5. Light Wheels
Center Line has added a line of super-light forged wheels to its arsenal. These Competition Race Series wheels are up to 30-percent lighter than conventional castings. Right now, they only come in 15-inch diameters, but you can get widths from 4 inches up to 15 inches. There are five styles to choose from (CRS-1 and the Rev shown), and all come in a highly polished finish.
Center Line Wheel Corp.
(800) 345-8671
www.centerlinewheels.com
6. The Brake Man to the Rescue
Pickups and SUVs can now enjoy shorter stopping distances and greater wear resistance thanks to The Brake Man's SuperBrake kit. Using OEM-style rotors treated with The Brake Man's proprietary thermal process and brake pads with an exclusive blend of friction materials, The Brake Man's SuperBrake kit results in performance gains at a fraction of the cost. SuperBrakes reduced stopping distance by 30 feet on a "hot stop" 40-mph panic stop in the company's '01 Ford F-350 Super Duty paramedic unit, which is approximately 12,500 pounds of truck.
The Brake Man
(805) 987-7867
www.thebrakeman.com
7. Getting Clean With Soda
Blasting with bicarbonate soda has long been preferred by professional shops because it removes paint without warping or damaging the base metal, glass, or trim, so very little disassembly and masking is needed. Commercial soda blasters use a lot of air, but Eastwood's design allows you to soda-blast with as little as 7 cfm at 80 psi. Plus, since soda blasting doesn't remove rust, Eastwood soda blasters can be quickly converted to blast with standard or other more aggressive media to clean up rusty areas.
Eastwood Co.
(800) 345-1178
www.eastwoodco.com
8. Things That Go Thump in the Night
JL Audio has a new sub enclosure geared for us truck folks who don't have a lot of room to spare. The FlatWedge is a very low-profile (less than 5 inches thick), slot-ported box that has a W3v3 driver stuffed into it. A flared slot-port design minimizes turbulence and improves fidelity. JL also has a large selection of wedge-style boxes for all you extended-cab owners.
9. Right Turn, Clyde
Need to replace your turn-signal switch but have a worn-out housing? Brothers Trucks now offers a replacement turn-signal assembly for '54-'59 Chevy and GMC trucks. Each assembly comes with the outer steering column housing and has the turn-signal switch pre-installed.
Brothers Trucks
(800) 977-2767
www.brotherstrucks.com
10. Weld Easy, Weld Safe
Miller has made it very easy to create a nice weld thanks to these two new products. The new Millermatic 180 with Auto-Set is a 230V machine, giving you the capability to weld 24-gauge up to 5/16-inch mild steel in a single pass. The Auto-Set feature helps out by simplifying the setup: You select the wire diameter and material thickness and start welding. The machine is automatically set to the proper voltage and wire-feed speed for the job. In instances where Auto-Set cannot be used, a manual mode is available. In manual mode, the Millermatic 180 is set up like any other MIG machine. To protect your eyes, Miller offers an auto-darkening helmet with four programmable modes: Welding, Cutting, Grinding, and X-Mode. Digital Elite helmets are available in four popular graphic designs as well as in classic black.
Miller Electric Mfg. Co.
www.millerwelds.com