Eric Saltrick, Steele Rubber Products

At trade shows throughout the year, we get all sorts of requests from businesses and enthusiasts to make new rubber parts for this car or that car. At Steele Rubber Products, we do our best to research the market to determine what is the right “next part” to manufacture.

However, choosing the next great part to make is more art than science. As much as we would like to fulfill every request we get, it’s impossible to make everyone happy. So, how do we decide which parts to make?

The first requirement we have at Steele is that we must have an original part. We will only make a new part when we have an original part to use as the basis for our die or mold. Finding good originals is a lot easier said than done. And, getting the owner of the originals to part with their find is sometimes even harder.

In the best case scenario we will have access to the vehicle as well. This allows us to see how the parts fit onto the car or truck, and lets us install them back on the vehicle to ensure proper fit. In between, we conduct countless hours of research and measurements to ensure we get the part right.

In many instances, the process of making a new part can take six months or more. That’s six months of our time and resources for just one part. Although rubber parts may not be the sexiest part of a car, they are incredibly important. It’s imperative that we make all of our new parts so that they not only fit correctly, but also so that they are exactly as we want them in all respects.

So, we may take what seems to some as an excessive amount of time to tool a new part, but we know that our efforts result in a part that fits, performs and lasts.

– Eric Saltrick