes and drum. If aself-adjuster is corroded or sticks, itwon’t compensate for lining wearand will cause brake pedal travelto increase.

Note: self-adjusters are usuallydirectional and are not inter-changeable left-to-right. If installedon the wrong side, the self-adjusterwill not work properly.

Additional drum hardware may

include a cable linkage for the self-adjuster and/or parking brake leverand an additional return spring forthe parking brake mechanism.

Disc brake hardware includesthe slides, pins, boots and bushingsthat allow a “floating” (sliding)caliper to center itself over the ro-tor, the “anti-rattle” springs thatdampen pad vibrations to reducebrake noise, and any additionalshims or insulators that may beused on the back of the pads foradditional noise control.

When the pads and/or calipers

are replaced, the caliper mounts,slides, bushings or pins should allbe carefully inspected and lubricat-ed to assure smooth operation. Ifyour customer doesn’t have brakegrease, be sure to sell him some.

Loose, missing, corroded ordamaged hardware can also con-tribute to disc brake noise prob-lems. If the anti-rattle clips, shimsor insulators that go on the backsof the pads are overlooked or for-gotten, the pads may rattle and vi-brate when the brakes are appliedcausing an annoying squeal. CM

TECH FEATURE

New brake hardware isrecommended for high-mileage vehicles whenthe brakes are re-lined.

A “self-adjuster” insidethe drum brake maintainsproper clearancesbetween the shoes anddrum.



Fuel Filters FightContamination

The fuel filter is the fuel sys-tem’s first line of defenseagainst contaminants. Thefilter traps any dirt or rust

particles that have been sucked upby the fuel pump inside the fueltank so they can’t reach the fuelinjectors. The injectors have a smallscreen in their fuel inlet connectionto prevent large particles from enter-ing, but the screen provides virtu-ally no protection againstmicroscopic particles that can wearand damage the tight-fitting valveinside the injector. That’s why thefuel filter is so important.

The fuel filter may be locatedsomewhere in the fuel line (enginecompartment, under the vehicle ornear the fuel tank), or it may be partof the fuel pump module assemblyinside the fuel tank if the vehicle hasa “returnless” EFI system. Most ofthese in-tank filters are “lifetime” fil-ters with no recommended serviceinterval. The filter usually onlyneeds to be replaced if the fuelpump has failed or the fuel tank iscontaminated with dirt or rust.

Fuel filters on most fuel-injectedengines (except those with return-less EFI systems) flow a lot morefuel than the engine actually burns.That’s because the fuel continuallyrecirculates from the engine back tothe tank when the engine is run-ning. So the same fuel is actually fil-tered over and over again everytime it makes the loop from the tankto the engine and back.

Most fuel filters will trap particles3 microns or larger in size, and somewill trap particles that are evensmaller. And just like air and oil fil-ters, filtering efficiency goes up thedirtier the filter gets. But at the same

time, so does the resistance to flow.Though the trend has been to

move to longer and longer serviceintervals, many technicians still rec-ommend replacing in-line fuel filtersevery 30,000 to 50,000 miles for pre-ventive maintenance.

A plugged fuel filter will restrictfuel flow to the engine. The drop inpressure may not be noticeable atidle, but as engine speed goes up,there may be a significant drop inpressure and a decrease in flow.Symptoms of a restricted fuel filterinclude a loss of high-speed power,lean misfire, hesitation and evenhard starting.

A new fuel filter should always beinstalled when a fuel pump or fuelinjectors are being replaced. If a newfilter becomes clogged shortly afterit has been installed, the inside ofthe fuel tank is probably dirty orrusty. The fuel tank needs to be in-spected and cleaned as needed — orreplaced if it is a steel tank and isbadly corroded inside. Aging plasticfuel tanks can even deteriorate in-side and shed particles that mayclog a fuel filter.

Note: Inexperienced DIY cus-tomers can easily damage a fuel lineif they do not have the proper toolsfor changing an in-line fuel filterthat is mounted with a quick-releaseconnection. A special disconnect toolis required to remove the fuel linesfrom the filter. Prying or forcing theconnection apart will usually de-stroy the fuel line.

If rubber hoses connect to the fuelfilter, they should be inspected andreplaced if cracked, damaged orleaking. Fuel hoses more than 10years old should be replaced withnew EFI-rated hoses. CM





The Inner Workings Of Fuel Injectors

Fuel injectors are the spray nozzles that deliverfuel to the engine. In multi-port injected engines,there is one injector for each cylinder. On olderthrottle-body EFI systems, one or two injectors

mounted in the throttle body supply fuel for all of thecylinders. Another variant is GM’s Central Point Injec-tion (CPI) system, which has a single “Maxi” injectorthat routes fuel to mechanical poppet valve injectors ateach cylinder.

Fuel flows through an electronic fuel injector when thesolenoid inside the injector is energized by the power-train control module (PCM). The strong magnetic fieldcreated by the current pulls opens the injector valve al-lowing fuel to spray out of the injector nozzle. When thePCM cuts off the current to the injector, the spring-loadedvalve snaps shut and the flow of fuel stops.

The on and off cycling of the injectors produces abuzzing noise while the engine is running. The av-erage on-time of an injector isn’t very long: only acouple of milliseconds at idle. At wide-open throt-tle, the on-time might jump to 15 milliseconds ormore. By carefully controlling the duration (on-time) of each injector, the PCM can regulate fuel de-livery and the air/fuel mixture to optimize fueleconomy, emissions and performance.

As long as the injectors are all working properly andare clean (no varnish buildup to restrict the spray noz-zles), the engine runs smoothly and delivers peak per-formance and fuel economy. But if varnish builds up inthe nozzles over time, it can restrict fuel delivery andmay even cause one or more cylinders to experiencelean misfire. Adding a bottle of fuel injector cleaner tothe fuel tank can help clean dirty fuel injectors and pre-vent the buildup of deposits. But if one or two treat-ments with a cleaner product fails to restore normaloperation, the injectors may have to be professionallycleaned or replaced.

Injectors can sometimes fail as a result of internalcorrosion or an electrical short or open. The close tol-erances of the injector valve can also wear over time,causing detrimental changes in the way the injectorfunctions. The only cure for a dead, leaky or defec-tive injector is to replace it with a new or remanufac-tured injector.

If one or more high-mileage injectors have failed,the best advice is to replace the entire set of injectorsat the same time. This will prevent further troublesdown the road.

Other items that should also be inspected and re-placed as needed include all fuel lines, the fuel filterand fuel pressure regulator. The fuel pressure regula-tor controls fuel pressure to the injectors. The regula-tor is usually located on the engine fuel supply rail,but is part of the fuel pump module assembly insidethe fuel tank on vehicles that have a “returnless” EFIsystem. A weak or leaky fuel pressure regulator cancause a drop in fuel pressure that will hurt engineperformance. CM

The only cure for a dead, leaky or defective injector is toreplace it with a new or remanufactured injector.




Motor Oil Is A Changin’

Motor oil is a product that has changed quitea bit in recent years. With longer and longerintervals between oil changes, the quality ofmotor oils has gotten better and better with

higher-grade base stocks with partial or full syntheticformulations. Synthetic oils are often recommended orrequired for extended oil drain intervals.

The increased emphasis on fuel economy also meanstoday’s oils are thinner and contain more friction modi-fiers and viscosity extender additives. Most late-modelvehicles are now factory-filled with 5W-20 or 5W-30multi-viscosity oil, and some are even using oils as thinas 0W-20. Thinner oils are usually required for over-head cam engines to speed upper valvetrain lubricationfollowing a cold start. For older pushrod engines, 10W-30 is still a popular viscosity. The best advice here is to

follow the viscosity recommendations of the vehiclemanufacturer.

Another change that has taken place in motor oilsin recent years has been a drastic reduction in theamount of zinc and phosphorus (ZDDP) anti-wearadditive in the oil. ZDDP can contaminate and short-en the life of the catalytic converter and oxygen sen-sors, especially if the engine burns oil as it ages. Mostlate-model engines do not require much ZDDP be-cause they have low-friction roller cams or overheadcams with followers. However, older vehicles thathave pushrods engines and flat tappet cams still re-quire higher levels of ZDDP to prevent cam wear andfailure. Since modern oils don’t contain the sameamount of ZDDP they once did, a ZDDP supplementadditive is recommended to protect the cam andlifters.

Some oils are also specially formulated for olderhigh-mileage (75,000 miles or more) engines. Suchoils typically contain extra additives to counter theeffects of leaks, deposits, sludge and friction. Sealconditioners help keep crank seals soft and pliable sothey don’t leak. Detergents and dispersants helpkeep the engine clean.

Another change in motor oils is the introduction ofmore “green” products that contain up to 50 percentore more “re-refined” motor oil. The used motor oilin these products has been recovered and fully re-processed using a multi-step refining procedure thatis similar to that which is used to refine crude oil. Theresulting base stock is as good or better than a com-parable traditional base stock, and meets the sameAPI and OEM performance requirements when it isreformulated with the proper additives. Re-refinedmotor oil is being used successfully by numerousfleets, the U.S. military and ordinary motorists.

The greatest benefit of re-refined motor oil is that itrecycles a valuable product that might otherwise beburned or discarded. The U.S generates more than1.4 billion gallons of waste oil annually. Re-refiningused motor oil uses 85 percent less energy than refin-ing crude oil, and allows used motor oil to be recy-cled as many as eight to 10 times! CM

The increased emphasis on fuel economy means today’s oils are thinnerand contain more friction modifiers and viscosity extender additives.

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By Gary Goms, commercial accounts editorMECHANIC CONNECTION

Ball Joint, Tie Rod Sales

When installed in a con-ventional short/long-arm (SLA) suspensionsystem, an upper and

lower ball joint connects connectsthe steering knuckle to the upperand lower control arms. Each balljoint allows the steering knuckle tomove smoothly through a verticalplane while the spindle simultane-ously pivots in a horizontal plane.Due to its extreme mechanical sim-plicity, a MacPherson strut suspen-sion contains only a lower balljoint. This design allows verticalmovement in the lower control armwhile the steering knuckle andspindle pivots in the horizontalplane.

SLA Suspension Systems

SLA ball joints are manufacturedin load-bearing and non-load-bear-ing versions. The load-bearing jointin an SLA suspension system is lo-cated on the load-bearing controlarm, which supports the vehicle’sweight via a coil spring or torsionbar. The non-load-bearing or “fol-lower” ball joint is located on thecontrol arm that holds the wheel incorrect alignment. The major differ-ence between the two is that theload-bearing ball joint is not pre-loaded while the follower joint ispreloaded.

Wear in the load-bearing ball jointis measured in thousandths of aninch vertical and horizontal play.Because a ball joint is self-centering,manufacturers allow a smallamount of play to exist in load-bearing ball joints. Wear in the pre-loaded follower joint is measuredby the amount of preload torque re-quired to turn the ball joint stud inthe ball joint socket. The wheel’salignment angles will be most af-fected when the upper ball jointwears out.

Macpherson Struts

To take the place of the uppercontrol arm in a conventional SLAsuspension system, the spring andshock absorber are built as one as-sembly in the MacPherson strut de-sign. The upper part of the strut isheld in place by a bearing plate as-sembly that bears the vehicleweight and allows the strut assem-bly to pivot. The strut is bolted tothe steering knuckle and the lowerpart of the steering knuckle is con-nected to the lower control arm bythe lower ball joint. The lower balljoint is a non-load-bearing designthat maintains the camber and cast-er alignment angles. As with theSLA design, wear in the lower balljoint is generally measured by theamount of torque needed to turnthe ball joint stud.

The spherical ball joint used in atie rod end is spring-loaded to keepthe pivot ball centered with the tierod joint socket. But, since everysteering system contains four tierod ends, a small amount of wear ineach can result in enough cumula-tive wear to affect the toe angle ofthe wheel alignment, which is themost critical angle for controllingtire wear.

While an individual ball joint ortie rod end might suffer prematurewear, most wear at the same rate.Since labor is the larger portion ofany suspension repair cost, it’stherefore more cost-effective to sellball joints and tie rod ends in pairsor sets. On lower-mileage vehicles,load-bearing ball joints are general-ly replaced in pairs. On high-mileage vehicles both theload-bearing and follower jointsshould be replaced as a set. And,while the steering knuckle is re-moved, suggest replacing the rub-ber control arm bushings onhigh-mileage vehicles as well. CMco

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By Gary Goms, commercial accounts editorMECHANIC CONNECTION

The current project of a fellowI know who restores antiquetractors is a 1938 John Deereequipped with a huge two-

cylinder engine. The engine devel-ops full torque at about 2,000 rpm,which is slightly above cruisingspeed for a modern engine. Theengine itself is a statement of sim-plicity since the intake and exhaustvalves are mechanically opened byeccentrics or lobes cast into theengine’s camshaft.

The Otto Cycle

Like a modern engine, the JohnDeere is an Otto Cycle engine. In theOtto Cycle, the intake cam lobeforces the intake valve to follow thepiston downward as it descends todraw air and fuel into the cylinderon the intake stroke. As the pistonbegins to ascend on the compressionstroke, the intake valve closes. Justbefore the piston reaches top deadcenter, the spark plug fires theair/fuel mixture, forcing the piston

downward on the power stroke. Justbefore the piston reaches bottomdead center, the exhaust valvecamshaft lobe forces the exhaustvalve open, which releases the resid-ual exhaust gas pressure into the ex-haust system. As the piston ascendson the exhaust stroke, spent exhaustgases are pushed out of the cylinderin preparation for another intakestroke. A strong valve spring is re-quired to force the valve, rockerarm, push rod, and tappet (alsoknown as a lifter or cam follower) tofollow the contour of the rotatingcamshaft lobe.

As you might suspect, the valveand piston events must be timedperfectly to develop maximumtorque and to prevent the valvesfrom colliding with the pistons. For-tunately, most “non-interference”engines have enough clearance be-tween valve and piston to preventpiston-to-valve contact. On the otherhand, many “interference” enginesdon’t have this clearance and, if the

valve timing varies just a few de-grees, the valves will collide withthe piston.

Modern automotive engines areusually designed with overheadcamshafts to eliminate the all but thecamshaft follower and valve springfrom the valve train. Aside from thefew remaining push rod engines inproduction, all modern engines relyon a timing belt or timing chain totime the camshaft with the crank-shaft. Metal timing chains are mak-ing a comeback because of theirreduced maintenance needs.

Timing Belts

Because their remaining servicelife is difficult to estimate, timingbelts must be replaced at specificmileage intervals to prevent failure.Early timing belts had to be replacedat 60,000-mile intervals while cur-rent production engines require re-placements at 105,000 miles or asspecified by the auto manufacturer.As preventive maintenance, mostexpert technicians prefer to replaceall of the rotating parts in the timingcover, including tensioner and idlerpulleys, water pump, balance shaftbelts, and the camshaft and crank-shaft oil seals.

Timing Chains

Imminent timing chain failure isusually heralded by a knockingnoise from the front of the engine asthe worn chain “slaps” the timingcover or by a rattling sound whenthe timing chain guides break andbegin to rattle against the timingchain. When the chain breaks orjumps timing, the engine will stall.The worst-case scenario is bentvalves on interference engines,which will require rebuilding thecylinder heads. As with rubber tim-ing belts, it’s vitally important to notonly replace all of the timing chainsin the engine, along with the timingchain guides and tensioners. CM

All In The Timing





You get 100 percent of what youdo, not ask for! Whether it is inyour personal or business life, youhave to ask for the sale, the pay

raise, new responsibilities or different ones,as it may be.

Often we find ourselves unhappywithin a specific position or situation. Sooften, we feel stuck in that rut and neednew or different responsibilities to helpchange things up. If you work for a com-pany that has more than one or twostores, there is certainly room for somevariety of work responsibilities. Thequestion is: What’s the correct way to letthat be known?

The truth is, there may not be a correctway. The thing is, you get 100 percent ofwhat you do not ask for. Asking for reas-signment will have to be on a case-by-casebasis. However, most employers may bewishing they had someone to offer up anew idea and more importantly, someonewho can head the program or initiative asit might be called.

Many of us have the talent to bring moreto an organization. The problem is we donot share that talent or let it be known wepossess it at all. There are certainly wrongways to go about sharing it, so there haveto be correct ways as well.

Some of the wrong ways would be toblurt it out when frustrated when the CEO,VP or GM are on a casual visit to your store.Do not ask for reassignment and a pay raise

KEEPING IT SIMPLEBy Gerald Wheelus

Many Of Us Have The Talent ToBring More To An Organization

all in one scenario; it will probably not hap-pen. Do not ask for less responsibility to gowith it; it will probably not happen. Do notexpect less responsibility as the reassign-ment will most assuredly accompany manyof the same duties you were performing togo with the new. Timing will be crucial aswell; you cannot expect a reassignment ifthere is no one to cover your post when youare absent. Again, timing and positioningwill be everything.

A correct way might be a simple emailstating you have an idea. It might be im-portant enough to you to sit down withyour chain of command. In a reassignmentrequest, it is very important that you go tothe immediate supervisor, then through tothe chain of command.

The right time might be when the CEO,VP or GM are in your store for a casual vis-it, although it would be wise to know whatyou want or what the reassignment youwant might be before doing so. It would bewise to understand what your requestmight be or what you might like to do be-fore you say, “get me off the counter!”

Only you and your supervisors willknow what the needs of the organizationmight be. That is where you have to under-stand the situation at hand and you have tomean what you say and be ready for theconsequences if you say something thatyou do not.

If you have ideas, present them. All theycan say is no! CM

Gerald Wheelus isgeneral manager of

Edgewood Auto Parts,Edgewood, Texas.

The thing is, youget 100 percentof what you donot ask for.

sionals, is that we also gain thesame knowledge and insight;adding to our ability to serve ourcustomers even better. This is re-ferred to as “continuing educa-tion,” and in many professionsand jobs, it’s a requirement. Thiscontinuing education is an addedexpense to either the technicianor the employer, on top of theirinitial training.

So let’s look at how we train aparts specialist. Is there an initialtraining that they go through?Typically, no. When we hire themwe would probably hope that theyhave some sort of mechanicalbackground. So, in many cases,the only training they receive is inthe form of continuing educationthat is provided in-house orthrough the clinics they attend fortechnicians. In many ways, this initself could be problematic. Afterall, who is the customer coming tobecause they may not be able tofix the problem?

So, what is the difference be-tween “initial training” and “con-tinuing education?” Basically, theformat. Continuing education isshort highlights of a given system,problem or even a product. Theyare most often limited in depth,and many make assumptionsabout the level of knowledge thatthe students have coming into thetraining. They are not typicallydone in a systematic approach,and may jump from one subject toanother. There may even be ex-tended time between each session.The approach in initial trainingwill be a complete systematic wayof looking at the subject. It will bein-depth and will make no as-sumptions as to the level ofknowledge that the students bringwith them.

There are an extremely limitednumber of options for initial train-ing for a parts specialist. In thiscontext then, any cost for this

training could be perceived as ex-pensive. This could also be a re-flection as to why such a highpercentage of our parts specialistsare not producing at the same lev-el as the top performers are in ourstores. If the initial training for aparts specialist would cost $3,000and increase their performance, it

would still equate to a $2,000 sav-ings from that of a technician.Maybe our perspective shouldshift from what we are doing, towhat we are not doing. CM

DeWayne Demland is president of Au-tomotive Parts Training LLC of Phoenix,Ariz.

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VIEWPOINT

Continued from page 36


By Mark Phillips

TAIPEI, Taiwan — More than 1,100exhibitors with 3,030 boothspacked the NANGANG ExhibitionHall in Taipei for the combined2013 Taipei International AutoParts & Accessories Show (TAIPEIAMPA) and Taipei InternationalAutomobile Electronics Show (Au-toTronics Taipei).

The organizer of the shows, Tai-wan External Trade DevelopmentCouncil (TAITRA), says theturnout for shows, held April 10-

13, is a 6.7 percent increase overlast year’s show. In another part ofthe city, two other shows wereheld: the Taiwan International Mo-torcycle Show and the Taiwan In-ternational Electric Vehicle Show.Organizers say the combined four-in-one shows are a first for Asia.

TAITRA officials say the com-bined AMPA and AutoTronicsshows were expected to attract6,500 buyers and generate morethan $1.3 billion in business. Thisyear marks the 29th AMPA show

and eighth AutoTronics show.In prepared remarks, Dr. Chih-

Kang Wang, chairman of TAITRA,said, “Taiwan’s automotive partsand accessories industry is highlyexport-oriented and has proven it-self to be extremely competitive inoverseas markets. There are around2,800 automotive parts and acces-sories manufacturers in Taiwan, ofwhich nearly 90 percent are orientedtoward the domestic and overseasaftermarket segment.”

Representatives from buyers

NEWS EXTRA

Taipei, Taiwan, Site Of Unique Four-in-One Automotive, Motorcycle Shows

Michael Hu, of Depo Group/Maxzone Auto Parts, displayed company headlamp prototypes.

such as Audi, Fiat and AdvanceAuto Parts attended the shows. Atotal of 434 buyers from the UnitedStates attended.

TAITRA arranged for at least 110firms exhibiting at the show tomeet with 41 international buyers,for a total of 782 one-on-one ses-sions.

Twelve Taipei AMPA innovationawards were announced.

In the auto parts segment, recipi-ents were: TYC Brother IndustriesCo. Ltd. for its adaptive front light-ing (AFS) headlamp. The companyalso won another award for its fullLED tail lamp. In addition,Nankang Rubber Tire Corp. re-ceived an award for its ECO-2 tire.

AMPA also awarded severalcompanies in the accessories category. Those were:• Zung Sung Enterprise Co. Ltd.

for its non-polar jump starter• ATBS Technology Co. Ltd. for its

iOBD2 TPMS• Whetron Electronics Co. Ltd. for

its forward safety warning system• Cub Elecparts Inc. for its TPMS

system• Red Heart Enterprise Co. for its

common vehicle Seat Slider Rail

In the auto electronics finishedproducts category, the winnerswere:• E-Lead Electronic Co. for its car

navigation with flat surface (EL-918C)

• Holux Technology for its Hypo-Vigilance/Fatigue Detector DFD-100B

• Jet Optoelectronics Co. for its carentertainment system

• Mobiletron Electronics for itseconomy, high-sensitivity, anti-glare night vision camera. CM

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TYC garnered two awards — one for itsadaptive front lighting (AFS) headlampand the other for its full LED tail lamp.


Earlier this month, I had the oppor-tunity to attend the CollisionIndustry Conference in Phoenix.This is a collision repair-focused

meeting and not something I normallywould write about here in Counterman.This, however, is one of those rareinstances when the sister markets sharesomething in common and I need to sharethe information across the industry. I donot think that any one of these topicsbelow will shock you. In fact, many of youwill have heard of some of these thingsbefore as I have. I had actually at one timeor another heard of all of these.

What I had not done was consider themin their totality. Add to it some are mandat-ed and you have a lot to chew on. So let’sget started:

The first thing I learned was that stabili-ty control has been mandated on U.S. pas-senger cars for the 2012 models. While Iremember when the government startedthe phase-in, I did not remember that allcars produced for the U.S. market were re-quired to have ESC now. ESC is a great in-novation and has been around on premiumvehicles for a long time. For those whodon’t know, it is an advanced vehicle sys-tem that utilizes the ABS system in con-junction with directional sensors to ensurea vehicle is heading in the direction thatthe wheels are turned toward.

The CIC Technical Committee deliveredan excellent presentation on othersafety/crash avoidance technologies thatare available today and on the horizon. Iwill give you a brief list below to make mypoint:

TPMS: pretty straightforward and al-ready on most cars;

HAC & HDC: Hill ascent and hill de-

FROM THE PUBLISHERBy S. Scott Shriber

Are You Ready For This?scent control; pretty easy to figure out whatthese do, but both run through the ESCcomponents to operate;

Blind spot warning: this alerts driverswhen there is someone in the vehicle’sblind spot;

Lane departure warning: this systemalerts drivers when they are attempting toleave the lane they are traveling in; and

Adaptive headlights: These headlightsactually follow the direction the steeringwheel is pointed in.

This is all really great stuff and it isaimed at one thing — our safety. There arealso convenience options that can make allof our driving experiences more fun andeven exciting. Remember, these are here to-day or coming very soon.

While all of these features are arguablyvery important, the concern is, are weready to fix them? Do we have the diagnos-tic equipment to troubleshoot these com-plex interdependent systems? What aboutthe training to diagnose these options? Notto mention the complexity of making theparts and having the right parts.

We in the aftermarket need to be awareof these features and do what we need todo to be ready to service them. Many ofthese systems have parts that need to beprogrammed before they can be used on avehicle. When you sell that new windowswitch to the Camry customer, you betterknow to tell them that in order for it towork, it has to be identified by the vehicle’sonboard system. Otherwise, it’s comingback and so is the unhappy customer.

Change is good and in this case positive,but we need to plan now for all that it in-cludes.

See you in the other lane if my car willlet me go there. CM

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For more information: www.counterman.com

Change is goodand in this casepositive, but weneed to plannow for all thatit includes.



Afew months ago we wrote aboutthe fictitious counterman Joe —we will call him Joe Counterman.The one who showed up late, did

a poor job answering the phones, madevery little effort and was basically justpassing through.

Poor Joe Counterman was having atough time understanding what it takes tobe successful in the workplace. This morethan likely was the result of being some-what immature, untrained and generallyuncaring. To our surprise we actuallyheard from Joe, he really does exist and hisname is — JOE!

Joe explained that he was that highschool kid working in the local auto partsstore with no real direction. He did want toset the record straight stating that he didshave daily.

He went on to tell us that one of the old-er countermen saw the potential in Joe andstarted to train and mentor him. Helearned about how to speak to people andnot at them, he learned to listen. He alsolearned that many times there could bemore than one way to deal with any givensituation. He learned the value of customerservice and that taking the easy way outmay not always be the best way.

Joe went on to have an extremely suc-cessful 30-year career and is currentlyworking in a management role with a ma-jor manufacturer. We wish him continuedsuccess. You never know!

Our point is that with all of our modernmethods today, Joe’s simple training andmentoring did the trick and created a life-time of employment and a solid career.

By Allen Markowitz & Allan Gerber

Excellent Customer Service:

Easier Than You Think

We continually talk about the customer,when does customer service end? Obvious-ly never. We continuously have to try andimprove our skills; not only on the taskswhich gratify us the most, but also on thedaily mundane, repetitious tasks we don’treally enjoy performing.

Here is a simple exercise to both buildcustomer service awareness and at thesame time take a look within yourself.Take a sheet of paper and divide it intofour columns. Mark the first column,“How you treat people” and the next col-umn “How you want to be treated.” Headthe next two columns, “Stores and peoplethat have excellent customer service andwhy” and the final column, “Stores, peo-ple and incidents that have not met your expectations.”

Start thinking about it and fill it out for aweek or two. You will quickly see a patternemerging and hopefully the light bulb willturn on. By doing this simple exercise youwill be forced to look in the mirror and as-sess your strengths, weaknesses and trib-utes. The strong areas, as well as the areaswhich need improvement will quickly beidentified.

Our feeling is that Joe came into our in-dustry just passing through. Somewherethe light bulb came on and he got it. Helearned what great customer service wasall about and it stayed with him to this day.

Somehow, we are certain that this is notan isolated example. However, you be thejudge when you fill out your own chartand then look in the mirror.

Excellent customer service does not hap-pen unless you make it happen. CM

Our point is thatwith all of ourmodernmethods today,Joe’s simpletraining andmentoring didthe trick andcreated alifetime ofemployment anda solid career.

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For more information, go to: www.autobizsolutionsllc.com or e-mail [email protected].

Allen Markowitz and AllanGerber operate Auto BizSolutions, which providestraining, marketing, man-agement and businessconsulting services to boththe automotive jobber andindependent repair shop.

ALLEN & ALLAN



Giants amongst giants, Amazonand Walmart are in combat for ourdollars, euros and yuans online.Walmart is deeply entrenched in

its brick and mortar stores, while Amazon,as the master and commander of e-commerce, has laid claim to the planet’sbiggest chunk of virtual retail real estate.Now, Walmart wants more onlinecustomers and has been developing innova-tive e-strategies to curtail Amazon’sencroachment on its sales. The company’s e-commerce sales are growing to record num-bers, as they are on track to do $9 billion thisyear; despite this growth, Amazon will stilloutsell them online 7 to 1 with salesprojected to exceed $65 billion this year.

This war’s main battlefield is right here inAmerica, where Walmart has deployed itslargest weapon: 4,000 stores. The logistic ad-vantage that Walmart plans to levy overAmazon focuses on two non-tech aspects ofthe online business: same-day delivery andin-store pickup. As a matter of fact, both ofthese customer service features are becom-ing all the rage amongst e-retailers every-where. Allowing online customers to comeby the store to pick up their orders is a bigdifferentiator to Amazon’s model so far.From our own experience in auto parts, weknow very well that pickups are less expen-sive than deliveries, and it is here whereWalmart can flex its muscles with its gar-gantuan, countrywide store presence.

Amazon, however, is not sitting by idly.They just launched a strategy to set up pick-up locations as well. This will work in theform of conveniently-located lockers insideplaces customers flock to, like drug storesand convenience stores; albeit, these areonly available in a few cities. Now Amazoncustomers can pick up their online ordersthe same day they place them. But the strat-egy is truly limited when compared to Wal-mart. There are only a handful of lockerlocations, only items that can fit in the lock-ers are eligible, locker space is limited, andcustomers have a short window of a just a

COUNTER-TECHBy Mandy Aguilar

DTFM: Deliver This For Mefew days to pick up their order or risk can-cellation. There is no doubt that some onlineconsumers could benefit from this plan, butnot all.

The real opportunity for mano-a-manocombat comes from same-day delivery. Bothof these companies are in a mad dash to fig-ure out a way to deliver orders the same-day consumers click through the virtualcheckout on their online carts. Regardingthis skirmish, other well-known players likeGoogle and eBay are also developingschemes for same-day strategies in an all-out battle to conquer, retain and augmentcustomers.

Since its inception, Amazon has beenvery careful about selecting the location ofits distribution centers to avoid having tocollect sales taxes. This gives Amazon’scustomers a reprieve from the sales taxesthey face at brick and mortar stores. Coin-cidentally, the country’s fiscal fallout hasforced many state governments to go afterAmazon to collect sales taxes on items be-ing ship to their citizens.

For a long time, Amazon fought every le-gal battle to avoid becoming a de facto na-tionwide sales tax collector; but, the writingwas on the proverbial wall and now itseems Amazon’s strategies have changed. InCalifornia, Amazon abandoned its repealcampaign in state courts and swiftly flippedto signing an agreement with lawmakers tocollect taxes on its behalf. Many believe thispoints to Amazon’s plan to set up as manydistribution centers as needed, regardless ofsales tax consequences, in order to accumu-late product close to the customers, thusmaking same-day delivery possible to asmany as possible.

As we all know from running auto partsdeliveries every day, delivering is an ex-tremely costly proposition; still, we are alltrying to find more customers to deliver to.At Advance Auto Parts, they are offeringauto parts home deliveries within the day todo-it-yourselfers who are more than happyto “click and wait” than “drive and get.”

Mandy Aguilar is aregional vice president forJacksonville, Fla.-based

The Parts House.

In a radical plan,Walmart willask some ofthese customersto sign up todeliver onlineorders inexchange fordiscounts on thestuff they cameto the store tobuy; customerswill drop theonline orders offon their wayback to theirhomes.

counterman.com 63

Perhaps Walmart might come up with themost innovative weapon in this battle afterall, with its recently proposed idea of tap-ping their customers visiting their storeswith delivering online orders placed by other customers!

In a radical plan, Walmart will ask someof its customers to sign up to deliver onlineorders in exchange for discounts on the stuffthey came to the store to buy; customerswill drop the online orders off on their wayback to their homes. Walmart achieveseconomies of scale that will be hard to topby any other competitor. This is just an ideaand it has not even been tested yet, but it’seasy to see how Walmart will be highly mo-tivated to deploy such a low-cost deliveryalternative.

To us, there is nothing new about same-

day deliveries and in-store pickup. Whowould have thought that such standard fea-tures of the auto parts business will now bethe new battlefields for e-commerce? Foryears, we have been delivering parts on thesame day they are ordered, several times aday, actually, with our hotshot routes thatget parts to customers in less than 30 min-utes! To accomplish this level of service, wehave been accumulating auto parts in ware-houses and stores located as close as possi-ble to our customers, regardless of sales taxor any other regulatory consequences. Wehave been doing this since before the dawnof the Internet. Clearly, we are the expertson providing such services; now the trick isto make sure we leverage our expertise inthese areas to retain our customers andgrow our business. CM

■ ■ ■

Visit Mandy’s blog: www.mandyaguilar.com

Get FREE product and service info from the companies featured in this issue of Counterman. It’s fast and easy!

www.Counterman.com/ASAPand click the company you want info from!

Advertiser Page Advertiser PageAAPEX 11ACDelco 6, 7Advance Auto Parts Professional 15Raybestos Brakes 10, 17, 37Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper 41Airtex Corp. Cover 2, 1Aisin World Corp. 55Parts Plus 27AutoZone 4,5Bar’s Leaks 16, 36Centric Parts 28, 29Contitech 51DEA Products 31ExxonMobil cover 4Moog Steering & Suspension 48, 49Wagner Brakes/Federal-Mogul 12, 13Gabriel 24Key Craze 3

Mevotech 25NGK Spark Plugs 20NUCAP Industries 26, 35Packard Industries 14Penray 45Performance Friction 39Permatex Inc. Cover 3Philips Automotive 22SAAB Parts North America 18, 19Luk 9Solv-Tec Inc. 52, 53Tech Smart 21Timken 23Tracer 57TYC/Genera Corp. 61Walker Products, Inc. 59WIX Filters 42, 43

Track Talk

The success of a single athleteor sports team is measured byone thing — championships.Just ask NASCAR pit crewmanColin Fambrough who’salready been a part of twoNASCAR Sprint Cup SeriesChampionship teams duringhis relatively short tenure in thepits.

The Tyler, Texas, native is cur-rently employed by PenskeRacing as the rear-tire changeron the No. 2 Miller Lite FordFusion driven by 2012NASCAR Sprint Cup SeriesChampion Brad Keselowski.While Fambrough, 29, hasquickly achieved the successsome accumulate over thecourse of a career, he has noplans of slowing down anytimesoon.

In 1992, Fambrough’s jour-ney to the top of one of thenation’s most popular sportsbegan in the living room of hischildhood home. Fambroughquestioned his mother’s tastein television when she flippedover to the NASCAR race thathappened to be Richard Petty’slast.

Fambrough couldn’t havebeen less interested, and recallsasking his mother, “Why areyou watching this?” She sharedthat she once had the opportu-nity to meet Petty, and showedhim photos of her and Petty’slegendary No. 43 racecar.

“From that point on, I beganwatching NASCAR,”Fambrough said. “I startedgoing to the local dirt tracks

and watching the races live.”But it wasn’t until 1999 whenFambrough saw the pack hitturn one at DaytonaInternational Speedway thathis true passion for the sportwas ignited.

“It was the coolest thing Ihad ever seen. It was an amaz-ing experience.”

After seeing a commercialabout NASCAR TechnicalInstitute (NASCAR Tech) a fewyears later, he realized this wasthe avenue he had been search-ing for to break into the sport.

“I realized there was a practi-cal application to attendingNASCAR Tech,” he said. “Thefirst portion of the program isfocused around automotivetechnology where you acquireskills and knowledge that aremanufacturer-specific. Theyprovide a foundation for acareer as a technician regardlessof the desire to work for aNASCAR team.”

After some discussion,Fambrough’s parents were onboard, and he was soon in“Race City, USA” (Mooresville,N.C.) going to school. To hissurprise, he was learning morethan just automotive skills.

“It was remarkable meetingdifferent people and seeingdiverse perspectives of life,”Fambrough said. “I was aroundpeople who had the sameinterests and goals, and thatreally helped me understandwho, and what, I wanted to be.For the first time I was doingmuch more than what I need-

ed to do to get by. It wasthe first thing that reallyhad me interested.”

As Fambroughapproached graduation,he began the process oflooking for a job andturned to his instructorsfor guidance.

Fambrough’s instruc-tor, D.J. Copp, advisedhim to learn how to pitcars, continue practicing,and begin talking to raceteams to get his foot inthe door.

“My instructor saidbeing a part of a pit crewopens another set ofdoors outside of being a techni-cian,” Fambrough said.Fambrough was now aNASCAR Tech student by dayand training vigorously at nightto hone his pit crew skills.Times were tough, butFambrough knew the hardwork would pay dividendsdown the road.

Copp helped Fambroughsecure an interview with RoushFenway Racing, and after aseries of interviews and tryouts,he made the team.

At the same time,Fambrough befriended ayoung, developmental drivercoming up the ranks namedJoey Logano. By chance,Logano’s own race team at thetime was down a pit crewmember. Asking for volunteers,Fambrough jumped on theopportunity and the next daywas at the track getting his first

real-life taste of pit road.When Logano signed with

Joe Gibbs Racing, Fambroughsoon followed, inking a dealwith the team as a pit crewmember. Since then,Fambrough has spent much ofhis career in victory lane, pit-ting cars for some of the sport’sbest drivers including JimmieJohnson, who Fambrough pit-ted for during the 2010 seasonwhen he captured the NASCARSprint Cup SeriesChampionship.

Fambrough credits drive,determination and a great edu-cation as the keys to his success.“NASCAR Tech provided mewith an opportunity to beginmy career, and without them Idon’t think I would be where Iam today,” he said. “NASCARTech offered options that pro-vided me with a successfulcareer and that is really hard tobeat.”

Since graduating from NASCAR Tech, Colin

Fambrough, right-rear tire changer on the

No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion, has spent

much of his NASCAR career in victory lane.

(Photo Credit: Colin Fambrough)

Pit Pro: NASCAR Tech Grad Boasts TwoChampionships in the Pits

By Josh Reed

Follow NASCAR Performance on Twitter and Facebookwww.twitter.com/NASCARauto ■ www.facebook.com/NASCARPerformance



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