SC October2011.pdf - Parts & People

Engineering innovations keep KYB shocks and struts ahead of the curve
Continued from page 7
“The need, value, and purpose for
replacement shocks and struts, as well as
how to earn shock and strut sales, [form]
our primary training focus,” he said.
McGovern said his team routinely
conducts sales and technical seminars for
service professionals called “Ride Control
Solutions” to help customers sell more
shocks and struts.
“Sales become possible when the
technician and shop believe in the sale
because they’ve learned the facts about
what shocks do, how they wear, and why
the industry suggests replacements after
50,000 miles,” he said.
KYB provides a customer
communication tool with technical
information that McGovern said has earned
the reputation as the “best in the business”
from both professionals and motorists.
“KYB offers this training in seminar
formats as well as on-the-spot via iPad
technology.”
Even the KYB
point-of-purchase
kit, called the
“KYB Certified
Ride Control
Center,” is not
considered
advertising, he
said. “It’s a
customer
communication
tool box and
online training
videos aimed at
improving a
shop’s ability to
help the customer
understand how ride control works and
what happens when it wears.”
McGovern said that in the past year the
company has added hundreds of new part
numbers for domestic and import
applications rather than trying to reinvent a
different shock. “KYB does not believe in
adding more brands or reducing an OE
Have a need
for speed?
An increase in vehicles with Electronic
Stability Control (ESC) has lead KYB to
devote an entire section of its website to
the subject.
shock’s designed
capability,” he said.
Vehicle-designed
stability, control, and
handling should be
the professional’s
target, he said, if the
customer goal is to
keep their vehicle
operating as well as
the manufacturer
designed.
“However, KYB
does offer Gas-a-Just
and MonoMax
monotube shocks as a
performance upgrade
over the OE design for vehicles that came
equipped with twin tube shocks, he said.”
KYB also offers a complete corner
package called Strut-Plus, which
McGovern said has coverage for most
popular applications.
“Our main focus is on vehicles that need
some problem solving,” he said.
McGovern said the service professional
should understand
that there are often
many different OE
coil springs for the
same application.
“That makes
calibrating a
complete assembly
a challenge when
the goal is to
restore designed performance.”
Some manufacturers over-consolidate
part numbers, he said, and sacrifice
performance on vehicles that should have a
unique spring calibration. “KYB only offers
the Strut-Plus for applications when we can
provide a component that meets our high
standards.”
The newest trend McGovern sees in ride
control is Electronic Stability Control
(ESC), which he said could be the single
most effective life-saving vehicle
technology in the history of the automobile.
“Amazingly, very few people know what
it really is, how it works, and what the
motorist should know about it,” he said.
McGovern said first of all, there are no
wires attached to the shocks, a common
misconception. “Instead, an array of sensors
tells ESC when the vehicle isn’t going the
direction the driver intended, such as during
under- or over-steer conditions or just as the
tires begin to lose their grip.”
ESC instantly applies the correct braking,
reduces engine speed, and can keep the
vehicle in control, he said. “That is, if the
tires and ride-control components are
capable of doing their job well.”
ESC began appearing as optional
equipment in the late 1990s, McGovern
said. “More than 50 percent of all 2007
light-duty vehicles had ESC as standard
equipment and 100 percent of all 2012
light-duty vehicles must have ESC by law.”
What does this mean for shocks and
struts? “The majority are still nonelectronic,
but their performance is
monitored by the ESC system,” he said.
“As they become
weak and tire
control
performance
becomes less
responsive or
can’t grip the
road as well,
ESC won’t work
as well either.”
McGovern said KYB offers the
industry’s first and only line of shocks and
struts designed and built to help restore
original vehicle handling and performance
for ESC-equipped vehicles, not change it.
“KYB supplies more shocks and struts to
original equipment manufacturers than
anyone else in the world,” he said. “We
understand what OE suspensions with ESC
require to work properly and we provide the
same OE quality and performance
standards in our aftermarket products.” n
“Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
could well be the single
most effective life-saving
vehicle technology in the history
of the automobile.”
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