Bobby Mace, Author at Transmission Digest - Page 7 of 10
Randy’s: A Growing Presence

“Over time, Randy [Lyman] built our company to have many different brands,” says RANDYS Worldwide Automotive Marketing Director Neal Hollingsworth. The company, formerly known as Randy’s Ring & Pinion (Transmission Digest December ’09) is headquartered in Everett, Wash., and employs a total of over 200 people in seven different states including distribution centers.

All Drive Transmission, Des Moines, Iowa

The major repairs are getting less and less, and the small repairs are getting more and more, said Randall Garrett, owner of All Drive Transmission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Performance Peek

Transmission Specialties, General Manager Ken Kelly says, has an overriding philosophy that is a starting point for everything it does. “We like to be partners with our customers which is different than filling the role of supplier. As partners, when they grow, we grow. And, when we grow, by bringing them new products to sell, they grow.”

Advanced Car Care Center, Strafford, Mo.

Chip Broemmer’s career educating the next generation of technicians has been sandwiched between two hitches in automotive repair, a long early span with Toyota and a recent venture, Advanced Car Care Center in Strafford, Mo.

American Transmission Centers, Virginia Beach area

American Transmission Centers, a company with four transmission shops, capitalizes on the big metro area of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and other cities where more than 1.5 million people live.

A Racing Specialty

Steve Farnsworth, founder and president of Omaha, Neb., based Midwest Transmission Supply (MTS), says that transmissions and the aftermarket is something he’s been around all his life. “My babysitters were truck mechanics,” he says. The family lived upstairs and owned a truck repair shop downstairs.

WIT: Changing with the Industry

As one of the powertrain aftermarket segment’s two nationwide specialty parts distributors Whatever It Takes (WIT) says their growth continues at a rapid, yet still controlled, rate. Opening distribution most recently in Austin and Salt Lake City, the employee-owned company’s founder, Kenny Hester, says that WIT’s growth continues, as does an evolution as it provides product lines reflecting the changing needs of its shop customers.

Preferred Transmissions Plus, Oregon, Ohio

After more than a quarter-century of rebuilding, with self-awareness that this was the time to make the move, and with strong spousal encouragement, Dean Rhodes opened Preferred Transmissions Plus in 2011 in Oregon, Ohio, near Toledo.

TCRA: Growing an Association

At the recent Torque Converter Rebuilders Association (TCRA) seminar in Coral Gables, Fla., we sat down with the board of directors to discuss the organization, its member and its objectives. We started the conversation with the observation, “There was a time not too long ago when transmission builders would blame the converter for nearly every problem that cropped up after a rebuild.”

Handling Hard Parts

Every rebuilder needs the same parts at the same time. The Pellitieri family says their Buffalo Engine Components is more than up to the task of finding, processing and delivering those parts on a consistent basis. Andy, Joe Jr. and Jason Pellitieri.

‘We’re All Race-Car Drivers in Germany’

Florian Schuldes, owner of Ol’ Skool Customs in central Germany, works mostly on the drive trains of American vehicles. In this capacity, he’s what we might consider an import guy.

Dura-Bond: Rounding Out a Niche

Dura-Bond says the full-round, all “USA-made” Babbitt bushings it manufactures are designed for today’s transmissions and provide the tightest tolerances in the industry.