Take a look at any parking lot. How many trucks, SUVs and vans are there? Are there work trucks or vehicles that routinely tow or carry heavy loads? SUVs with roof racks or trailer hitches? Do some have larger wheels and tires?

And what do you think all of these vehicles have in common?

Most likely, they all do extra work at times; they can be difficult to handle; and wind, weather, poor roads, and heavier loads can make driving these vehicles a challenge. Larger aftermarket tires and wheels can add over 11 kg of unsprung weight to each corner, and even the best OEM dampers aren’t designed to control that much additional weight.

Almost every one of these vehicles’ owners have no idea that you can improve their ride. You can help your customers drive with more confidence and control by installing KYB monotube upgrades.

When your customer lives with their vehicle’s ride and handling every day, they often fail to notice that handling and control capabilities have deteriorated. It happens gradually and often subconsciously, so people may not be aware that their vehicle’s performance is suffering. Their vehicle is not performing as originally designed and many people just assume their vehicle will never feel like it did when it was new.

Drivers today are keeping their cars and trucks for much longer than they ever did before. Years ago, the life expectancy of a vehicle was roughly 5 years or 160 km. Today, many customers expect their vehicles to last 12 years or more and reach 350 to 400 km. There are nearly 27 million registered vehicles in Canada. Estimates say that up to 80% of them may have shocks and struts that are simply not capable of performing to their original designed vehicle handling and control capabilities.

Recommending shock and strut replacement as a regular maintenance item to help extend the life of a customer’s vehicle presents a huge business opportunity for repair shops. And recommending upgrades for truck and SUV owners who demand the most of their vehicle can provide even more opportunities.

While it’s true most shocks and struts can help restore designed performance and use the OEM twin-tube design, the KYB monotube is a true performance upgrade. Monotube shocks are becoming more common and their benefits are more obvious than you or your customers may believe.

What’s the main advantage to upgrading to monotubes?

There are a lot of misconceptions about monotube shock absorbers—some believe they’re just for racing or for big trucks. So not being able to explain what they are and how they would benefit results in missed sales opportunities every day. By becoming a shock and strut expert, you can explain the purpose and importance of designed vehicle control.

When your goal is to provide OEM-designed vehicle control, selling becomes more like teaching and selling the best means OEM-designed performance or more.

Explain that KYB Excel-G Shocks and Struts and the KYB Strut-Plus assemblies are the only aftermarket shocks and struts designed to help restore designed vehicle control capabilities. The KYB Gas-a-Just monotube shock and KYB Truck-Plus performance assembly allow you to offer your customer increased handling and control capabilities for trucks and SUVs. For people using a truck for towing, hauling or with larger tires and wheels, the KYB MonoMax provides up to 40% more control over original twin-tube designs.

The Monotube’s internal high pressure nitrogen gas chamber builds pressure during use, then gives it back on demand. The nitrogen gas chamber acts two ways—first, it adds resistance as compression from tire impact or body shift occurs. Then, it pushes back during recovery. But it does so only in proportion to the event—never too much, just enough to keep things stable, on any vehicle, with any load.

That’s something that standard twin tube shocks just can’t do.

And unlike twin-tube designs, the nitrogen gas pressure in a KYB monotube never mixes with the hydraulic fluid. This mixing—so common with twin-tube shocks—causes foaming or aeration. Extra, aggressive shock movements cause even more foaming and can result in “shock fade,” causing body roll and steering delay. Even a new twin-tube can act like a worn shock in aggressive situations. You can offer 25 to 40 percent more handling and control just by replacing standard shocks with KYB Gas-a-just or MonoMax monotubes.

KYB monotubes are purpose calibrated for your customer’s vehicles. On a vehicle already equipped with monotube shocks, KYB Gas-A-Just Shocks restore the OEM characteristics. For twin-tube equipped vehicles, they give 25% increased stability and control. KYB MonoMax shocks provide about 25% more stability and control to monotube-equipped vehicles. As a replacement on a conventional twin-tube application? You can provide 40% better performance.

For your half-ton truck customers who tow, haul, or have larger tires and wheels, KYB’s Truck-Plus Performance Assembly is the industry’s complete performance assembly upgrade. Already assembled with the correct spring, top mount and insulators required for quick replacement, Truck-Plus Performance Assembly increases truck control with up to 25% more damping performance.

Some trucks have a slight rake to them, meaning the front of the truck is lower than the rear of the truck. The KYB Truck-Plus Leveling Assembly combines the strut, strut mount and coil spring in a ready to install solution that raises the front of a truck approximately 2 inches. This gives your customer’s truck a more aggressive appearance and helps accommodate larger tires and wheels.

Again, look at that parking lot—it’s clear that SUVs and trucks are dominating new vehicle sales and are being kept years longer. The potential is enormous because these vehicles are typically worth the upgrade, and your customers will notice the improvement immediately! Offering monotubes upgrades will lead to more sales and happier customers.

To learn more about how you can become a shock an strut expert, go to www.kyb.com/training, take the short training courses and you will also earn a free KYB shirt or hat.