Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Diesel Performance parts and service - what's hot and what's selling?

As mentioned yesterday, now is the time to focus on what can be offered to draw in the customer for performance business during a down economy. Look for bargains from manufacturers, there is a lot of them right now!

Air intakes (K&N) and exhaust (Flo-Pro) is always a easy add-on for the novice diesel customer along with programmers (Edge, PPE, Bullydog)! Bolt-ons are a easy add-on but it immediately changes their tuning which is a huge problem out there because the normal person does not know how to tune when they add all of the bolt-ons - that is where your shop can help them. The average diesel newbie thinks if it smokes then they are doing it right, just the opposite, if it smokes it is tuned incorrectly.

Higher upgrades such as turbos (High Tech Turbo) or twin turbos (PPE) and hotter injectors (Industrial Injection) require a much higher understanding of tuning the engine for performance. Then once you reach this level then all kinds of additions to the engine must be made or you are going to be breaking internal parts. Internal parts need replacement when upgrading to higher horsepower such as head studs (ARP), rods (Carrillo), pistons (Mahle), and gaskets (Victor Reinz).  Head studs are a absolute when upgrading turbo or injectors, most manufacturers require it in their instructions for installation.

Changing the injection pump (Industrial Injection) or dual fuel pump (PPE) for more fuel is when the enthusiast really needs an expert on not only installation but tuning all 4 components, air intake, fuel pump, injectors and turbo to work properly together! We see it everyday, they put in a bigger pump and other components start breaking or causing the engine to run poorly.

Once all is installed and running properly, it's the drive train then that is the next big improvement.  Can you take a 350 HP OEM engine, take it to 700 HP and expect the OEM tranny to withstand the excessive power - not going to happen! Clutches (South Bend Clutch) and transmissions (Gorends, Sun Coast) will need to be upgraded to performance levels that match the engine's output.

Do you see where I'm going with all of this?

More improvements, more money, more service, more parts, which equals loyal customer and yes, they are hooked on DIESEL Motorsports!

It's the part of each individual saying to themselves, I got the best, and I'm going to dominate with my truck! It's in all of us and especially a young guy wanting to prove his abilities. We have all been there including myself.

The opportunities are out there, educate yourself from the manufacturers!


1 comment:

  1. It's interesting to see what the trends are as far as diesel performance parts are concerned. Great work on the blog, I really like knowing what is out there and how it will help.

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